In ‘William Tell,’ It’s Claes Bang’s Turn to Shoot an Apple Off His Son’s Head: ‘How Do You Get Someone to Say Yes to That?!’
In “William Tell,” directed by Nick Hamm, it’s Claes Bang’s turn to shoot an apple off his son’s head.
“How do you get someone to say yes to that?! We spent a long time talking about it. This is a guy who doesn’t want to be a part of the war anymore: He’s seen too much. Now, he’s pulled back into it, but how do these pieces fit together so that he bloody explodes?,” wonders the Danish actor, best known for “The Square” and “The Northman.”
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“There’s a point when some sense of insanity sets in. Also, he knows: ‘I can do this.’ But when your son is right under that apple, it’s a whole different story.”
The iconic scene was the reason why Hamm, also behind “The Journey” and “Driven,” wanted to make the film about the legendary folk hero.
“That scene IS the movie. It’s not about some guy with a feather in his cap: It’s an act of political terrorism. It’s about a man making another man publicly execute his child, so that he can have power.”
Writing the script, Hamm went back to Friedrich Schiller’s 1804 play. Also to “mess with it” and mess with some of its classic retellings.
“In a more romanticized version of this story, Tell’s son is a child. I had a real problem with that. A grown man putting an apple on a baby’s head? It’s barbaric! Here, there’s trust from that adolescent boy.”
Bang agrees: “His son knows even better than Tell that he can actually do it, he’s seen it hundreds and hundreds of times. He’s the least worried there! Of course, when it’s finally about to happen, he doesn’t look too comfortable.”
While Tell is Swiss, fighting against the Austrians in 1307, Hamm saw his film as a “European story.” “William Tell” was produced by Free Turn Films and Tempo Productions. Germany-based Beta handles sales.
“In Europe, we tell our own stories. We don’t just borrow from the Americans. But rarely do we get to dissect a story that’s so thoroughly European and complicated in a way that Europeans will understand. Tell is a reluctant hero. It makes him much more contemporary than some idiot who’s just running around, shooting people with a crossbow,” he notes.
“I find most action films rather vacuous. I want them, I eat them, I am bored halfway. But entertainment can be educational. It can be morally complicated and politically uplifting. If European cinema has a ‘brand,’ it’s all about the complexities of human nature.”
Bang found himself relating to Tell’s unusual predicament.
“The dilemma of being put in a situation when you have to either succumb to this aggressor who wants to take over your country, or you have to shoot an apple off your son’s head… Obviously, I have no experience in that department. But it always has to resonate, so you translate it into something you can understand. Would you risk a loved one’s life? Why would you do that?”
But ultimately, it’s not just Tell’s story, with multiple characters – including his wife played by Golshifteh Farahani – getting to fight their own battles.
“Every single character in this movie changes, every single character has an epiphany of some sorts. I am not taking credit for that – it’s what Schiller did – but I did rewrite the women. None of them had any power [in the play],” says Hamm, who’s not done with Tell just yet.
“I think we have every intention of going on,” he admits, mulling a potential sequel. “In a world that’s changing, he maintains his center. When he brings all these people together, it’s celebratory, but also terrible. Because most of them will die.”
Bang adds: “He’s flawed. The monster has been brought out in him – he’s not that morally clean. We all make mistakes, so you go: ‘He’s like me. He would have done something crazy if they wouldn’t stop him.’ It’s such an existential story. Obviously, they are protective of it here in Switzerland, but it’s about everybody.”
“It’s about the complexity of how we can live and work together, and stop bullying the fuck out of each other,” sums it up Hamm.
“I think it hasn’t been properly explored, because why is he a hero? Why is this story still around, being painted or put into plays? There are all these dodgy TV shows and terrible films, but no one has really looked at it. Ultimately, it’s about the notion of political liberty. That’s why Tell has survived.”
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