Battle of the Sexes

Interviewing a dull starlet with nothing to say must be the worst nightmare of every sophisticated journalist. Conversely, being interviewed by a sarcastic and incurious journalist is what every starlet dreads. Or is it really?

INTERVIEW, directed by Steve Buscemi who also plays the lead, is a remake of the film by the late Dutch polemic writer and director Theo van Gogh. The controversial filmmaker was assassinated in 2004 as a response to the film SUBMISSION: PART, which deals with the mistreatment of women in Islamic society. Buscemi’s feature is the first part of a trilogy of van Gogh’s films, all dealing with the “battle of the sexes”. The other two films will be directed by Stanley Tucci and Bob Balaban. The film, which is partly produced by van Gogh’s producer, was shot with three cameras in sequence during nine nights in New York.

Pierre Peters, an aging war correspondent, has to interview Katya, a young actress starring in soap operas and B-movies.
Katya arrives one hour late and on arrival is mostly concerned with ordering a ‘raspberry martini’ and answering her pink cell phone, which rings constantly. Pierre has obviously done no research whatsoever and reduces Katya to her affairs and breast surgery. “I know you mainly by your reputation,” he mocks. The meeting ends abruptly after a few minutes.

But what starts out as a catastrophic encounter develops into an intense verbal battle between two very different people. Just after they separate, the two happen to meet again and Pierre ends up in Katya’s luxurious apartment. After a few drinks they start talking openly to each other. They flirt, they argue, they hurt each other. That night anything could happen, a love story, a “surrogate-father-daughter-bonding” - as Katya calls it - or even a fight. Peters, who is still half hoping to make the interview happen, is torn between sympathy for the young woman and trying to get valuable gossip for his story. In the end, truth and fiction mingle. Is Peters really the brazen journalist he pretends to be? Is Katya only playing a character from one of her soaps?

INTERVIEW is an intimate, entertaining piece and the unexpected combination of Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller is intriguing to watch. Even so, the film only manages to achieve profoundness at certain moments. Still, this is probably Buscemi’s most mature role to date. He is absolutely believable as the disillusioned, clumsy, yet, in an odd sort of way, charming Peters.

Sarah Stähli

© Berlinale Talent Campus 2007