![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/MadelinesMadeline_PhotoHug_Cinematography_by_AshleyConnor.jpeg\")
“Madeline’s Madeline” (2018). Image: Courtesy of Brigade.<\/p>\n “Madeline’s Madeline” (2018). Image: Courtesy of Brigade.<\/p>\n
Described by <\/span>Indiewire<\/span><\/a> as a \u201cmind-scrambling masterpiece,\u201d \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d has redefined the limits of storytelling on the silver screen, simultaneously exploring both the process of filmmaking and the inner processes that hold our darkest thoughts to ransom. What\u2019s perhaps most astonishing of all, though, is that \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d<\/span> is only Josephine Decker\u2019s fourth feature film, somehow combining the raw intensity of a first-time production with the technical skill of a life-long auteur who\u2019s working at the top of their game.<\/span> According to Decker,<\/span> \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d was \u201ca really hard film to make,\u201d yet that\u2019s exactly what makes it such a unique and powerful project. Unlike most filmmakers who strive to conceal the difficulties that they encounter on set, Decker embraced the problems that she faced head on, channeling them into the final cut on screen. As Decker puts it, \u201cYou can see it was hard\u201d \u2013 and it\u2019s this reflexive quality that imbues \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d with a kinetic energy born from the improvisatory exercises that formed the backbone of the project. By being deliberately self conscious in her filmmaking, Decker invites the audience to immerse themselves in the narrative while simultaneously reflecting on how the film was made. <\/span> This innovative approach helped make \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d such a cinematic stand-out, but it almost proved to be its undoing too. When asked what she\u2019s most proud of, Decker explained that she was happy to complete the film \u201cbecause there were so many times where I thought I wouldn\u2019t. It took four years and you don\u2019t make a movie saying \u2018I\u2019m going to sign up for 4 four years of my life\u2019\u201d. In fact, Decker confessed that she thought about giving up on the project entirely and more than once, but her deep relationship with star Helena Howard convinced her to keep going. \u201cEven if I thought I wasn\u2019t good enough or the film isn\u2019t good enough, I already knew that [Helena\u2019s] performance was fucking stunning… and this young woman\u2019s life would be very different if we didn\u2019t release the film, because she\u2019s luminous and amazing.\u201d Whether Decker does eventually return to Madeline\u2019s world or not in a future project, it seems certain that Howard will remain a key fixture in her life, both personally and professionally. \u201cI would definitely love to work with [Howard] again. She brings so much energy to the set.\u201d <\/span> Though Decker confesses that scary movies actually \u201cscare the shit\u201d out of her, \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d owes a surprising debt to horror. Inspired more by the psychological horror of “Rosemary\u2019s Baby” than things that go bump in the night, Decker explained her love of \u201cemotional tension and suspense. I think those are things that are really important to me as an artist\u2026 Holding the audience\u2019s attention for a long time, creating tension or a sense of impending horror, even if the impending horror is just of your Mom.\u201d <\/span> Looking to the future, Decker’s next project is a movie based on the life and work of author Shirley Jackson, a reclusive figure most known for horror and mystery stories exposing the dark shadows of life (and American life, in particular). Although Decker didn\u2019t pen this particular script, her enthusiasm for the writer comes through, even though production is still \u201cin the early phases\u201d. After all, it only takes a quick glance at the body of Jackson\u2019s work to see how the intensity of “<\/span>Madeline\u2019s Madeline”<\/span> is the perfect springboard into the psychologically turbulent world of Shirley Jackson. \u00a0<\/span> We meet Josephine Decker, the director behind the indie-smash that’s set to be this year’s “mother!”<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11856,10172,139],"tags":[4012,3945,2144,10243,968,10244,10245,10246],"class_list":["post-62307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sleek-art","category-film","category-art","tag-art-house-film","tag-berlinale","tag-cinema","tag-darren-aronofsky","tag-film","tag-josephine-decker","tag-madelines-madeline","tag-mother"],"acf":{"main_category":null,"legacy":"1","exclude_from_ads":null,"hero_title":null,"subtitle":null,"hero":null,"teasers":null,"facebook_image":null,"related_articles":null,"next_article":null,"sleek_card_focus":null,"content":null},"yoast_head":"\n
\nIn reality, Decker has been impressing critics for a number of years now, working as both an actor and director on the American indie scene ever since she helmed her first short film \u201cNaked Princeton\u201d in 2005. Following the success of her debut feature, \u201cButter on the Latch\u201d, and her follow up, the erotic thriller \u201cThou Wast Mild and Lovely\u201d, Decker\u2019s latest project is an experimental film that revolves around an acting student called Madeline and the troubling relationship that she shares with her mother. <\/span>
\nSleek sat down with Decker during 2018’s Berlinale festival<\/a> to explore the overwhelming success of \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d thus far, discussing everything from her regrets and aspirations, to the surprising parallels that the film shares with \u201cmother!\u201d<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> Unlike Darren Aronofsky\u2019s latest venture though, \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d has received unanimous praise after screening at both Sundance and Berlin, despite it not being easy to film. \u201cI worked on the first 30 minutes for like eight months,\u201d she tells us, \u201cand I don\u2019t know if I ever cracked them. I still feel like there\u2019s eight minutes that could have come out of the first half hour. Every time I took them out, I ended up putting them back in\u2026 I was never going to be satisfied with it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/dbutteronthelatch.jpg\")
“Butter on the Latch” (2013) dir. by Josephine Decker, cinematography Ashley Connor<\/p>\n
\nBut this directorial process isn\u2019t always something Decker has been able to achieve. She describes the experience of co-directing her first feature, a documentary called<\/span> \u201cBi The Way\u201d, as \u201ctoxically cursed\u201d. Decker jokes that the film was akin to serving in the military \u2014 her clashes with co-director Brittany Blockman were so upsetting she had to seek therapy. \u201cI was just so disappointed in every aspect of making that film\u2026 I felt that the ethics behind those storytelling choices were really fucked.\u201d However, Decker\u2019s unbridled positivity helps her to reevaluate that period with hindsight. Despite feeling that people she cared about \u201ccame out terribly in the film,\u201d Decker also notes how this time in her life was extremely \u201cformative,\u201d and continued to influence her even recently during the making of \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d. \u201cWhen you have a really bad experience, especially a long term bad experience, I think it makes waves that are positive.\u201d Much like Madeline herself, Decker takes hold of her insecurities and shapes them into something both extraordinary and visionary. A discourse on the ethics of storytelling, a blistering condemnation of maternal instincts, a theatrical expansion of what cinema is even capable of \u2014 \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d is a film that critics will continue to discuss years from now as the moment when Decker truly came into her own.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/dthouwastwildandlovely.jpg\")
“Thou Wast Mild and Lovely” (2014). Image: Cinelicious<\/p>\n
\nWhile we can\u2019t help but disagree with Decker\u2019s humble assessment of her own talents, what she says about Howard\u2019s star quality is undeniable. Throughout “<\/span>Madeline\u2019s Madeline”<\/span>, the young actor\u2019s portrayal of the title character is searing in its intensity, dominating every scene with a raw talent that we haven\u2019t seen since Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet broke our hearts at the end of “<\/span>Call Me By Your Name”<\/span>. Just like 2017\u2019s breakout star, Howard will also impress audiences and critics alike with one particular sequence towards that end of her film that will be studied in acting classes long after her work is recognised by the Academy and Hollywood alike.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/dmother.jpeg\")
“mother!” (2017). Image: Paramount Pictures<\/p>\n
\nDecker\u2019s references for the film include everything from minimalist painting and George Gershwin’s \u201cRhapsody In Blue\u201d to the movie \u201cEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind\u201d. In terms of fellow filmmakers though, Decker told us that she herself has noticed some surprising parallels between her work and that of Darren Aronofsky, who also \u201ctries to turn you into a character in his movies.\u201d \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d is a wholly unique creation, but the influence of Aronofksy\u2019s vision is most clear in the tension that Decker builds through the film\u2019s strained relationships, climaxing in an explosive scene that makes extensive use of its setting. Much like \u201cmother!\u201d, the safety of the home is inverted at the end of \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d, as the theatre troupe tease and provoke their leader Evangeline (Molly Parker) on each floor of the house. <\/span>
\nStrangely enough, the bare bones of this unforgettable scene were carved out during a Sundance workshop two years ago when Decker developed a VR piece that was site-specific to a similar location. Decker described to us how the house came to represent a brain where \u201cthe bottom storey is anxiety, the top storey is depression\u201d and the guests attend a \u201cdinner party on the top floor.\u201d A year later, Decker was surprised to see something similar included in \u201cmother!\u201d around the midway point, and joked with us that Aronofsky \u201cstole\u201d her idea. Of course, Decker\u2019s own version of that moment obviously turned out very different, but it would still be fascinating to compare \u201cmother!\u201d and \u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d as part of a double-bill screening.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/MadelinesMadelie_intense_Cinematography_by_Ashley_Connor.jpeg\")
“Madeline’s Madeline” (2018). Image: Courtesy of Brigade.<\/p>\n
\nTowards the end of our interview, Decker shared some advice with us that continues to inspire her still: \u201cPlay a game until the end and then when it gets boring, play the next game.\u201d With “<\/span>Madeline\u2019s Madeline”<\/span>, Decker may have just mastered her unique brand of filmmaking, but we hope that she keeps playing for a long time to come, continuing to change the rules and create bold new forms of cinema.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"