He became known worldwide for his role as Aragorn in "The Lord of the Rings".
For his appearances in "Deadly Promises", "Captain Fantastic" and "Green Book - A Special Friendship" he was each nominated for an Oscar.
Now Viggo Mortensen switches to the other side of the camera: a conversation with the 62-year-old about his brilliant directorial debut “Falling”.
When Viggo Mortensen was caught for a telephone interview, he was just halfway through his tour. Stopover in Berlin. The 62-year-old actor traveled across Europe in his car last year in order to personally present his movie "Falling" to the audience in compliance with all Corona rules. Again and again the start date of his remarkable directorial debut had been postponed. Now it's coming out in Germany. The drama met with mixed feedback from critics. In fact, the film, in which Mortensen plays a grown son himself, who takes care of his increasingly needy, but humanly cold-hearted father, is not always easy fare. But full of wisdom and cordiality. A conversation with the likeable philanthropist about the great challenge that calls itself family.
Mr Mortensen, your film is finally coming to the cinema in this country too.
Viggo Mortensen:
Oh yes.
You don't believe how happy I am.
You presented it in Berlin in 2020. You should have driven across Europe in your car to bring it to the people. Is that correct?
Viggo Mortensen:
Yes, I drove alone and in the car to rule out the possibility of corona as much as possible.
I traveled through Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland and many other countries, presented the film and talked to people about it.
Your personal celebration of the cinema?
Viggo Mortensen:
Definitely. It was really annoying: we had been invited to Cannes - then Corona came. It's so fabulous to share a movie with a large audience. Here I can see whether people are following the story, how they empathize, when they laugh, when they cry. Each in his own way. I learn a lot from it. For a director it is a very liberating and also satisfying moment to see that other people you don't know feel so connected to the story; that it is no longer my story, but that of every single viewer. At the premiere in Berlin, we then had an hour's conversation with the audience - and we would have been able to go on and on if I hadn't had to go to another appointment very early the next day.
There is indeed a need to talk about this old man in your film who just alienates everyone. Are you sorry for him?
Viggo Mortensen:
Yes.
With him it seems at first as if you have nothing in common with him.
But in the end we are all human.
Some people give up on such difficult personalities and say: I can't understand you, I'll end my relationship with you because it just wrecks me.
But what has to be clear to you is: Then any further development is impossible.
But if you keep trying, you never have the guarantee that they will still move towards each other - but at least you have a chance.
The son you play keeps trying. Do you think we have this strong nerve in real life - and should we have it?
Viggo Mortensen:
It's always an individual decision.
Once the son said to his father: “I promised myself I would not let you bring me to this poisoned level again.
You can attack and insult me as much as you want, but I won't go back to that level. ”He knows that if he wants to help this old man who is his father, he'll have to listen to a hell of a lot of violent stuff .
But he made this decision consciously because he knows, if I don't take care of him, who the hell is going to do it?
Will it work, will they find each other?
He'll only know if he tries.
Why is it easier for old people to be nice to their granddaughter than to be nice to their own children?
Viggo Mortensen:
Yes, interestingly, it is often the case that people who have a difficult relationship with their children are suddenly much more loving and attentive to their grandchildren.
Perhaps they subconsciously realize: I have a second chance here.
It's a different starting point - it's not your child, you're not so responsible for them.
You can look at it with different eyes, less fearful, more relaxed, the way you should look at your children.
This cross-generational distance also works the other way around: The one granddaughter in the film is not afraid of the nasty grandpa. In contrast to his son, she dares to give him contra.
Viggo Mortensen:
That's right, grandchildren don't have the same deep emotional relationship with you as their own children.
And the other, younger granddaughter finds him fascinating, she is innocent and only knows this weird grandfather.
That's why he feels safe with her too, precisely because she doesn't challenge him emotionally.
So he becomes gentler.
His son is happy about it, but on the other hand he asks himself: Why could he never be like that to me?
In flashbacks, however, a few loving father-and-son moments are told. One is about a duck that the boy shoots - he takes the dead animal to bed with him to cuddle. Is it true that this is a true anecdote from your childhood?
Viggo Mortensen:
(Laughs)
Yes, this is one of the episodes that were taken from real life.
95 percent of the plot is made up, but when I was writing the script, I was trying to empathize with my own childish feelings about my parents.
Because memories are like feelings - and not a collection of facts.
A memory is never exactly what it was, we are constantly adding new things to the moment.
I tried to create as realistic a family as possible on paper.
With this story with the duck, I wanted to give the viewers little information about who they are dealing with here, so that they can then put the puzzle together themselves.
And yes, it actually happened that way.
How old have you been?
Viggo Mortensen:
Four.
At the end of a day of hunting, my father said to me: "Try it" - and handed me the rifle.
I hit a lucky shot.
Then I wanted to take the duck to bed with me, like a new friend.
A cuddly toy.
My mother found that disgusting, of course.
So she took the duck away from me when I fell asleep.
What role does the mother play in the film?
Viggo Mortensen:
Although you can hardly see her, for me she is the one who holds everything together.
It is the reason for the disagreement between father and son.
In the credits we hear the song "A little late". When do we know it's too late for something? Or can we learn from the film: is it never too late?
Viggo Mortensen:
Yes, that would be nice. I believe that until you die you always have the chance to use communication to solve things that went wrong. Talking to each other - that makes us human and that can bring us together. Preferably analog!