Uli Hanisch has made a name for himself with his inventive production designs in the films of Tom Tykwer (not including RUN LOLA RUN). In his free time, he sometimes teaches at the International Film School of Cologne. Warm, lively and inviting, Hanisch makes it known to the audience that he would rather listen to their questions and opinions on production design rather than talk about his own work, displaying much interest in the education of the young generation of filmmakers. He believes that the story is most important and that every artistic decision made in filmmaking has to be made with patience and focus on the necessities of the script. Hanisch says that in designing a production, he is more interested with losing reality as he finds it an unnecessary aspect in fictional films. Hanisch says that he has a very good working relationship with Tom Tykwer, with both of them being able to achieve artistic fulfillment with each of their productions because of their working methods. When asked what his most valuable experience was in relation to his work as a production designer, he says that it was his working experience in graphic design prior to film work, which required him to be very precise in terms of details.
Q: You worked as a graphic artist for advertising companies for a period of. What made you decide to begin working on films as a production designer?
A: I was about twenty when I was working at a graphic design company and I was asked by German director Christoph Schlingensief to design the poster for his film as well as its titles. Then he told me that he was going to shoot a film nearby and asked if I would like to be a part of it and I said yes. It was a bit risky, but I think it would have happened sooner or later because I?ve always had a passion for cinema.
Q: You?ve worked with Tom Tykwer for four times now. What is it about him or his films that draws you back to work with him?
A: Tom Tykwer has this tendency to push the boundaries of reality and it is because of this that he allows me the opportunity to experiment with fantastical elements which I find very fascinating.
Q: Are there certain genres of film you would like to work in? Since you prefer to push the boundaries of reality, have you ever wanted to work on something that is completely out of the ordinary?
A: Yes, I would like very much to do a horror movie. I am also interested in genres such as science-fiction and children?s films, which are also interesting because you can play around with fantastical elements though still base the film in an ordinary world, a kind of fairy tale world where normality is overtaken by fantasy.
Q: You wrote the screenplay for the film TERROR 2000 in 1992. Why haven?t you written another script since then?
A: I actually didn?t really write the film with the other credited co-writers as it is stated in the credits. What I did was spend an extensive amount of time with (director Christoph) Schlingensief and the writers talking about the story, developing it with them. I suppose they credited me as a co-writer because of all the time I spent there.
Q: But have you considered writing more scripts?
A: Yes. I?ve been developing a script for an animation project with a friend over the last few years but it?s taking its time because I am only free to write at night or on weekends. We?re doing this for our own enjoyment, really. But we?ve come to the point where we?ve already found a producer.
Q: Both you and Grenouille, the lead character of PERFUME, seem to be afflicted with obsessive compulsions, such as the need to be very detailed in your work. Do you relate to this character?
A: I never really felt related to Grenouille because he is so wrong and so lonely. His decisions are so cut off from every kind of human behavior understand to man. I never really felt related to him, or rather I would not like to. I pitied him. He does not understand everything around him except for the smells he senses and either misinterprets everything that people say to him or he can?t deal with it. He is a very tragic character in that way. So my job as a production designer is actually to construct everything he does not understand, to be kind of a prison constructer. Usually your main character is familiar to his or her surroundings, but that is not the case with this character. What I had to do in the case of Grenouille is to present the environments surrounding him like an impenetrable wall, something which he cannot understand.
Q: You seem to be a very understanding production designer in that you compromise your ideas according to what the director prefers, but then giving him more as well in a different direction. But have you ever went over the line and argued with a director, trying to get your creative decisions across?
A: No. I need to work in harmony. I like positive conflicts sometimes, but so long as they?re a bit funny as well. I?m not a very serious person. I once had the privilege of working on the set of a Peter Greenaway film. I was arguing with my fellow prop master when Greenaway came over and said, ?Don?t worry! Don?t argue! It?s only a film.? I liked that very much. If you?ve come to the point of having to have to argue with your director, then you?re already in a bad situation. You should always like your fellow crew members and argue in a positive manner.
Q: You?ve worked on the film HEAVEN, which was based on a script by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Looking at the work of Kieslowski, which was famous for its mise-en-scene, did you feel daunted by the expectations people had for the film especially since you were the production designer?
A: No, I did not. It was perfectly okay. I received the script knowing Tom (Tykwer) would do it and that was it, really. It was a much more daunting task to take on PERFUME because it was so well-known in literary circles with thousands of essays written about it. Everybody in the world knew about the bloody book!
