Ari Aster makes ‘unhomelike’ home in his movies

The masterful filmmaker behind hit horror films “Hereditary” (2018) and “Midsommar” (2019) arrived in South Korea on Tuesday for the release of “Beau Is Afraid,” another film that deals with the protagonist’s darkest fear becoming a great adventure.

Written and directed by Ari Aster, the American surrealist tragicomedy horror film starring Joaquin Phoenix revolves around Beau, a paranoia-ridden middle-aged man. His epic journey begins as he heads home to attend his mother’s funeral, confronting his fears along the way.

Just like his previous works, “Beau Is Afraid” talks about abnormal and paradoxical relationships inside families, according to the director.

“There are people closest to (their families and those who are not), but ties are not easily separated. And I’m not sure what a typical family is, but I find it that even if you have a healthy relationship, there is a lot of pressure and a lot at stake all the time,” Aster told reporters during a press conference in Yongsan CGV in Seoul on Tuesday. While he is aware that he deals a lot with the concept of “home,” he said, “I find it interesting to make the home unhomelike.”

Aster said his films revolve around death and how people grapple and cope with it.

“I’m not sure what exactly I can say about the fact that I seem magnetized to those themes,” he said, adding that for him, the film is about “unlived life.”

It took more than a decade for Aster to prepare the film.

“I wrote the script 12 years ago and had difficulties making it and put it aside and came back after my film 'Midsommar.' We read it and found that there were many things that I wanted to change and spent a year swimming around and letting it grow,” Aster said.

“I really love the world of Beau and it’s a world that has made sense to me,” he said, adding that it is his personal favorite among his own films. “My humor is all over the film. My friends who know me have all told me that the film feels like me, and has my personality in it.”

Calling himself a fervent fan of Korean cinema, Aster gave a list of his favorite directors, touting their distinctive filmmaking style with playfulness and adventures. From Kim Ki-young to Lee Chang-dong, Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, Hong Sang-soo, Jang Joon-hwan and Na Hong-jin, he said he’s also been attracted to older Korean films like “Obaltan” (1961), by director Yu Hyun-mok.

“When you look at the films of Bong or Park or Na, you see real sort of gritty deconstruction of genre. Playing with the form and the film language is very sophisticated. When we talk about Lee Chang-dong, maybe there is a literary quality, it feels like a novel. A real richness in what he is doing with the character and the structure whether it’s a ‘Poetry’ or ‘Burning’ or ‘Peppermint Candy,’ those are all extremely subtle and complex and deep films that I go back to again and again. And of course there's humor in the films,” the director said.

Regarding his collaboration with A24, the US company behind the production and distribution of “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “Midsommar,” Aster said he was lucky.

“I was lucky to have a relationship with A24; they have managed to retain what makes them special and support artists,” he said. “Their philosophy on filmmakers and not changing the vision or standing in the way is what makes them special. It’s been a very fruitful partnership.”

Ari Aster’s “Beau Is Afraid” opens in local cinemas on July 5. It holds its Korean premiere as the opening film of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday.