With the release of The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared impending, we had the pleasure of speaking to the man at the helm, Felix Herngren. We discussed what inspired him to adapt this from the original novel, why he chose Robert Gustafsson for the lead role Allan, and how he balanced the comedy with the more poignant elements of the narrative. He also tells us how Alan Ford (Brick Top from Snatch) came to be involved…
The 100 Year Old Man is of course a novel originally – was it a book you always wanted to bring to the big screen, or were you actively on the lookout for ideas for a screenplay?
My friend Henrik Jansson-Schweizer, who is also a producer on the film, called me up a few years ago and said that I had to read this book it would make a fantastic film. So I asked what the book was about, and he told me, it was about a 100 year old man and it’s an amazing story, and I thought, oh my God, this is a good idea for a film. It was hard to make this into a film, but he was nagging at me and said I had to read it, so I did, and after ten pages I laughed out loud a lot and knew it would make a great film. So I immediately called him back and said, he have to get the rights to this book. I didn’t finish the whole book until we were in negotiations with the author about buying it, and when he said yes, I read the rest and thought it would be complex, but I was happy about that. But when I read this book I could really see pictures and situations in my head which were very funny, which is a key thing when making a good film from a book. Then it was of course a challenge to find the right actor to play the 100 year old man, I wanted one actor to do the whole thing, with good make-up, which was tough.
Was there ever any possibility you would have two separate actors play the lead? One in the flashbacks, one in the present day…
No, I never wanted two actors. Doing a film is about letting an audience into a fantasy world and to sink into the story. So to change back and forth between actors would really crack everything up and push the viewer out of the fantasy. That was never an option.
Robert Gustafsson is perfect casting, he has this mischievous, blissfully naïve look. Was he always the man you wanted for the part?
Yes, just after about 20 or 30 pages when I read the book I started to think who would play Allan? And I had worked with Robert before, he’s a very well known Swedish comedian, and I came up with the idea after about 50 pages, and then I couldn’t let go of the idea of him in the role. He has the perfect balance between really good acting, and yet still he’s a comedian in the backbone. Allan doesn’t move so much and he doesn’t say too much, so we had to have a comedian there to make it funny, not just a tragic old man. When I first called Robert he said he would love to make it, but then he read it, and he said to me ‘you’re an idiot, we can’t make a film of this book, it’s too complex’. I told him to wait and read the script before saying no, and then I presented the idea to the original author about having Robert as the lead, and he liked the idea. That’s one of the reasons we bought the film rights because he was so keen in having Robert.
Though it is comedy, there is a poignant undertone, born out of nostalgia or the sense of finality given Allan’s age.
Yeah, and I like the dark side of the story too. When I talk to the author, I asked why he wrote it and what inspired the idea, and he said he wanted to give the 20th century a kick in the ass. It’s a crappy century with a lot of shit happening in it, so to make a story like this, with somebody who has witnessed the entire 100 years, it had to be an old man. If you’re going to have a man who has lived through this, he needs to be an idiot so that he could stand being involved in history the whole time without making this a tragedy. So that makes the story quite dark in a way, but I like that, I like comedies with a dark backbone.
In regards to balancing the comedy with the darker side, the opening scene is symbolic of that, as we see a cat found dead, and seconds later we’re in stitches. That’s quite a scene to open with…
[Laughs] Actually that wasn’t the first scene in the script, and it was very late in the editing that we put that scene as the opening. We were going to start with a birthday party, but then the idea came up by Tomas Alfredson, who made Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, it was his suggestion to put that first. When I saw it the first time I loved it a lot because it sets the tone of who Allan is.
I saw comparisons between this and Forrest Gump, except this is far more cynical and more tongue-in-cheek, but was that ever a reference point when making this movie?
Never as a movie, but the story has big similarities, of course. The author was writing his book for 35 years before he got it published and he was in shock when he saw Forrest Gump the movie, because it was his story on film. So besides that it’s very different, it has a different tone and so on. I didn’t watch the film at all actually, I had seen it many years ago and liked it a lot, but it was never an inspiration for this film.
In regards to other actors in the film, Alan Ford is also in the film, and he’s famous in Britain for playing Brick Top in Snatch – how did he come to your attention?
It was one of the casting agents who suggested it, and I loved the idea when I heard it. I’m a big Guy Ritchie fan and I thought he was a great actor. His role actually doesn’t exist in the book, so that was something we added for the film and we created it. I think Alan is a great actor and he was wonderful to work with. He was so professional. He’s quite old but he was working long days and didn’t complain for a minute about the tough schedule.
You act yourself of course – were you ever tempted to take on a role in this?
No, that would be a stupid idea. I had to focus on the film. I’m doing a very small part as a nazi when the train stops in Germany for three seconds. I’m an extra in the background. We had one extra missing and I realised I fit in the costume, so I said what the fuck, I might as well do it. I’ve never been a nazi on film, so why not? So I’m there for two seconds, but otherwise it’s a very bad idea to act in such a big project for me. I’ve done it in a couple of features before but in this I just wanted to focus on the directing.
In regards to your future, it must be quite encouraging, because there are a few filmmakers and actors making the move from Scandinavia to the US or UK.
Yeah, as you say, there have been a few, and when you have that, others come behind and try to do the same. It’s still very tough to do it, and I spoke to Johan Renck who directed Vikings on HBO and also he directed some of Breaking Bad, and he said that it’s easier to do something in the States than the UK because it’s less conservative. Still, I really much prefer the idea of making something in Europe and the UK rather than the US, because in Sweden we are much closer to British comedy than American.
The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is released on DVD on October 27th, and you can read our review here.
