Die, My Love director Lynne Ramsay was hosted by the BFI London Movie Pageant on Saturday and mirrored on filming with A-list stars Joaquin Phoenix, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson.
The Scot’s newest characteristic — following Lawrence as Grace, a brand new mom who finds herself spiraling into the depths of psychosis — had its U.Okay. premiere Friday night time at London’s Royal Pageant Corridor, with Ramsay going into extra depth in regards to the filming course of at a Saturday Display Talks session with fellow trade execs and creatives.
Identified for her motion pictures Ratcatcher (1999), Morvern Callar (2002) and We Must Speak About Kevin (2011), Ramsay mentioned attending to know Hollywood heavy-hitters and recalled assembly Phoenix, star of her 2017 neo-noir psychological thriller You Have been By no means Actually Right here. The movie follows Phoenix as a traumatized mercenary named Joe, who’s employed by a politician to rescue his kidnapped daughter in New York.
“He’s superb,” started Ramsay, “I imply, he’s completely terrifying. He’s a beast, ? After I first met him, I used to be like — oh, my God, I feel I stated one thing actually silly like, ‘Are you left-handed or are you right-handed?’”
She went on to clarify the lengths that Phoenix, an Oscar winner for his efficiency in Joker, would usually go to on set. “He would simply by no means do the identical factor twice, he’d simply shock you,” she continued, remembering one unscripted take the place Phoenix purposely fell down some stairs. “Everybody’s working, going, ‘What’s occurred to Joaquin?!’” stated Ramsay. “He simply thought, ‘I’ll do this and see if it really works.’ […] Truthfully, I’ve by no means labored with such an thrilling actor in my life,” she added. “He’s phenomenal and he desires to only get on with it — he’s not into all of the paraphernalia and these bullshit issues… I really feel dangerous for telling you that story as a result of he’ll kill me!” When filming wrapped, Phoenix prompt they take the identical crew and make one other movie immediately.
Ramsay delighted the BFI LFF viewers with a few anecdotes about You Have been By no means Actually Right here, together with one on a French financier who was determined for it to go to Cannes. “He was obsessive about Cannes,” recalled the celebrated filmmaker. “He wished to see a minimize each week… [I said], ‘You’ll be able to wait till you get the director’s minimize. However he persuaded me into it. After which [he said], ‘That is shit, that is shit’ for the remainder of the edit, which was truly so soul-destroying.”
Joaquin Phoenix in You Have been By no means Actually Right here.
When the film lastly nabbed a spot on the 2017 Cannes lineup, there have been nonetheless scenes to shoot and Ramsay was left with every week to get the movie prepared. It later received finest actor for Phoenix and finest screenplay on the prestigious pageant, however it was “the nuttiest movie I had ever been on,” in keeping with its director.
When requested about bringing music into her movies, Ramsay admitted it was solely after working with Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood on You Have been By no means Actually Right here that she had loved hiring composers. “I by no means used music until it was within the scene. After which the increasingly I labored on options, and particularly after I labored with Jonny Greenwood, whose work actually enhanced my movie, I modified my thoughts,” she stated. “As a result of I really feel that music can inform you a lot about character.” She added that receiving information from Greenwood, who lately composed the rating for Paul Thomas Anderson’s buzzy thriller One Battle After One other, was like “getting a Christmas current… I used to be simply blown away by the music.”
In direction of the top of the session, Ramsay was nervous to disclose an excessive amount of about her newest movie with Lawrence and Pattinson. “Jennifer Lawrence was simply in a completely bonkers scenario,” she did tease, earlier than going into depth in regards to the characters of Grace and Jackson. “She does essentially the most outrageous issues, however he nonetheless loves her, ?”
“However she sort of takes it to the restrict,” continued Ramsay. “It’s additionally about her marriage and whatnot, and she or he feels a bit invisible… There’s all that hope shifting into a brand new home, there’s wild intercourse after which a child is available in and he doesn’t need intercourse together with her anymore. These sorts of issues that occur in relationships are within the movie in addition to components of [postpartum depression].”
The BFI London Movie Pageant 2025 runs Oct. 8-19.