After delivering the Shudder hit MadS last Halloween, French filmmaker David Moreau is back with another haunting nightmare called Other. In this interview, the writer and director breaks down his penchant for atmospheric horror, why he doesn’t bother much about “referencing” other films, and how he went for a “faceless” approach this time, filming only the face of heroine Olga Kurylenko.
Listen here. The following transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity:
Hello, everyone. I am Shaurya Thapa, your host of the podcast Behind the Lens by Borrowing Tape. Today, I am with David Moreau, the French writer and director behind the creatively original and creatively scary horror film, which is simply called Other. Welcome, David, to the podcast.
Thank you very much.
Firstly, let me just tell you, David, I know you have been making horror for quite some time with movies like The Eye, Them, and my personal favorite, MadS. MadS, which came out last year, made me an instant admirer of your work. That film was shot entirely in one take, and the one-take style felt very organic to me; it didn't seem like a gimmick. And now we have your new film, Other, where you experiment visually yet again, because the film is shot in such a way that you don't see the face of any character except the heroine. So my first question to you, David: Was this a deliberate choice? What do you think was the purpose behind this unique framing of not showing faces?
The purpose was that I was trying to have the audience be as close as possible to the character. The fact that she has this past, something hidden from a past that's around that's somewhere locked in her mind and needs to go, to spread out — she actually cannot see the faces around her because she's not able to see properly the reality around her — was a reason for that. The other reason was that, as the beast that is around is actually not seen, and we will finally understand what it is at the end and what it is. I hope that it's not what we think it will be; it was a way to trick the audience, not to see the character around. Having those distorted faces through the screens and all that, it's almost like we don't see them properly. So we saw deformity with something which is normal, and it's the main core and the subject of the movie. It was one of the reasons, and as you said in your question, a very, very smart question. Thank you for that. I also always try to find some difficulties in writing a story, in making a story like at one take, or here not showing the faces in order for me to get closer to the idea, to the core idea.
Were there any horror or non-horror films that inspired your script or your filming style for Other?
I think, as I said to a friend of mine, I'm not trying to make references, but probably. And when I saw the movie again, I said, okay, this, this, this. Of course, there is a director I really love, who is David Lynch. I think he's had the effect on my whole life as a human being, and as a moviegoer, and probably as a filmmaker, [he] was very, very in the movie. I mean, Lost Highway is one of my favorite movies ever. In Lost Highway, you not only see his face through camcorders and all that (the mystery man). You have all these tricks with video stuff that actually is, it's a video. It's like a deformed representation of reality. So probably Lost Highway and some of his movies, because also in The Elephant Man — the scene where you have all these drunk guys who were like putting a mirror on his deformity and laughing about him, which is, for me, one of the most unbearable scenes in movie-making. I cannot see this scene. It's too effective, too sad, too strong, too violent. I mean, like it's a wonderful scene, and the way that it shows deformity; it's not him with deformity. It's not John Merrick who is deformed. It's more like the way people are looking at him, which is deformed. It's something that was very strong for me.
You mentioned David Lynch. One thing that I find similar between your latest film, for example, Other, and some David Lynch cinema, like Twin Peaks, is that your horror is very slow-burning, it focuses on atmosphere, and there can be some jump scares here and there, and they're not like cheap jump scares. Because in Other, I'm so invested visually with the heroine that sometimes when there were scares, they affected me way more than expected. As a horror filmmaker yourself, what do you think is the secret to building a good jump scare?
I think it's when you put your audience actively. When you make them active in the way that you don't see, you don't show too much, you just show or just with the sound, help the audience to have their imagination work on what's behind the door, what do I hear, what is that. You have them like being part of the process to create a monster in their mind, and not only seeing it. I do think it's something that I find frightening or engaging. I'm not saying that I'm a horror movie director, even if I did some of them.
I feel better as a director: by not showing too much. To have the audience being part of the creating process, with their own imagination, like when you're reading a book or when you're.... The first horror movie I saw was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre when I was nine, and my parents wouldn't let me see it, so I tried to see the movie through the peephole of the room, and I could not see a thing, so I just saw the movie only by hearing it. When I saw it the first time, like for real, it's one of my favorite movies, so I was astonished, but it was not the same movie that I imagined. I'm trying to make it so that I don't see too much, and to use the sound to show without showing.
That's a very interesting perspective. And I would also want to rewatch Texas Chainsaw Massacre. My last question to you, David, is how different was it working on Other as compared to your past films like MadS, The Eye, and Them, like genre films that you worked on, other horrors that you worked on: how was it different?
The fact that to have just a face, a single face to show that I needed to work with the other actors. You know it's tough when you hire an actor, and you say, I'm going to show everything, but not your face. It's going to be your voice, it's going to be your body, but not your face. At first, I mean, like they knew it from the beginning. It was not a surprise. I didn't say, Oh yeah, do the movie. And then after one day, so it's like, Oh, you don't see my face. They knew that because it was already in the script, but I learned that it was very rich to embody a character, and avoiding showing the face was very interesting. And even if my next movie, I don't know what it's going to be, but if it's the one I would love to, I will show faces again. The face is not everything, you know? And sometimes you feel like the faces of the actors are everything, but it's much richer than that. So this is what I learned and what was very different on this one.
That's a pretty unique approach, David. And on that note, I'll end this interview. Thank you for your time, David. And the other is a perfect watch for this October, because it's Halloween. And yeah, best of luck with your next film. I'll be more than willing to see what happens and how you play with faces or no faces in your next film. Good luck, David. Thank you for your time.