“I think the purpose of making films is for them to become the property of the world. And I at least try to make them as open as possible so that different people coming from different social and personal experiences can have their own personal experience of what they see. That is, the film should not be one-dimensional for everyone, but should have different interpretations and feelings for each person who sees it”, said George Lanthimos at the press conference held at the Megale Bretagneia hotel on the occasion of the Greek premiere of his new film, ” Poor things”, which will take place this evening (17/12) at the Onassis Foundation Building in the presence of the director. At the same time as Athens, there will be a premiere in Thessaloniki, at the Olympian in collaboration with the Thessaloniki Film Festival.

“Poor things”, a hymn to women’s emancipation, starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo will be released in Greek theaters on January 1, 2024 by Feelgood Entertainment. However, on December 26th and 27th there will be some special ticketed screenings in several cinemas.

Based on the book of the same name by Alistair Gray and written by Tony McNamara, the Greek director reverses the myth of Frankenstein and delivers a scathing essay on the freedom and joy of sex, class inequalities, individual and social self-determination, desire and the love.

Without Emma Stone by his side, since the American actress failed to come, as planned, to Athens, for health reasons, George Lanthimos spoke, this morning to Greek journalists, about his new film and the importance of creative of freedom which is the “key” in everything he does.

“I don’t often go into the process of trying to analyze what the film is saying or what I’m interested in saying through it. I try – and this is often misunderstood – not to share these thoughts and give interpretations, because I feel like I’m limiting how someone else can see the film. My thinking is only one side of this thing, others may see much more and that’s what’s interesting. There are issues that are more obvious, but for fewer people to understand or bring up. There have also been cases where I have felt that it is very unlikely that what someone thinks is in the film, but that is his own projection and it says more about the person than about the film” said the Greek director about whether it creates anxiety for him how his film will be “read” by the public.

“Poor things” is already included in all major film magazines and international film critics’ lists of the best films of the year. The film had its world premiere last September at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion, while it already has seven nominations at the Golden Globes and thirteen at the Critics Choice Awards and is one of the undisputed favorites for the next Oscars, in almost all categories.

Referring to his collaboration with the actors during the preparation of the film, he stated that the way they work is very practical and physical.

“It will sound strange but I don’t tell them anything. We do not analyze characters and the type of performances. First there is a script which, as I understand it, has a strong character and specific direction. Then we go into a process of working physically and instinctively, in which we do various exercises, theatrical, physical, where if the actors don’t know each other already, they get close and feel comfortable with each other and we rehearse without trying to specify how it will be their performance at the time we film. During the games the script becomes second nature to them but not in a rational way. There is a memory that is created in relation to the text and their bodies. Also, the whole process is also about the actors, who are excellent and understand the different textures that each scene has and the development of their character. I try not to talk too much because by not knowing exactly what they are thinking, I manage to get a distance from what I see and judge better if it works or not. If we had agreed on some things beforehand, it would have been more difficult for me.”

Set in the Victorian era, the film replaces the monster with Bella, a beautiful young nymphomaniac who kills herself to escape her abusive husband. Bella is brought back to life by an eccentric scientist, Godwin Baxter, who, however, gives her the mind of a baby. Thirsty to discover the real life, she runs away with Duncan, a capable and morally impaired lawyer, on a wander around the world. Freed from the prejudices and barriers of her time, Bella seeks to fight for equality and freedom.

“In Alistair Gray’s book Bella Baxter’s story is not told in her own words but through the perspective of various other characters. From the first moment I thought about making it into a movie, I wanted to put Bella at the center and create a movie about her own story. While the book is a realistic depiction of the Victorian era, it made me think that it would be more interesting to create a world that supports this choice and reflects how Bella interacts with this whole new world she travels through. . And it was particularly interesting to make the cities, her house, the ship where she travels, in the studio, with traditional cinematographic techniques, to build the sets and not render them digitally. We used physics and effects to complement what we had made, but nothing has been made from scratch as a digital effect” explained G. Lanthimos.

Speaking about Holly Waddington’s costuming, she said how much it added to the drama of the film: “She was extremely creative and gave the costumes a meaningful connection to the story of the film. For example, when Bella starts working at the brothel in Paris, she wears a latex raincoat, which is very nice and actually looks like a condom. Also, another important part was how the costume elements – and Emma played a big part in that too – meshed with the development of Bella’s character.”

In the book, Athens is mentioned in Bella’s journey, however it is not in the film. “Athens was never a big piece, it appeared at one point in a card Bella sent to Godwin and Max that said ‘God, the Parthenon is still broken.’ It was a small part that was cut in the editing,” he noted.

When asked if “Poor Things” could have been filmed in Greece and if he made the right decision a decade ago to leave the country, G. Lanthimos said: “They are two different pieces, one is the funding, the other is where it would be shot. When we were looking for a place and ended up in Budapest, all options were open, even Greece, but it was ruled out because there are no studios here. Nor the technical knowledge and experience of building such level of props. Hungary has the largest studios in Europe and a tradition of setting construction. The reason the film was difficult to make in the past is that ten years ago such a story was not so interesting to the world of cinema or in general, we will never know. I think times have changed and we’ve slowly been able to do it since I’ve also done some bigger films in English. The fact that I left Greece was very important because the first steps were taken to make these films. At the time they were telling me, “Fang is amazing” but what they were asking for was “something more mainstream that because you’re European will be a bit more interesting”. It was hard but we managed somehow. And once this path has started it doesn’t matter so much where you are. In the beginning it was important, at the moment I think it doesn’t matter so much where I am.”

As for whether the fact that he can now make the films he wants and the way he wants creates extra stress or more freedom for him, the Greek director emphasized that he has always made the films he wanted, it’s just that in the beginning he didn’t have financial support . “Anxiety is always there, I think at the beginning there was more naivety. The strange thing is that even though the budgets are getting bigger, you always plan the film in one way, there is a costing and when you get to shoot it there is never enough money and there is a struggle to make it. Final cut and creative freedom for me are essential and key to all of this. I mean, I don’t think I would make films if someone told me, “yeah, you can do it but you can’t have the final cut, we’ll talk about it later”. I have refused many times to make films with financing that does not guarantee me the final cut. I prefer to wait and do something else or some other profession.”