Nicolas Winding Refn's Her Private Hell Blends Cinema and Video Art in Italian Theatres

Nicolas Winding Refn's new film Her Private Hell opens in Italian cinemas on 1 October, distributed by MUBI. The film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, stars Sophie Thatcher as a young actress and Charles Melton as an American soldier whose fates intertwine in a neon-lit futuristic universe where memory, reality and survival blur after a mysterious fog releases an elusive darkness. In an interview with Artribune, Refn said part of the film could be considered an art installation while another part is popular, popcorn cinema, and that he enjoys works that resist definition. He described colour as a narrative tool, noting that he is colour-blind and can only perceive very intense colours, and compared cinema to poetry, the subconscious and imagination rather than mere consumption. Refn said his childhood experience of television zapping, constantly switching between worlds and connecting seemingly unrelated images, shaped the film, and that like fairy tales it offers a simple story open to interpretation, requiring viewers to use their emotions to create meaning. He added that he does not consciously analyse his work or his relationship with violence, comparing the process to moulding clay and following instinct. The film marks Refn's return to the big screen and a new chapter in his visual and narrative cinematic research.