“The power of forest fire awakens an arrogant artist… “I came up with the idea after seeing the terrible fire.”

German director Christian Petzold is currently attracting attention among cinephiles. His films are both sensuous and ethical, literary and cinematic. The new film ‘Afire’ (released on the 13th), which won the Silver Bear Award (Grand Jury Prize) at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, tells the story of an intense summer where the emotions of love and the pain of creation intertwine, using ‘fire’ as the material. It is the second work of the ‘Elemental Trilogy’ following ‘Undine’, which overlaps the properties of ‘water’ with tragic love. I met Director Petzold, who was visiting Korea, on the rooftop of the hotel where he was staying on the 6th. The sight of the director puffing out cigarette smoke outdoors under warm sunlight and amidst street noise was like a scene from one of his films where fantasy and reality mix.

Leon (Thomas Schubert), who came to a resort with a friend to finish the novel, meets Nadia (Paula Baer) and drifts between awkward feelings of love and stubborn stubbornness. Leon clings to writing novels, saying “work doesn’t allow it,” but he is a snob trapped in his own world, busy judging people and spying on Nadia. It is only when he is faced with a huge event called a forest fire that he is able to look straight at the world he belongs to and the person he loves.

―Why did you choose the subject of fire?

“On a trip to Turkey with my family, I saw an area where there was a forest fire. The huge mountain burned down and no sound was heard. I thought that one of the consequences of humans doing terrible things to the Earth was forest fires. “It started with the worry that we would no longer have the beautiful summer of young friends sitting at a table, drinking wine, talking, dancing and singing.”

―Novelist Leon is arrogant and pretentious. Since he is an artist, I wonder if he reflects himself.

“My arrogant side is in Leon. “Leon shows an arrogant attitude to protect himself.”

―The film that was ‘invisible and audible’ before the forest fire is ‘inaudible but visible’ afterwards. The directing that utilizes Leon’s perspective is interesting. Objects and objects that had been invisible after the fire finally become visible.

“Director Eric Rohmer said, ‘The position of the camera is the moral position.’ This film is a self-portrait of an arrogant and timid man and reveals how he views the world. “It contains both Leon’s gaze and seeing Leon.”

―Contrary to the visual image, surrounding sounds, such as the sound of insects, can be heard before and after a forest fire and then not.

“After a forest fire, we don’t hear anything from the forest. The forest contains very good music. I wanted to tell and show the rich sounds of the forest. “I wanted to show how beautiful nature is and how destructive fire is.”

―With the final voice-over narration of the movie, it felt like the entire movie had become a novel.

“When the narrator’s voice enters the film, the scene we are watching becomes present but also past. It exists here, but at the same time, it becomes a memory. I think this interesting moment is a cinematic moment. We also took into account the fact that summer movies usually have a melancholy that makes us in the current fall remember the summer of the past.”

―Movies can be difficult, so what if you could provide a guide for the audience?

“I like director Lee Chang-dong’s movie ‘Burning,’ but I had no idea that one of the settings was the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Nevertheless, it was possible to guess that there was division in Korea. Movies are a space of speculation, a space of dreams. “The great thing about movies is that the less you explain them, the better you can understand them.”

Reporter Lee Jeong-woo krusty@munhwa.com