I saw The Life of Others, the German movie which is nominated for an Oscar in the foreign language film category. It’s a very good film, especially when you consider that it’s a first feature for the writer/director. You shouldn’t miss it.
I was reading an interview with the filmmaker, Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, and found this passage about fact and fiction, a comment the director used through many interviews:
The research was one big emotional and intellectual roller coaster ride. All of these stories somehow influenced my film. I spent almost too much time with the realities. But in the end, I had reached a point where I knew that I would be able to create a fictional story that was somehow truer than a true story. I do believe that fiction can actually be richer in content than fact. But perhaps that is a very German thought. The German word for fiction and poetry is « Dichtung », which actually means something like « Density ».
Fiction as density. I like that idea very much, especially when you consider that, as is true with this movie and so many others, the range of reactions it gets from critics is as fascinating as the movie itself.
I think he’s right when he’s saying that fiction can be richer than fact, because drama is concentrating the emotions and presenting them in a structured, meaningful way. When you think about it, Fiction (or drama), is a depiction of specific a human behaviors (is that word possible?), but with all the meaningless or redundant stuff removed, hence more powerful. If it wasn’t the case, we would plant a camera a the corner of Ste-Catherine and St-Laurent and just watch the bits of stories that pass by.
It really is too late to be so serious and heavy. Sorry.
I very much enjoyed Florian’s comments on « density » as well, Martine. Thanks for the tip of the hat.