INTERVIEW Michelle Yeoh

Adapted from Sara Maitland’s short story, Far North is directed by acclaimed BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia (The Warrior) from a screenplay by Asif Kapadia and Tim Miller.

A familiar pose from Michelle Yeoh.

A dark epic tale set in the harsh beauty of the Arctic, the film sees Saiva and Anja struggling to survive on the frozen wastes. They are forced further North to escape soldiers taking over their homeland and settle on a desolate island. One day, a figure, Loki, appears on the ice and collapses, close to death. Saiva, against her instincts, brings him back to their tent where both women compete for his affections with terrifying and tragic consequences.

The film stars Michelle Yeoh as Saiva, and ahead of the DVD release this Monday (20^th February 2012), and courtesy of Soda Pictures, we bring you an interview with the actress famous for her kung fu hijinks in films such as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon…

Meeting Asif…

The first time I met him was in Sundance. We had exchanged a couple of emails, to try and meet up, and he was filming in Los Angeles, and I so happened to be in America. I thought it would just be a perfect time to meet, because normally I like to do films where I know the director.

When I speak to the director, I get an instinct – a gut feeling of whether they are giving me a sales pitch, or that they feel for that film. And when you find a director that feels for his movie, when it is a dream that needs to be realised, I would like to be part of that because then it is very special. And in his very gentle, soft-spoken way, I could see that he has a lot of strength in him. He has vision. He has a dream.

On Saiva…

Saiva intrigues me. It’s a person that I don’t know, that I have no understanding of. She’s so mysterious, passionate, yet, at the same time, so contained, and I think when you contain something for too long, it’s always dangerous. And she’s such a survivor.

I think it’s actually filming in Svalbard in Norway, where we were in the bleakness of the cold, and the very, very empty, stark, harsh, cruel environment, that you begin to understand, just a little bit, maybe scratch the surface of what it takes to be able to live alone, to be able to survive, to be able to express herself. And I must be truthful, the one thing that really attracted me to Saiva was Asif Kapadia. I choose my directors because I believe they are the soul of a film. I believe it’s them that make the words come to life – make our characters three-dimensional. They are the ones that bring out all the subtexts. I think he’s a very, very talented director.

"I think in this movie, Asif is really showing great ranges of passion, of love, which can suddenly flip."

Exploring the Mind…

I think in this movie, Asif is really showing great ranges of passion, of love, which can suddenly flip. But I don’t think he’s showing hatred, he’s showing what happens to people, and, at the best of times, we don’t understand how the human mind works. And he’s exploring not just this (physical) landscape, but he’s also exploring the landscape within the minds of a different time and different place. And the beauty about it is that he’s made this place timeless, which is what it is.

On Acting Style…

I think the most important thing, really, truly, for me, is working very closely with Asif, your director. Understanding from him, and working together and discovering this character. So I have to know her quite well – she is inside of me somewhere – but I refuse to let her be part of me because I think that it’s very unnerving to be constantly allowing all these characters to invade your personal space. So, for me, it’s good to let her be there, but at the same time in her own space, so that, when I need to be Saiva, I can jump into that space. Once I’m in that space, I already have a very clear distinct understanding of who she is, and what we – Asif and myself – would want from her, and have to have her give us. So for me that works much better.

When I watch the locals, what I’m watching for are the little mannerisms, the little details: the way they stand, the way they walk. Because it’s those little details that give you the sense of reality in their world, and so that I’m not walking in like I’m a hip, 20^th century girl, and I come in here. When I watch them, and how they are, it will affect me in that sense. But all of the emotional turmoil, all the complications of Saiva are there (motions to space next to herself), where I can go in and bring her out.

"I don’t think anything prepared me, quite, for this place."

Climate and Characters…

Asif has taken us to the ‘true north’. I’ve never been so far up north in my entire life. I don’t think anything prepared me, quite, for this place. I remember when I first met him – I met him in Sundance, and then I met him again in Cannes – and we had said we must do a ‘reccy’. I would come and see the place, and then I would see what other things I need to survive – because everybody has to remember, I’m a girl from the tropics! I’ve been skiing before, but nothing ever prepares you for the bitter cold. And the characters are quite dark. So, the combination can be quite scary, at the best of times! But we have an amazing crew, and we have a very good leader in Asif – he inspires, he coaxes, he encourages. It’s been a real pleasure, it really has.

As an actor, you wish that this is what your director does for you: to discover sides, dimensions that you have not explored, and are sometimes afraid to.

On the Locals…

When you have the real people there, it helps us because, in many ways, we are trying to be a little bit like them.

I love watching people. Before I do a movie, I try to watch a lot of the locals, so that you get a sense of their being – how they are with the environment. Because we’re such city-slickers, you know? A lot of the time, we’re city people – the way we are, the way we talk – we’re so modern, and so, euugh, “hip”! But here it’s all about being very grounded – sometimes very still, some kind of strength – and always looking, at the same time, quite laid-back. It’s like…hmm…what’s the big deal? And I’m a little worried, because we’re going to leave this place in a few days – it will be scary. London…so many people! I think we’ll all have to go away – we’ll have to go away, back to the mountains, to the glaciers, to find some peace and quiet.

Cultures in Cinema…

I think, fundamentally, everybody’s cultures are so different. So when the cultures are so different, in that sense, there is something – how we see or approach any subject matter – there will be an influence from what comes from within us. But I think, at the end of the day, the language of filmmaking is pretty universal. It’s really about emotions – it’s about the depth of the emotions and how you move with that. And it’s good that, because of the difference of the cultures, we allow that to come in. Then it becomes like a river – it meanders – there is no straight, clear path. That’s why movies can move you, can touch you, but also have a very different sense. Because every one – be it whatever culture we come from – is an individual, and we all have a different point of view, or something different to say.

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