It wasn't me. Norbert Schneider, who wrote the scores for all my films, pointed the
novel out to me. Around the end of 1993, while he was working in Puna for the Goethe-Institut,
he sent me a letter which basically read: "Dear Joseph, I am currently reading a book that has grabbed me. It is just after midnight and I just can't stop reading.
It's a book about music, about completely new worlds of sound ... This would be a
great film for us. Get going!"
So I looked into it, and bought myself a copy of the book. I read it in one sitting
and knew right away that it was a film I had to make. As I was reading, I was already
thinking about how I could translate the language, the music, and the psychic forces.
Then I called Robert Schneider, we met and agreed right away: A crazy idea! Either
it would become the flop of all flops or just great.
Extremely well. Robert is a professional. Seven versions were written in close collaboration
between Robert, our drama writing coach Jürgen Büscher, Dana and myself. There was
a lot of harmony but we also fought like cats and dogs.
It was good that Robert came to the set frequently. Sometimes we were just standing
there without a clue, realizing that a scene could not be done the way we had written
it. In these cases, Robert was very cooperative, thought it out with us and then
changed it.
Casting was completed 4 months before we began shooting in August, 1994.
It is even more complicated than that. The film is both. The language and the characters
are anti-religious, just think of the priest. But the images and the story's effect
are very religious -- or better yet -- strong on fate. That must come across. We are telling the story of a human being who succumbs to the burden of his destiny.
And since he feels very near to God, the events must radiate a strong piousness.
Exactly. Just as in the film. That sets up the atmosphere quite clearly: A world
of shadows. In these rough surroundings, in this world defined through very old destinies
and burdened by eternity there are many losers.
Absolutely! What do smiling heroes have to tell? Brother of Sleep reflects real life and passion in a world that is not very humanitarian. How each
of them copes with that, that is my story. My interest is on the "abnormal," those
who hardly find support, those who will find new courage to live just by a smile
or just by the fact that somebody is listening to them honestly. Naturally that doesn't always
work. I love films with a happy ending. But this story cannot end in happiness. That
would be a lie. We should not have made the film otherwise. We have to admit to
our pain. For me, feelings are the motor. In our everyday lives we suppress them too
often. I believe that we should show them. Fleeing from one's feelings only breaks
people.
I work with different point of views. While reading I am more of a camera man, while
shooting, I am the director and in preproduction, when everything comes together
piece by piece, I am fully the producer. I believe I can only function in the combination of all three responsibilities.
I have no relationship to pathos. The film is as the material demands. This interplay
between a unique landscape and quite extraordinary characters... yes, this is very
strong... I guess one could call it pathos.
Maybe I have a hard time with the concept, because it has a negative connotation in
everyday language. Brother of Sleep is pathetic in the sense that it is a very passionate film, it is a passionate story,
and everyone that collaborated on the film did so with an unending passion.
