Ne have had the opportunity to attend, just prior to its output to a screening of the first film of Ryan Gosling, LOST RIVER, at the end of which the director and his actor Reda Kateb arrived in the room to answer the audience’s questions lucky ones who were there. An exchange that we have reported and that we share here.
How is born the project LOST RIVER ?
– Ryan Gosling : “as a Canadian, I wanted to show what the city of Detroit at this time. So I went, armed with a camera, and I started filming the city, its surroundings and its inhabitants. I used this footage to develop the creative process that gave birth to the LOST RIVER.”
Why have you chosen the structure of the fairy tale to tell this story ?
– Ryan Gosling : “It would be rather a fairy tale black enough. I wanted to feel the emotion that came over me in walking through these places, something strong, but also unreal, and disturbing.”
– Reda Kateb : “Before filming, we met with Ryan to talk about my character of the taxi driver. There was already this vision to make a man disinterested in the female body, in contrast to other male characters of the film. It was to be a sort of knight, who made the body with his vehicle.”
The place in which you work as the character of Christina Hendricks is inspired by the Theatre du Grand-Guignol ?
– Ryan Gosling : “Yes, quite. We have been conducting research around the Theatre du Grand-Guignol and other places, such as the Hell’s Coffee to try to recreate this atmosphere. I thought these are the places that bring together people who can indulge their lowest instincts with impunity, places in which the dark nature of the man is very present.”
Why go to the ?
– Ryan Gosling : “I’ve not really chosen to become a director. When I saw this city of Detroit, the need to make a film has established itself as a highlight. There was a kind of emergency turn to feel the strange feeling of getting lost.”
And Reda, why have you accepted this project ?
– Reda Kateb : “In receiving scenario, I was first surprised to see that Ryan Gosling one knew me… I immediately loved the idea of a fairy tale, black inscribed in the real. After the longest, it was to make the visa (laughter).”
What were your inspirations ?
– Ryan Gosling : “ After having read the scenario, my composer Johnny Jewel said to me : “The Goonies, version dark. Cool.” Many of the other movies Amblin inspired me but also Purple Rain. These are the films that made me love the cinema. With LOST RIVER, I’ve been wanting to revisit the theme of a family being threatened has the possibility of an outcome almost mystical, in a tribute to some directors but with my vision.”
The version of the film shown here is different from that of the Cannes film festival. What changes have you made and why ?
– Ryan Gosling : “The version submitted to the Cannes film included scenes with music tracks pre-existing that I thought I was right-free. Obviously not, so I had to switch back to the editing room to remove them or replace them with the partition of Johnny Jewel.”
The dimension is fantastic and very present in the film, was it intended from the start or grew up during the design of the film ?
– Ryan Gosling : “I mostly wanted to show this family that clings to its ideals in spite of the chaos outside, and by giving the impression that everything had the air of a dream. Of course, I wanted to from the beginning to anchor that dream in a certain reality. We have enhanced this realism by turning with the real people of Detroit, as the dark lady at the service station who felt that something different was going on here. It was the only resort, far about twenty kilometers from the city and we continued to turn in spite of the arrival of this lady.”
“I wanted to pay homage to the films that made me love the cinema and to some directors, but with my own vision.”
About your inspirations, have you seen The saddest music in the world Guy Maddin ?
– Ryan Gosling : “Yes I saw it. It is a great film by a great director. All the more that he is Canadian…”
The characters are important, but the city seems to be a full-fledged character…
– Ryan Gosling : “Yes indeed, the city leads to the LOST RIVER , therefore, we can say that it is a full-fledged character.”
How Ryan Gosling works with his actors as a director ?
– Reda Kateb : “It is very sensitive to the actors, of course. It creates a circle in which he is active physically with us, while giving us some freedom.”
What is your view on independent cinema ?
– Ryan Gosling : “This is a film that I like a lot. There are plenty of ways to do and this is a bit of what we did for my film. It allows you to experiment, be a bit like a student and it is something that I find very strong, much more than what I could do with the mainstream cinema.”
