Director Ari Aster attempts to explain how he got fromHereditarytoMidsommarin two and a half years.
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How did you transition from one to the other, if at all?
What was that timeline like?Ive been working nonstop for two and a half years.
Two and a half years ago, preproduction began onHereditary.
So I did that, and then we went to Sweden.
I realized we couldnt afford to make this film in Sweden, so we decided to shoot in Hungary.
I got through three-fourths of the shot list and we found a village that worked for the movie.
But my head was not in it.
I can imagine.Until itwas, and then my head was not in the movie anymore.
I got back to Hungary, and were running out of time before preproduction begins.
Meanwhile, Im hearing thatHereditaryis doing really well.
Ive got to figure this out.
Would you say you never really got to appreciateHereditarys success?I did not experience it.
It was like an abstract concept that I hadnt accepted.
Great, I dont know what that means.
It was my first film, but I was already so far away from it.
Obviously, A24 knew thatHereditarywas special, and it was something that really worked for them.
And it behooved them to make another movie with you, ideally sooner rather than later.
But I cant imagine a more intense schedule than what I just went through.
But I definitely also feel extremely fortunate to be in this position.
Two and a half years ago, I was not.
Two and a half years ago, I was despairing of ever making something.
And while Im trying to get it going, I go, I guess Ill write another one.
I guess Ill write another one.
Until I had like 11 scripts.
So it is surreal to be in this position.
Its crazy that its been so fast.
Then I experienced it and it was like, Oh shit, thats true.
And so I havent processed theHereditaryexperience, and I guess Ill have an opportunity to process theMidsommarexperience.
It feels like theyre both kind of clumped together.
Midsommarwas an assignment from a Swedish production company.
And the comps were like,Hostel.
But I was going through a breakup at the time, and I wanted to write a breakup movie.
You go to those movies and the interest is usually like …
Okay, these people are going to be sacrificed.
How are they going to be sacrificed?
How grotesque is it going to be?
How fucked up are the deaths going to be?
Which for me, is not particularly interesting.
You surely take some kind of pleasure in writing fucked-up deaths.
So all the [deaths] feel like second-act stuff, in a way.
But, yes, it is fun playing with the grotesque.
That was always exciting for me.
Its not rational that that should be cathartic, but it should be.
I hope it is.
So you have all these grotesque, psychedelic centerpieces that start mounting in the second half of the film.
You have a knack for that kind of domestic horror as well.
Is that a different act of imagination for you?
Hes not the worst guy in the world.
And shes very needy.
But shes needy because shes navigating this unfathomable situation.
And thats important because of where the film ends.
You start with the unfathomable and you end with the unfathomable.
But I think for me, its also … Its kind of funny that I started there, because that wasnt meant to be the path.
And this is in no way to discount the genre.
I love the genre, but Im a very neurotic guy.
And I usually write in crisis.
Right, well its something you might do with genre films.
If you have a character whos depressed, people want to know why.
Which, of course, is not how depression or anxiety work in real life.
Like, to be able to kind of lay out what these feelings are like for people.
There are other ways of doing it.
LikeJeanne Dielmanis brilliant at telling you what this womans life is and why its suffocating.
Films likeThe Seventh Continentby Michael Haneke.
And I dont think Im even fully conscious of trying to do something like that.
But if anything, Im a child of melodrama.
I grew up loving melodrama and anything operatic.
I love the idea of having the movie be as big as the feelings that the characters are feeling.
And thats certainly what I was trying to do withHereditary.
And so what is the feeling of being cursed?
Like, what is the horror of existing?
Not that you would know anything about that.
Its become my norm.
One is a big domestic melodrama, one is an absurdist dark comedy.
Im in a very lucky position, which I have been in with the last two films.
Hopefully Ill be able to make a third.
But Im a little nervous about the idea of stopping.
Ive been dreading it, because I havent in so long.
But its been weird.
I really dont know what Ive done.
I dont know what it is.
I feel like Ive talked about this with filmmakers a lot.
Theres some kind of tragedy in filmmaking where youll never get to see your movie, really.
Youll never get to see the thing that you wanted to make.
If youre lucky, then maybe everybody else will.
Sometimes theyre small, sometimes theyre huge.
In shooting, youre racing.
So you’re free to get it as close to perfect as you’re free to.
And then some shots you have to move on and you didnt get it the way you wanted.
And thats a tiny tragedy, and then you carry that weight to the next one.
Because I am running low on morale.
Its rough because this is a dream come true.
Im so lucky to be doing this.
But its so exhausting that you forget to appreciate it immediately.
So youre being dragged through this thing that youve always wanted.
And then at the end, its like you regret not being more present for it.
So you go and do it again and then you realize thereisno being [present].
It goes from this dreamlike situation to this nightmare-survival situation.
And you have got to find some way to mediate between the two.
