PFF: What struck me immediately about the film The Bra is its lack of dialogue. In a society that uses so many words, wether in a banal conversation or in a public speech, in this film the dialogues are left to viewers' creative imagination. It's a very bold move. How did you manage to „hear“ the dialogue before shooting it, so to speak?
VH : Writing the screenplay was the hardest bit creating a film without dialogue. Not all stories can be told without dialogue. But I did not want the audiences miss dialogue when watching the film. I also did not want the actors to make pantomime. I knew, that eyes can say everything.
PFF: The film is often compared with the tale of Cinderella, but with a wilder chase and lead actors, of course. A lonely old man searches for the owner of a bra that his train snagged off a washing line. Although it sounds like a comedy at first, the film develops into a deeper story and eliminates (although not completly) the comedy itself and leaves us with moments of eroticism, drama and tension. Why a bra? Was the bra the first choice of this opssessive chase?
VH: Bra is something men usually do not wear. For women only. For me a bra is a very exiting piece of clothes. But a bra can be at the same time just be some ordinary piece of textile. It can transform. And change its character.
PFF: I must admit that after seeeing a movie, I was highly motivated to appreciate the silence. And I felt good. Perhaps the best way to determine a viewer's opinion is to hear (as it was heard yesterday in Kino Valli) that the film is not describable, one simply has to see it. Mission accomplished?
VH: I always feel bad when I am asked to send a synopsis for a festival catalogue. Usually a bunch of words never can express what a film is like. But even I want to know what is a film about, before watching a movie. I guess a trailer is more effective then a description in words.
PFF: How do you manage to process all the words you hear? Does it bother you that people often don't say what they mean and even use too much (logorrheic) ways to say – nothing?
VH: I guess what we say is just a small part of what we actually communicate. How we talk and how our body moves is maybe more important, to understand, if the person opposite of you wants to help you or screw you over.
PFF: Exceptional cast & crew, beautiful photography, great screenplay, a lot of viewers, all of them wonder how are you going to top that? Do you „hear“ another film?
VH: Usually inspirations are coming to me. When I look for inspiration, I never find any. Very similar with love I guess.
PFF: Currently, as a guest of Pula Film Festival, is there a message for last night's audience that you would like to be remembered for?
VH: To quote Samuel Goldwyn: if you want a message, you better go to Western Union. But honestly, the Q&A after the screening in Pula was amazing. The viewers stayed for a long time. And people were asking really interesting questions, which made me need to think, what the hack I had in my mind creating the film. And after the Q&A many viewers came to me in the lobby shared their experience with me.
