Nicolas Winding Refn is back in Venice for a double bill screening today of 1996 breakthrough feature Pusher and Beauty Is Not A Sin , a short commissioned by Italian motorcycle brand Agusta, which is the first ever commercial to play in the festival’s official selection.
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The Sicily-set latter work stars Stefano Gaeta as a priest opposite Laura Grassi as woman who comes to his church to confess a long list of sinful acts spanning gluttony, lust and envy, as he battles with his own inner demons.
It will play alongside Pusher which has been invited to Venice Classics close to 30 years after it signaled Refn and its lead Mads Mikkelsen – in the role of a Copenhagen drug dealer – as talents to watch.
Deadline sat down with Refn on the eve of the screening.
DEADLINE: Beauty Is Not A Sin is set within the framework of an act of confession. What drew you to this imagery?
NICHOLAS WINDING REFN: Agusta wanted it to be very Italian. And what’s more Italian than being Catholic, almost, and I liked the idea of a confessional setting. The objectification, sexualization, visualization of mechanics… it was a good idea, and I just had to figure out the story around it. I spent a few weeks coming up with the narrative, and then shooting in Sicily – you can’t get any more Italian than that, and casting very strong faces and strong hands.
DEADLINE: Were Agusta concerned about pushback from the Catholic Church around the use of this imagery?
REFN: No, I think that as long as you treat it with respect… it’s our duty when it comes to faith to treat it with a sense of humbleness, and from that, I certainly didn’t feel any obstacles. But then it’s not about the act of confession, it’s more about understanding that beauty is not a sin.
DEADLINE: You think that people really do view beauty as a sin?
REFN: There can be a lot of repression in our repressed desires, which is not healthy. And then certain people, if they’re Catholics, can go and confess how much they indulge, and then they’ll be set free again to repeat the same pattern. But that’s how it is… that’s humanity. We may have very strong desires to live a certain moral standing ground in our daily lives, or how we want to be perceived, but that’s very different from what we fantasize about. And to fantasize is creativity.
DEADLINE: Were you surprised that Venice invited a commercial to its Official selection?
REFN: I think it’s going to shake things up being the first commercial in Venice. It’s going to open the floodgate. Because if you’re a brand, and most brands are obviously struggling with visibility, they just reached the top of the mountain.
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DEADLINE: High-end brands getting involved in cinematic projects is not a new phenomenon, but do you think it’s set to grow, and could even provide a new source of funding for filmmakers?
REFN: I think it’s a huge opportunity creatively. Having done it with Prada about two years ago as well, on similar project called Touch of Crude , which I very much enjoyed making. It was probably one of the best experiences I’ve had creatively. There is also a freeness, because we’re not so confined by commercial narrative. In many ways, you can be more selfish. Working here with Augusta is that kind of opportunity where a brand gives you carte blanche to create very freely, but you don’t have the restrictions that you sometimes need to deal with when you are in a more commercial narrative where the object is obviously to be consumer friendly.
DEADLINE: Venice is also playing Pusher in Venice Classic. How does it feel to have a film in that section?
REFN: Obviously, it’s a great honor. Being in the classic section is like, ‘Oh my God. I didn’t expect that was going to happen’. But I think what’s fun about bringing it here together with Beauty Is Not A Sin , is that it’s almost like my future and my past as a double feature. From a personal experience, I think that’s kind of cool to look at, and I hope people will enjoy it.
DEADLINE: As well as being your breakthrough film, Pusher also propelled the acting career of Mads Mikkelsen. Do you think you two will ever work together again?
REFN: We always talk about it, but I do that with most of the people that I’ve worked with. We always want to re-experience… once you go down that route, it bounds you forever. There’s something very, organic about separation and coming back together and separating, but with age comes [questions like] is this right? Does this work? What’s your schedule like? And it becomes very practical. And when you look back at your beginnings, everything was just so simple. We were making a movie and it was like, ‘You coming over?’. “Yeah, I’ll be over in five minutes.’
DEADLINE: You just revealed that you’re gearing up for an English and Japanese film in Tokyo, which will be your first feature since 2016 picture The Neon Demon . What drew you to shooting there?
REFN: I base my work very much, or predominantly, around where would I like to have an experience? From an very early age, I was exposed to the world being grand and big by coming to New York when I was seven in 1978. You couldn’t really call back to Scandinavia without placing a call, that may or may not go through.
That exposure to Manhattan’s multicultural sensibility made my desire to travel very inspiring to me. Hans Christian Andersen always said to travel is to live and I very much agree with that. Obviously, there are very many similarities between us. So, living out that part of me of being all around and having seen and heard and felt so much texture must be a very beautiful way to die. I always found Asia very interesting. There is nothing like Japan, so I said wouldn’t that be a great chapter of my life to be able to experience living and working there, but most of all to live.
DEADLINE : Have you already spent time in Japan?
REFN: I’ve gone there on promotions for most of my films and I have friends who are in the video game industry that I’m very intrigued about, plus I collect Japanese toys. It’s a bit like letting a young girl loose in a Prada store.
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