WE WELCOMED KARIM AÏNOUZ AT SOHO HOUSE FOR AN EXCLUSIVE SCREENING OF ROSEBUSH PRUNING
words by SONNY NGO
Last night, we gathered at Soho House for an exclusive screening of Rosebush Pruning, in collaboration with Cinéart and joined by director Karim Aïnouz. Following the screening, Aïnouz sat down for an intimate conversation ahead of the release of our Cinema issue, where he features as one of our cover stars. Guests also joined in with their own thoughts and questions on the film.
images by DANIEL SARS
With writing commencing in 2021, shadows of the pandemic loom over the film. Aïnouz and screenwriter Efthymis Filippou, known for his frequent collaborations with Yorgos Lanthimos, are decidedly interested in the egocentric world of the ultra-wealthy. Fitting with the likes of Saltburn and Triangle of Sadness, the film is an absurdist, vibrant and comedic story satirising the zeitgeist. At the same time, it’s a departure from Aïnouz’s previous work. During the Q&A, he shared how it is his first film to solely concentrate on a classic heteronormative family – though that label is taken quite loosely. There is nothing normal about this group of isolated individuals.
“After making so many movies about women, I started asking myself: who are these men who are always positioned as antagonists? … Here, I was interested in doing an autopsy of these men. There’s a real sense of resentment in the manosphere and in politics.”
We are introduced to them through Callum Turner’s brash Ed, a semi-literate, fashion lover who is seen hitchhiking back to his family’s Catalonian villa after spending some time with a much older Greek man. At home, he is greeted by his older brother Jack (Jamie Bell), who has a fetish for blood, his brother Robert (Lukas Cage), who is in love with Jack, and his sister Anna (Riley Keough), who might be in love with both of them. Leading the house is the father (Tracy Letts), a blind yet tyrannical man who has surely contributed to the internal dynamics of the family. The mother (Pamela Anderson), with her bright shining teeth, has left the picture, supposedly devoured by wolves; although a naked, crouching figure of her is left in their courtyard as a keepsake.
images courtesy of CINEART
There is an atmosphere of perversity and seclusion to these characters, who, despite their extreme wealth, seem locked up in their modernist mansion. Jack seems to be the closest to making an escape as he and his guitar-practising girlfriend Martha (Elle Fanning) are looking for a new home – that is, under the watchful eye of the stalking family. Each of these individuals is, in their own odd way, slightly crazy and Aïnouz’s directing fully leans into this irrationality: there are rapid edits, bursting colours, and feverish sequences. Reflecting on these unanticipated decisions, Aïnouz said how this film is the first time he really allowed his unconscious to take over, “With this film, I was looking for a feeling of fever dreaming, something unexpected, that you really can’t control.”
image courtesy of CINEART
Despite both this air of surprise and the uniqueness of these characters, their interpersonal dynamics are a joy to behold. Much of this is thanks to the two-week rehearsals at the house, where the cast spent time exploring the intimacy of their relationships. “We also rehearsed scenes that weren’t in the script – scenes that informed the actors about their characters’ histories,” Aïnouz shared. It makes the offbeat conversations between the family all the more delicious. That time invested in fleshing out the characters also reveals itself in the film’s fashion. The family revels in their opulence and is seen flaunting their Bottega Veneta, Ann Demeulemeester, and Rolexes; and they are not afraid to correct your illiteracy of high fashion either. Although fashion does have a cultural and craft element to it, for them, fashion is all about shine and surface.
“Fashion was really about this idea of identity: does this belong to you or not? It doesn’t necessarily matter. It’s about what you want to perform as a character or as a person.”
images courtesy of CINEART
While at times the film can feel lost in its countless metaphors, Aïnouz invites all of the audience’s different interpretations: Rosebush Pruning is a film unafraid of excess. There is beauty in its extravagance, not least for the searing, vivacious hues of the film’s palette and its all-star cast.
