Interview (2007)

The first fifteen minutes of the film, Interview, feels like a weird, misplaced comedy about a miserable journalist and a dumb celebrity starlet. Pierre Peders (Steven Buscemi) and Katya (Sienna Miller) meet each other at a restaurant for an interview that Pierre needs to conduct for his magazine. The interview goes horribly wrong and each of them leave, hoping to never see each other again. Pierre, however, is involved in a car accident, inadvertently caused by Katya, and she invites him back to her loft. That's the set-up of the film.

The following act includes a psychological study into two contrasting individuals and their interactions in an open loft space during the course of the evening. They speak, drink and smoke, as the audience gets to know each of them in a completely new way. The ways in which both characters interact with the space and their surroundings is something that is both bizarre and familiar at the same time. We're first introduced to the loft space when Katya and Pierre exit the elevator. There is a wide shot that shows the massive scale of Katya's place, which is appropriate because of the unfamiliarity that Pierre must have with this new location. The audience tries to orient itself through the space as the two characters begin to drink in the kitchen.

In the course of the film, we see that Pierre becomes more comfortable navigating through the space and also gets more comfortable with Katya. They both begin to admit things to one another about their life and as the discussions get more intense, the location is a constant and acts as a source of comfort. There are multiple times where Pierre threatens to leave or Katya asks him to the leave, but for some reason, both characters want to keep riding the roller coaster. Pierre finally does leave the apartment, as you find yourself wanting him to stay.

Interview is more than just a study into these characters; it's an examination into how these characters react to their surroundings and how those reactions accentuate their personalities. The spontaneous nature of Katya is emphasized by her loud outbursts within her loft and the interactions with various spaces and pieces of furniture. The crude, odd behavior of Pierre is similarly underlined by his imposing nature in another person's apartment with his unwelcomed actions with personal space.

The most powerful aspect of Interview is also the underlying theme. It's always the unknown that keeps you wanting more.