Gentle Monster: Marie Kreutzer's Spontaneous Method
After Toronto, director Marie Kreutzer explains her documentary and improvisational approach to the Léa Seydoux drama.
According to What's on Netflix, Gentle Monster premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Marie Kreutzer, described as an uncompromising filmmaker, outlines a documentary and spontaneous method. She says she was often told "you can't do that," but the script forced her to find a way to make it happen. The film is based on a 2020 article in the German newspaper Die Zeit about sexual abuse of children, and the director consulted psychologists, police officers and lawyers to build the story.
The drama follows a musician, played by Léa Seydoux, whose husband is accused of possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material. Kreutzer emphasizes that choosing the right collaborators, mixing familiar contacts with new encounters, is essential. She notes that the result is never what was expected: "No, but that's the point," she adds, highlighting the beauty of cinema that is created "as it goes along".
