16/06/2006 - Fresh Air: Emotion and atmosphere

Interview with Ágnes Kocsis, the Hungarian revelation of the year whose directorial debut Fresh Air [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] will screen at Karlovy Vary's sidebar section Variety Critics' Choice: Europe Now! An opportunity to discover a highly determined woman with a very reflective style who turns her gaze to the heart of emotions.

Why did you choose to explore the mother-daughter relationship in Fresh Air ?
The job of a bathroom attendant that the mother does is considered to be one of the most humiliating in our society. I thought it was an interesting subject to deal with through the shame her daughter feels, a very evident starting point because audiences can understand it. I wanted to express these emotions through the atmospheres, images and colours. Children initially identify with their parents, then they being to search for and compare themselves during adolescence. In this case, there is an additional problem because the mother has a job that’s humiliating for everyone.

The film emphasises lack of communication.
The daughter is going through a rebellious phase against her mother, who loves her but is unable to handle the situation very well because she has other problems as well. Many people live without communicating, or communicate only insignificant things. This situation deteriorates and becomes increasingly more serious, and neither of them can find a solution, only an outside force can bring about a change. I didn’t want to make a social film, but to deal with individual emotions: that which the mother and daughter feel, what they think and experience.

In Fresh Air, the sense of desperation is accompanied by a sense of humour.
Loneliness is a phenomenon that touches many people who dream of something else. They’re unhappy because they often don’t know what they want. And they won’t find this somewhere else. Nevertheless, I think knowing how to laugh is essential. At the end of the film, there is hope, because everything that seemed negative to the daughter, who gets nothing that she dreamt of, helps her discover reality. It is only by understanding reality that a goal can be reached, because the dream is not enough.

How did you find the two actresses?
I had already worked with Julia Nyako, who plays the mother, and immediately thought of her because she’s a beautiful woman who can attract men. I like going against stereotypes, for instance that a bathroom attendant is somehow supposed to be ugly. We didn’t find anyone to play the 17 year-old daughter in the acting schools through a casting session of 2,000 girls. We ended up searching in fashion schools, which is where I noticed Izabella Hegyi, in a class, alone in a corner, different from the rest. I liked her immediately, but she’d never acted. Luckily, she revealed all her sensitivity and naturalness during the rehearsals.

What visual plane did you work on?
In Fresh air, like in my short films, I never had any close-ups. I don’t like visual effects unless they’re necessary. I like long shots in which the characters can be inserted, that way spectators can choose what they want to look at. With that same spirit, I don’t use music because I don’t like amplifying emotions. I’m interested (and in painting as well) in the atmosphere that comes from colours, composition…

Who are your favourite directors?
I love European cinema of the 60s and 70s and directors like Fellini, Antonioni, Godard, Truffaut, Buñuel, Olmi and many others. Today, I like Asian films, when they’re contemplative. Often, when I go to the cinema, I forget the stories but the atmospheres stay with me.