by Lars Tulin

BEDFORD

It's not all that easy to find the way to the home of Sweden's best known movie director who lives in Bedford, outside Manhattan. You drive past a church, a couple of small shops, women who eat their lunch in pairs, a cinema and finally a narrow gravel road that takes you to a house up on the hill. A pleasant village, just like Lasse Hallström himself. We park our car and walk past the garage that houses a Volvo XC70 and Lasse Hallström opens the door in his socks, takes care of our coats and goes out to the kitchen to get the coffee. We take our shoes off. Swedish standard procedure.

We pad down to the basement, pass by a living room with unironed washing hanging over the furniture. In the basement there's a ping pong table and a TV room. Swedish standard. But on the walls hang posters proving that the man walking around in his socks succeeds time after time in getting the biggest stars in Hollywood to participate in his films.

Here hangs of course the poster for "My Life as a Dog" which with the Oscar nomination became his ticket to Hollywood. "The Cider House Rules" with Tobey Maguire and Michael Caine that was Oscar nominated in 2000. "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" with Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio in a family drama out on the American sticks. "Chocolat" where Johnny Depp returns and together with Juliette Binoche and Lasse Hallström's wife Lena Olin brings about his biggest box office success so far. Julia Roberts herself was instrumental in doing a film with him, which became "Something to Talk About".

And now he can hang another three posters on the wall almost simultaneously. Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez and Morgan Freeman in "An Unfinished Life" that both came and went without causing much of a stir. "Casanova" with the young star Heath Ledger has New York premiere this Christmas and comes to Sweden January 27th. At the same time he his about to start editing "The Hoax", a story about the conman Clifford Irving who deceived the world with a fake biography about the movie and aviation tycoon Howard Hughes. Most of the shooting took part in New York. The lead role is played by Lasse Hallström's Bedford neighbor Richard Gere. Premiere will be in the autumn 2006.

We socialize mostly during the shootings, he says about the long line of stars who have chosen to work with him. But he might do some "business" with Richard Gere, his Bedford neighbour.

He is interested in cinemas and we might buy and rescue Bedford's cinema together.

Having your own cinema might be what's needed to actually get out of the house.

I don't go to the cinema that often, guess it comes down to laziness, age and family. And I don't like the small sized screens that are common nowadays.

But he is not short of movies to watch. In the basement there's a 70' TV and as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences he can simply go to the letter box and collect all the movies he is eligible to vote for. So what has the mailman brought you this year?

I haven't seen that many yet but "Crash" that dealt with violence and racial antagonism was very good.

Not exactly a high profiled topic in Bedford.

Here it's all about school and family. We have rooted now and my big longing for Sweden is not there any longer. I planted some bushes in the garden a couple of years ago, maybe that's when it changed. But sure, we still assume that we will head home one day. I would like to do a Swedish film. From a work wise perspective I could live in Sweden but it's practical to be here when the films are to be edited and mixed.

How does a director get paid?

Lasse Hallström talks about complicated contracts where the pay packet comes in three different installments. First for the signing of the contract, then when the shooting starts and finally when the film is delivered. A bit like a Swedish building contract. And then there's a percentage on either the net or gross revenue.

With a net percentage there's usually not much left, but nowadays I have a percentage of the gross revenue and that can sometimes be advantageous.

So even if your biggest box office success grossed $175 millions there wasn't much in it for you?

I had a percentage on the net revenue and a small bonus on top of the contractual fee.

Does it make you rich?

I don't know. Both proceeds and contracts change.

"An unfinished life" will hardly make him a rich, which despite the mega star casting will end in a net loss, the first one in his career. The reviews in big publications like New York Times and Rolling Stone were brutal.

I did it two years ago to get out of my contract with Miramax. It's the film I feel the least for and I wasn't satisfied with the script, but there wasn't too many scripts to choose from at the time.

Now it's up to "Casanova" and maybe next years "The Hoax" to repair the damage."Casanova" which cost $65 millions to make is Lasse Hallströms most expensive film so far.

It's also the most lighthearted.

The young star Heath Ledger is the adventurer Casanova. It was shot in Venice and Lasse Hallström's old friend Tommy Körberg makes an appearance as a singing gondolier! "The Hoax" will be a lot cheaper than "Casanova" with a $25 million budget. Almost low budget by American standards. In this case both Lasse Hallström and Richard Gere have gambled and chosen a higher percentage and a lower contractual fee. If it becomes a crowd puller then - Bingo.

And suddenly there's an outburst of self criticism.

I've been working a little bit to much with emotional, sentimental stories."The Hoax" is a way of trying to break free from that.

Speaking of your movies, which ones do you rank the highest?

"My Life as a Dog", "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and "Chocolat" he answers quickly.

Currently he is waiting for a decision from Paramount that will affect his nearest future. The next movie will in this case be "Daughter of the Queen of Sheba". The script is based on a biography about the American radio journalist Jackie Lyden and her relationship with her mother.

Lena will play the mother. Then I've got a wish list with 10 names for the main character.

Lena Olin may also take part in a low budget movie which he hopes that he can make next year.

Very small budget in exchange for big freedom, he says about the so far secret plans.

The abovementioned waiting also goes for "Bombshell", a script about an American spy that sold atomic secrets to the Russians. It doesn't sound like topical issues and Lasse Hallströms long list of films is pretty clean when it comes to politics. But Hollywood sometimes brings up subjects like global heating. Documentaries about politics, McDonald's and Wal-Mart gets a lot of attention.

I have a project about the pharmaceutical industry that might materialize. But otherwise I'm mostly interested in stories that are driven by people and their psychology. I'm not that interested in the plot itself, he says.

The contacts with the American society are mostly there when working with projects on location. So what does this old left winged man, who still (postal) votes with either the Social Democrats or the Left Party observe. What happens in the USA and what happens in Sweden?

I still see USA with Swedish eyes. It's worse than ever with a couple of republicans that have deceived the country to go to war with obviously false information. What surprises me is that there's not even more protests and riots and it's unbelievable that the president is still taken seriously by a large number of the population. The only explanation for that is tradition and religion.

What do you see in Sweden?

I see the Americanization and I see that the attitude towards money has become more selfish and right winged. Even the advertising imitates the American advertising and has become slightly ridiculous.

But is commercialism really in opposition to art?

The strictly commercial can of course achieve great things. I haven't seen King Kong but it could of course have qualities.

And Lasse Hallström himself continues to look for the qualities on American soil. A car comes to pick him up and he is on his way to a meeting with some scriptwriters about a project that Martin Scorsese is in charge of.

It will take some time before he returns to Sweden it seems.

Facts - Lasse Hallström
Born : 1946, in a artistically inclined family in Spånga, outside Stockholm.
Family : Married to the actress Lena Olin. Three children: Johan(actor, Stockholm), August, about to begin theatrical education in London, Tora 10 years old.
Place of domicile: Bedford, north of New York, and two Swedish summerhouses.
Income : Most varied.
Hidden talent: Lena says I'm good at imitating the way people walk.


Translated by Anton, with thanks!