Danish director brings art to U.S.

By Nicole Rodriguez

Danish director Thomas Vinterberg has decided to premiere his first English language work - a futuristic love story that mimics the sort of surreal quality one might expect from a Dali painting - at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Although the bizarre happenings at the film's surface level can be confusing, Vinterberg says that his latest project has the capacity to touch audiences who view his work with an open mind.

"Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, people see a film and then it's gone," Vinterberg says. "My image and perception of modern life is what I'm trying to share with people. And if I'm lucky, they will think about that. And if I am even more lucky they will get something from it and reflect on their own lives and lifestyles."

"It's All About Love," for which Vinterberg also co-wrote the screenplay, tells the story of John and Elena - an estranged couple on the brink of divorce who rediscover their love for each other when Elena is faced with a crisis.

What makes "Love" remarkable, however, is not the plot itself, but the unique backdrop Vinterberg sets the story against. Shot primarily in New York and Poland, "Love" takes place in a future world where Earth is on the brink of a cosmic collapse. An ice age is overtaking the planet, gravity is failing in Uganda, and New Yorkers are literally falling over dead in the streets due to broken hearts.

"We were just trying to create a portrait of the world through our eyes," Vinterberg explains. "We allowed ourselves to make a portrait that's not really rational, to show it in an emotional way. I could explain the symbolism for hours, but I don't think that would make the experience any richer."

The youngest director to ever be admitted to the elite National Film School of Denmark (only six students are allowed in every two years), Vinterberg attained international success in 1996 with his award-winning film "Celebration," which caught the attention of audiences as well as his current cast. Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix and Emmy nominee Claire Danes both approached the director about roles in his latest film, as did Academy Award nominee Sean Penn, who has an extended cameo as John's older brother.

However, it was not a desire for commercial fame that drove Vinterberg to cast this American ensemble of actors and write an English language screenplay.

"I decided to do this because I think the United States is the frontier of modern life," Vinterberg explains. "Also, I found it very encouraging to work with new actors. I love Danish actors, they're very good, but I wanted to try something new."

And he found his efforts to be worth his while.

"Claire is both very vulnerable and fragile and very technically skilled. She's very elaborate and very wise," Vinterberg raves. "And Joaquin is such an emotional, devoted and lovely guy, and I've always liked his work. He's radiant and glowing ... and Sean is Sean."

As for what inspired Vinterberg to tell this tale, the director reveals, "I had a very sad experience for a couple of years in filmmaking where I suddenly couldn't remember what I had done, it was like I wasn't present in my life," he continues, "That's one of the issues 'It's All About Love' tries to touch upon: being present and being together. You have to taste your life, and if you don't, you' ll drop dead, like [some of the characters] literally do in the film. If just a couple of people in the audience can get that, that's worth more than a box office hit to me."

Most important to the director, however, is the title emotion of his film, even if he can't exactly explain it in words.

"You can't define what love is. According to my title, love means everything. It's invisible, it's unspoken. For example, in the film, [John, the main character] is there to get his divorce papers signed, and he gets a sense that there is something wrong in [Elena 's] life. A rational behavior would be to leave that to herself and get divorced. But by nature he stays there because he cares about her problems. To me, that's love."