Roland Reber (director, writer, producer)

 

What do you think is the main topic of the film?

 

Like all our movies this film has several levels. 

A superficial level: a man holds two women captive and is pushed further and further by his publisher till he himself ends up in the dungeon.

A second level : The film is about being unconsidered and not thinking about consequences. 

The women are acting without considering consequences as they simply agree to the experiment without thinking about implications. The writer is unconsidered as he neither has prepared himself nor the experiment: he doesn’t know what “reaching the top” actually means. Just the publisher is not as unconsidered, this would be another level.

 

Going further down the rabbit hole: Id, Ego and Super Ego: The freudian model. The writer and the two prisoners are representing one person and the publisher signifies life itself. Life, which keeps on testing them, lets them fail and dissolves concepts.

Beneath those there are some more levels but I want the viewers to find those out for themselves.

 

 

You have a special method of making films. What does your working method look like?

 

I think your are exaggerating about me having a special method. My working ethics are simple: Let it be! 

Meaning, I leave it up to the actors, who I see as artists and not as mere puppets, to define their roles themselves.

 

I direct softly, discuss a lot and let myself in with the actors. They therefore also help in shaping the majority of the film.

 

People always talk about a Roland Reber film - actually against my will, which I want to emphasise once again - as in truth it’s always a mutual work: Mira Gittner is doing lots: camera, editing and often also plays a main character.Antje Nikola Mönning acts and is at the same time my assistant. Marina Anna Eich acts and is head of sales & distribution as well as the press agent. Everyone of us has several tasks. Additionally there are Patricia Koch, Ute Meisenheimer and Claire Plaut. So it’s a mutual work. They are ‘wtp-films’.

 

 

You make films without government funding. Is there a special reason behind that?

Yes. To take government film funding is like putting yourself in the position of the two women. You are getting money for a specific time and for specific projects but you are totally dependend on these sadists. Then you add a broadcaster, like the publisher, who drives everyone into misery. In the end there is nothing left from your film except the title and that you are allowed to call yourself a filmproduction company.

This is a deliberately created dependecy, in which every young unemployed wanna be, who’s father is sitting in the supervisory board, will be made editor and has the power to decide, completely ingnorant of the situation, what’s happening, who will be casted, which scenes are to be deleted and in which festivals to participate. Government Film funding? No thanks.

 

 

How did you put the torture scenes into action?

With lots of fun, enjoyment and high spirits. You see, it’s all just a movie. If you have a look at parts of the making-of you will see that it actually wasn’t as cruel as it may look. It was good fun, I enjoyed it.

 

 

Why are the women naked during the torture scenes?

He bares them. In soul, spirit and body.

 

 

What does the title mean?

In every truth lies a bit of lie and in every lie lies a bit of truth. This, I took directly out of life. What actually is truth? What is the top? These are really important questions everyone should ask themselves. Everyday we are informed by broadcasting stations, the print media and the internet: this is the truth, this is what we uncovered, this is what we need to make public.But what is really true, what is fiction, what is manipulation. 

But in every truth lies a bit of lie and in every lie lies a bit of truth.

 

 

What’s your next project?

As every year, this will be decided at the Cannes Filmfestival. This is a ritual since we made the film “24/7 The Passion of Life” which actually was the first one to be dicided there - purely accidental though. Since then, it’s always in Cannes when we make up our minds about the next project.

If I have to guess right now, I think it will be “Big parking No.7”, a film about sex on public parking spaces.

 

Christoph Baumann (role: the writer)

Why did this script attract you? 

The writer’s character and the fresh narrative style of the story: A man is holding two women hostage and yet nothing is as it seems at first: Why do the figures seem so artificial? Why are they not acting? What goals do the characters have? 

For me, this script was a concentrated form of “The Dark Side...”, much denser, more claustrophobic, more exciting and far more merciless.

How did you get on working with Roland Reber and the team with their special working method?

As I have previously been involved in two of their productions (”The Dark Side...” and “24/7...“) I was already familiar with their working ethics and wasn’t surprised by their neat, intense and close special working method.

What’s most “special” about it, is not only the extensive talks about the script, the motivation of the characters and their associations which dominated the screen tests, but also the pauses. These two factors helped me to dive deep into the thoughts and emotions of the writer.

What was so special about the role of the writer?
Were there parallels to your own life?

The writer is getting wrapped up in an idea without a definate goal - for me a very comprehensible role. He has thought it through so nicely - devotingly planning the tortures, the humiliations, engaging his cerebral cinema - and then in the end he has to realise that his great plan was meant to fail from the very beginning. That was not due to a fault in the planning or by the women but by him.

What is for you the main topic of the film?

 

sYes, just make a plan

just be a big light!

And then make up a second plan

both won't work

Cause for this life the man is not bad enough:

but his longing for higher goals

is a nice touch.

Are there any anecdotes from filming?

I was very excited to find out how the torture method called “waterboarding” would work - to all our surprise (including Marina Anna Eich) it worked so well it probably gave Mira Gittner some headache editing it.

Were there difficult scenes? Did you had a favourite scene?

The ultimate turn around of the writer’s character happend in the last third of the film (the “sofa scene”) which was the most difficult but at the same time my favourite scene.

I can see here the most remarkable disection of the figure and at the same time the beginning of his decline.

Have you experienced your outer limits yourself?

No, I haven’t experienced my outer limits but I was surprised how strong the “cerebral cinema” can differ from reality. Scenes, that you have thought through intensly whilst reading the script, got a completely new meaning when acting. Especially with a topic in which the imagination is the decisive driving force behind it.

INTERVIEW WITH MARINA ANNA EICH (role: the courageous one, producer, distributor and PR)

 

What attracted you to the role?

 

The character is very calm and steady and tries to act in a considered way, in this very difficult situation, of which the outcome is uncertain and which could end up in death at any time. A character which isn’t at all corresponding to mine. In such a life threatening situation I would rather slip into Hysteria. But this contrast attracted me and was also challenging. 

Both of the imprisoned women live through different tortures, naked, so that the author, as he says, can lead them to the top. But nudity is not related to sexuality here. In this case it is a symbol for the purity of the soul, an expression of clarity, pureness, the unclouded. So to say the preparation for an immaculate spirit, which the author is aspiring for both. 

 

What is the message of the film?

 

For me, the movie is a symbol. A metaphor for the fusion of this world and the afterworld. Both of the prisoners stand for two human opposites. The publisher symbolizes destiny, which intervenes with advices in a tough and ruthless but supporting way and holds the reins. The author is a mix and stands between this world and the afterworld, as a kind of mediator who wants to bring the two prisoners on their way towards self-awareness, give them a push towards a way to “salvation”. Because of the intense dealing with the issue also the author gets into human self-doubts, that finally lead himself more and more towards self-awareness. Therefore the film has something very religious for me.

 

Are there favorite, or particularly difficult scenes?

 

In the scene at the cross, the author tries to give an understanding of the terms of “trust” and “truth” to the courageous one, by letting her hang naked at the cross for hours. It is the determining scene in which one also comes to see the vulnerable side of the courageous one. She is about to be broken. An inner fight: not to lose her countenance, and at the same time being extremely humiliated and to fear for her life. This fight was one of the most difficult scenes for me. 

 

Did you ever make a borderline experience?

 

The idea to use “water boarding” as one of the tortures came from us actors. Because of the gag reflex one psychologically gets the impression of the threat to drown immediately, in no more than a few seconds. I wouldn’t have thought that the fear for death would come so quickly. Now I can understand why this kind of torture leads to the desired result in less than a minute. 

I had another borderline experience waking up from a general anesthesia. I had the impression to suffocate because my respiratory tract was extremely dry and experienced a fear of death.

Antje Nikola Mönning (role: publisher) 

What was the reason for you to take on the role of the publisher?

I like that actresses have the opportunity to explore so many different facets of the human mind and that I can satisfy this through my acting.

For me it’s important to surprise myself and the viewers, again and again, with every new role.

That was the reason, that after having played the “lying, horny bitch” Lucy in  “angels with dirty wings”, to go for a completely different role.

My character in “The truth of the Lie”, the publisher, is also extreme, but in another way:

she is without compromise, shady and has a clear target in mind. She follows it without consideration towards human feelings and sits on the edge of legality.

For me, in this film, she is the only one who is prepared to go to her limits.

And at the same time she is the borderguard who ultimately decides who is allowed to go over the limit and who isn’t.

In contrast to Lucy, who didn’t know what she wanted and was driven by the others, the publisher is the gamemaster. That’s what intrigued me so much about playing this role.