Venice Contender Dag Johan Haugerud Proves There Can Be ‘Love’ After ‘Sex’: ‘They Are Connected’
Just like Salt-N-Pepa, Dag Johan Haugerud wants to talk about sex.
“If you always show it as something dark and dangerous … that’s just wrong. I wanted to show sex as normal and ordinary, as something that doesn’t need to feel threatening or be all about spicy imagery. It’s a part of everyday life,” Norwegian director tells Variety.
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In “Love,” a follow-up to award-winning “Sex” and a second part of the trilogy set to conclude with “Dreams,” his characters continue to look for connection. They also reveal what they really want, sharing the most intimate secrets. “Love” makes its world-premiere in Venice’s main competition.
“We should talk more about physical attraction and all these sensations. Otherwise, and also because of the way it’s portrayed in the media, many young people will just continue to associate sex with violence,” he says.
“Once you start having these conversations, it’s already a good start. Communication is a big theme in all these three movies. That’s where the main action is!”
Produced by Yngve Saether and Hege Hauff Hvattum for Motlys and sold by M-Appeal, “Love” eavesdrops on conversations between Marianne (Andrea Braein Hovig), a doctor in Oslo, and Tor (Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen), a nurse who works with her. Marianne isn’t looking for wild adventures, or so she claims. Tor, who’s used to casual encounters with other men, isn’t convinced.
“I try to describe Norwegian society in these films and most people, unless they work in a hospital like these two, are scared of bodily functions, sexuality and illness. We don’t know how to approach these things and we often end up feeling shame. It shouldn’t be this way,” says Haugerud.
Still, there’s no denying that — according to one of his characters — “a body is a battlefield.”
“You fight against these images of how a body ‘should’ look like, you try to make it look better, then you also experience all these things with it. Having sex for the first, second, third time can be so different. It takes time to get to know your body and accept its needs. It’s a battlefield against the whole world AND against yourself.”
He keeps observing all these struggles with tenderness, however, and kindness towards his lonely protagonists.
“A big part of this trilogy has to do with showing how things could be like. If you want to have a good life, kindness is so important. You could say it’s an idealistic approach, that it’s some utopia, but I think it’s important to show it’s actually possible,” he says.
“I wanted to construct this trilogy so that it would be possible to eventually show these films back-to-back, and they are also about what community means to us. Still, you can’t be too na?ve, because empty joy doesn’t last very long. There needs to be some reflection and I certainly hope people will think about life when they leave the cinema.”
Although the premiere of “Dreams” is still ahead of him, Haugerud — also behind festival favorite “Beware of Children” — is slowly preparing to let go of the stories that dominated these last years of his life.
“It’s like saying goodbye to an old friend,” he laughs.
“At the beginning, I thought that [calling these films] “Sex,” “Love” and “Dreams” would sound too pretentious. These are big words, sure, but these are also the main topics in our lives. They are connected: Love is part of sex and sex is part of love.”
And who knows? There might be another trilogy in his future.
“Now that I’ve finished the third film, I’m realizing I’m not done just yet. I could go on! If I even get the money, I might actually do that.”
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