It is his first feature-length film since 2016s Saudi Arabia-set dramaA Hologram for the King starring Tom Hanks.
They are disconnected from one another and their children.
Deadline talked with Tykwer about his new film on the eve of its world premiere in Berlin.
Tom TykwerGetty Images
DEADLINE:What was the starting point for this film?
Our kids are looking at us and saying, What did you do?
We dont feel like we were lazy, but I think objectively, we probably were.
‘The Light‘Frederic Batier, X_Verleih
It stresses me and creeps me out because I was imagining myself differently.
The film isnt really blaming anybody.
Life develops in a way that you’re free to only do so much.
You thought it would be an interesting construction site that we can continue building, but its disastrous.
We will still jump on it, but c’mon lets join forces.
Thats what the movie is saying.
We need to join forces and look at each other with love and empathy.
Each other means all of us, all the people that now live together in communities and societies.
DEADLINE:The film also feels like a love letter to Berlin, its diverse population and complexities.
TYKWER:I hope its a beautiful mess.
The family is a beautiful mess.
The beauty of Berlin is that its a beautiful mess.
Its always been that way.
Its a never-ending story of an unfinished city never finished.
There are construction sites all over the place.
There have been so many crimes committed in architectural terms.
It offers such a variety of experience, and thats why its also so cinematic.
It offers every kind of atmosphere youre looking for in a movie.
The most inspiring part about it is the transitionary energy in the air here.
Theres so much movement in the city, still, that can be translated into a film.
I would say this film is the older, bigger sister of Lola.
What was the thinking behind that.
Is it a throwback to your work onBabylon Berlin?
TYKWER:Maybe, I really enjoyed directing these musical pieces inBabylon Berlin.
We also want to understand and connect with these people who are strange yet familiar.
Its a dialogue in a bar with a glass of whiskey and all that stuff.
I was asking is that really the choice we want to take on this film?
One of the key songs in the film is Bohemian Rhapsody from Queen.
Its always been a song that Ive admired for its audacity, its braveness.
It says, I can be opera.
I wanted the movie to feel a little bit like Bohemian Rhapsody.
TYKWER:Obviously, Ive been talking about the rise of it non-stop in the TV show.
It was completely unpredictable.
We did not expect this to happen.
We started writing in 2013, before Brexit, before Trump, before the European destabilization.
Everything was still seemingly functioning nicely.
I wanted us to be heroes of our story again.
That doesnt mean you have to show political realities in parliaments.
… Im more interested in how these issues play out and are reflected in our daily lives.
Every major subject that is important for political discussions today is mirrored in the film.
But believe me, here were really aware of this new situation in our reshaping parliament.
Its just that the right and the far-right has a lot of back wind at the moment.
It has a momentum.
We have moved so far that we cant go that far back.
Many of the dramatic, big-time leaders that represent this movement are very old white males.
TYKWER: Its crazy.
