Loneliness permeates throughout Anders Walters and Pipaluk K. Jørgensen’s Ivalu, a Live Action Short contender that focuses on dealing with adult themes from the perspective of childhood. The premise is simple. A young girl’s older sister has gone missing, and no one seems concerned of her absence. As she begins to piece together what may have happened, we, the audience, must comprehend that no child of this age should have to deal with devastation of this magnitude. Walter and producer Rebecca Pruzan knew they had to handle this responsibility with strength and the utmost care.
(Warning: this interview contains spoilers.)
One of the most impressive qualities of Ivalu is how the filmmakers truly tell this story from the perspective of a young girl. Walter’s filmography is full of films that give voice to the ones who are considered voiceless, and, with Ivalu, we witness the title character’s younger sister, Pipaluk, realizing that she must face the notion that her sister is gone. Walter gives the character tremendous space.
“First, the writing has to make sure it sounds like it comes from the mind of a child, but then it also has to work through the performance,” Walter said. “It has to feel authentic and convincing but also strong and powerful. I have done shorts about incest and children who suffer from parents who are alcoholics, and they are from the perspective of a child for a reason. There are so many stories about why alcoholics who do terrible things like incest do it. But my stories aren’t interested in why parents are monsters as much as they are about being a victim of that kind of cruelty. There is an explanation as why people turn out to be who they are, but I don’t want to go into that on purpose. I don’t want to accept it. I insist on.”
The short was based on a Danish graphic novel, and Walter was eager to translate the the visual language of that text to the screen. In doing so, the filmmakers knew that they had a responsibility to those who have been affected by incest and other domestic violence. These are difficult conversations, but we must have them to break any taboos that are associated with that kind of violence.
“Anders and Kim Magnussen came to us with the graphic novel, and he asked us to read it,” Pruzan said. “It’s a combination of really beautiful colors and drawings with a deep story. I cried when I put the book down, and I knew I wanted to help Anders bring this story to life. In the content of the story, we wanted to make sure we expanded on those honestly. We talked to many psychologists and people who knew about the subject from talking about it on the daily basis. When Anders wrote the script, we needed to portray it in the right way to make sure victims feel seen and recognized. It didn’t come form our imagination.
How can we use this in an artistic way after something like the awards season is over? In Denmark and in Greenland, we’ve been talking to a few organizations who are going to use the film as well as bring books to high schools based on the film. Young people, all over Denmark and Greenland, will be able to study this more. When we started working with this, we discovered how big of a taboo this topic is. There aren’t very many books or movies or theater pieces about this. There is a void. The best way to break a taboo is to talk.”
“I fell in love with the graphic novel, and then your passion starts to boil,” Walter said. “You want to work with it and want to share it with the world. You’re also aware that by talking about such a taboo subject matter, you’re aware of the responsibility of helping other people or addressing this topic. It gets people to talk. It’s this balance of wanting to do something artistic. You have to be aware of what you are doing and how you address these themes. Behind it all, there’s definitely an urgency without sounding too prophetic. You can help people.”
When you realize what has transpired in Ivalu and Pipaluk’s home, it’s a gut punch. It feels like the wind has been knocked out of you and the cold air is burning your lungs as you try to breathe. I had to pause the film when I watched it even though it’s not shown in a graphic manner. American audiences may recognize the structure from the numerous true crime shows we’ve devoured over the last few years, but that familiarity lulls us into a sense of security. We think the bad guys will be brought to justice, but that’s not always what happens.
“In the novel, the construction was very similar,” Walter revealed. “On the surface, it was set up like a mystery or a crime. You experience the world through Pipaluk’s search, and then you sense something is wrong. The nature changes from being more inhabited and it becomes more lonely and cold. You have this feeling that she is far from civilization when she is at the ice cap, and she starts looking into the past. She goes to all of the places that she would go to with Ivalu, but we learn that she has run away on purpose. And she is not going to come back. There is intent with her leaving. That was always the structure. We were always going to hold back on showing revealing the incest, because, by jumping into it right away, it could be more repulsive to the audience. This is a devastating subject matter, so by sucking them into something else, you are able to talk about it with people who might not want to talk about it.”
When we see Ivalu throughout the film, we see them as Pipaluk’s memory. That sisterly love makes Nivi Larsen almost glow on screen, and we feel her presence when she is gone. She evaporates like smoke, and we cannot grab onto her. Walter wanted us to feel that loss but also remind us that the entire family is grieving her absence.
“The movie is also very much about sisterhood and family,” Walter said. “In the end, it stands in great contrast to what life could have been like. Those happy times were supposed to continue, and that only adds to the punchy feeling in the end. What you got to see was how children are supposed to live their lives. Ivalu is a victim of incest, but she is also on a search to balance the world and make it brighter for her sister. In our story, she talks so much about the myths and the myth of the mother of the sea. In order for her to be able to lift herself up, she has to have this parallel universe. She sacrifices herself in a symbolic way, and Pipaluk moves in with her grandmother. Pipaluk can escape the same nightmare.”
As Pipaluk revisits places that she shared happy memories with Ivalu, we get the sense that the camera is lifting away from her. There is a stunning overhead shot where you almost have to shield your eyes from the reflection of the ice and snow, and then you see the small figure of Pipaluk walking through the landscape. The filmmakers wanted to emphasize Pipaluk’s growing confusion.
“One common thing that I find to happen with children in this situation is there is a lot of shame,” Walter said. “They thing it’s their fault. Because they are so open-minded, they are easily manipulated. That happens with alcoholic and abusive children–whether they know it or not. It’s important to tell them that it’s not their fault without making them feel guilty. In the visuals, there’s a lot of loneliness. Pipaluk is so small in this vast world, and, for me, it’s almost like the world is not listening. No one is listening.”
Pruzan noted that the original novel features a heavier ending. Since they knew that this film could break those taboos, they didn’t want the finale to be entirely bleak. While telling a story of violence, it is important to educate and bring as much light as they possibly can. The smallest flame can grow bigger with enough time and strength.
“This was a clear choice, because in the graphic novel the rape was more vividly described,” she said. “Pipaluk also finds her sister in the old American military base hanging herself. It’s much more brutal in the novel than it is in the film. It’s a big responsibility how you leave the audience. Had we made this film and left the original ending with no hope, it would be devastating. Of course, life can be devastating, but there is that responsibility to young people who might see this. They need to have trust in themselves and with the people around them. If we would’ve copied the story directly, it would’ve felt purposeless.”
