After an 11 year absence, Norwegian writer/director Vibeke Idsøe comes back with the lavish period drama The Lion Woman.

The film, produced by Filmkameratene, opened last week in Norway at number 3 at the box office.

When did you first read Erik Fosnes Hansen’s best-seller The Lion Woman and what made you want to bring it to the screens?
Vibeke Idsøe: I know the author quite well and read his book when it came out in 2006. I wanted to bring it to the screen because I think it’s very moving and it had a huge visual potential for the silver screen. It also deals with a subject-being different- that is very important and universal.

The project must have felt like a mountain to climb, with the double challenge of first turning a 400+ page-best-selling book into a script and then creating the visual style. Was it obvious when you read the book that you wanted to both-write and direct and how was your collaboration with the author Erik Fosnes Hansen?
V.I.: I had a wonderful collaboration with Erik. He liked the choices I made, the focus on the father-daughter. It’s quite close to the book. We also did a different ending to the story which he came up with.

Regarding the directing job, yes it was hard work, but I really wanted to do it. Still, I needed the time to let the project grow in me. Back in 2006 I wasn’t ready to make the film. What helped a lot was the long pre-production period to feel safe before production and to work with wonderful crew members, from cinematographer Dan Laustsen [I am Dina], production designer Karl Júlíusson [The Hurt Locker] to special make up effect artist Conor O’Sullivan [The Dark Knight]. They are the best in the world.

Were you inspired by films like Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast, David Lynch’s The Elephant Man, Tim Burton’s The Big Fish, the 1932 classic Freaks? V.I.: I try to avoid watching other films to find my own voice and style. My inspiration comes from books, images from Norway at the time.

How did you find the three girls with a similar blue luminous gaze for the role of the lion woman and how was the preparation work to transform them into their furry character?
V.I.: The casting process was quite long. I wanted eyes with the same iris and shape. The result is very satisfactory because you feel the three girls are the same person at different ages. I wanted Eva [the lion woman] to be a human being like any other, for her facial expression to come through despite the mask and fur. We spent a lot of time to do that. We did trials with different lengths of the hair, and had two-hour preparations every day with the three young actresses. That put a lot of pressure on everyone because of the legal six-hour limit on working hours for children. 

Was Rolf Lassgård immediately in your mind as the father of the lion woman? V.I.: The casting director came up with his name, and after that there was no way back. He said yes early in the process and I was so pleased. He is so special as a person and an actor.

What’s next for you?
V.I.: This film took so much time and energy, I haven’t had time to think of something else.