02/09/2024 - VENICE 2024: The Austrian helmer’s feature debut pokes fun at society’s excessive need for perfectly curated, albeit fake, personalities

(© Fabrizio de Gennaro/Cineuropa)

If you pose as too many people all the time, chances are you might lose your own identity somewhere along the way. But what if society doesn’t really care for an authentic you, anyway? In Bernhard Wenger’s feature debut, Peacock [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bernhard Wenger
film profile], screening in Venice’s International Film Critics’ Week, a man has to jump off the deep end to find where his own “edge” actually is.

Cineuropa: How did you come up with the idea and the character of Matthias?
Bernhard Wenger: Back in 2014, I came across “rent a friend” agencies, which have existed in Japan for two decades. You can rent friends, family members – anything you don't have in your life. I flew to Japan and met their employees. I not only learnt a lot about the background of these agencies and how the employees prepare, but I also met a person who told me that because of this peculiar profession, she no longer really knows who she is. I adopted this conflict for the main character and built the story around it.

This is not the first time that you have created a passive male character that ends up in increasingly bizarre situations. What fascinates you about this set-up?
I find passive main characters exciting. You rarely see them in films, and it's a challenge to follow such a character around for 90 minutes. During casting, it became clear that we needed an actor whom people would enjoy watching. I've always loved watching Albrecht Schuch. He tends to play very active, heroic characters. This is the complete opposite.

It's a basic human need to be appreciated. We have also quantified this notion with social media. Can Matthias really be blamed, or is he just a victim of his circumstances?
He has definitely adapted to our society, in which we have to function all the time, in which we have to be perfect, and in which people always present themselves in the best light. This is the baseline of social media, and “rent a friend” agencies are an extension of that in real life.

You tell your story via a very dry satire. Is that harder to write compared to comedic wordplay?
The film addresses social problems, and the humour comes from these irritating situations. In classic comedy today, humour is mainly created through dialogue. I think that's a pity. That's why I like to work with mise-en-scène, set design, costumes and editing so that the humour is also created visually.

Your films may be set in Austria, but looking at your characters, you seem to think Scandinavians are the tragic figures.
In my youth, I was influenced by the dry humour of Scandinavian films and black English humour. I developed this style by mixing it with an Austrian sense of tragedy. Satirical humour is rare in Austrian films these days. I think that’s a great pity and that it's nice to bring it back.

If you google the symbolism of a peacock, you'll find attributes such as beauty, vanity, rebirth, vigilance and divinity. What is the peacock to you?
The peacock is a beautiful animal that can present itself stunningly. It shows off its plumage and struts around. But there is not much underneath this façade. It doesn't like to fly, it doesn't have a beautiful cry, and there is not much to it. That also applies to Matthias.

That sounds like a very harsh appraisal of your main character.
It's not a negative or bitter film, and that's exactly how I treat the main character: with a lot of love.