For Karim Ainouz, creating “Rosebush Pruning” was uncharted territory.
The film marks the Brazilian writer’s first foray into the satirical genre, known for his contributions to queer cinema (Futuro Beach, Motel Destino) and uniquely moving drama (The Invisible Life of Euridice Guzmán, Firebrand). But as the world went into lockdown due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Ainuz found himself itching to try something new with his 14th film. Especially if it could be his last.
“The funny thing is, everyone was thinking about dying, so I thought, ‘I have to make this movie before I die,'” Ainuz tells Variety over Zoom from his home in Berlin, smoking a cigarette.
Rosebush Pruning, which premieres this weekend in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, depicts an American family who immigrate to Spain and wallow in loneliness, boredom, and great wealth. After their mother’s mysterious death, adult siblings Jack, Ed, Anna, and Robert take care of their blind father until Jack announces that he intends to move in with his girlfriend Martha. The movie’s synopsis reads: “Blood ties are severed and Ed is forced to uncover the truth surrounding his mother’s death.” “Generational lies begin to unravel and the fabric of this family slowly begins to disintegrate.”
The cast is Ainuz’s most comprehensive to date, with the brothers played by Jamie Bell (Jack), Callum Turner (Ed), Riley Keogh (Anna) and Lucas Gage (Robert). Tracy Letts is phenomenal as the family’s idiotic matriarch, Pamela Anderson stars as the deceased wife, and recent Oscar nominee Elle Fanning is the perfect foil as Martha.
Written by frequent Yorgos Lanthimos collaborator Efthimis Filippou (Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Kind of Kindness), Pruning the Rose tackles themes such as incest, sexual abuse, and murder in a tongue-in-cheek style without shying away from absurdity or taboo.
“I’ll tell you that when we started casting, I talked to the other actors and they were all really excited. And then when I read the script, I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t get it,'” Ainuz says of the film’s dark themes. “Ultimately, I was really interested in actors who didn’t criticize these characters.”
“Rosebush Pruning” is loosely based on Marco Bellocchio’s 1965 film “Fist in the Pocket,” about a young man with epilepsy who plans to murder his family. Ainuz, who saw the film during lockdown, thought it was a “great blueprint” for discussing modern themes of isolation and privilege.
“I thought it would be really interesting to do something that was very electric and exciting and fun, but also critical of the times we live in, with a very classic and clear storyline,” he says. “The more time has passed, the more this film and story seems relevant to today’s world…When I wake up in the morning, especially in the last few years, there’s a sense of the absurd.”
He and Philippou connected over Zoom, and Ainuz says it was “love at first sight.” “It was a very beautiful encounter. There was a sense of humor in our interactions, but also a sense of love. Not just love for the world, but love for the characters… It was really important to me that these were people, not caricatures.”
Philippou’s completed script was the first he had ever read, with Ainuz not changing a line and “with very few notes,” the director says. “But that’s difficult. So how do we inject life?”
Rosebush Pruning stars Elle Fanning, Jamie Bell, Callum Turner, Lucas Gage, Riley Keogh, and Tracy Letts.
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Enter the ensemble. The first piece of the puzzle fell into place with Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Letts. Ainouz was in mind during pre-production when reimagining the 2011 film Killer Joe, which was based on Letts’ play of the same name. Ainuz said Letts showed no aversion to her father’s less-than-likable personality or declining moral values (often the source of the film’s dark humor), which may have been influenced by an American politician.
“In fact, what he said to me when we first met was, ‘Is it okay if I don’t know how to ride a horse?’ That was his first question,” Ainuz recalled with a laugh. “And you could tell right away that he could actually understand the character and take the script and bring something to the character. It’s so weird because he’s so unlikable and yet there’s something so completely obvious about it.”
Turner’s Ed serves as the film’s narrator, a Holden Caulfield-esque wanderer who refuses to engage with the written word and instead records his thoughts every day. When they first met, Ainouz was “really excited,” but Turner was “not really sure.”
“Then we had a second meeting, and he really brought something extraordinary to this character, a sense of crisis,” he says. “He was unpredictable, and I don’t think you could picture Ed any other way. And physically, there was something about him that was very impressive, but also very awkward.”
It was also a coup to have Anderson, who is experiencing something of a career renaissance after The Last Showgirl and The Naked Gun, as the family’s late patriarch. “I really wanted a woman at that age who was adventurous as an actor and had nothing to lose,” he says. “Pamela, I think she’s a young actor. There’s something really beautiful about that, there’s a freedom. You know, it gives me goosebumps.”
But everything comes together thanks to Fanning, who plays Martha, the quiet, kind-hearted music student who separates Jack from his family. “This is a film with so many words, and I think Elle has a wonderful way of acting through very specific, yet very subtle gestures,” Ainouz says. “There are scenes where she doesn’t say anything, but what she does is incredible. It’s through the silence that it feels eloquent.”
Ainouz isn’t used to working with Hollywood stars, but he’s noticed a growing number of American and British actors eager to work with international directors. “There’s a freedom to movies that are spoken in English, and I think that’s appealing to actors who work in formats that are sometimes a little too industrial,” he says. “I think taking risks is something every actor wants to do. Every actor wants a challenge, and every actor doesn’t want to be in their comfort zone.”
But perhaps the most difficult part for all of these bold faces was coordinating their schedules for a two-week rehearsal period and seven-and-a-half weeks on location in Catalonia. It involved some changes – Kristen Stewart and Josh O’Connor were originally on board for the project, but had to leave due to conflicts – but for Ainouz, spending time together was key to establishing the family dynamic.
“It was a mixture of finding actors who could bring this diversity and different energies, but still curious,” he says. “There was a lot of trust from the cast to understand that yes, they are great, but they needed to be great together.”
When Rosebush Pruning premieres in Berlin, it’s almost certain to be divisive, but just as thought-provoking. Ainuz is prepared for a possible backlash, but believes it can start a conversation that is needed in these times.
“Only through absurdity can you perhaps touch on certain issues,” he says. “I think it’s important to know and talk about and understand that sometimes the greatest violence comes from within the family. The way that patriarchy has become naturalized is something that we really need to address. There’s a cycle of violence and violence is probably the only way to break that cycle.”
Adding, “I think laughing is a really interesting way to deal with this. It’s about feeling uncomfortable. We can’t just be comfortable with what we’re reading in the news these days, right? We have to create a lack of comfort.”
The director, who has often exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival, was also intentional about bringing “Pruning the Roses” to his home base of Berlin. “One of the reasons I live here is because there’s a sense of irreverence, freedom, wildness and humor that I think is very in tune with the DNA of this film,” he says.
“We’ll see what happens. But I think this is a place that has a lot to do with cinema. It’s very free, it’s very open. It’s also looking for an identity that doesn’t exist yet. I think it speaks to the soul of the city.”
