Director Jonas Ulrich formed an actual black metal band for his debut feature, “Wolves.”
Leading by actor Baltos Billenia, known for his Oscar-nominated “Corpus Christi,” WLVS has toured and performed at the actual club. The same goes for its own world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival.
“To take it seriously, we filmed a real concert. We wrote a full album and made a stage show. We saw it to the musicians and said, ‘I know exactly what it feels like.’ ” Ulrich says.
“I like music movies when human dramas are standing on its own. You can remove the music and the story is still working. “Control” and “Metal Sound” are good examples. We wanted to go against the formula. Finally, the film is not really about the band. ”
“I used to listen to Iron Maiden and Tools, but I made a film so this music was with me,” adds Billenia.
“I always wanted to start a metal band, but I didn’t have the strength or skills. It was a great adventure to play these concerts and convince people about our performances. People who didn’t even know they were in the film.”
In “The Wolf,” Luana (Selma Kop) decides to tour with her cousin’s black metal band. She falls to singer Wiktor (Baltos Billenia), but his views may be more radical than she thinks.
“I’m a metalhead. I used to take photos of underground band reservations, promotions and concerts. I wanted a movie that took this world seriously when it came to rock stars’ attitudes and demon rituals in the 1980s,” Ulrich says.
Kopp had no prior connections with black metal.
“It really intrigued me because I love discovering new worlds and the reality of life through acting. It was an exciting challenge to be immersed in and grow from these different environments,” she points out.
“Music is always at the heart of my preparation process. I create playlists that capture the character’s emotions for every role. In Luana, this worked perfectly because she already knew what kind of music she was listening to.
“Wolves,” sold at Yellow Affair and produced by Dynamic Frame GMBH, debuted the trailer on Variety last week, but looks at the female perspective “mainly within the male scene.”
“Especially in black metal. I wanted to show how they are perceived and how relationships get complicated. From the start, we were aiming to show both good and bad,” says Ulrich, a Zurich native.
Intrigued by “people who aren’t the first to see,” he began searching for the right actor “long before the script was finished.”
“We have mixed professional actors with real musicians to make the world right.
Bielenia will soon be seen in “The Timht That The The Come,” and is also an experienced stage actor. Kopp is making her acting debut.
“Luana even makes some difficult and wrong decisions in the course of the film. To portray her truly, I had to find a way to her motivations and feelings. It wasn’t always easy. But I came to understand her.
Billenia calls Wiktor “a very dark person.”
“In my opinion, many of his problems and his darkness come from his overwhelming loneliness. He is in a strange place among strangers. He has no connections with his home or family,” explains Billenia.
Wiktor uses others “stick to the relationship as a kind of confirmation of his worth.” But there are moments of love.
“Maybe he has hope? I’m always trying to understand my personality. I’ve added a story of Wiktor’s orphans and loneliness. He’s an uprooted tree. He only has himself.”
Billenia said: “In a climate where anxiety and fascist movements grow, even CEOs of large corporations can salute Nazi, but such gestures are difficult for us and are used only as a last resort. But I think it’s worth showing how easy it is to fall into an extreme ideological trap.”
“Wolf”
Courtesy of the Zurich Film Festival
