INGRID (ENGLISH VERSION)

SEIZE THE DAY

In September 2024, Jesikka and I were about to publish our book. Before it was taken to a publishing company, though, Jesikka insisted we corrected a few points, which I had written. Truth be told, the way I write can be really peculiar at times because I use too much everyday vocabulary. So, Jesikka advised me to use more abstract notions.

Tales from the Crypt was published on September 27, 2024. The next thing was the film I was going to shoot. When I read the script, I instantly realised why Andrew so much insisted I play on that movie. A young and lonely woman finds an injured wolf cub and decides to adopt it. She achieves to tame the wolf and, as she shares her life with it, she also covers her own loneliness. After having read the script, I realised I could truly identify myself with the heroine. I have always loved wolves because I consider them to be the most beautiful animals in the world and whatsoever it's common knowledge to people who know me too well to believe that I have a wolf's character, as I love solitude. Ingmar himself often used to call me a wolverine -- let alone the fact that I love Virginia Woolf.

The most marvellous thing was that, during the shooting, we used a real wolf. And strangely enough, I tamed it perfectly well, even though this cub was living in a shelter with people. In a way, it was growing up like a dog, given the fact that it was living in the same place with dogs. Therefore, there was no reason for me to be afraid that I could be eaten alive by the wolf. As far as Ingmar was concerned, I can tell that he was scared to death when he was informed about our shooting with a real wolf.

"I want you to return alive", he said to me, laughing.

Far from that, the shooting gave me such a hard time, not only because we were using a wolf. I had never in my life shot a film before, therefore I was met with things that I had never expected to happen. For example, there were certain scenes we were forced to shoot more than ten times until they were perfect and that was pissing me off. And although I was an extreme perfectionist myself, when working at the theatre, I wasn't meticulously paying attention to every single detail -- at least not to that extent. But the fact that not only I was shooting a film, but I had also a leading role in it, was a great challenge for me. Every time, I was going back home, my body was aching. Of course, Ingmar and Anna understood that what I was doing was so exhausting, so every night warm food and a huge fire was waiting for me. And at this point, I need to mention how close my family was to me. Ingmar was and still is the most supporting and affectionate partner, that every woman desires to have. Indeed, he was the sole person in the whole world, whom I allowed to be next to me when I would be working.

During that time, I was reading a book about testimonies by survivors of the Holocaust. I have always been interested to learn more about World War II because I consider mankind to be obliged to know about one of the greatest crimes committed by man against man. I have to say that this book really shocked me, as it was all about true, vivid and at times, freaking testimonies of people. I have never been shocked by violence and blood. I have watched a lot of freaking and disgusting horror movies in my life, just like Hostel and The Human Centipede, but I knew it was something completely fake, so it didn't have any negative impact on me. The Holocaust, however, was something real, a series of freaking actions carried out by man to another MAN (I highlight this). I believe that violence and perversion reached their forté during World War II and until today we are wondering how far man can get. That's why the Holocaust should be one of the first things that children are taught at school about. The history of your land and of your ancestors is not enough. Because having such limited knowledge about history might result in e.g. me trying to get in a discussion with someone about the crimes of the Nazis and receive the reply: "Come on, now, do you really believe that the Holocaust is something that really happened?". Yes, I do know people who believe that the Holocaust is something that has never happened. And I believe that what should be done on this occasion is to take all those Holocaust deniers to Auschwitz so that they can really see the crematories. I personally fail to believe that all those deniers are neonazis. I just think they are completely uneducated in history because nobody has ever taught them about this, so they can't bear to believe that man can become such a beast and have no restraints.