Lorna Tucker • Director of Garbo: Where Did You Go?
“I want to make sure that people can see that these gods that we create are terribly human”
by Jan Lumholdt
- The British director breaks down her third documentary on complex females who have inspired her
As self-admittedly quirky and even “artistic” as her documentaries may seem, Lorna Tucker is gaining ground these days, bringing the stories of extraordinary women to the screen. Her third entry in this field, Garbo: Where Did You Go? [+see also:
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interview: Lorna Tucker
film profile], world-premiered at the 35th Stockholm International Film Festival.
Cineuropa: Vivienne Westwood, Katharine Hepburn and now Greta Garbo have each had a Lorna Tucker documentary dedicated to them. What are the common denominators, if any?
Lorna Tucker: They’re all women who have inspired me for different reasons, including their outsider aspect. I’m not a fan of any of them, per se; I want something behind the glamour. I talk about Vivienne as a single mum who had gone bankrupt and at 60 still wasn’t earning money; I don’t just let people think she was some kind of fashion genius. Her story of longevity could inspire others out there who want to do things but who think there’s no access. Same thing with Hepburn, given the time she was in, with expectations of having children and people feeling they had a say in what you were doing. All three are complex females doing extraordinary things at a time when the glass ceiling was low. Garbo’s the one I related to the most, even though I’m not a beautiful movie star.
In what way did she feel close?
In the way that she really came from nothing. But she was always watching and looking. People may say that if Mauritz Stiller hadn’t discovered her, she wouldn’t have made it. But I know she would have because she didn’t want to go back there, to where she came from, to a life in poverty; she was going forwards. I don’t want to say that I know who she was, but I want to make sure that people can see that these gods that we create are terribly human, moany and depressed, and far from always knowing what they’re doing.
When did you first encounter Garbo?
Through an image. I didn’t have access to the kind of childhood with movies and television; I never watched anything of hers until I came across her personal letters. Same with Hepburn. Then I started watching, and do you know what I love? That these films are so fucking clever and so bloody good – still, to this day.
Do you have any favourites?
With Hepburn, it’s The Philadelphia Story because I love her wardrobe, and with Garbo, it’s The Saga of Gösta Berling, where she’s still young and voluptuous, and not yet moulded into the Garbo to come. Of the sound films, I do like Queen Christina, with its over-dramatic, almost slapstick, behaviour.
There’s quite a deluge of celebrity documentaries these days, not least on Hollywood cinema. How do you make your work stand out?
It’s become very fashionable, yes. And although, as I always say, there’s nothing new in any of my films, I try to find new ways to tell these stories in order to make people feel something that isn’t in your typical Hollywood documentary. At times, I’m regarded as too “artistic”. That said, the Hepburn documentary, as quirky as it may be, went on to become the most-watched Netflix documentary in the USA.
Your filmography also contains some titles that differ quite a bit from any celebrity stories. Amá [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] deals with the sterilisation of Native American women, and Someone’s Daughter, Someone’s Son, which opened earlier this year, takes on homelessness.
They are the social-issue films, yes. Someone’s Daughter, Someone’s Son is personal and the most painful film I’ve made. It talks about the radical way we can end homelessness on a global scale. Through it, I’ve worked with Prince William and the mayor of London to create policy in parliament. It’s had a big impact in England. We made it with very little money and lots of love, and funded it with what I’d made from some of my bigger films and via Kickstarter.
What’s next for you?
Another documentary, this time on Yuja Wang, the Chinese pianist. And I’m shooting my first fiction film this summer, called Bare.
Is it getting easier to realise your films these days?
Fifty-fifty. Half of the industry will not even meet me. The other half will just fund anything I do. It’s funny, that “Marmite” sense of who you can be. And I’m happy with that – I don’t want to be part of anything; I just want to make films.
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