Picture of the movie Lamb © Go to Sheep, Black Spark Film & TV, Madants, Film i Vast, Chimney, Rabbit Hole, Helgi Jóhannsson.
Lamb as seen by Valdimar Jóhannsson
As usual, Un Certain Regard gives pride of place to atypical genre films. Lamb is in this vein, haflway between fantasy and anti-speciesism. Iceland's Valdimar Jóhannsson tells the story of the upheaval in the life of a couple of sheep farmers when their special child is born. For this first film (a Caméra d'or contender), the director was able to convince Noomi Rapace, a seasoned Swedish actress, to return to the Iceland of her childhood.
What inspired you to begin work on this film?
Actually the project originated a long time ago, with a very simple image of a hybrid being. I then started creating a graphic novel as a point of reference, which the writer Sjón and I later connected to the actual story of Lamb.
Please describe your working method and the atmosphere on set.
I wanted the development and writing process to be as organic as possible. For over three years Sjón and I met weekly to work on the script. Once we had the script for the film, I storyboarded the entire film before bringing on any head of departments because I needed to be able to visualize the world and the story I was setting out to shoot. I had a library of visual references that I would categorize based on story, design, costume or cinematography. I believe preparation is the most important phase in making a movie and therefore I made sure to take a lot of time prior to principal photography with all of the HOD’s, especially my cinematographer and production designer. That for me was the key to our success during the shoot, as my entire team was well prepared for facing the unpredictable challenges of working with children and lambs.
Please share a few words about your actors.
I think I was extremely lucky with my cast. Noomi Rapace was perfect for the role of María. I felt that María´s character should be gentle and soft but at the same time very cold and strong-minded, which Noomi was able to deliver masterfully in all of the scenes. Hilmir Snær Guðnason is also amazing and I had worked with him before. I knew he would elevate the character of Ingvar, playing the caring husband who is willing to do everything for the happiness of his wife. The role of Pétur the brother is played by Björn Hlynur Haraldsson. That role was tricky as we needed the audience to like him despite his often erratic and unpredictable behavior and Björn Hlynur manages that flawlessly.
What did you learn during the course of making this film?
I learned to be deeply grateful for the opportunity to direct a feature film.
What were the sources of your inspiration?
Sources of my inspirations mostly come from painting, art, literature and music, and I feel that the medium of film unites all of these art forms in one powerful creation.
Can you tell us about your next project?
I am in early stages of developing a new project with writer Sjón, but it is not advanced enough to talk about it at this stage. But I can say that it will feature animals that have to deal with very complex situations.
