Nicolas Winding Refn © Amazon / Scott Garf
Rendez-vous with Nicolas Winding Refn
During Cannes 2019, four Rendez-vous with artists will take place in the Buñuel Theater, replacing the former Cinema Lesson. Four masterclasses with directors, actresses and actors invited to talk about their work and their careers, during Rendez-vous open to all festival-goers.
In this year's program: Zhang Ziyi, Sylvester Stallone, Nicolas Winding Refn and Alain Delon.
Nicolas Winding Refn
A conversation hosted by Philippe Rouyer (film critic at Positif and on Le Cercle on Canal+).
The Danish director who was revealed by Pusher when he was only 24 and winner of the Best Director Prize Cannes for Drive in 2011, is back in Official Selection this year. He will be presenting two episodes of his Amazon-produced series Too Old to Die Young.
More than a director, he is also a true lover of cinema, having created the website ByNWR.com, combining a streaming platform of restored films and an online magazine on music, literature and illustration.
Nicolas Winding Refn will talk about his career, his choices and the various ways to be a director when one works for a cinema film, a series, with a classic producer or for a platform.
On creativity:
Creativity brings us to life. It has the power to change the world – it helps us communicate things to others, things that will stay with them forever. Creativity is how we express ourselves.
On his work:
I've always sought to channel my emotions through images. I love spontaneity and unpredictability. I like going against the flow of ideas. I picture to myself what I want to see, then set about making it happen. The golden rule is never to sit back and relax, never to do things you've already done, and to make each film as if it were your last.
On series and streaming:
While I was making The Neon Demon, Netflix became increasingly popular in Los Angeles. People said to me "You've got to do something for TV." I didn't want to, but I took an interest in the idea which I found interesting. I decided to do a series in several parts. I wanted to create something which would allow people to stop viewing and start again as they wanted.
“The golden rule is never to sit back and relax, never to do things you’ve already done, and to make each film as if it were your last.”
On Too Old to Die young:
I started out with two themes: religion and death. In 2016, the elections in the United States affected me a great deal. It inspired me for the series. The shoot took ten months and I worked every day without a break. I thought I was going mad, but it was funny. I felt very free. I cut and separated each episode wherever I felt like. It was like painting an enormous canvas, then breaking it into little pieces to show it to the spectators.
On Miles Teller, the lead actor in Too Old to Die Young :
We met and discussed it at my place. We stared straight at each other for a while. I realised that he looked a lot like Elvis Presley. How could I not give a part to an actor who looked like Elvis?!
On the role of silence in his films, and in general:
Silence is one of the most important things there is. Calm and silence reveal what's in our soul.
On the role of humour in his films:
I think that all my films are funny in a way. Why not mix up genres and themes – sex, humour, violence, etc?
On dyslexia and colour-blindness:
I'm dyslexic but that doesn't hinder my projects, and if I can't write something, I get someone else to do it for me. I've turned my colour-blindness into an advantage. Accepting this that we can't do enables us to move forward.
On his future project:
I want to make a new feature film next year. The project is already underway. I've got the title: I’m Going to Kill You, the concept and I know how to handle it.
