14/05/2006 - Body, identity, emotion

Born in Budapest in 1974, György Pálfi enrolled in the Hungarian University of Drama, Film and Television in 1995. Through two films, he has established himself as one of the most talented Hungarian directors today, developing a strong and personal visual style.

Following the festival success of Pálfi’s debut feature Hukkle in 2002, his second film, the Hungarian Film Week’s Main Prize winner Taxidermia [+see also:
trailer
film profile], will have its world premiere at Cannes in the « Un Certain Regard » selection. Taxidermia recounts 60 years of history in Central Europe through the story of three broken lives, three generations (grandfather, father and son) during WWI, the communist regime and the present day. Taxidermia was produced by Eurofilm Studio (HU) in co-production with Memento Films (FR), Amour Fou (AT), Arte France Cinéma (FR) and La Cinéfacture (FR). World sales are being handled by Fortissimo Film Sales.

What are the origins of Taxidermia?
It began at the film school well before Hukkle, with our teacher Sándor Simó, who insisted that our first film be an “initiation film”. I worked with Zsófi Ruttkay on a project inspired by contemporary Hungarian writers and we slowly focused on two short novels by Parti Nagy Lajos that presented a possibility to tell a family story. Hukkle was made first. Planned as a short film, it was much easier to produce than my initial project. However, Taxidermia was, in fact, a way to “close” my years at the Film School.

How did you adapt these short novels?
Nagy Lajos, the author, had an active role in the script: he supported us when it was necessary but without interfering in our work. For instance, I asked him to read the dialogue with me and he re-wrote some of it. I really think it’s a shared achievement. My main problem was to get rid of the literary elements to give back the atmosphere of the novels and the characters’ experience. I wrote totally new scenes to replace some patterns that are in the novels. Then, we worked to give the three stories a dramaturgic unity.

Is Taxidermia as experimental as Hukkle was?
I think it’s much more traditional in terms of cinematic language. Nevertheless, it’s still a strange film, maybe sadder, bitter, with a stronger message than I wanted at the beginning. Made with classic tools, Taxidermia did not become standard! It’s a sincere contribution about what I feel is important in this world. I don’t think it’s breaking taboos, as far as talking about bodies and instincts. I don’t think either of these characters is particularly pathological. Just have a look at your environment! In fact, with its three parts – sperm, spit and blood symbolizing man’s fluids – Taxidermia is about how our bodies can become stories. Body, identity and emotions are Taxidermia’s trinity.

Was it difficult to develop and produce Taxidermia?
At the beginning, we could not get any public support from Hungary, maybe because the project was still raw. We then succeeded in convincing Eurofilm Studio to come on board. But it really began when we won the Sundance Festival screenwriting competition. Then ARTE France supported the project through Memento Films, Hukkle’s French distributor. This helped to get Hungarian support and slowly set up the co-production. In fact, a lot of my energy – maybe 90% – was taken by production issues. On one hand, working in a co-production is really a difficult exercise in organisational, cultural and artistic terms. On the other hand, there’s no real film industry in Hungary yet, no real production infrastructure to support creativity. When you make a film, you do everything from scratch each time and directors have to be very involved in production issues.