Interview: Antonio Campos (Simon Killer)

If Afterschool taught us to keep our teens within arm’s length reach, Antonio Campos’ latest film could serve as a public service announcement that the grip could be tighter. A lone wolf slices thru nocturnal dwellings of a Paris-scape, and as we know it, the postcard version of the City of Lights turns to muck. Much like his debut, Simon Killer (Sundance ’12) is sure to divide audiences, and this may have to do with how the film’s protagonist (brilliantly played by Brady Corbet) is fleshed out – the aud’s rapport with the character matures as the Simon mutates and potentially becomes shades of his former self. It was an exhausted and under the weather Campos I met back in Park City back in 2012 and among the items we discussed were the aesthetic choices that add to the sensorial experience, the insertion of LCD’s Dance Yrself Clean, visual template of the film and creating the character of Simon with Corbet. IFC Films opens the film on April 5th.