Baptism for child of cinema

Mads Mengel, left, and producer Victor Cunha at the closing awards ceremony at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival with best director and special jury prize awards Photo: Courtesy of Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary

For a first-time feature filmmaker to walk away from an international film festival with accolades for best director and a special jury prize is beyond wildest expectations.

Danish director Mads Mengel's first take on the news from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival last weekend was “truly overwhelming” while his producer Victor Cunha of Monolit Film chipped in: “The awards are also a reminder that intimate, character‑driven dramas still have a vital place on the big screen.”

Mengel whose The Guest was also the first Danish feature to be selected for the festival’s main competition since 2015, is conscious that the acclaim marks an auspicious first step in the roll-out of the film. Other festivals (and perhaps more awards beckon) before its release on its home turf next year.

When we sat down to talk a few days before the festival’s July 11 closing ceremony Mengel, 36, revealed: “I always knew I wanted to make a drama about complex relationships. And the next step obviously was that I had to make it about family. I had some different experiences myself and of people around me who were an inspiration for some of the themes I wanted to explore. Quite early on I talked to my scriptwriter Christian Bengtson who’s also a friend.

“In the process we both became fathers ourselves for the first time, and as for many people, that changes your perspective on life. And that altered the film a lot and we knew we had to make that a part of it, much more than I thought at the beginning of the process. Suddenly we realised that we were making a film about forgiveness, and thereafter the dynamics evolved.”

Danish director Mads Mengel arrives with his partner for the world premiere screening of The Guest at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Photo: Courtesy of Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary

Mengel, who has directed such small-screen drama series as My Different Ways and Supplex, builds the drama around a family gathering at a seaside hotel where Karl (Simon Bennebjerg) is preparing for the baptism of his newly born child. It promises to be a convivial occasion until his mother Vibeke (the superb Trine Dyrholm) turns up unexpectedly – the uninvited “guest.”

The director professes to love working with actors. “They are all amazing. I knew early on that I wanted Simon Bennebjerg to play the new father. He came on board early and then Trine and the rest of the main cast. We rehearsed and talked a lot about the script. We even did some test shootings - around 18 minutes – partly as a way to hook the rest of the financing and partly also to get a feeling of how these characters interact, how they move, and how they talk to each other. It was important for me that there should be no flashbacks in the film.”

He was mindful of the fact as an audience member he likes to watch films “that take me seriously and allows me to find the layers and unravel them myself. Christian feels the same way and so does Victor [Cunha] our producer. So we had these rules: no flashbacks and the characters were not allowed to say anything to each other that they would not say in real life.

“That made the writing process a lot harder because you had to convey all the information in subtle ways. It was back and forth all the way up to the editing, in order to give the audience just enough information but not too much. I hope we struck the right balance.”

Trine Dyrholm in The Guest. Mads Mengel: 'I would say 100 per cent of the success of the film is to do with what the actors bring to the table' Photo: Courtesy of Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary

Mengel is a devoted fan of Paul Thomas Anderson (“a true master”) but also admires the work of fellow Danes Thomas Vinterberg and Lars Von Trier. He grew up under the influence of the Dogme credo.

“So you can see from where I derive my inspiration. The Danish film tradition is strong and we all stand on the shoulders of those greats. Vinterberg was even younger than me when he started and seemed a natural born talent.”

Best director and special jury prize recipient Mads Mengel and the rest of the film team at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Photo: Courtesy of Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary

Mengel claims to have always know he wanted make movies – right from the age of 10. “Being so convinced at that age was a privilege because some people search for their vocation all their lives. I grew up with films at a formative stage in my life. Perhaps I was a bit lonely but my understanding of people and the world in general was learned through cinema. I spent a couple of years trying to get in to the Danish Film School on the basis of my short films and then I was accepted. The themes of my short films were similar to my current preoccupations: ‘I love you but I cannot be in the room with you.’ Even when I try to do something else it always ends up by being about the connections between people and the idea that the ones we love always give us the greatest sorrows. This seems to be what I am drawn to. “

As a director he is energised by the work with the cast. “I love to see how they grapple with the tensions and the themes. I see my job a director to set the perimeters for them and then to set them free. I would say 100 per cent of the success of the film is to do with what the actors bring to the table. It is also important not to be too fixated on what the character is before you have the actor. It is crucial to see what they bring to the role rather than forcing them to be something else. Christian and I are very good at adapting what we learn from the actors. Christian is quick on his feet and can change things without losing sight of the overall structure,” he said.

Besides basking in the reception given to The Guest he is working on a television show as well as a feature film – a thriller-drama about the state of journalism. “It’s not in a good state: what we really need is old school fact-checking journalism,” he beams.

There is an additional production on the horizon – his second child is due in January but unlike the vibes in The Guest he does not anticipate another baptism of fire.