Ina Weisse’s psychological drama Zikaden (Cicadas) begins as a portrait of two very different women at the edge of their patience with the demands that claim their sense of self but ends as something quite unexpected as their lives become more entwined.
High-end realtor Isabell's (Nina Hoss) life is thrown into turmoil as she juggles caring for her aging parents (played by Ina Weisse’s parents), marital troubles with Philippe (Vincent Macaigne), and frequent trips between Berlin and her father’s modernist retreat in Brandenburg. There, she bonds unexpectedly with Anja (Saskia Rosendahl), a struggling single mother with Greta her young firebrand daughter. As Anja and Greta become part of her life, Isabell begins to question her stability and purpose while feeling an increasing loss of control.
Nina Hoss, who has worked with Weisse previously in 2019’s Das Vorspiel (The Audition), inhabits Isabell with a convincing honesty. Thanks to MB Publicity Nadine Whitney was able to speak to Nina about her process in building Isabell’s character, collaborating with directors on a regular basis, and whether she would move into direction in the future.
Cicadas is playing at the German Film Festival.
Isabell is in so many ways a deeply relatable character for women who are thrust into the position of becoming carers as their parents age. What are some of the insights you developed for the character?
Nina Hoss: Isabell is really overwhelmed by the life situation she finds herself in, and I think she might not even be realising it is so. It's like sometimes when you're in these situations where you just have to function. Isabell has to function to help her parents, to find carers, to take care of their house. All of a sudden, she finds herself in a situation where she’s living more their lives than her own.
But through those situations in life, because of the exhaustion, I guess, you find yourself you're more open because you don't have the energy and the power to reject other people that you would probably have, otherwise. So, in that sense, she finds Anja. When they see each other in front of Isabell's house, and she's loading or taking something out of the car, at another moment in time she would have not even realised Anja or Greta were there. But in that moment she feels that there’s another person and thinks, “Why don't I let them into my life?”
She is overwhelmed, but there's also beautiful softness and openness to her at the same time. I sometimes feel you need these moments, or such moments only allow your life to maybe go into a direction that you have never considered. Things happen in your life because of these circumstances you find yourself in unwillingly, and that that creates something positive. The meeting of these two women is something very positive in Isabell's life, up to a certain moment; then, you know, and that is the interesting part, or interesting thing in Ina’s writing. It's just surprising, and you don't really know you're not safe.
I felt when I was watching the film that Isabell is so overwhelmed and so tired, and at first, Anja seems like she's someone she can talk to and express what she feels. I don't think she notices the slow pull of Anja, and the incipient danger she could be in with the character. I found very interesting, because I wanted to go back immediately and rewatch Zikaden and see if I could pinpoint those moments. We do find out that Anja is untrustworthy, but we don't have a feeling of just how untrustworthy she is, nor the extent of the muted class war that's going on between them.
Can you tell me a little bit about playing against Saskia?
NH: It's just beautiful to work with her. I just adore her, really, as a person and as an actress, because it's so hard to use these words, but there is something so truthful about her way of working. I began working with the two people who play Isabell’s who are non-actors, Ina’s own parents. We were just doing some scenes with them and testing things and but also some of these scenes and that's how we started, I think even, like half a year before we actually shot the film. That was a way of a finding the tone and for the film, and they pretty much set it. It was a half real, half improvised. We just felt it had to be very naturalistic.
When Saskia came in, she just had it naturally. Also figuring out with her, like you say, how much of a hint do we give with her character – that there's something else behind it more than just pure and innocent interest in Isabell? How much of the of dance we tried out. We did some variations and little nuances and because sometimes it's just a look, a view, a gaze, you know, of hers could be already too much, you know? It was a fine line to tread. Are we making a thriller here or is that too overpowering for the story? What isn’t needed? You figure it out slowly. It has to be subtle. The thriller element of it is what creates the tension between Isabell and Anja and Saskia is just really able to pull it off in the most fascinating way. I really enjoyed working with her.
Anja is enigmatic and it can be difficult to know her motivations at different times. There are points in the film where she's deliberately wrong-footing Isabel. I think that she notices that Isabel is kind of enthralled to more powerful personalities. For example, she certainly with her father. She also has to deal with Philippe as he gets ridiculous; he turns into a child to get her attention.
NH: Yes, all of a sudden Isabell has two children in her orbit, Greta and Phillipe.
Her father had the career that she wanted for herself. She wanted to be an architect, but instead she's a realtor. Your performance really embodies that she's just so tired and easily pulled into other people's orbits. I think that Anja notices that and also notices that if she puts her foot down and dominates slightly, that Isabell will react quite well to that.
NH: You know, it's very interesting, because always when you say these things, they are so crystal clear. But it wasn't something that I was working on consciously. You just run with the story, and you just give in to the moments of this character's life, and then at the end of the day, something is being put together, and you go, “Oh, yeah, that's what it's all about!”
So, when you say these things, it's completely clear to me what Isabell's journey that you are seeing, but while you're doing it, because you don't have, you know, there's not a strong there's not this plot where, you know, this is the beginning, and then it goes to a certain peak of the story, or whatever, and then it somehow falls into places, and at the end you have a happy end, or not. This film is a different beast. I have the feeling it's the audience inserting themselves into the POV.
Isabell is, of course, drawn to stronger personalities or people who kind of project as if they know what they're doing. It’s so fascinating that you find out later that Anja might not be what she claims.
I'm not going to spoil the ending. But, by the time you do get to the ending you wonder, “Is this a good thing for Isabell, or is it the worst possible thing that's happened to Isabell? I think that's what she's thinking also. Using the English idiom: Out of the frying pan into the fire.
NH: Oh, that's great. Yes. Who can possibly say? I think only Isabell would be able to tell us exactly what's going on there.
You have worked with Ina before. What is it like to have that relationship with a director where you're you have a certain shorthand in in knowing how they work and what they expect of you?
NH: What I really love is the discussions we have. Let's say you find each other in work, through work and through a lot of talking. I've talked a lot with Christian [Petzold] I talk a lot with Ina. It’s where you find yourself on a journey, where you want to explore more together. You want to dive deeper into the next story, into the next character, and find ways of how to tell these stories and be brave and explorative. I'm drawn to that. If you find the right partners for it, then why give up the conversation? So to speak.
It becomes a collaborative effort in more than just the acting and directing. I guess it becomes a collaborative effort in purpose and understanding where characters need to go. You are cast for a because you're an extremely accomplished actor, but also when, when people return to you, there's this very specific reason too. I always enjoy speaking to actors who have strong relationships with their directors, because I believe that it extends what they import into a film.
NH: I don't sit down and write on the script with them also, but it's the conversation ahead of before even the script is on your desk. You know that that possibly influences where the story is going and how we want to tell it. Sometimes also it is it can be very surprising to me, because maybe the conversation went somewhere else, and then that evokes an idea that no one has even thought about. You know, filmmaking is such a fascinating, complex work of art, so I want more I can learn about it, and be part of it in many stages.
You're a producer on Zikaden which means coming into a different role and extending your involvement.
NH: That's true. I enjoy that very much, I must say. Without ever taking that role on to control what the director's work is. You know, there I very much see myself on the acting side and the creative input from what I can bring as an actor into the work but being able to think of all the other aspects and give input – I enjoy that very much side of a producer.
Have you ever considered going into directing?
NH: I think if you’d asked me that ten years ago, I would have said yes. And then I fell in love with my with my acting work so much again and so many possibilities opened up. I’ve just returned from New York, where we did The Cherry Orchard., I enjoy expressing my view on life and on what's going on in the world through the job of an actor. Right now, I don't feel I want to switch sides, but never say never!
As an actor you tell your stories in the most proficient and profound ways. You don't need to take on anything else. I was simply curious as many actors move into directing.
NH: No, no, I don’t mind. I ask myself that question sometimes and I think, yeah, you know, you never know. It's all about the story. If you feel an urge to tell something in that way. Otherwise, don't do it. If anything, I would write a story that you bring on to the screen.
Is there anything you would like to say about Zikaden?
NH: I think you described it so beautifully. I couldn't say it any better. I hope people go and watch it in cinemas. I'm always thinking that films like this are so difficult to pitch, you know? Because you have to have an openness, like the characters in the in the film, to explore things your own way. That a film doesn't tell you what to think, but you fill it up with your own life. That’s the beauty of this film and the work that Ina creates that you can see your own life in relation with the characters’ lives that you're watching. It's a very intimate view into these women's lives, but also the parents’ lives, the husband's life. That the complication of life, which sometimes brings up the most beautiful interactions and moments and the saddest at the same time. It's this contradiction and there is the heaviness of the topic that we're dealing with, but it's the lightness of how we tell the story.
It's like the house in Brandenburg built by Isabell’s father. It was made to be beautiful, and it is. It is stunning, but it's worn down.
NH: It's out of time, and to rebuild that again is going to take so much, so much effort. In a way I see Isabell letting go of the house is letting go of a part of her life, of an era in her life. Something that is a nostalgic but also letting go leaves room for something new, you know, whatever that might be.