We chat to the director of the magnificent Australian horror The Babadook about filmmaking, genre snobbery and more…
But gradually, she too begins to fear thatThe Babadookmight be real… Establishing her as a distinctive filmmaking talent, its one of the strongest horror debuts weve seen in years.
I thoroughly enjoyed your film.
I was an absolute mess afterwards, though.
I was terrified, so thanks for that!
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[Laughs] I cant say Im sorry!
I also watched your short film,Monster, which was also great.
Where did the concept for that come from?
He was little maybe three or four, and he kept seeing this monster man everywhere.
And then I thought, well what if it was actually real?
Thats how the short idea came about.
Im also very drawn to facing the darkness in ourselves.
That was a big pull for me, which carries into the themes in The Babadook.
One of the things that horror does is explore taboo subjects.
I remember being horrified by that.
But I also thought, well, hes a human being.
So what actually got him to that point?
And is there the seed of that in all of us?
I was really wanting to explore parenting from a very real perspective.
Was it quite difficult to write, emotionally, because it obviously has some extremely dark moments.
I think what got me through was the love I had for both those characters.
It was really important for me that they were loving, and loveable people.
I dont mean likeable I mean that we really felt for them.
It reflects something back, something positive about human relationships.
Its funny, I have a really dear friend whos really balanced and a loving mother.
And how we all want to be loving and perfect, but we often fail in that.
It was very confronting for her in a good way.
What was your approach to designing this film, because it looks really carefully constructed from a visual standpoint.
So it was important that the world of the film reflected the pop-up book at the centre of it.
We wanted a world that was heightened, but still felt like a real time and place.
Keeping the film very cool.
We did all of that in-camera.
I had a really genius production designer, Alex Holmes, who created the world in-camera.
We were very specific.
If we had a brown object in the frame, we got rid of it!
So it was a lot of work.
But I feel it was really worth it.
And I thought the house told a story by itself.
But then they didnt.
Yeah, I think so.
Theres a pain in changing things it hasnt been possible for her.
It just never happened.
I got a strong sense of silent cinema in here, which I really liked.
German expressionism, things like that.
Those films are interesting, because they often dealt with symbols and archetypes and the subconscious.
They were in a very pure period.
Expressionism started in painting, and it was about bringing the inside out.
And so often, architecture and interiors reflected the emotional space of the people that inhabited them.
For me, this early silent horror was very theatrical, in a really good way.
They were also beautifully artistic films.
For me, theyre visually beautiful and terrifying, those early films.
I wanted the effects to be low-fi and handmade, if you like.
It just somehow appealed to me.
And it makes the connection between fairytales and horror as well.
It reminded me a bit ofStruwwelpeter.
Yeah, its terrifying.
There are kids being burnt and having their fingers cut off… its a dangerous world out there!
I think a lot of early childrens books really explored the dark side of human nature.
Its good, you know?
It gave kids the heads-up on the adult experience.
Its a good thing, those stories.
They are very valuable.
Because its not perfect.
Its not always neatly tied up.
I think thats what horror can do as well.
It can actually be a refreshing way to look at the world, when its not about perfection.
But some filmmakers can be quiet snobby about horror, cant they?
They were like, oh, thats not a real film.
And also, why would a woman want to direct that kind of stuff?
They become acceptable to a certain kind of cineaste.
Oh, its a masterpiece.
Horror gets the worst reputation, and it doesnt really deserve it.
I mean, there are many crappy dramas out there.
The minute people see a rubbish drama, they dont annihilate the whole genre.
And they are expecting the crappy horror experience.
And they can feel ripped off by this film, because its more gentle than that.
Its more subtle, and more psychological.
Its a crossover film, I guess.
And its got a stunning performance from Essie Davis.
Its unusual to see something that raw and genuine in a horror film.
We went through acting school together Ive known Essie for a long time.
Shes an extraordinary actress, an underrated actress.
We came to this story and that really helped us, because it took a lot of trust.
Trust that I wouldnt make her look foolish.
She could take it to a really raw place, and she could be okay at the other end.
It was a joy to work with her.
For such dark material, we had such a great time lots of laughs as well.
Thats what I was going to ask, actually.
It was very stressful for me, because we had a six-year-old boy in the lead alongside Essie.
He was terrific, but also hes six.
So I really had to be focused.
We needed double the time we had.
It was a very protective, loving environment.
You came from an acting background, so that experience must have been key, then.
Actors are often seen as idiots.
The acting profession is often undervalued.
Im not really patriotic.
I didnt want it to be particularly Australian.
I wanted to create a myth in a domestic setting.
I guess part of that is creating a world that wasnt particularly Australian.
Adelaide is actually more British in its architecture and its town planning than a quintessentially Australian town.
Im very happy, actually, that it doesnt feel particularly Australian.
It does feel very European.
The house feels like a British Victorian house.
We do have a lot of Victorian architecture here.
That house was built because when we got to Adelaide, there werent many terraces.
I pictured the film in Sydney, where theyre a dime a dozen.
The house is a character in itself, I feel.
For me, what was horrific was what had happened to this woman.
And the fact that she couldnt face it was her greatest terror.
So this terror of not being able to face something was always at the core of what I did.
I did map it out as the script became more developed: I tightened it.
I made technical decisions about what to drop or include according to that.
Which is the violent ripping away of someone she deeply loved.
So that was the horror, for me her situation.
Then it became relatively easy what would frighten her in that context.
I thought it was refreshing, too, to see a film written so honestly from a womans perspective.
It reminded me how important new voices and perspectives are in horror.
It was important for me that the character was real.
That meant doing things that maybe we dont see that often in cinema, which is making her human.
She lies at times.
She doesnt want to look after her child.
She struggles to be a mum.
Shes really struggling, and she doesnt reach out for help.
Shes her own worst enemy.
So I just wanted to humanise her.
So many female characters on the screen are two-dimensionally bad, or the opposite.
Horror allows for human complexity and human failings as well, I think.
Its what gives the film something extra the shape.
Its fun to work in this genre, you know.
Its close to dreaming you dont have to be straight with it on any level.
Its such a gift to write about someones descent into madness in this realm.
I dont think you could explore the same subject as compellingly in a drama.
It would be relentless.
And also, way too melodramatic.
Ive watched so much horror since I was a kid, and I never disrespected it.
It can allow us to experience something from the inside a story can be very visceral in this genre.
So have you been surprised by the wayThe Babadooks been received?
The reviews over here have been extremely positive.
What blows me away is how each territory is responding to it positively.
But no territorys yet given it the big thumbs down.
Its a dream, as a filmmaker.
Its amazing that its well received.
It makes it that much sweeter I think.
Can you talk about what youre doing next?
Im making a film thats set in 1820s Tasmania.
Im writing that at the moment.
It deals with out shady past.
Its a story of revenge, and explores the futility of revenge from a female perspective.
The other is a heightened drama-slash-fantasy, I guess, about death and loss and letting go.
Those are two things I feel passionate about, and theyre both set in Australia.
The prerequisite for me is that I connect to something emotionally.
Ive turned a few things down in the US, studio films, but I am open.
They just have to have a really strong story worth telling.
It takes a few years to make a film, and its an awful lot of work.
I cant imagine doing all that work if you didnt really love something!
Jennifer Kent, thank you very much.
The Babadookis out in UK cinemas on the 24th October.
