An emotional and hilarious story with a life-affirming message, THE LAST JOURNEY is a cinematic experience that explores a loving son’s attempts to coax his aging father into reengaging with life by embarking on a joyous, heartfelt road trip through the South of France.
After being submitted for the Academy Award’s as Sweden’s entry for Best International Film, and finally releasing in Australian cinemas (accompanied with a Q+A tour featuring the film’s directors), Nick L’Barrow spoke with the directors, Filip Hammar and Frederik Wikingsson, about this profound, touching, and hilarious documentary.
Nick: It’s such a pleasure to meet you Filip and Frederik! This documentary is so beautiful, and profound, and it’s so funny! But something that really stuck out to me was how cinematic it felt. They way you shot The Last Journey years for it to be seen on the big screen. How conscious are you as directors when it comes to making your intimate documentary feel so big in scale through the way it’s shot?
Frederik Wikingsson: Well, we really wanted this to have a chance in theatres. And thankfully, it’s now the biggest documentary of all time in Swedish theatres! And I think it’s because we put an effort it. We have great cinematographers. They’re both named Eric.
We needed first and foremost to make it look beautiful, but also because Filip and his dad have a very romanticised version of France in their heads, they think about all the glorious aspects of it. We wanted the film to reflect that and look like it has a bit of a fairytale feeling. But I mean you need all the tricks in the book to get people into the theatres.
Filip Hammar: You know, it’s as if it’s a movie about a very prominent figure of historical importance. But this is just a regular guy! A teacher from a small town. So, to add those kinds of shots, but also the score, it’s very epic. We wanted to amp everything up.
Frederik Wikingsson: It’s a contrast to the smallness, so to speak, of the main character, which is Filip’s dad.
Filip Hammar: I mean it does almost play like a feature film. We had an American guy the other day who had no idea who we were, and he told me, “You guys are all great actors!” So, he thought it was a feature film. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but it’s interesting.
Nick: I’m glad you mentioned score, Filip, because music is such an integral part of this story. It’s basically Lars’ turning point when he hears a song and that journey begins. I’m curious to know what role music has played in your lives, whether it’s personally or creatively?
Filip Hammar: We’re in London right now, and yesterday this guy forced me to go to the Abbey Road crossing. That’s sort of quite telling!
Frederik Wikingsson: I’ve been to London before, but for some reason had just never been there! We actually met the family of Glen Powell who were there. His sister and his parents!
Filip Hammar: That sort of validated that for me, that you forced me to go.
Frederik Wikingsson: I mean, music is everything to us. If we had the ability, I think we would have been musicians instead. But we’re just lousy filmmakers now! But I think music is so important to us when we watch movies. I love films that have great scores, and it’s been very important for you and your dad.
Filip Hammar: Yeah, I grew up exclusively listening to French music in my house, until I realised I had my own money and I could buy my own Midnight Oil CDs. But, before that, when we went on these trips, me and my family every year went to this big grocery store in France called Cow Food, and I got to pick two EP’s every summer, and those songs became the soundtrack, not to my life, but to my summers, you know? And I brought that collection on this trip.
Nick: A massive part of this film that resonated with me is how men treat their mental health. Emotional vulnerability for a lot of men is still stigmatic. I think seeing you both on screen, being so vulnerable with each other is powerful. What was the experience of exploring that emotional vulnerability, but with these cameras in front of you in all of those moments?
Filip Hammar: I have to say that it was this situation that got that out of us. Me and Frederick have been friends for 25 years, and we rarely – I’m better than him at this – but we’ve rarely had conversations about feelings. I always initiate them! When I first told him, “I love you, Frederick” – look! You can see know he cringes! But I think it’s very common.
And having my dad there with us as we’re pushing 50, the whole situation made us think about our mortality. So, it was a good foundation to make some serious progress in finding ways to open up. And maybe it’s why the film has resonated so well with people in Sweden.
There’s a reason why a lot of men are depressed, you know? Once they retire, they don’t even dare tell people that they’re depressed. It’s really hard. I think they’re stubborn. My dad is stubborn. And it sounds like this is a sad film with a heavy subject, but what’s important to stress is that even depressed people at times forget that they are depressed, and they can be really happy. And those moments are beautiful.
Nick: I’m getting wrapped up here, so I’ll end with this – the story revolves around rediscovering your spark. What is each of your spark?
Frederik Wikingsson: I think curiosity sounds like a typical, shallow answer, but for us this journey was based on curiosity. When Filip told me about wanting to go on this journey with his dad, my curiosity wanted to follow what was going to happen. That there was something worth exploring here. And if you lose that, it’s over. It’s time to retire yourself.
Filip Hammar: It’s curiosity in others, but also a curiosity in yourself. Let’s see what’s in there, you know? And I don’t know what our next project is, but one thing I know is that it’s not a documentary about the Abbey Road studios!
Thank you so much to Filip and Frederik for their time, and to Universal Pictures for organising the interview. You can see Filip and Frederik in person as the attend Q+A sessions of The Last Journey in Sydney and Melbourne from February 16th – 18th, before it’s official release on February 27. Check your local listings for more information.
