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Your film Dariuss
- in a few words, what's it about?
Dariuss is about a family torn apart by the grief
over the death of their daughter,
and how each member of this family copes with such a tragedy. The film
shows how each individual within this family reacts to such trauma
with aberrant behaviors ranging from despair, attempted suicide,
drinking, sexual perversion, and madness, until a young man enters
their home and brings this family their worst living nightmare.
Dariuss is a film of utter loss of hope. With
Dariuss being a home invasiion
thriller, were there any similar films or documentaries you've looked at
for inspiration, and what do you think makes your movie stick out of the
crowd? This film was born from a series of hallucinations I had while
listening to the music of my former band Monoxide. From there, I began
a mental process of elaborating images and sounds that I gradually
incorporated. The film contains indirect references to some of my
inner demons. (Other) sources of inspiration
when writing Dariuss?
The inspirations I had for Dariuss came from painting and art in
general. But what characterizes it are mainly the sound distortions
and the hallucinatory visual aspect, which come from my subconscious.
You've chosen to make
Dariuss without any actual dialogue and in an at times rather
assiciative way - so what can you tell us about that approach to
storytelling, and how hard or easy was it to not literally lose your plot that
way? The decision to eliminate dialogue was based on the desire to maximize
the viewer's perception. Dariuss is a film that speaks with images and
sounds; it doesn't use words as a form of communication. This is a
film that speaks directly to the viewer's subconscious. Making this
film was difficult. The editing alone took many months and almost
drove me completely mad. I wanted to blur the line between reality and
madness. I wanted to break all the classic rules of storytelling and
filmmaking in general.
With
Dariuss being restricted to just one locatiojn, what were your
techniques to keep things interesting throughout? Much of the footage was shot inside a house, while for some exterior
scenes, I had to resort to illegal means to gain access, which I can
not specify for obvious reasons. The film is fragmented into
sequences, like a sort of long short film, which is then combined with
flashbacks and various other methods that serve to stimulate the
viewer's subconscious into their own personal interpretation. I used
the language of meta-cinema as a tool for engagement. In other words,
the viewer is no longer a passive observer of what they witness but is
directly involved in everything that happens. A
few words about your overall directorial approach to your story at hane?
My directorial approach is very much "in the moment." Although I had
written drafts as reference, much of the material was improvised or
modified during the filming process. Everything that inspired me at
the time, like the little girl's painting and other scenes, I inserted
into the film at the last minute. You alwo appear in front of the camera in
Dariuss - so what can you tell
us about your character, what did you draw upon to bring him to life,. and
have you written "the maniac" with yourself in mind from the get-go?
The creation of the character of the young maniac was a blend of my
own inner demons. He's a character who embodies madness, intense
sexuality, childishness, and a total alienation from reality, despite
being arguably a victim of life himself.
Do talk about the rest of your cast, and why exactly these
people? In this film, I chose an Italian cast. The female
lead, Ila Argento, is an actress with a theatre background who, in Italy
(under her real name), has worked primarily as a character actress in
several independent horror and thriller films. I decided to cast her as
the lead female character because I saw a unique quality in her and that,
under my direction, I could transform her into something more than a
simple actress, but rather a sort of living pictorial representation. Her
visual performance is so intense that it pierces the screen. As for the
rest of the cast, one of the roles included my editing assistant
Archiballd Kane, who played the dead girl's father with great skill, while
for the other roles, I chose non-professional actresses. Everyone shone in
the film, but Ila ArgentoO's performance was undoubtedly the strongest
visual element. A few words about the shoot as such and
the on-set atmosphere? Dariuss is a claustrophobic film, shot almost entirely inside a house.
This was a deliberate artistic choice, as over the course of the film,
the house becomes a sort of cosmos where reality seems to blend with
the nightmare of the viewer's perception. The house becomes the only
place where madness takes complete control. The $64-question of course,
where can Dariuss be seen?
Dariuss is distributed globally by the American company
SRS Cinema and the German company Ultra Visual Films on DVD and Blu-ray. The film is
also available on several streaming platforms.
Anything you can tell us about audience and critical reception
of Dariuss?
The critical response to Dariuss has had and continues to have mixed
reactions, with a majority finding it a visionary and unique film and
others dismissing it as incomprehensible or, at least, too
unconventional The film has been screened at many film clubs in
America and Europe, attracting a variety of reactions.
Any future projects you'd like to share?
My following film, The Benefactress (an
Exposure of Cinematic Freedom), is out.
Your/yoour movie's website, social media, whatever else? All information about my film is available on the internet.
Anything else you're dying to mention and I've merely forgotten to ask?
No, I don't think so. Thanks for the interview ! Thank you!
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