Beautiful Beings takes an uncomfortable however finally enlightening journey by means of bullying, abuse, and cycles of violence which might sadly dictate the route of how one comes of age. Iceland’s submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar has garnered approval for its capacity to combine gritty, grounded storytelling with magical realism, and is now having a theatrical launch.
Filmmaker Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson and the good cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen (Another Round, Victoria, Rams) create a tone poem to youth in Beautiful Beings, with fittingly beautiful imagery that is paying homage to Terrence Malick films. Beneath the sweetness, they inform a tough story of a bullied boy and the powerful group of youngsters who befriend him, as their lives inexorably result in a second of surprising violence. Guðmundsson spoke with FilmWeb in regards to the inspiration behind Beautiful Beings, its themes, and the issue of being a child.
Beautiful Beings Is About the Hidden Violence of Youth
Beautiful Beings follows a viciously bullied boy named Balli who’s slowly befriended by a gaggle of rough-and-tumble-kids — Addi, Konni, and Siggi. Addi is probably the most delicate of the three and begins having surreal desires and experiencing a sort of telekinesis, virtually a metaphor for a way his compassion can provide option to an empathy which is virtually a superpower in violent city areas. The violence of their neighborhood is dismal, and Beautiful Beings may be very understanding about exhibiting its causes and results.
After Guðmundsson and Grøvlen made the charming movie Heartstone, which additionally focuses on the abuse and friendship in a gaggle of boys, the filmmaker did not wish to make one other coming-of-age drama. The deep recesses of his thoughts had different plans, although, as reminiscences of his personal youth and chronic desires compelled him to write down Beautiful Beings, which continued his coming-of-age fashion however in a way more private route.
“It’s fairly completely different, the inspiration from Heartstone and this movie, however each of them do have the identical…” stated Guðmundsson, trailing off as reminiscences floor. “I had a really turbulent time in my teenage years. I got here from a very good, secure household, however I nonetheless had pals that did not have pretty much as good help. I used to be very conscious of how grownups did not actually have any clue about how our life actually was, that our world was very separated from grownups.”
Guðmundsson on the Nature vs. Nurture of Beautiful Beings
It’s that separation which regularly permits violence and cruelty to run rampant. So typically, the very techniques which might change youngsters’ lives (college and the household unit) are ignorant as to what’s truly occurring in them. Beautiful Beings depicts this with heartbreaking empathy and makes the argument that the miserable shows of violence viewers see right here will not be merely inherent to the human however the results of damaged properties, failing colleges, and a tradition that defines masculinity by means of a violent prism. In the character vs. nurture argument, Beautiful Beings desires us to consider that cruelty is realized.
“The college system and household — I believe that is that is the 2 anchor factors the place younger boys must get help,” stated Guðmundsson. “I believe all of my pals had been unhealthy at college for causes or had dyslexia. That wasn’t identified a lot then, and so individuals thought they had been simply unhealthy at college or thought-about a bit silly. But I knew they had been tremendous intelligent, they’re simply not getting good grades. And then they possibly did not have the help they wanted at residence. But they’d the must be good in one thing, and a few of them select to be one of the best at being the powerful man or being a fighter. And in fact, it isn’t only a selection. There’s one thing that pushes them into that route.”
“How the boys behave [in Beautiful Beings] is from a failure in society, in the varsity system, and at residence, and with poisonous masculinity and all these parts. But at a pure stage, these are good boys. And possibly a few of them will not be going to be good boys once they’re 30 or 25,” stated Guðmundsson. He continued:
You could come throughout a world the place they’ve gone too far, they usually lose the innocence that they’ve as youngsters. But there’s one thing pure about youngsters, they usually would possibly lose it, however it’s there now. So for me, it was essential that you’d perceive these boys, and also you would not choose them regardless of their conduct. You could be with them, really feel for them, and really feel sorry for them, hope that they are going to get to a greater place regardless of their conduct.
How Violence Can be a Form of Emotional Bonding
One of probably the most fascinating facets of Beautiful Beings is the way it explores the methods during which that conduct, this violence born from failed establishments, can truly be utilized in optimistic methods. Guðmundsson may be very cautious to delineate between violence that’s pushed towards extra damaging, malicious ends (the sort that poor Balli suffers from), and the violence which could be a type of play for teenagers who do not know any higher.
“There’s this ‘boys can be boys’ sort of factor,” stated Guðmundsson. “Play combating and stuff like that, it may be very satisfying, however then when it turns into extra like torture, and turns into evil, then there’s one thing else that is pushing that ingredient. But I simply bear in mind play combating with my pals, after which having these small moments of laying collectively, and all of us sort of simply having fun with that with out admitting it or telling anybody.”
Guðmundsson’s Inspiration for Beautiful Beings
Those emotions stayed with Guðmundsson, and it is secure to say that the story of Beautiful Beings was first written in his coronary heart earlier than he put pen to paper. It’s clearly fictional, however a lot of it was birthed from the feelings and conditions he skilled and witnessed as a toddler. “Beautiful Beings is impressed by a neighborhood I grew up in,” stated Guðmundsson. “One of my greatest pals was among the finest fighters within the neighborhood, however he wasn’t like that once we met. We met fairly younger like 11 or 10, after which he grew as much as develop into that.” Guðmundsson continued:
In Iceland, violence amongst younger youngsters and poisonous masculinity was actually sturdy. So it was like a giant advantage to have the ability to combat. And if you happen to could not combat, you’d threat the possibility of being bullied or picked on and pushed down, so you would need to sort of toughen up and present that you just had been prepared. I keep in mind that we had a giant pal group, and me and one in all my different pals would sort of pull in boys who had been the other of this, who could not combat and had been sort of weak, simply to sort of hold a stability in a gaggle in order that it wasn’t all about [fighting].
In some ways, the character of Addi looks like a stand-in for Guðmundsson, going out of his manner to herald boys who could not combat and did not wish to. When Addi has desires of occasions and future moments he could not rationally find out about, it is virtually as if Guðmundsson’s desires of his youth had entered the movie.
Beautiful Beings Comes from Dreams to Theaters on Jan. 13
Just as fantasy and creativeness are essential parts of childhood, dream sequences are an essential gadget in Beautiful Beings. Dreams have a particular place in Iceland, past mere Freudian evaluation. “Finding that means in desires and sensing stuff is sort of wealthy in our tradition, and never thought-about so irregular,” defined Guðmundsson. “I needed that to be a aspect story, however I needed to ensure that it would not take over the story. It’s simply the factor that helps the principle character have one thing that is self-conscious or one thing outdoors of actuality that’s pushing him to face what he is doing.”
“I elevate my youngsters in order that desires can have a that means,” continued Guðmundsson, “and since I dream stuff, they usually have a that means for me. I do not know if it is supernatural or simply your subconsciousness, or if it is like quantum physics, some connections between areas. I do not know what it’s. But I dream stuff that I ought to think about very nicely if I do not wish to get myself in bother.”
Perhaps that is what actually compelled Guðmundsson to make Beautiful Beings. He adopted his desires, and like Fellini as soon as stated, “Cinema makes use of the language of desires.”
From Join Motion Pictures, in co-production with Bastide Films, Film i Väst, Hobab, Motor, and Negativ, Beautiful Beings can be launched by Altered Innocence on January 13.