Interview with Tarik Saleh

24 Oct 2009

We speak to the director of Metropia.

With Metropia, Swedish graffiti artist-turned-filmmaker Tarik Saleh has delivered one of the most visually striking films of the year; an adult animation which can stand proudly alongside the likes of Waltz with Bashir, Perseplois and Princess. Set in a future Europe, the film follows disgruntled office drone Roger (voiced by Vincent Gallo) in his quest to unearth a shocking corporate conspiracy.

Could you talk about the animation techniques you used here? I presume they're quite innovative.

My father is a stop-motion animator so I grew up in his studio. I promised myself never to work in animation – it’s a profession for crazy people! But then, as destiny would have it I was messing around with this software called After Effects, which is really good for compositing but not very good to animate with. We started to develop a technique, which was basically using the software to do things it wasn’t meant to do. That's why the film looks unique!

We also played around with perspective - the backgrounds were filmed with a 35mm lens, but the characters were shot with 70mm. The result is this dreamlike quality. Perspectives look familiar enough, but something is not quite right.

There are little nods to other films throughout Metropia. Which were you most influenced by?

Well I don't know any filmmaker who's not inspired by Blade Runner - it just kicks ass! There is also some Hitchcock in there too. I love conspiracies, and there is no one on earth who has managed to tell conspiracy stories like Hitchcock did. Vertigo is one of the best films ever made, and I’m still in love with Kim Novak!

But Metropia was more inspired by Kafka, Orwell and art – particularly the Dutch painters. We liked the idea of light coming from within a character, so in the film it's almost as if the characters have light bulbs inside their heads. It's a very dark world, broken up by the light coming from the characters' faces.

And why did you decide to exaggerate their facial features?

For me it was important that the eyes were very expressive. In animation there is a tendency towards over-acting - every gesture is horribly exaggerated. One of the most interesting things about humans is that their eyes will often betray their thoughts and feelings, so I wanted to have that level of nuance in this film.

You've assembled a really interesting voice cast. How did Vincent Gallo become involved?

At first I was afraid to even mention Vincent Gallo to my producer, because he has this reputation. Then I just came out and said it - I either wanted Adam Sandler or Vincent Gallo! I had in mind two totally opposite ideas of who Roger could be. I wanted Vincent because I had this idea of Roger as a sensitive person with a dangerous side, someone who might under pressure do things that he would regret later. So we sent Vicnent a few minutes of footage, and he agreed. It was beautiful working with him! He treated it like a live action role, it wasn't typical voice acting at all.

I'd also like to mention Udo Kier, who was amazing. He always scares me, it doesn't matter what he's doing. He can try to be nice and you're still on edge!

The story is quite existential - was there one particular idea that served as a starting point, or did you have an idea of how the story would pan out before you wrote the script?

The basic premise was there from the outset, but we took a long time to write the script for many reasons. Financing a film like this is very difficult, so I had to basically trick the financiers by writing a version of the script that they would like. Then we just went ahead and made the version they didn't like!

How did they react when they found out you'd been deceiving them?

At first they were very disappointed, but when they heard it was opening Venice Critics’ Week they said "This is great, we have always stood behind you!" The film industry is very opportunistic - when you have success people love you, but when you run into trouble and are not so successful… people don't hate you necessarily, they just don't answer your calls!

How important is the festival circuit for a film like this to find its audience?

In every country there’s a film industry that promotes the idea that if millions of people don't go and see your film, it shouldn't be made. But what they don't realise is that the guys who make those films are inspired by films that are seen by very few people. For example I saw Enter the Void recently and was blown away. Ninety-five percent of Swedish people will never see it, but I think the world would be missing something if the film didn't exist. London has a fantastic programme. I've been to eight other festivals with Metropia and I can say that it’s unmatched when it comes to diversity.

Paul O'Callaghan

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