IN HER OWN WORDS ON DAVID LEAN David Lean gave me Varykino: grand, lyrical shots of Tonya Zhivago’s frozen remote Russian dacha. Pure cinema, as big as it came at that time. I was eight and overwhelmed. Later, as a student and editing assistant, David Lean meant 40 frames. A second and a half, the exact length of a close-up reaction shot according to David Lean. I would find and select the frames for the editor. A face in awe or shock, in mourning or joy, or simply a deadpan look. The montage itself would magically enable the emotion. ON FILMM AKING I’ve made five films in Denmark, where there’s more of the European tradition of the auteur. In America, it’s more of an industry. England is somewhere in between… I’d love to do something more genre oriented. I feel like my craft is now good enough, I should just go for it… I want to stop and see if I can move in a different direction. Of course, I am proud of the films I’ve done, but I should use this chance to try to explore things I haven’t done yet.
When you do a film with a bigger budget, it’s not liberating because you can’t just point the camera in any direction. But you do have more control and the film looks more like you imagined than a Dogme film. ON DIRECTING SOMEONE ELSEÕS SCRIPT It’s much harder to get to know the script, and you can’t fix things. But [for An Education], I decided to just trust the material and make sure that Nick Hornby’s dialogue and tone wasn’t overpowered. My job was about getting the humour, delivering all the layers, getting the most out of every moment. Just to tell the story but not write the story, it’s a different job. ON ACTORS Each actor is, in some ways, the lawyer for their character – they see the script from their point of view. My job is to see that, but also to see it from the audience’s point of view.
ON DENM ARKÕS FEM ALE DIRECTORS One out of every 10 features in Denmark are directed by women… A couple of us have worked with Zentropa, and Lars [von Trier] really likes women and they let you bring your children to work, so maybe that is one explanation. Another is that there was a strong group of feminists working in Danish television in the early 80s and they gave us a couple of chances.
ON M AKING FILMS IN THE UK I’m starting to become an Anglophile, but it didn’t start out that way. Your writers, your actors, your locations, but also the work ethic – the level of craft and artistry is extreme. This has to do with the fact that you do some of the biggest films in the world, but you also have a tradition for very small, intimate, low budget dramas. It means that working with people in Britain feels like a great privilege.
ON DOGME 95 FILMM AKING For certain kinds of story and script, Dogme does wonders. You have a freedom that is unbelievable and that is not matched by anything. It’s about artistic liberation.
SOURCES: An Education Production Notes; Samuel Wigley (2O14, September), BFI.org.uk: ÔSpoiling for a fight: Lone Scherfig on The Riot ClubÕ; Lucy Farmer (2O14, March), moreintelligentlife.com: ÔThe Q&A: Lone Scherfig, Film-makerÕ; Wendy Mitchell (2O11, September), Screendaily.com: ÔLone Scherfig says sheÕd like to try Ômore genre-orientedÕ filmsÕ
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