12/08/2021 - We met with the co-director (alongside David Mutzenmacher) of this dark and off-the-wall comedy written with a Belgian accent, which is released in Belgium on Wednesday 11 August

We met with Gaëtan Liekens, the co-director (alongside David Mutzenmacher) of Music Hole [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gaëtan Liekens
film profile], a dark and off-the-wall comedy written with a Belgian accent, which is released in Belgium on Wednesday 11 August.

Cineuropa: How did this project come about?
Gaëtan Liekens: I’d already made a short film, José, with David Mutzenmacher, my associate, my other half, my little budgerigar, as I call him. Our producer Amos Rozenberg, who was keen to make a feature film, stumbled across this project and decided that this was the movie he wanted to make. David suggested I write the film with him, but, in the end, he threw himself into it and actually wrote the first draft of Music Hole on his own. I became involved in the project once the writing was already well underway. We re-did everything, reworked everything together, because two heads are better than one, in my opinion. We get on really well and our creative ping-pong is very productive.

What type of films speak to you?
Films like those by Kusturica, Guy Ritchie or Tarantino; films which are a bit crazy, jam-packed, with really fast-paced stories. They’re often ensemble films, with a lead character who actually takes the lead, like Wim Willaert in our case, but films which also place value on all the roles involved. All roles are important. It’s the combination of all the characters and all the smaller stories which lends the film its flavour. That’s how it works in real life: we’re the sum of our encounters.

What is the starting point of Music Hole?
I think it’s the demise of a relationship, or rather the denial of the demise of a relationship. David realised, as did I, that there were loads of people all around us who had been in relationships for years, who couldn’t stand each other anymore, and who were together out of habit rather than love, because of the children, the house, money. Sometimes we’re scared of hurting the other person, who we still feel we have a friendship with, if not love… When it hasn’t turned into hate. So we stay together...

Who is Francis, the film’s hero?
He’s a good man, a man lost in the love he has for his wife. His wife, meanwhile, had hoped to find more comfort and security with Francis. She met him when she was very young, she fell in love, partly because of his maturity at the time, but 10 years later, he’s treading water while she’s evolved. It’s the story of a man who’s totally in love with his wife, who does everything he can to get her back and is unable to accept her leaving him. These are situations we come across in real life and which sometimes end up on the back pages of the papers. It’s universal enough to speak to wider audiences.

To wider audiences, but in a particular key?
Yes, we wanted to get the drama across through comedy, to find humour in misfortune. To find the funny side of absurdity and misery. It’s a comedy, but a seriously dark one.

A few words on the cast?
Wim Willaert is a bit like a Belgian Robert de Niro. He’s got an unbelievable face, and he’s an incredible actor. He brought a whole other side to our Francis. And then to have a Dutch speaker who we then have speaking in French was important to us, to have Belgium portrayed in all its languages. Alongside him, we’ve got actors coming from different backgrounds: Frédéric Imberti, a brilliant theatre actor, Vanessa Guide, who’s appeared in a lot of French comedies, Belgian actors/actresses like Tom Audenaert, Hande Kodja, Mourade Zeguendi and Jason Chicandier, who’s making his first film appearance. And we’ve also got some non-professional actors, which is something I really like; the way they can inject an extra element of reality. All of the smaller roles were actually big ones.

What was the biggest challenge in terms of the film’s production?
It was pretty much a miracle that we actually managed to fund the film. It was a real battle; we had to make a few concessions, drop from 40 days of filming to 25, revise the script. But it was an incredible adventure. And that energy really fed into the film. There was also the incredible team we had. It really was a puzzle where all the different pieces came together and were all as important as one another. This solidarity is also part and parcel of the film’s Belgian DNA, with everyone being on the same level. It’s no coincidence that our motto is “Strength in numbers”. Yes, David is French, but we can say that he’s Belgian at heart. In fact, I think he writes with a Belgian accent!

(Translated from French)