An enlightening and engaging exclusive interview with director THORDUR “THOR” PALSSON discussing his chillingly beautiful narrative feature directorial debut, THE DAMNED.
SYNOPSIS: A tense psychological horror film that follows a 19th-century widow who is tasked with making an impossible choice when a ship sinks off the coast of her isolated fishing outpost during the middle of an especially cruel winter. With provisions running low, Eva and her close-knit community must choose between rescuing the shipwrecked crew and prioritizing their own survival. Facing the consequences of their decision and tormented by guilt, the inhabitants wrestle with a mounting sense of dread and begin to believe they are all being punished for their choices.
Directed by THORDUR PALSSON with script by Jamie Hannigan, THE DAMNED stars, among others, Odessa Young, Joe Cole, Rory McCann, Siobhan Finneram, and Turlough Convery.
Thus far in his career known best for his episodic work as creator/director/writer of the Netflix series “The Valhalla Murders”, THORDUR “THOR” PALSSON makes the leap into narrative features by directing the psychological horror thriller THE DAMNED. Shot in Iceland, Thor takes full advantage of the natural barren beauty of the country with his selection of locations and celebration of everything that Mother Nature and the weather offer to marry visual and thematic elements with natural light and stunning contrast.
With a strong collaborative partner in cinematographer Eli Arenson, the pair developed a visual grammar that emphasized a painterly look with a color palette dominated by blues and earthy tones which metaphorically speak to Eva’s journey while contrasting that with the beauteous shades of white and ice blue from the snowy landscape and freezing waters.
Some of the key elements we discuss in this conversation include:
- the appeal of this story
- collaborating with cinematographer Eli Arenson and production designer Frosti Frioriksson
- crucial in developing the film’s distinctive visual language; painterly, tactile, and timeless, perfectly complementing the chilling and psychological nature of the story.
- in the pre-production process, Eli and Thor worked closely, watching films and discussing visual techniques like shooting interiors with candlelight and achieving a painterly, still image quality. This allowed them to establish a shared visual grammar that would capture Eva’s perspective and the film’s thematic elements
- avoiding close-ups and using mid-shots and wide shots, along with the use of framing devices like door and window frames, was a deliberate choice that contributed to the film’s timeless, almost classical visual style
- developing a lighting palette
- interiors are a moody, chiaroscuro style with dramatic shadows almost like the paintings of Vermeer; a single source candlelight created that rich, warm glow, that let the shadows fall where they may
- exteriors are a play of contrast of the icy, blue-toned winter landscape and the warm candlelight from the huts which helped reinforce the thematic duality of life and death, light and dark, that runs through the film.
- Frosti’s work on designing the huts was crucial in creating an authentic, lived-in environment that could accommodate the filmmaking equipment while maintaining the visual integrity of the location. The integration of existing buildings on location with the interior set build in the old fishnet factory allowed for greater control over the scenes and the ability to move the camera to follow Eva’s perspective.
- developing a color palette
- blues, earthy browns, and warm colors
- men dressed in brownish, earthy tones
- while Eva wore multiple layers of blue dresses which, as the story progresses, became more disheveled with the colors becoming darker and covered in blood
- yellow candlelight in the interiors was meant to create a sense a warmth and safety, contrasted by the shadows in the corners
- key inspirations and mythological roots that shaped the story and visual style of THE DAMNED
- Icelandic storytelling and mythology, particularly the mythical being “The Draugr” which is depicted as a zombie-like figure in the film
- an old Icelandic story about a shipwreck from the Basque region and the subsequent murder and pillage of the survivors by Icelanders. This historical event served as a basis for the film’s narrative.
- the Icelandic landscape, including the coastline, mountains, and snow helped shape the story and the visual style of the film
- the visual contrast between the icy, wintry landscape and the warm candlelight used in the interiors, creates a metaphorical “half-life and death” theme
- the desire to capture the beauty and purity of the barren landscape, and juxtapose it with the unfolding terror in the story
- location scouting; driving in the Westfjords region of Iceland, meeting with people in small fishing villages, building a catalogue of beautiful places that could work in this story
- the differences between television and film directing and how that impacted his creative choices with THE DAMNED
- time and page count – For television, there is more pressure to deliver a higher number of pages per day, whereas in filmmaking, there is more time to achieve his directorial vision which allows for more takes, angles, and control over the creative process
- mindset – In television, he may be more focused on “getting the pages done” by the end of the day versus in filmmaking, he has more freedom to experiment and fully realize their creative vision
- and more!
TAKE A LISTEN. . .
by debbie elias, exclusive interview 12/17/2024
THE DAMNED releases only in theatres on January 3, 2025.
