In short
Yorgos Lanthimos discusses his distinctive, often “punishing” style; why he focuses on “how” people behave rather than “why”; his filmmaking process with trusted collaborators; and his brief flirtation with making a Bourne movie. He also talks about stress, creative control, and how audiences interpret his endings.
Guests
Yorgos Lanthimos (BAFTA and Golden Globe–winning filmmaker; directed Dogtooth, The Favourite, Poor Things, The Lobster, The Killing of the Sacred Deer, and Begonia). Interviewer is Louis Theroux (host of The Louis Theroux Podcast).
Guest backgrounds
Lanthimos grew up watching mainstream films (Indiana Jones, Back to the Future) before a late “damascene” shift to directors like Tarkovsky, Bresson, Casavetes, Buñuel. He started in Greek commercials for years, then made early films with minimal budgets and collaborators.
Key claims
He doesn’t like over-explaining meaning; he prefers actors to bring surprises without extra information. He accepts that provocative work won’t be universally liked. He says he has “total creative freedom” and that Hollywood meetings can be superficial.
Notable examples
Dogtooth’s reprogramming montage and the “trunk” ambiguity; Begonia’s conspiracy-theory kidnapping of a CEO (Emma Stone) who may be an alien; his discussion of toxic relationships and avoiding “trauma porn.”
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOExploring Yorgos' Films and Themes
0:45 to 2:42
Discussion on the unique themes and styles in Yorgos' films, including 'Dogtooth' and 'The Favourite'.
“And The Favourite with Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman.”
Yorgos on His Creative Process
4:27 to 6:40
Yorgos shares insights into his creative process and themes in his works.
“Obviously there's a tone that infuses your work.”
The Mechanics of Storytelling in Dogtooth
6:40 to 10:40
In-depth discussion about the narrative structure and themes of 'Dogtooth' and audience interpretation.
“Actually, I remember it because we just did a new restoration, like a new digital transfer of the print, of the negative, and I kind of rewatched it.”
Audience Reactions and Film Interpretation
10:40 to 14:03
Yorgos and Louis discuss how audiences perceive and interpret films differently, highlighting specific examples.
“I mean, I don't want it to make it sound like you're performing an experiment.”
The Power of Audience Interpretation
14:03 to 15:13
Explore how audiences project their interpretations onto films, exemplified through a discussion of cinematic devices.
“She's allowed to because her tooth's come out, in theory.”
Provocation in Art and Cinema
15:14 to 17:58
Delve into the role of provocation in filmmaking and how discomfort can enhance audience engagement.
“Because in a related sense, I can't find my quote, but it was a New York Times quote where it was basically saying, and it seemed to be implied almost as a criticism.”
The Greek Film Landscape
17:59 to 19:26
Yorgos Lanthimos reflects on the challenges and realities of filmmaking in Greece, including the lack of an industry.
“You couldn't even make a documentary for that.”
Commercial Success and Mastery
19:27 to 22:06
Discuss the impact of making commercials on Yorgos's filmmaking skills and how it prepared him for feature films.
“So if there's a film school, why is there no film industry?”
Influences and Discoveries in Film
22:07 to 24:19
Yorgos shares his journey of discovering influential filmmakers and how they shaped his artistic vision.
“that you mastered your craft in some way.”
The Impact of Dogtooth
24:20 to 28:01
Examine the reception of 'Dogtooth' and Yorgos's mixed feelings about Hollywood's reaction to his work.
“And then when you were working in commercials all those years, were you continuing to educate yourself in film and increasingly thinking, wow, this may be something for me?”
Show all 22 chapters
Yorgos's Hollywood Experience
28:01 to 29:20
Yorgos Lanthimos discusses his initial reactions and experiences in Hollywood, including meetings and expectations.
“You've talked about that moment of arrival You know, in Hollywood, a bit like a vampire feeds on fresh blood, right?”
The Pressure of Filmmaking
29:21 to 33:03
Yorgos reflects on the pressure and stress that comes with filmmaking, emphasizing the responsibilities of a director.
“Hollywood came calling and they offered him, dude, where's my car too?”
Emma Stone's Influence
33:04 to 35:31
Discussion about Emma Stone's role in Yorgos's films and the dynamic between characters, exploring themes of control and power.
“And it's obviously not suffering in a conventional physical sense.”
Research and Development in Filmmaking
35:32 to 39:20
Yorgos elaborates on his approach to research while developing scripts and how he brings personal touches to his projects.
“she's like an Ubermensch or Silicon Valley tech sort.”
Yorgos Lanthimos on Reviews
43:08 to 46:11
Explore Lanthimos's thoughts on reading reviews and audience perception.
“Because they do send the reviews, and I see the email, and I go very quickly down the links.”
The Balance of Tension in Filmmaking
46:11 to 48:19
Discuss the importance of tension in storytelling and film analysis.
“How do you balance those two moral imperatives?”
Trusting Actor Interpretations
48:19 to 51:38
Lanthimos discusses the importance of trusting actors and their interpretations.
“And yet it's also been said by them that you don't say that much.”
The Nature of Acting and Film
51:38 to 56:00
Delve into what makes a good actor and the dynamics of film.
“Like with Amite was naturally like that from the beginning and that's why we get along so well.”
Discussion on Paul Dano and Hollywood Critiques
56:00 to 57:20
Delve into the conversation about Paul Dano's acting and criticisms from Quentin Tarantino.
“Paul Dano, who's a terrific actor, who's in There Will Be Blood and what was he, another one I saw called Prisoners.”
Exploring Film Preferences and Superhero Movies
57:20 to 1:01:19
Yorgos discusses his views on superhero films and various notable directors.
“That was the number two box office film of the year, I believe.”
Reflections on Family, Politics, and World Issues
1:01:19 to 1:06:06
A deep exploration of Yorgos' views on family life and pressing global issues.
“Anora Anora, yeah Was that up your alley?”
Yorgos on Political Themes in Films
1:06:06 to 1:07:26
Yorgos shares insights on his hesitations about making politically driven films.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:02Hello there, welcome to a bonus, wow that was loud, instalment of the Louis Theroux podcast. Lucky you.
0:18For this special bonus episode, I'm delighted to be joined, I won't keep doing that, by a BAFTA and Golden Globe winning visionary filmmaker who goes by the name of Yorgos Lanthimos. Why? Because that's his name. Over the past 15 years, Yorgos has become one of the most distinctive voices in modern cinema with films like The Acclaimed and Garlanded Poor Things. That had Emma Stone in it. It was like a surrealist steampunk reimagining of the Frankenstein myth with a woman as the monster. And The Favourite with Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman. that was sort of about Queen Anne, wasn't it? She raced lobsters in her hall and a lot of it was filmed with a fisheye lens.
1:05He's got a very amazing, very amazing... Listen to my language. I should be a film critic. He's got an amazing eye. Has he? He uses funny lenses. I already sound like a moron if Yorgos is listening to this. And that's just a small sampling of Yorgos' oeuvre. There is also Dogtooth, which was the first of Yorgos' films to put his name on the map and the first one I saw. Darkly comic, you might say, about the imprisonment of a family by their father in their house. We talk about that quite a bit. The Killing of the Sacred Deer, starring LTP alumnus Barry Keoghan, The Lobster, and many more. Yorgos has a coterie of frequent collaborators, including Colin Farrell, Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe, friend of the pod, and Emma Stone, future friend of the pod, she'd be a great guest, who he worked with most recently in his film Begonia, the BAFTA-nominated and Oscar-nominated.
2:02It tells the story of two conspiracy theorists who kidnap a CEO, kind of a tech boss. I can't say bro because it's a woman, played by Emma Stone, after they become convinced she's a space alien. I enjoyed it very much, and it resonated with themes I'm interested in to do with things like conspiracy theories, bizarre or paranoid thinking but also the emotional resonances of toxic relationships because it's partly about that. We recorded this conversation in December last year while Yorgos was in town promoting Begonia. A quick warning, this conversation contains strong language and adult themes.
2:42All that and much else besides coming up.
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4:23That's shopify.com slash louis. L-O-U-I-S.
4:38Thanks for doing this. I appreciate it. No, I'm very happy to. As I said, I'm a huge fan. and I actually don't know what I'm doing here because I'm probably the least known person you've ever interviewed for this well you're on Instagram and I was surprised to see how few how few followers you have but you're not posting a lot of personal because I just did a proper account because there was an account that everybody thought it was me and it wasn't really and i was i just decided like let's just do a proper account and so i just started it like a couple of weeks ago listen i'm a big fan as well i mean not as well i am a big fan i think we'll cut the bit out where you say you're a fan um no you never do i'm i'm listening to your podcast maybe we won't um and actually uh i've seen almost all your films you've got one out at the moment called Begonia.
5:36Indeed. Congrats it's brill. It's really good. Thank you. Obviously there's a tone that infuses your work. It's been characterized lots of different ways. All of them end up being somehow reductive. Sometimes it's called dark, absurdist, bleak maybe, harrowing, torturous. Sometimes they're characterized as being films that demand, well that they're punishing in some way. Speaking of which like I don't see them that way. Have you said hilarious yet? Hilarious Have you? I didn't say that one David Lynch called Dogtooth a fantastic comedy See, he gets it He gets it So the one I watched first was Dogtooth I watched it in 2009 Without getting too deep into spoiler land I'm sure people have A lot of people The people that have watched that film The ones who haven't seen it have stopped listening already Yeah, exactly It's that guy It's a dad and his wife Who've kept his three kids More or less locked away behind closed doors Deceiving them into believing that Life on the outside of their remote house Is dangerous And in fact maybe there isn't much life out there But either way they're now in their mid-twenties And they've never really left the family domicile Yeah I re-watched it last night Oh The opening scene is they're listening to a recording from their dad.
7:01Do you remember this? Yeah. You wrote it and directed it. Actually, I remember it because we just did a new restoration, like a new digital transfer of the print, of the negative, and I kind of rewatched it. What's the opening scene? The opening scene is like a montage, actually. It's like there's like a close-up of the mother pressing clay on the tape machine, and there's like a list of words and their meaning. Yes. So one of the words is si. Si, yeah. In Greek, thalassos. Thalassa, yeah. Thalassa. And they define it as... As... Armchair? Yes. And there's a couple other words. Excursion. Yeah.
7:43It's defined as... I don't remember. Toaster or something like that. Yes. They're all wrong definitions. And you realise this is a world where the grown-up children are having to be more or less reprogrammed with the wrong meaning of words so they don't ask too many questions. Yeah. So because, you know, the parents think that it might have slipped a couple of times, a word or something, and now they have to give it a new meaning for the children so they don't know what excursion is because they'll be asking for one so they don't want them to leave the house. So it was like a way of, you know, introducing the rules of, you know, this microcosm.
8:23Yeah. It was the same way, I don't know if you remember, the airplanes because it is... They're under a flight path. Yeah. So how do they explain that there's planes going over there? How do they explain that? And I went like, why don't they throw them little planes? Because they see them as little up in the sky and then they'll just go, oh, a plane fell from the sky and then they have it as a toy. So it was just like trying to solve those problems that those parents would have with Ephthymus that we wrote the script together. Ephthymus Philippou. Yes, that I've written many films with and he's a very good friend.
8:59I think the idea just started from myself and I think it's like making observation about, especially about Greek society and how families are structured. And, you know, I think there might still be, I think younger generations are a little bit different, but like children would stay with their parents until they were very old. and it was kind of fascinating for us. In Greek culture. In Greek culture, probably Mediterranean as well, if I'd be so bold to generalize a little bit. I wonder if I'm going to go out on a limb and... This is risky. Boys would be cooked for by their mums until they married and then their wives would cook for them.
9:42Exactly. That's the thing. Another fix is sometimes they eat fish and you're like, How are they explaining the fish? And then you see the dad arrive with fish in a plastic bag and he puts them in the family swimming pool. Yeah. And then goes out wearing scuba gear with a dart gun. Not a dart gun, like a harpoon? No, like it's called. Sub aqua. I don't know what you call it. Spear gun? Spear gun, that's it. You're not a fisherman, are you? No. And so he has to go through the charade of, he's like, oh, some fish have appeared in the pool. Presumably they think they're spontaneously generating. Yeah, probably.
10:19Yeah. You know, and it raises something that's true for a lot of your films. You know, in a way, that was the film that broke through for you, although it wasn't your first film. But, well, two things, I suppose. One is the how becomes more interesting, or in some way you'd work more with the idea of how is this happening rather than why is it happening. I think you're not that interested in the motivation. Correct me if I'm wrong. No. Why is the dad doing it? Yeah. why is the wife going along with it yeah i think that like those are things that are some of them easily deduced from what's going on and i find it more engaging to ask for from the viewer to do that work instead of like serving everything on a plate i enjoy that more you know when i watch something or listen to something or read something so yeah it's more about the the behavior and how it affects people and how you know we can investigate the things that we consider as given if they were slightly different what would that mean and just engage in that kind of conversation about you know how we've structured society relationships in the world uh testing it in ways and you know creating this situation that tests that instead of saying oh you know this is what families do and this is how children react and there you go.
11:48I mean, you knew that already. It's testing something. I mean, I don't want it to make it sound like you're performing an experiment. I guess there's two things. I've fallen into that trap to say that a few times. Yeah, I don't think that's what it is. I'm just trying to explain, you know, that we're building these rules, which is like an experiment. You often work with a closed precinct, but not always, but in which something's a little off kilter. I mean, what strikes me is that the audience is always a little bit, in an intriguing way, left out. So, for example, it's 55 minutes in of dogtooth that the word dogtooth is used, and basically you get a clear...
12:32So more than halfway through the film, you get a clear understanding that the world outside is dangerous. Until then, you're like, why don't they just leave? And then you get little breadcrumbs. I don't think you ever fully arrive which again I think is one of the reasons I engage with these films is because they don't feel fully resolved it's not like you're like oh now it all makes perfect sense yeah no you have to make sense for it yourself like if you rewatched the ending now it's very much that and I remember it was the first time that I talked to people after watching the film and I realised that it really depends a lot on the person that watches the film to make up a lot of stuff and the way that my films kind of demand that.
13:24But I remember even people saying, well, we're going to spoil it, but that's fine. Like when, you know, the daughter that escapes... The oldest daughter. The oldest daughter that escapes... She ends up knocking out her own canine, dogtooth. Canine, yeah. In order to fulfill... By the way, dogtooth is a made-up word, right? It doesn't really exist. That's not what you call your canine. Correct. In English, we don't call it your dogtooth, I don't think. No, I don't think so either. I think I like that, that the English title would be a made-up word. It kind of made sense with the film. But people have told me, like, she's going to come out of the trunk, right?
14:02Because he was holding... At the end, she knocks her tooth out. She finally leaves. She's allowed to because her tooth's come out, in theory. As long as she gets in the back of the car, he drives off. They can't find her. He's outside his place of work. She's in the trunk, and there's like a 10-second shot of the trunk. And she's in there, but nothing's happening. Yeah. But people have told me, but it's fine. She's going to get out because she was holding a hammer or a screwdriver. And she wasn't. No. But people that really wanted her to escape saw that. Which is like one of the, you know, revelations about like how people watch films and how they project their own.
14:45People really want answers. You know, it reminds me a bit. I think it's in Pulp Fiction where there's a car and it's never revealed what's in the boot of the car. Oh, yeah. They open and there's like a glow or something. And there's endless threads on the Internet about, oh, what's in there? It's actually someone's soul or some stolen gold. And you just sort of think like, no, it's never, we don't need to know because we don't know. Yeah, it's a narrative device of some sort. Because in a related sense, I can't find my quote, but it was a New York Times quote where it was basically saying, and it seemed to be implied almost as a criticism.
15:33It's like, is this documenting depravity or is it just being depravity? It's not clear whether he's interested in documenting it or interested in provoking by creating it. And I thought, well, that might be true, but I don't think that's a criticism. It's too intellectual for me. Oh, here we go. A.O. Scott in the New York Times says, At times it seems as much an exercise in perversity as an examination of it. Well, that's criticism. I think I know what you mean, but I don't think that's a problem. I'm with you, yeah. You know what I mean? It's a bit like, well, I'm giving you something that's making you uncomfortable.
16:13I'm trying to make you uncomfortable. Yeah, it's like the thing that I was, initially, early on, like I felt weird listening to that I'm being provocative. and then I realized it's a good thing. Yeah. Like you need to be provoked. Like how else are people going to be moved out of their seats literally and metaphorically like move their minds a little bit to different directions or see things from a different perspective if you don't provoke them. So I take it as a positive now. I would go further and say if there's some people who actively dislike one's work, I won't make it about you. That's perhaps not a bad thing.
17:02Yeah, and I understood early on that that would be weird. And that's why I had a weird reaction with the success of Dogtooth in the beginning. Because I felt that the stuff that I make is not for everyone and that's fine. and that there will be people that will hate it and people that will love it. And I understood that that's the kind of things I'm interested in. Not purposefully making people hate the work, but like it's just the natural outcome of this kind of work that people are different. And also, especially if we talk about, you know, around the world, different cultures, different, you know, different upbringings, experiences and all that.
17:45How can something that's provocative and interesting and different and relatively original be accepted and liked by everyone? That wouldn't be right. So you don't want that, really. No. So I made peace with that early on. What I was going to say is it was 2009. It was a huge hit. Well. Well, it was a hit. Well, it did really well. I mean, it cost, what, next to nothing? Yeah, I mean, all the Greek films that we made, we kind of did it with, you know, five, ten friends and, you know, we paid for the necessary stuff and then everybody offered to work for free mostly or with, like, very little money.
18:36It was like, what, 250 ,000 euros? Yeah, like something like that. You couldn't even make a documentary for that. Well, you could, but it would be cheap. Well, not these days, I guess. But yeah, it was nothing. It's just like the love of people that, you know, wanted to make films. And especially at that time in Greece, there weren't that many films being made. Like there was no industry. I mean, there still isn't. It has improved. But there wasn't the notion of becoming a filmmaker in Greece when I was growing up. It was like a non-existent thing. And that's why I started by doing commercials and saying, like, at least I'll be doing something that is similar to what I like, but I'll be able to earn a living.
19:20And, yeah, at some point we just decided, why don't we just go and make it like that with no money? You'd gone to film school, right? Kind of. In Athens? In Athens. So if there's a film school, why is there no film industry? There's like a very small private film school. Now there's one at the university as well. but yeah there wasn't such a structure like when i was growing up there were like two or three you know older generation filmmakers you might have heard of theo angelopoulos for example was the most well-known one uh and it was them that they were making films and you know they were using up all the resources of the greek film center so there was like no uh chance that a young filmmaker would like be able to be included in that so there was a boom in advertising in in greece like just before the crisis actually if you can make the connection uh so like a lot of money being spent on commercials and you know like people who don't remember what year was it was it 2009 2009 this massive people said it was because of the olympics do you remember that that They said they spent too much money on the Olympics.
20:36Yeah, I think they were generally spending too much money. What year was the Olympics? 2008? 2004. 2004. The other one was they said Greek people don't pay taxes. They said it's normal in Greece to not pay your taxes. There's a lot of that. Some of that is partly true, but I think there was that bubble of banks, loans for mortgages and things like that that kind of exploded. it was the era of mobile phones and all these companies coming in and like spending, you know, millions and millions and, you know, doing commercials and people buying stuff and getting houses and mortgages. And there was like a whole thing going on.
21:22And I think that, you know, a lot of these things led to the crisis, well, there and in other places around the world. but it was, yeah, felt quite hard in Greece. Yeah, but luckily by then you were soaring into your next stage of your career. I moved over here. And you moved over here. It was striking that you were doing two or three commercials a week for nearly ten years. Is that possible? No, I mean, I probably exaggerated. But for a number of years. But like for a number of years I was doing like a commercial a week at least. But what I took from that was it's almost like the Malcolm Gladwell thing of 10 ,000 hours that you put so much time into making these, in effect, short films that you mastered your craft in some way.
22:12Yeah, the technical aspect of it. I think that was very helpful for us to decide that we didn't need that much in order to go and make a film if we wanted. Like if we gathered these 10 people that just wanted to make a film, We didn't need lights, we didn't need makeup, we didn't need anything. We would borrow stuff and we would shoot in locations that they gave us for free. And we could just make a film like that instead of not making anything at all and just being there and going like, oh, it would be so nice to make a film one day, you know, that kind of thing. So that's how we made the three first films in Greece.
22:50And then, yeah, after Dogtooth's relative success, I decided to move over here because at some point after making three films this way, I just felt that if I was to continue making films, I needed to be able to make some choices instead of like just boring stuff and filming in the house that was free. You needed the freedom of a bit more money and more options. A little bit more control over aspects of the filmmaking. But dialing back, so you grew up and you've talked about you were not a massive cineast, you were quite sporty. In fact, your dad had been a basketball player, professional, nationally known in Greece.
23:32I can't remember, you gave a few examples, like maybe you were watching Flashdance, was it? Were you watching Back to the Future, just mainstream? Yeah, I grew up watching mainstream films, Indiana Jones. and yeah. And then you had a sort of Damascene moment when you watched, was it a Tarkovsky film? Probably, because I went to film school again, like thinking, you know, I kind of like these films. I'm not, I'm never going to make a Spielberg film or anything, but like I, you know, I can learn the craft and do commercials and, you know, do something like this. That's how I went to film school.
24:03And then all of a sudden, you know, I discovered, you know, Tarkovsky and Bresson and and Casavetes and, you know, those filmmakers, Bunuel, that I had no idea about. And this other world opened for me. So it was relatively late. I mean, I was like 19 or whatever. And then when you were working in commercials all those years, were you continuing to educate yourself in film and increasingly thinking, wow, this may be something for me? Yeah, I used to watch a lot of films and read a lot, Like a lot of the stuff that I learned and technically, like I was getting, you know, magazines from like American Cinematographer, for example, that's like very technical about cinematography and all the stuff that I weren't really learning in film school.
24:56I was just, you know, reading about it. And then I would be experimenting while we're making commercials. And I go like, we should do this process with the film. And they were going like, how are you crazy? We can't do this. we should you know do bleach bypass or whatever and the labs would be like furious with this guy that wanted to do all those things and so yeah i had like a real uh thirst for it but i i didn't really think that i was gonna actually make a film it was just like getting to learn about these things and then of course watching films and contemporary films you know at the time apart from the old ones that i discovered uh in film which ones were you aware because it feels like Lars von Trier was doing interesting things at the time?
25:41Yeah, I guess it was maybe... Michael Haneke was... Of course, yeah, Michael Haneke and maybe a pizza pong, where is it, a cool Thai filmmaker? I don't know, you got me. Yeah, Taiming Young, for example. That's a filmmaker? Yes. Oh, Jesus. You're not writing these things down, but we're recording this, so that's fine. I'll be writing them down.
26:09Are those people you were watching at that time? So you were dipping into Asian cinema? Well, I mean, to be honest, like, my memory is so bad. But that was gradual, I guess. Yeah. You know, getting into more obscure, more experimental, sometimes they call them. I don't really like that characterisation. They call them non-narrative. I don't like that either. What's an example of a non-narrative? I don't know. They can say like a Lynch film is non-narrative. Some are and some aren't. Blue Velvet's narrative. Yeah, but like even... Even Eraserhead's narrative. But does narrative need to be always linear?
26:47No. That's why I don't love the... Yeah. Jean-Luc Godard said... Oh, Jean-Luc Godard, of course. Said a film needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end. But not in that order. Oh. Finish each other's sentences now. Okay. When Dogtooth got the reaction that it did, I think it was nominated for an Oscar. It was, yeah. Wasn't it? Commiserations on failing to win. Yes, thank you. It was a win that we even got nominated. Exactly. It's an honour to be nominated. I'm so sorry you lost your Oscar. I've lost many since then. Have you? Have you, yeah. You must have won a couple. No. Well, my people have won.
27:33like actors Emma Stone won one she has two well she has won two not with me with me involved in the film right she's won one so that's your Oscar Olivia Colman won one with you yeah with me those are yours yeah I'll claim those you should get joint custody well I got the cards Emma got the Oscar I got the card that was saying like Emma Stone winner so she gave me the card that's almost patronising that's almost a little bit insulting You've talked about that moment of arrival You know, in Hollywood, a bit like a vampire feeds on fresh blood, right? And it's like, oh my God, there's a new guy Have you seen Dogtooth?
28:13Yeah, it's awesome Let's get him in for a meeting That's my bit That's a good impression, yeah Hey, Yorgos, awesome to meet you Big, big fan You talked about not enjoying that, surprisingly You said, I had a weird negative reaction to all the noise around Dogtooth. Actors, meetings in LA, I didn't know what I was doing there. This is you. I felt it was fake in a way. Well, I mean, a lot of it was fake. Like those meetings are extremely superficial most of the times. And also, you're already in a position to make movies you want to make, right? So in a way, it's like, what are they going to do?
28:54Slot you into a franchise? We've got an exciting project for you. Star Trek 7. Yeah I mean I wasn't really at the time like after having made Dogtooth and being nominated for an Oscar it was like there was an interest in what it was that I wanted to do next and I did entertain the idea like going back to my roots as a teenager and go like should I make a Bourne movie like for example that'd be fun. Literally? Literally yeah. Really? But like only for a little bit not really after seeing how the whole thing worked did you do a meeting for born i don't think i did a specific one um but i think like my agents were asking like what you know what it is that you want to do and i said like i'm gonna make a born film they were like uh popular a friend of mine who was very is and was a very talented documentary maker and he made a string of successful documentaries.
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29:53Hollywood came calling and they offered him, dude, where's my car too? And what happened? He passed. But it's funny how you go into a different table in the casino. How much are these chips worth? I think there is something interesting in that if you have the guts to do it. Yes. Like if you go like, you know what, I'll try this. Yeah, but then do you remember when the guy who made The Lives of Others, I can't remember his name, that terrific German film, went to Hollywood. Do you remember what he made? Yeah, but that's not the same thing. Go on. He made The Tourist for people who were interested in the punchline.
30:32I don't think that The Lives of Others was in a way such a different film. Not to The Tourist, just don't get me wrong. But I don't think it was Ty Ming Yang doing The Tourist, is what I'm saying. Like his film was like, you know, a successful popular film that, yeah, was, as they say, narrative. And, you know, I think it ticked a lot of the boxes. But even that. I do love that film. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But and obviously when he made The Tourist, like he didn't have any control over it. The studios had. And that's what I realized. Did you see The Tourist? I mean, we're saying it like it's terrible, but it might be.
31:16It didn't do very well. No, but the people themselves that made kind of say it's terrible. But I think that's what I realized when I flirted with the idea that you actually don't have any control. Like they want to kind of have you there as the new thing and say, oh, this guy is doing this, but like they want to actually do it. So I realized it's not for me and I just want to keep making the films that I want to make and have, you know, as much control as I can, which I'm very lucky to have achieved. Like, I haven't made any film that I didn't have, you know, total creative freedom. Even that's hard to bear.
32:02I mean, people that, you know, do difficult jobs hear that and say, like, oh, really? I was going to say making films is difficult, but... Try taking out someone's appendix. Exactly. Yeah. What would be a better example? Try. No, but that's like really hard. Like be, you know, like someone who cleans people's houses. I think that's brutal. And we're saying, oh, we're making films. It's so difficult. And but it kind of it's weird that it is. And it does it does affect us like deeply and profoundly. And it's the narrative that we built for ourselves and, you know, what we consider important and all that.
32:44But anyway, it's hard for me because I've chosen to do this and this is all I have and it's life itself in a way. So although it might seem ridiculous to someone on the outside, I still do suffer making films, but not in the real world though. Of course, that doesn't surprise me. And it's obviously not suffering in a conventional physical sense. It's a kind of feeling of responsibility. And you've been given an opportunity and not many people are in your position and you don't want to fuck it up. And you don't really have many people you can blame because to a great extent you're a captain of your own destiny.
33:32No, no, and I've chosen that. Like I said, I have complete creative freedom. So, yeah, it's all my fault. If it's going south. Yeah, it's just me. is my inability to do whatever I needed to do. What was your most... Because you've talked in the past about how stressful you find it, how in some respects it's quite an unhappy... Emma Stone said, he's really miserable while we're filming. You said, yeah, it's insane, it's immense. Then the question was, and it hasn't gone away over time? Stone, it's gotten worse. Lanthimos, you try to rationalise it. Why are you so upset? This is a movie. Of course, when you compare it with other things that are happening in the world, it's ridiculous.
34:13But for you in that moment, it's everything. It's gotten worse. Was begonia the most stressful, would you say? I think so. But that might have to do something with the fact that I kind of made three films back to back without taking a break in between. You did poor things, kinds of kindness and begonia. You're very productive. Yeah. And not only that, they're all outstanding. Thank you. I think so. My opinion means nothing. Well, it means something to me. Well, I mean, less now that you didn't know most of the filmmakers that I've mentioned. It's true. You might just be ripping them off. I'd see those and be like, he's just taking it all from...
34:55If I make up a name, it'll sound like I'm being racist, so I won't do that. Begonia, it's about two guys, a guy and his cousin. The guy's played by Jesse Plemons, a tremendous actor who you've been working with a lot. and his brother, played by a neurodivergent... Cousin. What did I say? Brother. But you said cousin, I think, in the beginning. Yeah, and his cousin, but they've got a brotherly relationship. They do. They kidnap... This isn't a spoiler, I don't think. The character played by Emma Stone. No, it was very early on. And she's a girl boss. I know that's a weird term, but that's sort of how it feels.
35:31She's got Sheryl Sandberg, the Facebook executive energy. she's like an Ubermensch or Silicon Valley tech sort. In fact, she works in the pharmaceutical business. And she's almost oddly composed, even the act of being abducted. Like a lot of Yorgos Lanthimos films, a lot of times you're second-guessing the reactions. No one's behaving exactly as you think they might, and so you're a little off balance, which partly prevents them from feeling like victim narratives. It would be easy to make trauma porn with these kinds of plot setups. Do you know what I mean? Oh, look, that person's being horrific to that person and when are they going to escape?
36:12It's much more finely grained than that. She seems at times more in control than he does. Would you agree with everything I've just said? Everything. It feels like I'm a lawyer now. Nevertheless, on the night in question, one of the things in my head was like as someone who's made documentaries about conspiracy theories so the Jesse Plemons character has gone deep into the internet and he believes various conspiracy theories he thinks Emma Stone is an alien he does and so I'm watching thinking this relates to things I've been curious about so the first question I have is how interested are you in real versions of the things that take place in your films like do you research that?
36:53I know you didn't write Begonia but nevertheless less? I research if I think there's benefit to it. On this one, for example, I felt that, well, first of all, the screenplay that Will Tracy wrote was, you know, already brilliant. It was a fully developed piece of work. Yeah, because Ari Aster developed it with Lars Knudsen, their company, and they... Ari Aster, who directed Midsommar and Hereditary. Okay. Is that right? Yes. I'm just helping the people. We've got people. It's not just you and me here. And Eddington, the latest one. Always Afraid. Always Afraid with Joaquin Phoenix. Yes, Joaquin Phoenix, great films.
37:36So they thought that I might be interested in it. Why didn't Ari Aster want to direct it? I know. I don't really know. I think he just was interested in other things. Someone said that he wishes he directed it now. Yeah. Is that true? Maybe I said that as a joke. I think you did. I definitely have said that to him. Have you? Does he agree? He gets the joke. Right. I don't know if it's true. There's probably some truth to it. Yeah. But because he was interested in it from the beginning because he really loved the original film. I hadn't watched it. Save the Green Planet. Yeah. It's a Korean film.
38:12Korean film. I didn't know of the film. So he was a fan. So that's how he got involved. So maybe he thought that as a fan, he didn't want to make that film, but he thought it was a good idea the premise of it and the concept of it like to be transported to modern-day america um so they thought i might be interested so i and i was and i worked with will tracy a little bit on the script to just make it more you know my own will tracy you had been a writer on succession he's been a writer in succession yeah uh a great writer so there was so much already there and i kind of didn't want to go like, oh, but there's this thing in real life and should we make it more like this?
38:53And like I felt reading it that it was like really strong and I just concentrated on other stuff that, you know, I knew that I would do differently instead of like researching what the reality around it is. So when you say you concentrate on the things that you can bring to the project, what is that? What is that? I don't know exactly. It's very instinctive. Like there were like great characters, great dialogue, great premise. Maybe structurally I do things differently. Or, you know, even casting Aiden, who's autistic. Like it wasn't written as an autistic person. But I felt that it should be in a way.
39:45And it would make more sense. the whole thing would make more sense and it would be richer. And, you know, parts of the comedy of it or, you know, like his background with his mother and those kind of like dream or flashback sequences instead of like being expositional about it and just, you know, things here and there, yeah, that I do differently. But again, it was a great script from the beginning just to be fair.
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43:07Do you read your reviews? No. Don't you? No. I might read some of the bad ones. Because they do send the reviews, and I see the email, and I go very quickly down the links. And if I see something really bad, I might click on it and see. Why? It just interests me to see. you know well first of all if there's some something truthful in it and then may I learn something and then you know like where is it coming from I'm interested to see and a lot of the times it's just like people just wanted a different film but it's like they didn't make it so they're getting this one but they wanted it to be different it's not about you know how good it is or it's about it should have been another way so i find that interesting to read because you know reviews that praise the work i don't have much to gain from and it makes me feel uncomfortable i get that i mean it can confirm you in things like oh it's working i'm not alone yeah but you get you get a sense of that anyway like because films are especially you know the films i've been making the last few years like they're widely released you get a sense of whether it's working or not and you know talking to other people like and if you start promoting the film and then if you get into that whole awards kind of season thing you know you speak to other people you get a sense of you know how the film is doing you don't have to like read someone's specific view of what the film is and what it means to them and um i also don't love the analysis of what it is that i do because it kind of ruins it for me i like just not knowing and working as i said before like instinctively like instead of saying like what you've been doing today basically i know i was gonna i you know what i i try not to take offense no that's right criticism is heard no but like it's it's hard for me to actually try and understand it that's why you know i usually just agree with right so all the time you said you've got it you were basically just agreeing no no i genuinely think that i haven't figured out how you do what you do but i do think what i have to get out is that you can't interrogate the mystery too much and just as in the films um you're more interested in the how than the why in certain respects that sort of the the mechanisms and the ways the rationalizations and the shifts in power as opposed to what's behind all this i think in a weird way i think i take that from the filmmaking process a bit like there isn't a kind of universal solution like there isn't necessarily a unitary meaning you exist as a viewer within the tensions and if i can make this about me even more than it already is like i do try to when i'm making a documentary rather than say like what's the meaning or what's the takeaway i find it easier to talk about tensions there's a tension between the urge to be tolerant and humane towards even predatory people like pedophiles while also taking a sufficient account of the seriousness of their crimes.
46:50How do you balance those two moral imperatives? There isn't really an answer. No. And that's the beauty of it, like of what we do. Like you, you know, offer these things to people and then they make what they want with it. Like it's impossible to control. Like that's the weird thing about it. Like, because you have to make so many decisions making something, either a documentary or a narrative film. You make so many decisions thinking that you have some kind of control. They're going to say these things, they're going to be in this house, there's going to be this music. And you think that you have this control in creating this work that you hope will have some kind of impact.
47:37But like in reality, imagine how, what we were saying before, like how different people are and how they're going to perceive it in different ways. And you have to be able to just let that go and say, yeah, people are going to, you know, think different things about it. And that's why I also said like before, like I agree because nothing is wrong. There's no version of what you think about, well there might there might be some extreme ones but like that but you can't say like you're wrong thinking you know this part is funny and this isn't you're not wrong like you have a different sense of humor you have a different experience in life or a different understanding of situations or tensions are you as you say and it might be something personal that you recognize that makes you experience in a different way so it's like you have to kind of let go one of the things that your films also often are marked by, distinguished by his amazing performances, most recently by Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons in the past, also Willem Dafoe, Olivia Colman, Colin Farrell, many others.
48:44And yet it's also been said by them that you don't say that much. And they say they'll come to you and say, like, why am I doing this? Like, why have I decided to hack out my own liver? And you don't... That's a reference. Spoiler. or cut off my own finger. Why? And then you say it's not about why. Yeah. That's why I keep working with Emma because she doesn't ask those questions anymore. She stopped doing that. She stopped doing that. No, they all get it, I think, eventually. But I understand the urge of an actor to have a little bit more information. But I think it's more beneficial for everyone if we don't analyze things too much.
49:28And, you know, I try to work with people that I trust a lot. And that also is the same for people behind the camera, but also the actors, that I know they'll bring something that is hopefully surprising and something that I didn't necessarily expect. But, yeah, no, I've been lucky that I try to make sure that, But, you know, like I, the actors that I work with have a sense of what it is, you know, my work. And, you know, they appreciate it in a certain way. And then I think also to get along as people, like just how communication is and how the interaction is. And then I think then it becomes easy to just, you know, trust them and they trust you.
50:21and also the benefit, of course, of working multiple times with them is that, you know, you build trust more and more. But I think it's, well, the reason to get back to that, that I don't like to say too much to them or explain too much is because, like, I have an explanation, but they might have an explanation that's more interesting. Also, you know, it allows me to have a distance when I see, when I observe what it is that they're doing and what they're bringing. And that allows me to see if maybe it's not working. Because if it's something that we both have agreed on, then you kind of tend to think that's the correct thing and you kind of tend to even see that, that you agreed even if it doesn't exist.
51:08So I prefer to not know what it is that they're thinking. And then they bring it. and if I go like, that doesn't look right, I can tell them. But if it is, it's great because, you know, you didn't necessarily expect that or it is what you expected and they're doing it, you know, they're making it even greater. So that's the reason. It's not like some kind of punitive process of... It's just like I think it's beneficial for them as well. And I think they get it. Like with Amite was naturally like that from the beginning and that's why we get along so well. Did she say that you sometimes do line reads of bad line reads?
51:48Yeah. Now I love to do that even more. When she said that it annoys her. That's a cadence you don't like. Yeah, or something physical. I just try to imitate her and go like, don't do it like this. And she goes like, okay, you don't have to do it. I get it. It's a big no-no, isn't it, doing line reads? Someone told me that once. yeah well why because like it's insulting or i guess it's insulting the other thing is like it's reductive like it's yeah then you have to like mimic the other person like doing sometimes i watch films not yours but you think i think you've got that line wrong like i think you're emphasizing the wrong word you know what i mean yeah and it's often you think like why didn't the director just say no just say you can't handle the truth you know what i mean i know what you mean imagine saying that to jack nicholson yeah i think he got that one it's good he gets it right most of the time yeah that's the thing like i think intelligent talented actors do not get the line wrong right it's just about finding the nuances and the diversity of what that can be and you know try and capture that and then be able to play around with that during the editing so that you can you know sculpt their performances and uh but yeah i just love i didn't start out like that i got i just love finding people that i can trust and i feel like they bring much more than i could have imagined uh i think i started out thinking like i have to control everything and i am the one who knows best about everything and you know by working with people multiple times and trusting them and i i realized that it's so much better to just um you know get ideas from everyone and then you know just have the confidence to uh sort them out and understand what's beneficial for the for the end result and what isn't um so yeah i just love giving them the freedom as well no it's not like withholding information just to tease them or anything.
54:02It's just like giving them, I see it as giving them more freedom to come up with their own ideas about the character or the scene or what that is. Do you have a sense of what, what separates the really good actors from the not so good actors? Is this like, because I'm such a terror, I can't act. Please don't ask me to be in one of your films. I was going to write as soon as we finished. I know you were thinking it. Yeah. You can see it in my eyes. How do they, you know, I'm always mystified. And I even said, because we had Florence Pugh on the podcast. I will tell you if you get a line wrong. Would you?
54:39I will tell you. Yeah, because you're famous for that. Stress. That word. What do they do? No, you said you are famous for that. You are famous for that. You can't handle the truth. You've obviously got an eye for actors. You know, you work with great actors. You get great performances out of them. What do actors do? How do they do that? I don't know how they do it. It's incredible. You know, a good sign for me is like when they're in a terrible film and they're still decent within a terrible film, I think that they have a quality that shines through anything. So that's something to look out for, I think.
55:23Do you watch many terrible films? I mean, inadvertently. Do you stay across what Hollywood is doing? I try as much as, you know. Is there something you can learn? I mean, learn or like... Learn. I'm curious about the state of things. You know how Tarantino will see anything? Yeah, and say anything. What do you think about that? For people who don't know... Well, we're not criticizing him about speaking too much and then say something about him. That's as far as I'll say. I mean like that, but he famously in the last couple of days has said of Paul, is it Dano? Dano, I think. Paul Dano, who's a terrific actor, who's in There Will Be Blood and what was he, another one I saw called Prisoners.
56:10Prisoners, yeah. And for some reason... He's directed films as well. Quentin Tarantino decided to publicly criticise him. Yeah. Well, we don't have to. No, we don't have to pile on that. We know Paul Dano's a great actor. Oh, there goes that clickbait. Thanks very much.
56:32How's the internet? We've got to feed the internet. Feed the internet. The internet is hungry. But everybody's defended Paul Dano. He doesn't need defending because, you know, that's just something someone said. But my point was, before you got down a clickbait side passage, was Quentin Tarantino... You brought it up, not me. Well, I mean, you brought up Quentin Tarantino. So he famously, he's like, I'll go and see. He said something, you know, he's a fan of just movies. And he'll go and see and whatever comes out. You know what I mean? Yeah. Are you like that? No. Would you go see like a Marvel film?
57:13I think you don't have kids. Is that right? No, I don't. No. So there's no reason for me to do that. Did you watch the Minecraft movie? No. I don't know what that is. You don't know what it is? No. That was the number two box office film of the year, I believe. I'm not their audience, I guess. Wow. Number one was a Chinese film that I didn't recognize. You might have known what it was. I'm not going to go down all the list of the hit films. No, but yeah, I mean, I do watch films. Marvel? Marvel, I mean, if one of them kind of intrigues me for some reason. What's the most recent superhero film you saw?
57:51That has intrigued me.
57:57I don't know tell me something well there was a Superman reboot didn't see that Lego Batman I saw the previous Superman Lego Batman Lego Batman no it's funny the previous Superman was which one there's been so many there's like the in between yeah they keep rebooting it there was that film which I I just couldn't believe what I was saying because like he was like saving I think it was New York City and like he was throwing people like on buildings and the buildings would be destroyed so I was thinking like he's killing way more people than the bad guy would by just destroying all these buildings and collapsing it's like they always say about the Death Star right there was a lot of probably cleaners on the Death Star do you know what I mean just non-partisan non-ideological support staff and then they blow up the Death Star and we're all like yeah, tens of thousands of people yeah, so I don't know, I'll go watch something that Spider-Man?
59:09It's been a while Would you have watched the original reboot which was the, not Brian De Palma who was it? Sam Raimi I think I watched that, yeah, with Tobey Maguire. And Willem Dafoe, your friend. And Willem Dafoe, my friend. Willem is in everything. Tell him that. I'm sure he'd appreciate the compliment. No, I'd tell him this. But he loves working. Like, that's someone you love having on set. Like, he loves working. Apparently, I interviewed him as well. Yeah. And he was like, yeah, I love making the movies. And then he didn't literally say this, but it was along the lines of, yeah, but when they come out, I'm not that interested.
59:50Yeah, I listened to that, yeah. Did you? Yeah, so he's not... I think you insulted him at one point. Maybe I did. What was it that I said? I don't remember, but it was funny. It was funny to hear that. I was aware that I felt like... I also loved Abramovich pounding you. Did you like that? That sounds sexual. Well. For people who don't know, Marina Abramovich was a recent guest of the podcast, arguably the most famous performance artist now living. She didn't pound me exactly. She was playfully... I enjoyed her. I enjoyed it. She's feisty. She's feisty, yeah. I like that. Are there mainstream Hollywood directors that you watch out for and you find interesting?
1:00:39Or mainstream? Well, define mainstream. You say mainstream in Hollywood. Forget mainstream. It's like really complex, the issue. Like is Paul Thomas Anderson a mainstream Hollywood? Forget mainstream. Yeah, of course. Paul Thomas Anderson. That's great, yeah. But I love talking more about like, you know, Kelly Reinhart and people like that that I find, you know, well, not enough people, you know, know their films. She's got a new film out. She's got the masterminds, yeah. Like brilliant. I don't know. I don't really know who... I don't know her work. See, even you Even, I love the even Has she made many films?
1:01:18She's made quite a few, yeah Did you like, what was it called? What was the one about the sex worker? Anora Anora, yeah Was that up your alley? Yeah, it was, yeah, fun Yeah I'm not going to become Quentin Tarantino I didn't, that wasn't We lost everyone with Kelly Reinhardt, right? I don't know what to do with Kelly Reinhardt. Yes, I'll give you something else. I gave you Paul Thomas Anderson, but he doesn't need it because he's so popular right now. I watch Spielberg movies and I watch Scorsese and, you know, of course. You know, I feel like I'm on the edge of... Losing everyone? No, not at all, actually.
1:02:05Ari Aster, we already mentioned. The Safdie brothers you've talked about. The Safdie brothers, they're my friends. we we grew up together no we didn't grow up together but we met during dogtooth actually we they had their film daddy long legs and we met at festivals yeah yeah it's great and yeah we became friends Nicolas Cage no oh you're talking about the latest one long legs Jesus Christ you're so illiterate why am I even here um there's another no Daddy Long Legs it was 2009 the Safdies are maybe though you know Uncut Gems of course I've seen Uncut Gems and Good Time and now they they have both made uh individual films that they directed Marty Supreme is one that Joss Safdie did is that good yeah oh well I haven't seen it but people say it's good and Ben Safti did uh oh oh Ben I'm sorry I'll remember in a second uh the smashing machine uh with the rock uh so they've both made films yeah they're great uh let's arrive somewhere I mean I feel I don't want to peel the layers away so you should and I have a bad habit of doing that but I know okay I'll say this so you grew up you were you're an only child your dad wasn't in the picture for a lot of it yeah your mum died when you were 17 yeah and you never really reconciled as far as i were with your dad or in so far as that term is appropriate it's not as though you became massively close with your dad after that no no i would like see him every now and then but like yeah we're never very close now do you think you have a suspicion of family life i guess so i mean i do have a very particular view and experience about it maybe that's part of how you know we started something like dog tooth for example um maybe yeah the reason i don't want to have kids maybe you don't want to really yeah but also you know the state of the world doesn't really encourage do you feel gloomy about the state of the world it's yeah it's something that i'm like trying to um i'm wrestling with because yeah everything points to that but then how useful is to just say that and And, you know, whatever is left of it, what do you do with it?
1:04:46What's top of your list in terms of threats that you see? Because there's quite a few to choose from. There's quite a few, yeah. That's the thing. But that's the thing. Like, it's overwhelming. All of them? Yeah. Like, it's, you know, yeah. The environment, refugees, like, that's up my alley. Like, in Greece, that's how most of them are trying to escape the horrors of... Is that still going on? Of course, yeah. There was a crisis on Lesbos, was it, back in the day? There still is. It's the same. It's just like we're focusing on different things. But that's still... It's still happening. Is it like a refugee camp on Lesbos?
1:05:27Lesbos? They don't call them camps anymore. They call them hospitality centers or something like that. But they are like camps. And they're not just on Lesbos. They're on many islands and on mainlands. and yeah it's pretty yeah rough situation and then let's not even talk about you know what's going on Gaza and West Bank in which you did a documentary that I'd like it to be longer oh thank you so yeah there's there's well America what's going on there like the rise of you know right wing right wing populism populism everywhere like there's so much like we're i'm probably not the best to talk about these things but you know i do notice them would you ever think well i'd shine a light on this with with a film i think perhaps you're not issue driven in that way straightforward away i'm i guess i'm not but i'm i'm it's hard to ignore it more and more yes i am political but it's not i explore as you said like whatever human power dynamics or whatever and it's never directly political i think bougonia is more directly political than like there's political references specific political references um and yeah i'm like in a place where I'm wondering whether I need to do something which is, yeah, more directly political and in terms of like addressing some things more head-on.
1:07:10And I don't know what that is. Maybe I'll make a documentary.
1:07:26Welcome back. Hope you enjoyed that. I was definitely reaching my limit of journalistic or podcast hosting competence. There were times when I thought, well, when the guest calls you illiterate, albeit slightly tongue-in-cheek, you realise maybe you haven't brought your A-game, or maybe your A-game is their C-game or D-game. Yorga said I don't have much to gain from reviews that praise the work do you agree well since we recorded I've had a film come out Louis Theroux Inside the Manosphere a Netflix documentary I found that I preferred reading the positive reviews I don't know that I learned much from them I didn't read all the negative reviews you're surprised that there were any there were a few one had a headline they called the film an infuriating failure Millie found that very funny that's the most I've seen her laugh I mean you could spin that as a positive yeah maybe you should be infuriated maybe the failure is you maybe the world is a mirror and it's bouncing back Think about that, reviewer I try not to memorise their names
1:08:58Which suggests I do memorise their names If you find yourself in Athens, in Greece, not Georgia Between now and May, Yorgos has a photography exhibition open now It was reviewed in the New York Times very favourably We'll put a link in the show notes for that Have you checked out the show notes, people at home, in Radioland? I'm amazed, I don't do them I'm not sure who is doing them, but they're, I mean, if I just have to say like, oh, I like the smell of my own farts and they'll have a little link to like, you know, farts. You know, it's extraordinary. That's not a good example. Like they're going to put up the Wikipedia page for Athens, probably.
1:09:40No, it's amazing though. Are you doing that? Ellie does them. Ellie does them. Wow. Maybe too many. no it's just right for me the big takeaway was that he'd seen my documentaries and genuinely seemed to have got something out of them for Millie the takeaway is that someone reviewed my film and the headline was Louis Theroux's Manosphere film is an infuriating failure
1:10:12oh wow that's it from me for a while we'll be back with more episodes quicker than you can say the Louis Theroux podcast Credits The producer was Millie Chu The assistant producer was Artemis Irvine The production manager was Francesca Bassett The music in this series was by Miguel de Oliveira The executive producer was Aaron Fellows This is a Mindhouse Studios production for Spotify
1:10:46This episode is brought to you by Shopify. We do a lot of our shopping these days online. I've often thought in another life I could have had a blossoming online shop on Shopify. What would I sell? Maybe my chart-topping books, some TLTP bingo cards for the diehard podcast fans. I could finally centralise all that bootleg merch, pillows, cushions, t-shirts, cards, in one place. And where would it be? On Shopify. If you want a better experience shopping online for you and your customers, Shopify is the answer. It's the commerce platform behind millions of your favourite thriving businesses, like Gymshark and even Mattel, the international toy-making conglomerate.
1:11:32But it doesn't matter how big or small your business is. The big bonus of using Shopify is that they'll help you every step of the way. From designing your first website to finding customers, marketing new products, managing inventory, shipping internationally and beyond. Important for my many fans overseas. They're the ultimate business partner. And the best part of all, you can do all that in one place. see fewer shopping carts go abandoned on those websites you know what i mean i can't deal with this i'm going to stop doing it and earn more with shopify sign up for your one dollar per month trial today at shopify.com slash louis that's shopify.com slash louis l-o-u-i-s
From the publisher
In this special bonus episode, Louis sits down with Yorgos Lanthimos, the acclaimed director of ‘Bugonia’, 'The Favourite’ and ‘Poor Things’. Yorgos tells Louis about working with Emma Stone, suffering for his art, and debating whether or not to direct a Bourne movie.
Warnings: Strong language and adult themes.
Links/Attachments:
Bugonia (2025)
https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/bugonia/umc.cmc.405pbn0ajtqwj3ycjapyd0i9x?action=play
Dogtooth (2009)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1379182/
Pulp Fiction (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH18ZHdrktM
Blue Velvet (1986)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090756/
Eraserhead (1977)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074486/
Bourne Franchise
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089971582/
Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242423/
The Lives of Others (2006)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405094/
The Tourist (2010)
https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/the-tourist/umc.cmc.5ka0eofzuve9xw2qb7rcpwbck?action=play
Poor Things (2023)
https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/poor-things/umc.cmc.3mshuc064vnbpvdq7rl6d3lpf?action=play
Kinds of Kindness (2024)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22408160/
Midsommar (2019)
https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/midsommar/umc.cmc.3btmmnmdi8cci3gb2qupxli8o?action=play
Hereditary (2018)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7784604/
Eddington (2025)
https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/eddington/umc.cmc.16hrancuhb81jh76au2988hqv?action=play
Beau Is Afraid (2023)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13521006/
Save the Green Planet! (2003)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0354668/
TV Show: ‘Succession’ (2018 –2023) - HBO
https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/succession/umc.cmc.3trf3c8kzd8m4w72c9q8dwjqe
Article: Tarantino on Paul Dano
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/11/hollywood-honest-quentin-tarantino-paul-dano
There Will Be Blood (2007)
https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/there-will-be-blood/umc.cmc.45s5e33zqu277lcdym5taili?action=play
Prisoners (2013)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392214/
Film Franchise: Marvel Cinematic Universe (2008 – present)
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls031310794/
A Minecraft Movie (2025)
https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/a-minecraft-movie/umc.cmc.1od4a1ayyjqn43uz8fel7ei5e?action=play
Superman (2025)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5950044/
The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4116284/
Spider-Man (2002)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145487/
The Mastermind (2025)
https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/the-mastermind/umc.cmc.3kbnmjk6m6h0hy67h6w6kj6j2?action=play
Anora (2024)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28607951/
Daddy Longlegs (2009)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1426362/
Longlegs (2024)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23468450/
Uncut Gems (2019)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5727208/
Good Time (2017)
https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/good-time/umc.cmc.7950weot61ytepv84enkastys?action=play
Marty Supreme (2025)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32916440/
The Smashing Machine (2025)
https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/the-smashing-machine/umc.cmc.71wzerdj91fo8ep11rcbu3tei?action=play
Exhibition: Yorgos Lanthimos: Photographs (2026)
https://www.onassis.org/whats-on/yorgos-lanthimos-photographs
Athens, Greece
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens
Credits
Producer: Millie Chu
Researcher: Artemis Irvine
Production Manager: Francesca Bassett
Music: Miguel D’Oliveira
Audio Mixer: Tom Guest
Video Mixer: Scott Edwards
Shownotes compiled by Elly Young
Executive Producer: Arron Fellows
A Mindhouse Studios Production for Spotify
www.mindhouse.co.uk
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