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DEADLINE: Where did this idea first come from?
THOMAS VINTERBERG: Six years ago, I was in Paris.
I was working there.
Tomas Vinterberg and Paprike Steen on set for ‘Families Like Ours.‘Per Arnesen
I missed my family.
I felt lonesome, I felt rejected by Paris.
And now weve changed.
Amaryllis August inFamilies Like Ours.Per Arnesen
Weve become nervous about whatweare doing to the planet.
Theres been a shift, and I guess the idea came out of that.
I started thinking, What would happen ifwebecame the refugees instead of the others?
What would happen if we were to leave our country and what we hold dear?
It became this existential survey in my mind.
I was less interested in the politics of it.
I wasnt interested in making sort of a climate-warning series.
DEADLINE: is there any truth in the scenario that you depict in the series?
VINTERBERG:This is a thought experiment.
We dont know about the future.
We dont know about the weather.
We dont know how things are going to be.
This is meant to be a story about how we would react in a crisis.
Who would you fit into your lifeboat in a situation like this?
If you had to choose.
Lets say youve only got three seats, and your family is more than that.
What would you do?
Who would you help?
Would you have the generosity to sacrifice yourself?
DEADLINE: What was the writing process like?
How many iterations did you go through to come down to the characters that you finally went with?
VINTERBERG:It started with me looking out my window.
Who do I have around me?
And then imagination took over.
This was, like, four years ago.
Its complete fiction, all of it.
Ideas are not something you buy or control or prepare.
An idea is just something you get from somewhere, and its very difficult to describewhereit comes from.
I guess it comes from a desire, of some kind, and curiosity.
I like being in rich peoples properties.
So, I guess its a lot about attraction and curiosity.
DEADLINE: Are you a football fan as well?
Did you ever have a dream of playing for Liverpool?
VINTERBERG:No, my wife is a football fan.
Shes the one sitting with a can of beer, screaming, slapping my back when theres a goal.
But Im being trained into becoming a soccer fan.
Youre a Brit, so meeting a man that is not a soccer fan must be strange!
So, Im hoping it travels.
Judging by what happens in your series, its the same in Denmark.
In a funny way,Families Like Oursis kind of a horror movie.
VINTERBERG:I have to.
And I find that, particularly, the youth in this drama represents hope and the ability to recover.
Its like crisis makes people greedy, makes people aggressive and defensive, but then empathy comes back.
DEADLINE: Its a little likeMelancholiaby your fellow countryman, Lars von Trier.
Obviously, its notquitethe same thing, but itisa kind of meditation on the end of the world.
VINTERBERG:Thats funny because the first half ofMelancholiais this big party, right?
And I was like, OK, dude, just confirm its not as good.
And so, youre right, I might have gotten some inspiration from there.
I just dont think this [scenario] is the end of the world.
DEADLINE Youve said that its all imagination, its all from your mind.
But did you do any kind of research into what actually might happen in this sort of situation?
VINTERBERG:An enormous amount.
It was like being in a swamp.
Because were talking about the future.
It was particularly interested in finding out about how the state would react.
And then there would be a lot of injustice anyway.
So hence the slow-motion catastrophe movie.
We would be ahead of time.
There wouldnt be water in the streets.
We would be out of here before that.
So, I talked to a lot of people about what would then happen.
They would create a corridor through Europe.
I talked to people about what would happen to the borders of Europe.
Is it plausible that they would wrap up the borders?
The borders would close if there were too many.
We did a lot of research into different countries.
How would French immigration react and how could we imagine that?
Bucharest in Romania becomes a kind of Babel Tower in our series.
They make a living from it.
They would protect themselves.
Its about guessing and research, guessing and research.
You could never find facts because its about future, but we did a lot of research anyway.
So, this is developing in a pace that is unpredictable, I guess.
DEADLINE: Did your research scare you in any way?
Has it made you more paranoid about what might happen?
And then suddenly theres all the flooding in Third World countries.
DEADLINE: Can you talk about the casting of this movie?
Im thinking particularly of Laura here.
What were you looking for when you cast Amaryllis August in that role?
Shes much more pure, like a crystal vase, in the final series.
She was more outspoken in the beginning.
Thats how I like to do things.
But with the youngsters, they came in later and there was a long rehearsal period.
They had to adjust to each other, to the actors playing their parents.
They had to be able to fight, have sex, and live through a year of shooting.
So, there was a lot of preparation going on.
DEADLINE: So, to recap, how long did it all take?
DEADLINE: Would you return to this world or is this just a one-off?
VINTERBERG:I dont have plans for that.
I dont have a second season in mind.
But, no, there no plans for a second season.
I have other things.
DEADLINE: Are you going back to movies?
VINTERBERG:I have some ideas for movies that Im in development with.
And Im also developing a series for an American company from a book thats almost a Bible in Scandinavia.
Its by Astrid Lindgren, and its calledThe Brothers Lionheart.
So yeah, Im in development with several things and I have some ideas of my own as well.
DEADLINE: How do you thinkFamilies Like Oursfits into your filmography?
VINTERBERG:The few people whove seen it says its very Vinterbergian, which… Its not like Im mapping out what is me and what is not me.
DEADLINE: How do your family feel about it?
I mean, its calledFamilies Like Ours.
Have you shown it to them?
VINTERBERG:Theyre coming to Venice to see it for the first time.
But I sent a streamer to my sister, whos very emotional.
She loved it, but she was freaked out by it because it felt so real to her.
It felt like something that could happen.
The rest havent seen it.
Its new, man.
Youre one of the first ones.
DEADLINE: Is this your first time in Venice?
VINTERBERG:Its my first time in Venice, yeah.
Im looking forward to it.
DEADLINE: Is there anything in particular that you would like audiences to come away thinking?
What would you do in this case?
Its an interesting question, and I can forgive everyone for doing it because Im doing it myself.
The boat is sinking, but were still having dinner.
But I dont want people to feel hopeless.
I want them to be inspired by the resilience and the strength and the bravery of these people.
DEADLINE: Just one more question.
What wouldyoudo in this situation?
Where would you go?
VINTERBERG:If the country were to close down?
Where would you go?
VINTERBERG:Well, I would skip Paris!
I would probably go to Norway.
They have snow and mountains and a lot of money.
They have a big film industry.
They even have a Trier there Joachim Trier.
So, if they would let me in, I would probably go there.
