Word: mihaileanu
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...Mihaileanu: Fairy tales are not invented--this one came from the tradition of Jewish storytellers like Shalom Aliecham, the biggest storyteller the Jewish people had. The style is sort of a mixture between Jewish theatrical and musical traditions and Warner Brothers cartoons. It is modern, to speak to the younger generation, but without betraying the memory and way of life of older people as well...
...Mihaileanu: I am always surprised that in different cultures they understand the movie in the same way. The Venice demonstration [in which the audience protested to allow the film to be officially included in the competition--the first demonstration of its kind at a film festival] was a big surprise. Awards are very important, I know now, for marketing, but I am not a guy who wants to be "king of the world." We are dealing with ideas and my ideas are not better, only different. I see the need for awards to promote the film, so I am happy...
...Mihaileanu: The script was written before Life is Beautiful. I started it in 1993. I forbid myself to write without a producer, so I stopped work on it until 1995, when I met the producer. Then it took me three months to write the script. The conditions of the concentration camp don't interest me--what interests me is those people, in the shtetl, the lost people. I focused on their ways of living and fighting and loving. I pay more attention to the people, not the horrors of the camp; it is more collective...
...Mihaileanu: I think this fits in with the rest of the movie. Ultimately, the story is about all human beings. I don't know if I'm religious and I don't have all the answers. But having questions, as the Jewish people say, is half the answer. The question is, are we human beings or not? Are we barbarians, or do we truly exist as human beings? What is a human being? Before blaming God, let's try to watch ourselves in the mirror...
...Mihaileanu: As long as we don't forget those people, the people on the train, they will never die. "Don't let me forget their eyes, because I will become crazy," says Shlomo. As long as we don't forget them, the barbarians won't succeed. And if you forget Shlomo, he will die. It is the audience who chooses whether he lives or dies...