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BRIFF 2021

Fred De Loof • Director of Totem

"I was looking for a very classic film effect to counterbalance the slightly heavy-handed humour and endless teasing"

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- We spent a bit of time with the Belgian filmmaker who spoke to us about his off-the-wall first feature film, which is a deliciously coarse comedy shot on a low budget

Fred De Loof  • Director of Totem

We met with Fred De Loof, the director of Totem [+see also:
film review
interview: Fred De Loof
film profile
]
which was presented in the National Competition of the Brussels International Film Festival. The Belgian helmer spoke to us about this low budget, off-the-wall first feature film of his, a deliciously coarse comedy about a group of forty-year-olds suddenly confronted with their responsibility over the disappearance of one of their playmates back when they were boy scouts.

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Cineuropa: How did this project come about?
Fred De Loof:
It originated first and foremost with a picture of a group of adults who were wearing their old scout uniforms, which were now too small for them; forty-year-olds who didn’t seem to want to grow old. There was also the fact that I wanted to make a science-fiction film, specifically involving time travel. And, last but not least, it’s a question which we continually ask ourselves: what would my life have become if I hadn't made that mistake? I also wanted to talk about bullying. From both sides. Personally, I’ve got a face people want to slap, and I received plenty of them when I was a teen, but I was also the one hassling other kids in my class. I was part bully, part bullied, although it was never really nasty. What struck me was the fact that while it’s a big thing for those who are bullied, the impact of which is often underestimated, for those doing the bullying, it’s just a laugh; there’s a group effect which numbs your empathy and absolves you of responsibility. The challenge was turning such a tragic situation into a comedy, all the while respecting the “lightweight” production conditions to fall in line with the call for projects launched by the CCA-FWB for lower budget films which could be made quickly.

So you had to respect the unities of place and time, made possible by the scout meeting in the woods?
Somewhat naively, I told myself that in order to make a film that didn’t cost very much, I was just going to use one decor. Forests are great, you don’t need any décor… So yes, the few set design elements relating to the scouts didn’t cost all that much. That said, in terms of logistics and infrastructure, it was hellish!

And in terms of the tone, where did you want the film to sit?
In the very beginning, I wanted to make a very straightforward film, especially in terms of the acting. I play the lead role and at the beginning, that’s how I played it: very literally. But as soon as the issues became darker and it started to move me on a personal level, I couldn’t play it like that anymore. I had to add some sort of shift. That’s how the tone was set in the end. I felt like I’d been caught in my own trap of wanting to turn a tragedy, which moved me so deeply, into a comedy. And the parody imposed itself to alleviate all that.

How did you go about filming the forest? It’s the perfect film forest!
I actually do a lot of work in advertising, and I like “beautiful images” which have been reworked, with symmetry, slightly graphic framing. I don’t use too many over-the-shoulder-style shots, I often film in widescreen. I also really like anamorphic shots and blurred backgrounds. When it came to Totem, I was looking for a very classic cinema effect, to counterbalance the tone, the slightly heavy-handed humour and the endless teasing. I really like that contrast, that insolence of employing the best aesthetic means just to muck around; it’s a bit irreverent, I like that. In terms of the images and the colour palette, we tried to find a particular tone which wasn’t too desaturated, naturalistic, colourful or comedy-esque. We were looking for something somewhere between the two, playing with hot-cold contrasts, hotter characters, the colder forest… The scenes set in the past are more bluish in tone, to emphasise the mystical, timeless aspect of the story. We also indulged in a bit of day-to-night for the fantastical side.

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(Translated from French)

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