Director Ari Aster: I don’t want to win just by being scary. Horror, humor, and action can coexist in the movie.

[Reporter Xu Shiying/Exclusive Interview] Director Ari Aster's films often put the audience into fear, but he revealed in an interview that he does not actually want to win by scaring people. When asked whether he preferred psychological horror or visual horror, he did not choose a side. Instead, he smiled and asked, "Why do I have to make a choice?" In his eyes, horror, humor, absurdity and even action scenes can all exist at the same time in one movie.

"Feud" famous director Ari Aster. (File photo, taken by reporter Wang Wenlin)

"Pokémon Nightmares" is the most obvious example. Although the protagonist Po, played by Joaquin Phoenix, is chased by anxiety and fear, Aster also hopes to create a world that "will make him laugh"; the action scenes in the film are not purely thrilling, but have a clear comedic effect. "They are comedic and meant to make people feel funny," he emphasized.

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Ariaster uses "Pokémon Nightmare" to create a world that "makes him laugh". (File photo, provided by Double Happiness)

In fact, Aster admitted that he likes action movies very much, and even said bluntly: "I really want to make an action movie, of course!" This also shows that he does not think that he can only stay in the horror genre. For him, what really matters is what the story needs, not which genre the work ends up being classified into.

Aster was also particularly fond of "bloody, cruel and exaggerated" dramatic styles, climaxes and dramatic irony, and these elements continued from "Feud" to later works. Even though "Eddington" is closer to reality than in the past, he said he has not given up his sense of humor, but instead combines Internet meme culture, a sense of absurdity and social tension.

Robert Pattinson not only stars this time, but also takes on the challenge of serving as the producer of "Entrapment" for the first time. (Provided by Cai Chang)

This is why Aster doesn't want to be called simply a "master of horror." He believes that if only based on genre, the works can indeed be classified, but he does not first set the framework for the film when creating. For him, "Feud" can be a horror film, "A Midsummer Nightmare" can be more like a fable, "Pokémon Nightmare" can mix comedy, fantasy and anxiety, and the next film may go to a completely different place.

Now that "Scapegoat" is about to enter production, it is still unknown what kind of story the director will come up with; but what is certain is that he obviously has no intention of staying in any established genre.

Produced by Aster, directed by Lance Oppenheim, and starring Robert Pattinson, "Entrapment" has been released in Taiwan for the first time as a producer.

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