“What’s the worst that could happen? Ask the pig.” That semi-comic, semi-sinister tagline for the US release of the Belgian horror film (yes, Belgian – NOT French, folks. That’s like calling a Canadian film “American”.), “Calvaire”, does not even begin to prepare the viewer for what they are in for with this movie. One part “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, one part “Deliverance” with dashes of “Psycho” and “Wolf Creek” thrown in, “Calvaire” is one of the most disturbing movies to cross the pond in quite a while. Director Fabrice Du Welz, in his feature film debut, has created a beautiful but horrifying world which traveling performer, Marc Stevens (Laurent Lucas), finds himself in after taking a REALLY wrong turn.
BD: Bon jour and thank you for taking time to speak with Bloody-Disgusting, Fabrice. Would you mind telling our readers a little about yourself?
FDW: Of course not. I am from Belgium and attended The Dramatic Arts Conservatory of Liege as well as The Cinema Training Institute. In 1999, I directed a short film, “Quand on est amoureax, c’est merveilleux” (“When One is in Love, That’s Marvelous”), which won the 2001 Grand Prize at the Gerardmer Festival. “Calvaire” came about because of my love of the horror genre plus I wanted to try and experiment a bit in “Calvaire”.
BD: You co-wrote “Calvaire” with Romain Protat – how did the two of you know each other?
FDW: Romaine used to be a friend of mine but we…how do you say…went our separate ways. Our careers went in different directions. He and I are both lovers of horror films and we wanted to do a “survival film” set in Belgium. And pay tribute to the films we love.
BD: How did you find the actors in “Calvaire”?
FDW: I had seen Laurent Lucas in another performance and thought he was a strange, enigmatic actor – perfect for the role of Marc. Jackie Berroyer is a French comic, quite the opposite, in many ways, from Bartel but he brought this…pathos to the role. Philippe Nahon, who played Orton – he is “The Great Nahon” in France. It was a privilege to work with him. And Brigitte Lahaie, the nurse from the nursing home who longs for Marc and is one of the only women in the cast, she was a famous French porn star back in the 1970s.
BD: There are quite a few memorable scenes in “Calvaire” including the dance scene in the tavern as well as a sort of “through the looking glass” scene involving Marc’s van and the insane scene on Christmas near the end. How did those scenes come about?
FDW: The tavern dance was not in the original script. I had seen an old Belgian film, “Un soir, un train” (“One Night, One Train”), which had a similar, bizarre dance sequence in it and I knew I had to use that. I wanted to tell something without words – the loneliness and madness of the villagers.
The shot through Marc’s windscreen…that scene almost didn’t happen. We didn’t have enough money and the producers didn’t want to pay so I used my own money to get that shot. I wanted to convey how reality changes at that point in the film. The dreamcatcher hanging from the rearview mirror made that shot a nightmare though.
The Christmas dinner scene was very obviously an homage to “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” but as the madness escalates and the camera angle dramatically changes, I wanted the audience to feel as though they are falling into this world of insanity.
BD: What sort of budget did you have to work with and what was your shooting schedule?
FDW: We shot in January and February of 2004…about 30 days…in the Fagnes region of Belgium, near the German border. We had a lot of weather problems which made editing pure hell. The film wasn’t even finished when it was shown at Cannes. Our budget was 1.2 million Euros (approximately $1.5 million US dollars). We shot the film on Super 16 but blew it up to 35 mm.
BD: The title of the film, “Calvaire”, has been translated as “The Ordeal”. I studied French and I learned that “ordeal” in French is “epreuve” – “calvaire” is actually a word for martyrdom or Christ’s suffering. And that there are actually small shrines called “calvaires” all over Northern France which have crucifixes as part of them. Some people have said that Marc Stephens is a Christ-like figure – do you think they are taking the title a little too literally?
FDW: The film is about faith – everyone in the film sees Marc as a “savior”, someone who represents something they long for or lost. I actually prefer the title “Calvaire” but the distributors had to find an English title so they chose “The Ordeal”. I wanted to return to the ambiguity of the horror films of the 1970s and early 80s.
BD: Marc is not a sympathetic protagonist. He comes across as cold and unemotional. Why is that?
FDW: Marc is an empty box into which everyone can project his or her fantasies. Everyone from the old woman in the nursing home to Bartel and even Boris want Marc to be something that was important to them.
BD: The look and sound of “Calvaire” really add to the creepiness of the film. Who helped you out with those elements?
FDW: Benoit Debie was my DP – we are good friends, he shot my short film and many people will know that he shot "Irreversible”. Manu de Meulemeester was my production designer and did an amazing job with the real inn we used for Bartel’s inn. The music was by Vincent Cahay who also was the piano player in the tavern scene. There really wasn’t much music in “Calvaire” – just Marc’s song at the beginning and the piano tune. I mostly used sound design – the wind, the sound of animals.
BD: “Calvaire” will be released on DVD here in the US on October 3rd. What sorts of extras can horror fans expect?
FDW: There will be a “Making of” featurette, the US trailer, the sound will be in 5.1 DTS surround and there will be web links as well as previews.
BD: What are some of your favorite horror movies?
FDW: I am deeply in love with cinema…I definitely am a huge fan of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and the original “Psycho”.
BD: What projects are you currently working on?
FDW: My next project will be in English, a French/UK production. It is sort of a combination of “The Brood” and “Don’t Look Now”. We should begin shooting in January in Thailand. And for the record, in “Calvaire”, the red-clothed children Bartel sees – they are not an homage to “Don’t Look Now” although I suppose it is a natural thing to suppose. Think about the joke Bartel tells Marc earlier and the children will make sense…sort of (laughs).
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Lo que vendrá: "Calvaire" y "The Woods"
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