You will never guess who is the actor disguised as a legendary creature in this film like no other

What is it talking about?

In the heart of the forest, lives a family of Bigfoot. These atypical creatures, perhaps the last of their species, embark on an absurd, hilarious and moving journey. In this quest strewn with pitfalls, will they escape modern civilization?

“Primitives” by David & Nathan Zellner – Available on Paramount+

OPNI (unidentified hairy object)

Who said there were no more original and innovative projects capable of getting spectators out of their comfort zone? No doubt not the people who have seen primitive (Sasquatch Sunset In VO), an improbable comedy in the form of a false documentary according to a family of Bigfoot in America today for several seasons. A sketch pitch from Saturday Night Live that David and Nathan Zellner (already authors of the very barred Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter) hold for a little less than 90 minutes, without the slightest word, to give body to one of their passions.

“Since we are children, we were obsessed with Bigfoot”Nathan told us at the Champs-Elysées Film Festival, where primitives had opened in 2024. “America does not have many things in terms of mythology because it is very young, but that is one of its main myths and we have always been fans of this creature which is part of the pop culture and which we find in television shows. And when YouTube arrived, people shared images of what they said to be a Bigfoot that they had seen, and it was always the same thing: just a bigfoot.”

“So the project started with a joke, when we wondered what it was doing the rest of the time, if it was an animal like the others? (Laughs) when you go to the zoo, you have an overview of the whole range of animal behavior, so everything started from there and we made a short film entitled Sasquatch birth journal 2 In 2010, which already had this voyeuristic aspect and showed a Bigfoot giving birth. “

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVTW2W6MIFW

“As it was successful, we continued to develop the idea, with a very different style but always this idea of ​​following a family: if there had been the point of view of humans or a narration, it would have added a share of judgment of their actions, but we wanted to tackle history in the most objective way possible.”

“What distinguishes us from the animal kingdom is that we are ashamed, and the animals not. We wanted to approach it by remaining open to the whole spectrum of behavior, without judgment, following a direction.” Which has not been so easy, because the temptation to make things easy by adding humans or by subtitling the grunts that serve as dialogues was large, as David Zellner confirms: “There are certain things that you can draw from its mythology, but you must invent everything else, your own facts. We were very inspired by the behavior of the primates, but we did not want to anthropomorphize the characters, and that is what would have happened if we had added humans or subtitles: that would have removed their animal qualities.”

“We knew that the story was very simple, as much as possible in terms of intentions, namely desire and needs in particular. If it was really vague, we might have done something else, but I had the impression that their basic needs were very transparent.” And this is how primitive presents itself as a film that must be seen to believe, where the animal documentary sometimes gives way to the most trivial humor (a scene can be seen as a scatological version of visitors), before poetry takes over.

“We did not want to anthropomorphize the characters”

A real OPNI (unidentified hairy object) which it is simply impossible to recognize the actors, hidden in costumes and under make -up layers. Starting with Jesse Eisenberg, in total counter-employment, he who has accustomed us to play nervous, and talkative characters, who are expressed with an ultra-fast speed. “It was not the reason for our choice, but that may be what attracted him to the role”replies David Zellner. “He always seeks to go to a territory that is not familiar to him, that he has not yet explored as an actor. We knew that he is excellent in comedy and drama, and he understood that we loved the idea that he plays this beta character, and we realized that he was not as verbose as others he played.”

“Many people discover that there are no dialogues when seeing the film”continues Nathan Zellner. “And that, we got it at the time of funding, but once it is acquired that there is no human dialogue, you understand exactly what they are talking about. And even if it is not Jesse’s face, he brought a lot to the character, just like Riley Keough [sa partenaire dans le film, ndlr] : They are beautiful to be under this makeup, if you put another actor in this role, it will be a different character. A different interpretation too. “

“Even if they are entirely in costumes, we wanted makeup to be fine enough so that they could still play through and express their emotions. This is also why we did not want contact lenses or special effects on their eyes. We wanted it to be very human so that you can connect to them on an emotional level, knowing that a lot of information was transmitted by the most subtle. It was almost two hours a day to put all the makeup: they made a complete molding of the body, so we had a mold and the costumes were like diving combinations, but in foam and fur, and all very tight, made to measure for Chaucn, so you really had to work to enter it. “

“As for the face, there were several pieces that were stuck, then painted, then hair, beards and other things that were put on it. So it took two hours, and then another hour to remove everything. Because it is something that you do not realize: it is as if it was glued, it is not a mask that you can simply remove.” A total investment therefore, for a film like no other but which deserves the glance, even if you then wonder what you have just seen.

Interview by Maximilien Pierrette in Paris on June 20, 2024