Mater of “Selon Joy”, the new film by director Camille Lugan, is Asia Argento: a complex and tormented character who moves in a desolate world, on the fringes of society, where faith, loneliness, and perdition intertwine in a dark and suggestive atmosphere. The story revolves around Joy, an orphan girl deeply devoted to faith, and her encounter with Andriy, who pulls her into a harsh and ruthless reality.
I met Asia to talk about the film, but I returned home with a lesson in life and craft. Asia shared with me her visceral relationship with the camera, the challenge of immersing herself in a world as extreme as Joy’s, and her reflections on the redemptive power of faith.
In an intimate conversation, we discover her deep involvement in films and the emotional intensity that characterizes her presence in the world and her work on set.
What is your first memory related to cinema?
The first time I saw a camera. You know, the first time there’s a camera, you never forget it because it’s powerful. I immediately felt it as a friendly presence: I felt that this “thing,” which you can’t look at, was like a friend protecting me. Even today, if there’s a camera, for me, it’s like a spirit, always there, bringing out the best in me. It’s as if it were a guardian angel that has always saved me.
That first time, I felt, in that moment, that there was silence.
Like many children, I wanted to be the center of attention, but I couldn’t get that attention at home. But that first time in front of the camera, I thought: “Here, everyone listens to me, everyone pays attention, they’re all focused on what I’m saying… I need to do this when I grow up.” Back then, I thought I wanted to be a writer when I was about 9, but at that moment, on the set, or rather, in front of the camera, I realized that my job couldn’t be anything else.
The director describes the film’s atmosphere as “an underground world on the fringes, characterized by a powerful and dark atmosphere, inhabited by characters struggling to survive” (Camille Lugan). Was it complicated to adapt to this kind of setting and make this world your own?
No, because when you act, you accept as true and real all the invented worlds. You study before shooting, so you have time to imagine and dream about that world until it becomes your own.
For this character, I was inspired by Michael Jackson because Mater has created her own sort of Wonderland, a perfect world for her as someone who has remained a child, being a drug addict; in fact, all people who started using drugs when young remain somewhat childish, so she feels comfortable with much younger people. Her games, her amusement park, are drugs; for her, that’s the natural world, the best world that exists.
Sure, it’s a cruel world, where the drugs she sells kill people, but she’s so lost that it doesn’t concern her, it doesn’t interest her. She thinks she’s doing good when she brings Joy to work with her: she certainly wants to control her, because she senses there might be something going on with one of her men, but fundamentally, she wants to help her. I don’t think she acts out of malice, and in fact, she ends up saving her too.
The theme of grace, salvation, and divine faith is central. In one of the early scenes, the Father says, “Only grace can save us”: do you believe in the “saving power” that an external entity can have?
It all starts with faith. If one believes, then a saving power can save you; you can even pretend to believe, and maybe it can still save you. After all, they say, “Fake it until you make it”, so I definitely believe that if someone has faith, anything is possible. I’m not talking about religion, I’m talking about something supernatural, bigger than you. Otherwise, you end up believing that you are the superior power, and your ego becomes boundless, and you become a poor person. It’s better to believe that there’s something bigger than you; at least that teaches you a bit of humility in life.
I love the way the film was shot, and one of my favorite scenes is the orgiastic dance, where everyone moves as if possessed under the influence of newly taken drugs. I was intrigued by the dynamics of that scene, but in general, what mechanisms create chemistry in an ensemble cast?
With the guys in my group, we spent endless nights together because we always shot at night, in this frozen hangar where there was only one heated room, and that’s where we’d gather to talk. We shared things about the craft, and about life; we were all on the same level, so I felt comfortable with them, even though they are much younger than me and have different life experiences. I enjoyed listening to them, absorbing their enthusiasm and doubts. I identified a lot with them.
“It’s better to believe that there’s something bigger than you; at least that teaches you a bit of humility in life.”
Il tuo personaggio, ma come tutti e anche Joy prima di tutti, sono personaggi molto soli. Io penso che a volte la fede possa farti sentire molto solo in alcuni momenti nella vita. Mi chiedevo, qual è il tuo rapporto con la solitudine? È qualcosa che cerchi?
Io adoro la solitudine. Fin da piccola mi sono sempre sentita molto più a mio agio da sola che con gli altri, anzi soffro un po’ di fobia sociale. La solitudine, sì, la ricerco, per esempio viaggio da sola molto spesso, però poi ci sono persone con cui sono a mio agio. Ho la fortuna di avere dei figli con cui condivido molti interessi e ci troviamo bene tra di noi, quindi anche quando saranno grandi e non vivremo più insieme, non mi sentirò sola perché saprò che ci sono loro al mondo.
Your character, like all of them, and especially Joy, are very lonely characters. I think faith can sometimes make you feel very lonely at certain moments in life. I was wondering, what’s your relationship with solitude? Is it something you seek?
I love solitude. Since I was a child, I’ve always felt much more comfortable alone than with others; in fact, I suffer a bit from social phobia. Solitude, yes, I seek it—for example, I often travel alone—but then there are people with whom I feel comfortable. I’m lucky to have children with whom I share many interests, and we get along well with each other, so even when they grow up and we no longer live together, I won’t feel alone because I’ll know they’re in the world.
Mater leads Joy down the “path of perdition”; Joy is indeed a very fragile character, swept away by the cruelty and blasphemy of the world around her. Have you ever felt lost? If so, how did you find yourself again?
To get lost, you must first own yourself.
Maybe I’ve always been lost because I never felt like I knew or had myself. But I have found myself at times, that’s for sure.
Photos by Luca Ortolani.
