Søren Kragh-Jacobsen on The Butterfly Swings, Dogme95 and forgiveness

One of the founders of the Dogme95 movement with Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg and Kristian Levring, Søren Kragh-Jacobsen is behind the celebrated Dogme film Mifune, as well as The Boys from St Petri (1991), What No One Knows (2008), The Hour of the Lynx (2013) among others. He was concept director on the cult series Borgen and episodic director on Follow the Money.

After a seven-year gap, the writer/director returns to feature filmmaking with The Butterfly Swings (Lille Sommerfugl), a family drama about love and coming to terms with one’s flaws. Set in a small rural community hall, we follow the central character Ernst (Jesper Christensen), a stubborn pig farmer who celebrates his golden anniversary with his wife Louise (Karen-Lise Myster), family and friends.

However, against the backdrop of the noisy and lively party, secrets emerge that put to test various members of the family - most importantly Ernst - his values, beliefs and ability to change.

The film was produced by Eva Jakobsen, Mikkel Jersin and Katrin Pors for Denmark’s Snowglobe, in coproduction with Iceland’s Pegasus Pictures, support from the Danish Film Institute, FilmFyn, the Icelandic Film Centre, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Iceland’s Ministry of Industries and Innovation, and Síminn.

Nordisk Film handles distribution in Denmark and Sena in Iceland.

Film Tank’s Louis Balsan handles world sales.

Kragh-Jacobsen spoke to us.

It's been seven years since you directed your last film The Hour of the Lynx. Why such a gap?
Søren Kragh-Jacobsen: I’ve worked on TV drama, including episodes of Follow the Money. But I also had a stroke. When I recovered, I felt the urge to tell this story, set in the autumn, in the countryside, with a farm, pigs, intertwining love stories, and a big party with music, where I could write songs myself.

Is this film very close to your own life?
SKJ: Absolutely. I’ve had a lovely country house in West Zealand for 40 years, and I’ve been to perhaps 40 parties over the years at the local community hall, attended music and theatre evenings, flea markets, silver, golden weddings there. I’ve always found that the place was quite ‘exotic’, although deeply rooted in that small community. I’ve also been married 40 years with my wife.

What is the recipe for a successful relationship?
SKJ: The most important thing for a successful marriage is to give each other space, even if you live together. This is how our marriage has survived all those years.

We see Ernst going through a very challenging time in his life, but you wonder if he is able to improve as he is fundamentally a grumpy, reactionary old man…
SKJ: Yes, Ernst is not an easy person. But I like to see grumpy old men in films and Ernst does have a heart. He has serious problems, but still wants to through a big party for his wife whom he loves. I wanted Ernst to go through a personal journey; he awakens and becomes a better person. He ultimately finds forgiveness.

How important is forgiveness for you?
SKJ: When you reach a certain age, you long for forgiveness. You want your life to be smoother and larger. So of course, it was important to put this dimension in the film.

Was your intention also to bring to the forefront a slice of society-rural and small-town voters who are against liberal values, multiculturalism and aren’t so often portrayed in film?
SKJ: My real intention was to do a kind of condensed portrait of Denmark, to invite the Danes to a big party! Within this portrait, you have the vision of rural Denmark where people are often xenophobic and vote for the far right. I find this strange, but I think it’s mostly because they are afraid of what they don’t know.

With this film, it’s hard not to think of Festen from your ‘Dogme brother’ Thomas Vinterberg
SKJ: A lot of filmmakers dream of filming a big party. I met Thomas before doing the film and told him: I’m doing my own Festen! He said: ‘It’s funny because Lars [von Trier]’s Melancholia is also built around a big party, and Bergman also had big parties in many of his films’….And of course, the first part of The Deer Hunter also features a big party. We all want to recreate the feeling of family on set and dig into family secrets…

Looking back at your career, are there many things you would have done differently?
SKJ: (laughs) -Yes many things! In a way, one never finishes a film - you always want to move it around, make it shorter or longer and at different times in your life, you look at your work with different eyes. I believe it’s the same for painters, they probably want to change the colour palette of their works, here and there.

Do you have fond memories of Dogme95?
SKJ: Dogme was a filming cure that I really enjoyed. When I look back at the movement and my Dogme brothers, it always brings a smile to my face.

Do you still apply any of the filmic rules?
SKJ: No. Today we shoot films much faster and I give more space to my actors. 25 years ago, Lars [von Trier] and I both felt the new techniques-lights, microphones etc utterly ruined the spontaneity of our work with actors. We would go ahead and shoot fast with the actors, to capture the moment. Today, I’m not tyrannised by technology. I believe it gives more sensitivity and breath to my work. I can feel my DoP behind the camera.

How was your collaboration with Jesper Christensen and the main actors?
SKJ: When you write your own script, you are so much into the head of the various characters. For me, the most important is to create a completely safe platform in front of the camera, and to nurse the actors all the way through.

Regarding Jesper, I had worked twice with him before, and wrote the part of Ernst with him in mind. The same goes with Karen-Lise [Mynster] who plays his wife. I’ve known her since we were teenagers!

While writing the script, I actually had in mind an old Danish film in which both had starring roles - It’s a World Full of Children [1980]. I used some shots and images of them from that film. It was perfect to show Ernst and Louise across different time periods of their lives together. I was also fortunate as in the farm where I was filming, an old man had been recording his life with 8mm films that went back 50 years. I was invited to use some of this material and introduced Jesper and Karen-Lise into these shots. It was pure luck.

The film is bit of a cacophony, with lots of music, action and drama, all set in the assembly hall. Can you detail your visual style and how you worked with your creative team?
SKJ: I wanted a mix of speeches, dances, whatever happened on stage, under the tables, in the cellar, in the garden, in the kitchen.

With my DoP [Aske Foss], we decided to film the whole party handheld. As a musician myself, there is always a lot of music and images in my head. Either it swings or it doesn’t. The community hall we found didn’t have the look I wanted, but I had a skilled set designer [Thomas Greve] and I asked him to transform the place to make it authentic and real.

Ultimately what would you like the audience to take away?
SKJ: Forgiveness. They should think of the shortness of life and the importance to live the moment.

What’s next?
SKJ: Right now, I want to relax, until February, then I’ll work on another script. I’m at a time in my life, where I want to tell great love stories so my next project will be another love story.