Premiered in Luxembourg on Tuesday 11 March, “Poison” marks Désirée Nosbusch’s debut as a feature film director. Based on the play “Gif” by Lot Vekemans, the film stars Tim Roth and Trine Dyrholm in an emotional huis clos, where a couple meet for the first time after ten years apart.

Ten years after a tragedy, Edith (Trine Dyrholm) and Lucas (Tim Roth) meet again in a cemetery. The words are hesitant, the silences heavy. “We can’t mourn together,” confides Nosbusch. “The one who stands still is no better than the one who runs away. They’re just two different ways of dealing with loss.” Between confrontation and remembrance, “Poison” explores this bond that persists despite the years, despite everything.

From the very first minutes, “Poison” imposes its rhythm. “Of course it’s slow, but it’s slow on purpose,” says Nosbusch. “After my first edit, we talked a lot about speeding up the beginning, because it takes a while for the characters to come face to face. But I decided to stick with it.”

She explains this choice by the experience she wants to offer the viewer. “Today, we come running to the cinema. We wonder where our keys are, where our drink is, where we parked the car. Then the film starts and we’re not quite there yet. With ‘Poison,’ you have to be willing to slow down, sit down, breathe and open yourself up to the story.”

A faithful adaptation, but rethought for the cinema

Nosbusch’s attachment to “Poison” goes back more than a decade. “I discovered the play 13 or 14 years ago, when I was offered the chance to perform it at the theatre here in Luxembourg. I remember saying to myself: ‘My God, I’ve rarely read a modern play so deeply moving, so perfectly orchestrated, like a symphony.’ Every word was exactly in its place. Nothing was missing, nothing was too much.”

She felt the need to bring this work to the screen. “When I studied directing at UCLA, Mel Brooks always told us: ‘If a story sticks to you like a honey pot and you can’t get rid of it, then that’s the one to tell.’ That’s what happened with ‘Poison.’ I couldn’t get it out of my head.”

Yet adapting a play for the screen is a challenge. “You can’t simply transpose theatre to film. You have to open it up, adapt it, while remaining faithful to its essence. I made sure to respect what had touched me in the first place.”

Some lines have remained intact, like Edith’s first sentence when she sees Lucas again after ten years. “They’ve been through a tragedy. They haven’t seen each other since. And the first thing she says to him is, ‘Oh. You’re already here.’ I thought that was brilliant, and we never thought to change it.”

The choice of Vianden cemetery

The main part of the film takes place in a cemetery. For the director, this setting had to include a key element: water. Water is essential to this story. It symbolises passage, the fact that something has to go in order for something to come back.

Finding the ideal location wasn’t easy. “I visited all the cemeteries in Luxembourg and couldn’t find what I wanted. I even wondered whether we shouldn’t go and shoot in the Netherlands, where there’s more water. Then, one evening, my head set designer, who was in Hamburg, called me up and said: ‘I’ve found the perfect cemetery on Google Earth.’ I was convinced she had the wrong country. But she said: ‘No, it’s in Luxembourg, in Vianden.’”

On discovering the location the next day, the director knew immediately that she had found the perfect setting. “Vianden is where, as children, we went on our first excursion with the school, where we took the cable car up to the castle. I had forgotten about this place, but it was exactly as I had imagined it.”

Filming subject to the vagaries of the weather

Filming on location in the middle of winter posed a number of difficulties. “We shot at the end of January and in February. Some days we had four seasons in one day.”

One morning, the crew discovered a set completely covered in snow, whereas the previous day the ground had been clear. “We had to use blowtorches to melt the snow on the graves, as we had to ensure the continuity of the scenes.”

Sometimes, nature worked in the film’s favour. “I hoped that, when the characters started to open up to each other, the light would appear. And it did. We were on the hill and suddenly the sun broke through.”

A magnetic acting duo

The film’s success rests largely on the chemistry between Tim Roth and Trine Dyrholm. From the outset, Nosbusch knew who she wanted to play Edith. “I was looking for a strong woman who wouldn’t be a victim. Even though she’s locked up in her pain, she doesn’t inspire pity. Trine is that woman.”

The aim was to convey the complexity of the bond between Edith and Lucas. “I didn’t want the audience to think, ‘Poor woman, he’s left her for a younger woman, he’s going to have a child when she can’t have one any more.’ I wanted us to be on his side, then hers, then hers again. Hot, cold, hot, cold.”

Their first meeting on set is a key moment. “They had never seen each other before filming. But as soon as they walked into the room where we were going to meet, I looked at my cinematographer and we said, ‘We’ve got a film.’”

An experience as a director that she wants to repeat

An actress herself, Nosbusch used her experience to direct her actors. “I know what an actor needs to feel secure and be able to lay their soul on the table. My role was to create a space where they could try everything without fear.”

The experience convinced her to continue down this path. “I have a new project in development. A story set in Northern Ireland, about forgiveness and the impact of the past on future generations.”

Switching to the other side of the camera seems like a no-brainer for her. “We are all storytellers. Sometimes we tell stories in front of the camera. Sometimes we tell them behind the camera.”

This article was originally published in .