{"id":821652,"date":"2026-07-24T21:15:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/821652\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T21:15:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:15:12","slug":"nicolas-winding-refn-on-her-private-hell-critics-ai-ryan-gosling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/821652\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicolas Winding Refn on ‘Her Private Hell,’ Critics, AI & Ryan Gosling"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tNicolas Winding Refn<\/a>\u2018s 11th film, \u201cHer Private Hell<\/a>,\u201d is a long way away from the grounded work many fans are familiar with, like \u201cDrive\u201d and \u201cBronson.\u201d The feature, now in theaters via Neon, is a neon-drenched sci-fi tale of an actress, Elle (Sophie Thatcher), a soldier, Private K (Charles Melton) and a killer known as Leatherman who move around a futuristic city in a dreamy fog. It\u2019s a sexy, sweaty and divisive film, which premiered at Cannes to mixed reviews but is certain to draw a cult audience, like his most recent movie, 2016\u2019s \u201cThe Neon Demon,\u201d to which \u201cHell\u201d feels like a mysterious and fashionable companion piece.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Danish filmmaker spoke to Variety about the ideas behind \u201cHell,\u201d its bombastic score, creating the unique visuals and much more.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhere did the idea for \u201cHer Private Hell\u201d come from? It\u2019s much different from your other work.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a way, you can say everything I\u2019ve done has led to this film, because it\u2019s a kind of an amalgam of everything that I\u2019ve ever done, everything that I like to see. So that\u2019s how it all began. But also freeing myself from conventions in a day and age of algorithms.<\/p>\n

\t\tThere are so many striking images in the film. Are there some you pictured even before you developed the story and wrote the script [with cowriter Esti Giordani]?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt all started with two ideas. I had an idea of Private K going to hell. And then I had an idea of a young woman coming to a city that doesn\u2019t exist. What combined them was that they were both very artificial, because they were set in worlds that didn\u2019t exist. But in order to connect them together, they needed the tip of a triangle. That became Leatherman, because he would service both storylines.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhen developing ideas like \u201ca city that doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d what were the conversations you had with your DP about the look and feel?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI said it had to have a lot of color, almost like color candy. Everything had to be very fluffy, so you\u2019d want to eat it like whipped cream with injected color coats. It needed to be an opera, with everything that comes with that.<\/p>\n

\t\tWas there a moment when connecting with Sophie Thatcher that you knew she would be the perfect Elle?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWe\u2019d been casting for a year, and Sophie came in very late for a general meeting. Right when I saw her, I just knew it was her. She had a wonderful audition, but I\u2019d already made up my mind that she was the one, purely on instinct. I don\u2019t know what it was. There was something about her that intrigued me. She had these eyes that were incredibly seductive, like an old movie star. Because she had to carry the movie, once she was in play, everything started to fall into place. But it took a year or so.<\/p>\n

\t\tSince you\u2019ve been working in TV, this is your first film since \u201cThe Neon Demon.\u201d What made you want to pivot back to features?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think that had more to do with a human desire to preserve cinemas. Cinemas have always been the cheapest form of entertainment that we collectively could experience together. It\u2019s always been the lowest common denominator for all of us to meet on equal terms. In today\u2019s world, so much digitalization is not necessarily healthy for the mind or the soul, for that matter. I want to make films for cinemas. I feel like, by law, every village in the world should have a single-screen cinema. We\u2019re getting so divided by the politicians, so when they\u2019ve stolen all our money and created all the wars, it is what brings us together. But it\u2019s not so much what you see, it\u2019s how you see it. We can all sit on our isolation pads and experience this, see something, which we all do. I do it, and I think it\u2019s a beautiful invention. I wouldn\u2019t want to not have that. But I think for the human soul, we also need to come together.<\/p>\n

\t\tAre you able to make it to the movie theater as much as you\u2019d like to these days?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tMy youngest and I, we go to the movies.<\/p>\n

\t\tHave there been some recent films that have stuck with you?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI like to see everything. It\u2019s a different world out there from when I was younger in terms of what\u2019s getting made and so forth. But there are still a lot of good films, and it\u2019s hard to kind of pinpoint anything specific because it\u2019s not so much about the film. It\u2019s the fact that I feel good about going to a movie theater of quality and handing them my hard-earned money, because I think that it\u2019s a contribution. It\u2019s like going into a video store that still operates, or a record store or a bookshop. You feel you are servicing a higher purpose.<\/p>\n

\t\tMaking a film is hard work. What drives you to do it?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat drives me? I wear my emotions on my sleeve, and if I can\u2019t find a way to release them, I\u2019ll probably be unbearable to be around. So in a way, I\u2019m making the world a better place by not being unbearable.<\/p>\n

\t\tIs there any therapeutic value that you feel once you\u2019ve shot your film?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tFilming the actual production is only half the work. So I always divide it up into four sections: thinking up the idea, writing the script, shooting the script and all the completion of post. Those four stages are four ways to change the entire project. Obviously, it gets more and more difficult from the practicalities, but still, you can completely change things. Then when it gets to the actual post-production, you\u2019re dividing it up into three sections. There\u2019s visuals, music and sound. So of the fourth section, there are actually three separate categories that still need to be aligned. It\u2019s not until the film is completely done, meaning that\u2019s when you deliver to the nest an egg, that\u2019s when you let go.<\/p>\n

\t\tThe legendary Pino Donaggio, who has worked on countless legendary genre films and is a key Brian De Palma collaborator, provides the showstopping score to this movie. What were your discussions with him about the music?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was the only movie I made where I didn\u2019t have a sound in my mind. I didn\u2019t have a clear idea of the music, which I\u2019d never really tried before. But I also think it was God saying to me, \u201cYou need to make that opera you\u2019ve always wanted to make.\u201d Once I accepted the terms from God, I had to find a composer who did film music and opera. Where else can you go but Italy? There I discovered all the composers were dead from that period that you and I would define as the golden era of soundtracks, film music and so forth. The only one that was alive was Pino Donaggio, who, in a way, was the best one because I\u2019d used his past scores as reference or inspiration music. It seemed there\u2019s a meaning here, there\u2019s a path. <\/p>\n

\n\tSo I met with Pino, who was basically in semi-retirement, in his mid-80s. I asked him if he wanted to write an opera. He said, \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d And I said, \u201cBut you\u2019re going to die soon. Could you make it a requiem?\u201d He found that very funny, so we had great humor. I also made it very clear that in an opera apparatus you start with the music \u2014 now, I\u2019m actually ending with the music. So I\u2019ve built this entire infrastructure with veins, and there\u2019s a heart but there\u2019s no blood. \u201cYour music is going to be the blood that ties the entire movie together. So I\u2019m betting my one chip, my one black chip on one number, and you\u2019re the guy. Good luck.\u201d The music \u2026 it was luck; it was fantastic to hear. <\/p>\n

\n\tOne of my favorite memories was sitting in Rome after we had done the mix and Pino had a little too much wine, and he started imitating Elvis Presley. I thought, \u201cThat\u2019s fuckin\u2019 cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tYour work inspires so much conversation \u2014\u00a0do you engage with any of it? Do you read anything written about your art?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYou don\u2019t engage. It\u2019s no longer your world. It\u2019s everyone else\u2019s, and you\u2019re just an observer. I just go back to my gardening.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat\u2019s been the focus in your garden lately?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe problem is I don\u2019t know how to garden. So I basically just play Legos instead. I build flowers out of Lego.<\/p>\n

\t\tThat\u2019s beautiful.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI just got the Tintin Rocket, which is just absolutely amazing, and I\u2019m looking forward to building it. It\u2019s a great way to be creative without making an effort, other than just putting blocks together of plastic.<\/p>\n

\t\tHave you been approached at all by people in the AI world? Is that something you have any interest in learning about?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think AI is a difficult discussion because it\u2019s always narrowed down to one thing: good or bad. I think we need to separate the silos a little bit. From a social academic effect, I\u2019m obviously very concerned because I don\u2019t think having fewer people with opportunities is a healthy way for society to exist. The inequality that\u2019s already skyrocketing is by no means a positive evolution. I don\u2019t like the people that represent that world very much, at least I haven\u2019t met anyone yet. I\u2019m not saying they\u2019re not amazing visionaries, but a vision comes with a responsibility. <\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m a humanitarian. I believe in the goodness of humans. I believe that we find happiness in common sharing. I think AI is good for revolutionizing certain aspects of the medical industry or information, and certain access to information. At the same time, it\u2019s messed with our already reconstructed reality. I\u2019m concerned about it there very much. But as a creative tool, meaning just a brush, I\u2019m very intrigued by it. But is it going to have consequences? Absolutely. Do I condemn those? Absolutely. Do I think it should be regulated? Absolutely. Does it need to be controlled by an outside body? Absolutely. I think it\u2019s a government responsibility, the same way that the government offers water and the internet.<\/p>\n

\t\tIt was recently the 15th anniversary of \u201cDrive,\u201d and fans have been revisiting your work with Ryan Gosling. You\u2019re both very busy, but do you think there\u2019ll be some collaboration again if the timing works out?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s the only thing we ever talk about. Besides all the other things that go through our minds, it always comes down to that essence of \u201cWhen are we going to do it again?\u201d We know we have a third movie in us. We just have to find the one. But once you know it, you\u2019re halfway there.<\/p>\n

\t\tYour next movie is a \u201cManiac Cop\u201d reimagining. What can fans expect from your new vision?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tOh, it\u2019s like Christmas. You gotta wait until the tree comes, and the packages will arrive with Santa Claus.<\/p>\n

\t\tWas it always a favorite film of yours?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI like the concept. I bought the rights many years ago, and I\u2019ve sat on it, and there have been numerous opportunities to try to make it, but maybe it was never the right time. I very much believe in faith and the right time. Now\u2019s the right time, and it was also easy for me to put it together, and we are shooting next year in L.A.<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch the \u201cHer Private Hell\u201d trailer below.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nicolas Winding Refn\u2018s 11th film, \u201cHer Private Hell,\u201d is a long way away from the grounded work many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134,327277,327278,24481],"class_list":["post-821652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-her-private-hell","tag-nicolas-winding-refn","tag-ryan-gosling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}