We hear from director Thomas Vinterberg on his film The Commune…
From the age of seven to 19 I lived in a commune. It was a crazy, warm and fantastic time, surrounded by genitals, beer, highbrow academic discussions, love and personal tragedies. As a child, every day was a fairy tale. Simply leaving the privacy of your own bedroom and finding your way into the common areas of the house could offer a variety of surprising scenarios because of the other residents and their various eccentricities.
Looking back, it is a time filled with golden memories and absurd moments. The house would become dark as hell for at least 5 days every month due to the biological cycles of the already powerful women who ruled the house. Cycles that somehow became synchronized over time. The group suppers that took place every Thursday to Sunday usually evolved into overwhelming and sometimes catastrophic dinner parties.
The notion of the ‘house meeting’ was the supreme authority – a democratic meeting where house members would share from the heart and discuss any issues they cared to. I recall a house meeting where it was decided that rent would be paid in proportion to each commune member’s income. This notion was gladly proposed by a man who earned far more than anyone else, and as a result his rent was more than doubled. Even though the commune consisted of well-educated thinkers, life back then now seems naive and idealistic in the extreme – it was full of hope for the future…
The core of the story takes place in the commune around 1975. The original and humorous individuals of the commune offer up the ‘chorus’ in the traditional way of drama – or a huge and warm family that we will hopefully learn to love. However, a more intimate love story will also play out within this eccentric ‘family’. This love story will bring to an end the collective dream of the commune and a lifelong relationship. As such, the end of togetherness is played out in more ways than one.
The Commune is screening from Fri 29 July. Find out more and book tickets here.
