Tilda Swinton would be an overjoyed castaway.
That sentiment comes out especially when the Oscar-winning actress, 55, discusses the movies she adores.
In fact, Im going there soon.
Credit: Riccardo Ghilardi/Getty Images
And its really like that.
Its really as magical as that.
There really is a marvelous whirlpool that can suck you in.
Jack English
Swinton also waxes rhapsodic onHayao Miyazakis 1988 animated classicMy Neighbor Totoro.
But she goes on to explain why the animated fable resonates so profoundly within her.
Its about digging deep when theres a big gap.
And going out to a new house thats kind of scary and finding magic.
Its about following a slightly uncertain path.
The movie takes place almost entirely on the sexy, sunbaked Mediterranean island of Pantelleria.
Joel Ryan/Invision/AP
I love his style, which builds tension in small doses and little changes in the atmosphere.
And, of course, food.
Because that means youre getting the hang of it.
InI Am Loveyoull really have an atmosphere in this bourgeois milieu thats really tangible.
And inBigger Splashyoull have an atmosphere on this rock-and-roll island, with its holiday vibe.
you could taste everything theyre eating and you could smell everything.
And thats all Luca.
In the case ofI Am Love, you developed that project with him for years.
Was this a similar experience?
No, not really.
This picture is an interesting one for me because I was never going to be in it.
From the very beginning, we had discussions but for various reasons I wasnt going to do it.
Was that difficult for you?
It was kind of great.
Its like someone throwing a party in your own house.
I had this opportunity to play as an outsider in a way.
Luca took the title from aDavid Hockney painting.
What do you think it means?
Oh, thats interesting.
A kind of meta-commentary.
Yeah, thats one interpretation.
Theres something about the solipsism of these people in this bubble of luxury and in this ridiculous high-end life.
And we wont go into spoiler details, but drowning is a plot point.
And for me that kinda rang a bell.
Apart from flashbacks, the film is entirely set on the Sicilian island of Pantelleria.
Ive heard about the drudgery of making movies, but this one had to be fun?
Oh, man, you wont hear me talking about the drudgery of making movies.
I dont buy any of that.
All those guys who madeThe Revenant, they loved it.
They wanted to make a film and they were the happiest people around to be doing so.
We really felt that sun on our necks and on our legs.
And its an extraordinary place, that island.
Its got a really pagan atmosphere to it.
And its a great foursome in the cast.
Its remarkable to see how loose and funny Ralph Fiennes has become as an actor lately.
Hes so amazingly light and limber.
That scene where he dances Jagger-style to the Rolling Stones Emotional Rescue, its just incredible.
Hes just wonderful, isnt he?
I thinkGrand Budapest Hotel[in which Swinton also costarred with Fiennes] really released something magical in him.
People saw this other side of him.
And that seems to have bounced on intoA Bigger Splash.
And its so great to see.
You wanted her to be a singer, post surgery, and to have minimal dialogue.
More than that, I wanted her to be mute.
And it just amused me.
Also inI Am Love,you played a Russian emigre who only speaks Italian.
Seems like theres lots of imagination in regards to how you use your voice or dont in Lucas films.
Plus, theres something really nightmarish and dreamlike about the situation.
And I loved arousing that rubbery feeling in dreams when you want to express yourself but cant.
Youve talked about your mother passing away, and that detail is even woven into Mariannes recent backstory?
Did that also have something to do with you wanting to be mute?
The idea of making any noise publicly was really tricky for me to imagine.
What about Marianne being an musician instead of an actress?
And then it links her to Harry more that they were not only lovers but they worked together.
And it just all started to fall into place.
In the flashback scenes, shes got silver makeup on her face and shes wearing a tinfoil jumpsuit.
Seems like an obvious homage to David Bowie.
Well, not specifically.
Perhaps it seemed more poignant to me now, since hes gone.
Possibly, possibly, yeah.
He was maybe a person in the whole potpourri of people that I thought about.
If you say that, it seems like it could be anchored in a lot of artists.
Yes, people tend to tread similar paths at a certain points.
The terrain of life tends to take people around the same sorts of rocks.
But theres a moment of checking in and wanting to check out.
Thirty years ago you were in your first film,Derek JarmansCaravaggio.
Yeah, can you believe that?
Between then and now, was there a time when you could feel that you became famous?
Hmm, its funny.
I take that coat off when I come home.
But it just isnt with me.
But wasA Bigger Splashany kind of conscious attempt to explore some aspect of your own fame?
In as much as, you know, ones always looking for these guide roads to ones own experiences.
Theres a guide road from my experience as a woman of roughly the same age as Marianne.
I cant remember ever doing a Marianne Lane for get a table.
If you had Harry [Fiennes character] in your party he would be pulling that one.
It makes you really wonder what terrible things famous people could get away with, right?
Well, exactly, thats a reality.
Which was basically the art world, and then I was making films.
I suppose the brief answer is when I made theNarniafilm.
That was a leap because my art world audience, which still exists, was only knee high.
But are you still sort of escaping that feeling of being so-called famous?
I think Im still managing, yeah.
And he said thats a little bit like being referred to as a jumbo shrimp.
Which I thought was a completely fantastic description of me, more than famous.
Im a jumbo shrimp.
Oh, very succulent!
Oh, you would?
I think its going to be so great.
We start shooting this summer.
Its going to be such great fun to work with Luca again.
And its such an amusement, really, to approach a so-called remake of anything.
Of course, its based in huge respect for the original.
But I like to think of remakes as just cover versions of something.
That sounds better to me.
And its what Marianne Lane might say.
If she could speak.
