Klippt & Skuret -
more of a writer than a director.

Transcript of report from the shooting of Bear's Kiss. From Swedish Radio P1, 16 August, 2001.

Klippt & Skuret

Introductory announcement [female voice]:
This is P1. Time is ten past six. We will now continue with the program Klippt & Skuret. Today subtitled "More of a writer than a director". It's about Sergei Bodrov and the shooting of Bear's Kiss. And it's Johan Bergström who brings us to a place where dreams and reality meet.

Johan Bergström [in car]:
One summer evening I drive from Gothenburg north towards Uddevalla. I'm going to meet a bear. The story of a bear. Or a human born as a bear, but who becomes a man and meets a woman. He loves her, and she loves him. But he will still implacably transform into a bear again. It sounds like a dream, a myth, a Russian fairy tale. And it is. But it's also a film, a remarkable film adventure being shot this summer partly in Lysekil and Uddevalla at the west coast of Sweden.

[voices and background noise from the shooting location]

Johan Bergström [at the shooting location in Uddevalla]:
Here, at the North Harbour docks in Uddevalla, I can see the tall white circus tent shimmering in the night, illuminated by the strong footlights. A bit further away a tivoli has been built up. This is the shooting scene for Bear's Kiss, a film financed by the German production company Pandora Film and with Memfis Film and Film i Väst as Swedish co-producers. Director is Sergei Bodrov. In 1996 he made the well attended and in many festivals prized film Prisoner of the Mountains. The leading character in the film he is now working on is created by the young Swede Rebecka Liljeberg. But for the moment the lights and camera are concentrated on the Italian actor Maurizio Donadoni who, with his hair flying, is dashing about on his old motorcycle in more and more narrow circles around the swings and carrousells of the tivoli.

[noise from a motorcycle, then voices and background noise from the shooting location]

"You are Sergei... Bodrov?"
"Yes, Sergei"
"I'm Johan"
"Hi Johan"
"Hello. This is the last shot you take?"
"It is the last day! Yes, last shot, last day. We had a really good time here. I'm really pleased."
"What made you decide to film in Sweden?"
"To film in Sweden because it's a road movie and I was thinking it's nice to have this journey from Russia to Sweden to Germany to Spain..."

Johan Bergström:
To my question why he chose to shoot parts of this film in Sweden, Sergei Bodrov answers that this is "road movie". The leading characters' journey from Russia to Sweden, and Germany, and further to Spain is what drives the film forward. Sweden also became an important place because it was here he found the wonderful actress who creates the main character Lola. And the shooting has gone very well, both here in Uddevalla and in Lysekil.

[voices and laughs]

Johan Bergström:
The Russian director Sergei Bodrov is joking about the trouble he has pronouncing Swedish place names and then, with a sudden intensity, he tells that this film, Bear's Kiss, for a long time has been one of the most important projects for him. Already ten years ago he came up with the basic idea for the film. Seven years ago he wrote the first draft of a script, but it's not until now, after other successes, that this film has been possible to realise. It builds on, and it reflects, Sergei Bodrov's fascination for the reality of the Russian fairy tales.

"You don't direct in a way... you wait... you have a magic way... and you wait, you don't say so much, you create situations... and then you wait for them..."

"... what will happen, yeah. No, I believe, sometimes it's a different approach, sometimes I'm waiting, sometimes I'm reacting, sometimes I'm showing people, sometimes I'm asking them to show me... everytime it's different."

Johan Bergström:
I mention that several actors has talked about his rather particular way to direct. That he doesn't say so much, he doesn't give very precise instructions. Sergei Bodrov answers that it's true, it's often true, but it also happens that he react more clearly, both by showing how he wants it and by demanding more. It can vary from film to film, sometimes from scene to scene. But it's true, he says, that I often work by creating situations, atmospheres, and then I wait for the reaction from the actors. That's probably one of the reasons why it's so important for me to find the right co-workers.

"So I believe it was really important for me to find the right people and everytime we are looking for ways how to express what we want..."

[voices and background noise from the shooting location]

"It's a strange experience for me, because it's not at all like any other movie I'm doing in Italy or in... I work also with CBS... but, this is a strange experience for me... it's a little bit like to be a gypsy... I'm not able to distinguish the difference between the reality, the fiction and the life... but I trust in..."

Johan Bergström:
While the beautiful white circus tent is already being taken down after the last shot I talk to the Italian actor Maurizio Donadoni about his experiences working with Bear's Kiss. Near by preparations are being made for the night party where they are going to celebrate the termination of the Swedish shooting period. This is a strange experience for me, says Maurizio Donadoni. It's not like any other film work I have been involved with, neither in Italy or any other place. It feels a little bit like being a gypsy. I'm not able to distinguish the difference between reality, fiction and the life itself. But I trust in Sergei. I believe this will be a very strong film.

"It's very difficult because in this crew, we have Italian actors, the director is Russian, some of the crew is Swedish, and when we started in S:t Petersburg..."

Johan Bergström:
Regarding the incredible mix of nationalities in the film team, Maurizio Donadoni says that of course trouble can arise when some actors are Italian, the director is Russian and some parts of the team are Swedish. And when we started in S:t Petersburg many in the team were Russians and Bulgarians and Romanians. And here is also a cameraman from Mexico, sound and light technicians from Uruguay and Germany and England. It's like a Tower of Babel. The high middle post of the circus tent is a symbol for this Tower of Babel. But I like this crazy mix, it is a richness. And Sergei Bodrov isn't like anyone else I've been working with. For me he is not an ordinary director, but a poet, a writer.

Finishing announcement [female voice]:
You have listened to Klippt & Skuret - fragments from a film shooting. This program will be re-run on Sunday 19th of August at 13.50 here on P1 and on Monday the 20th at 22.10 o'clock. And this was a program made by Johan Bergström.