Mads Blog

I just saw Prag. I ran in late, missing the director's (Ole Christian Madsen) comments, but Mads was there with him. Then the lights went down, and Mads and Ole joined the audience to watch the film.

The entire movie, or almost, is extreme close-ups, focusing on the sculpture of the human face - and the human spirit. It was also fully engrossing, and hard to watch, especially if you've been in a relationship with an introvert, as Mads' character is to the extreme. Stina (I want to say Stahlo but it's Simon Stahlo and he's a director, so it goes to show I'm learning the business) Stengade was so, so, sooo good, so in control and present, and perfectly out of control when it called for it. There was a scene that rendered me a puddle, and it will for you, too. (click the title of this post or here for a review of the film)

At the end of the film Ole and Mads got up to answer a few questions. Silence when calling for someone to start, so yes, I took the opportunity: Was it difficult for the actors to have such intense closeups on their faces? I asked, as in my old acting courses, we saw how the camera picks up everything, you better beleive it. Mads took the question and said that actually, with cameras all around you all the time, you don't often notice it, and it can even make it easier because you can be even more yourself.

The most interesting response was one (mostly) Ole gave about the most difficult scene to shoot, and without giving it away, it was location-based, with a few wild cards thrown in as the others involved in the scene were not actually paid extras, so it had the potential to get a little out of control. Basically, at the end of the day, kids were swarming the actress saying "I love you!" but ignoring Mads completely. :-)

As we were leaving I said to the director "Det er richtict godt!" but forgot to add the "Tillyke" like I'd hoped to. Therefore I did speak briefly with Mads, which I'm quite pleased about, but as he was about to be swarmed, I beat a retreat and came to where the people really ARE swarming: The Intercontinental Hotel, where a friend in the biz is working for the week. The autograph hounds outside are in full force.

Check back later at my Scandinavian page for perhaps more details on Prag and the movie I'm seeing tomorrow morning, Falkenberg Farewell.