Intrigo - Death of an Author - Benno Fürmann and Co. as guests in Frankfurt

With Intrigo - Death of an Author, the first of a total of three films based on short novels by bestselling Swedish author Håkan Nesser is coming to our cinemas on 25. October the first of a total of three film adaptations in our cinemas, based on short novels by the Swedish bestselling author Håkan Nesser. To accept the Frankfurt Book Fair Film Award for Best International Book Adaptation, lead actor Benno Fürmann, author Håkan Nesser and Daniel Alfredson, director of all three Intrigo films, were in Frankfurt to talk to us about the exciting cat-and-mouse game between two writers.

For Alfredson, who had already filmed two novels of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy in one go, shooting three films was indeed a great challenge. He can't blame anyone for that, he explains with a laugh, because after all it was his idea. But it also had a number of advantages. For example, certain locations could have been used for several films and the crew could have been kept together in this way, which made the shoot much easier overall. Alfredson and his co-writer Birgitta Bongenhielm worked on the adaptation for around two years, with interruptions. "These interruptions did the script a lot of good," Alfredson is convinced, as it would have allowed the story and its multi-layered characters to mature slowly.

Involved in the process of creating the script was also Håkan Nesser himself. "I trust the filmmakers who adapt my books," says the bestselling author. "I'm not a director. I don't know what needs to be changed to make a written story work on film." He is not satisfied with all the previous film adaptations of his books, Nesser reveals to us, but he is thrilled with the three Intrigo films. The length of the short novels lends itself perfectly to being transferred to film, as not too much has to be left out. Nevertheless, Death of an Author, which he wrote twenty years ago, is told very differently in the film than in the book, even if the core of the story remains the same, of course.

Unlike many other Nordic Noir films, the suspenseful atmosphere was not to be created by the images, but by the story and its characters. The locations, which Alfredson found in a long search in four different countries, had almost postcard quality, according to Nesser. The protagonists and their abysses are all the more interesting for that, which is especially true of David, whose complexity makes him so interesting. According to Nesser, Benno Fürmann has transferred this very well to the screen.

It was precisely these different sides of David that made the play so challenging for Benno Fürmann. "It was emotionally exhausting in some scenes," says the actor, "but in a great way. I can't imagine reacting at all the way David does, but I can understand the source of his actions." That understanding, he says, then serves as the basis for a very unique interpretation of a character who, yes, you don't actually like, but who embodies a side of us that everyone recognizes in some way. Laughing, he adds: "It would be boring if I always played myself."

What he would particularly like about the film, he says, is the subtle way in which the story - and the story within the story - are told. "It's not all handed to the viewer on a platter, and a lot of it is bubbling away in the background - I really like that kind of thing."

"I want people to have to lean forward on the film and not want to lean back," Daniel Alfredson told his leading man. And Benno Fürmann is convinced that he has succeeded in doing just that, by leaving the viewer a great deal of room for his own interpretation. This refers not only to the plot lines, but also to the characters themselves. The fact that David has to live in ignorance about his wife's fate makes it impossible for him to deal with his guilt. This makes him much more interesting as a character, but also his actions, than would have been the case with a more direct, obvious narrative.

Since books and writing are central themes of the story, we were naturally interested to know if Benno Fürmann has ever thought of writing a book himself. That would be great fun for him, he tells us. He himself is always quick to pick up a pen, as he believes that a thought written down is a clearer, more precise thought. But it has not yet been enough for a whole book. But who knows, maybe someday the fragments will become something whole. "And then we'll meet again at the book fair in Frankfurt," he promises us with a smile. Until then, we look forward to more such convincing performances from the likeable actor.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp