Norwegian Filmmaker Joachim Trier Discusses Coming to America to Make ‘Louder Than Bombs’

Sandra Miska

For his third feature, Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier makes his American debut with “Louder Than Bombs,” a drama about a widower (Gabriel Byrne) and his two sons (Jesse Eisenberg and Devin Druid) who come to terms with the life and unexpected death of their mother (Isabelle Huppert), a war photographer. Trier recently sat down with Entertainment Voice to discuss his journey in making this film and what viewers should expect.

Trier, who co-wrote the screenplay for “Louder Than Bombs” with Eskil Vogt, can best be described as a director who writes. “I’m not primarily a writer . . . I’m very happy making movies. I love the collaborative process. I love the fact that we’re a . . . team of people doing stuff. That’s more my style.”

“I think getting this level of [a] budget was kind of tricky in the beginning because it’s not the most commercial premise . . . . But actually getting on set, getting the actors, all that was fine. We shot it all in New York. American film teams are the best in the world. I thought it was pretty cool, and I think the actors were all collaborative. One could, of course, worry that they would be very prima donna or famous actor-types, but they’re very collaborative people. Jesse Eisenberg was shooting at the same time ‘Batman v. Superman,’ which took months to do. He was very, very eager to do this film, which I was very grateful for so he got Warner Brothers to release him for five weeks so he could do this in the middle of it. He went from Lex Luthor to [Professor] Jonah Reed and back. He did well. I think he’s remarkable. He works all the time. He’s a pro.”

The casting process was also a positive experience for Trier. He approached agents, producers and other acquaintances to reach out to Byrne, Eisenberg and the rest of the cast. “They were all very keen to do the film. I was very fortunate. We also had a casting director, Laura Rosenthal, in New York who’s done a lot of great films. She found Devin. We saw a lot of people – hundreds of kids – and she waited with him. She knew who he was all along. She said, ‘Now you’re ready,’ and brought in Devin. He was obviously at that time someone I was very fortunate to have in the role.”

So far, Trier is very pleased with how “Louder Than Bombs” has resonated with viewers in different ways. “What I’m most proud of is people come in and talk about it, sometimes very passionately, but they talk about different elements and different interpretations of the film. Just today I’ve had people talk about how they related to a 15-year-old who needed to create a space in the world to speak his voice. Someone talks about modern fatherhood and the expectations of a man and how to deal with an ex-wife or someone and then having a new lover. Some films can be very specific about one character and one theme but this one is more about family dynamics and the possibility for the audience to interpret different angles from it. I think it’s in the nature of the story. It goes between different generations all the time.”

Despite its subject matter, “Louder Than Bombs” is a visually stunning film so viewers shouldn’t expect a film about a bunch of people sitting around discussing their emotions. “Doing this film, I didn’t want it to [be like], ‘Oh, it’s a grief drama so it’s people in a house crying,’” explained Trier. “No. I wanted it to be rich in images and situations.”

Without giving too much away, Trier discussed his thoughts on the film’s ending. “My feeling is that this is the happiest of endings of the films I’ve made so far because even though it has melancholy to it I think they’ve all grown a little bit. What we do know about Jonah is he’s been able to reach out to his father and accept his place in his life, and I think that’s the first step forward for him to accept himself as a father in relation to his child . . . . I think they also realize that they shouldn’t be worried about the little brother. He’s also much smarter and insightful, or has insights, beyond what they expected.”

“Louder Than Bombs” opens April 8 in Los Angeles and New York. It can be seen in L.A. at Laemmle’s Royal Theater and Sundance Sunset Cinema in West Hollywood. Starting April 15, it can also be seen in Pasadena and Orange Country.