‘A Tiger in Paradise’ proves that anguish about the future is shared even with Swedes

After the documentary The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of José González (2010), Mikel Cee Karlsson retracted José González in a detailed and intimate way in A Tiger in Paradiseavailable on MUBI since Friday, 8.

The union benefited both of them: “I think, in some way, we use each other. For me, I can make films with themes that I like, with Joseph starring. He can talk about what interests him that might not be so obvious with his music,” he said. Karlsson at a press conference with Rolling Stone Brazil.

A Tiger in Paradise accompanies Gonzálezknown for the band Junip, working on his fourth solo studio album, while reflecting on the tricks of his own mind. The musician has experienced psychotic episodes that he does not want to experience again and, therefore, has adopted a strict routine in relation to physical exercise and nutrition.

“It was a therapeutic way of dealing with my past, but also an opportunity to give more depth to everything I’m trying to do”, said the artist about the process of creating the feature film.

At the beginning of the documentary, Joseph reports: “A few years ago, I had my third, and hopefully last, psychotic episode. A mental state where I can’t separate fantasy from reality. Where I see intentions that don’t exist and idealize things that don’t make sense. Conspiratorial thoughts.”

A tiger in paradise

The film’s title is based on the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses. “They have this fantasy that after death there will be this perfect utopia where everything is great, there is no danger, the weather is always good, everyone is friends and tigers are friendly,” he explained. González.

“But what happens if you put that fantasy into reality?” Mikel started from this question to create one of the most striking scenes in A Tiger in Paradise. The images in the film are permeated by the thoughts of Joseph and, every now and then, Karlsson takes the liberty to portray his friend’s ideas with special effects. When representing paradise, however, the director felt comfortable showing a ferocious tiger, which chooses to dine on the leg of one of the characters.

The world imagined by González It is precisely a place where catastrophes are imminent. Being a biochemist, he also thinks a lot about the ways in which humans could be wiped from the Earth, such as through nuclear winter or a synthetic pandemic. The problem is the central theme of “Visions” and rejects religious conformism.

I think we need to try to identify ways to eliminate the tigers or make them not so hungry, so they don’t eat our legs, in a metaphorical sense. And to do that, we have to dismantle ideologies, because they often come as a package and people think that package needs to be a certain way. My opinion is that you can always deconstruct the package and see which parts are important, unnecessary, good, bad, neutral… Paradise without the tiger is fine with me.

What’s so bad about Sweden?

Born in Sweden, José González He is the son of Argentine immigrants. The annual Human Development Index report published this year, for 2022, shows that Sweden is among the countries with the highest level of development.

Like this Pelle Almqvist defended in an interview with Rolling Stone BrazilHowever, the Swedes’ quality of life is not capable of draining certain feelings. Sonically so far from The Hives, González constantly deal with anguish about the future.

If you ask a random Swede if he thinks he lives in the best place on the planet, he will say no and point out countless problems. We are born problem hunters. – José González

Furthermore, religions can pose a challenge. Not surprisingly, countries like Norway and Sweden are the birthplaces of black metal, a musical genre that includes compositions critical of Christianity, for example.

I think it’s an interesting question, especially when you start, as we do, probably talking about religions as a problematic form, or ideologies. I think there are ways of thinking that are obviously more important when you live in extreme poverty. It’s as if you need to believe in a higher power to survive one day. And if you live in Norway, with its beautiful landscapes, maybe you don’t need them, because there is water, there is food, there are many other things. It’s an interesting question. But I think it’s also obvious that people who achieve a certain level of prosperity may feel alone in the universe anyway. So, I think we have a common humanity, regardless of where we live. And I think that’s a more valuable lesson than trying to compare countries. – José González

Mikel he also highlighted that there are many mental health problems in Sweden, like those who say that money can’t buy happiness. It may be difficult to imagine when you live in a country as unequal as Brazil, but there are still obstacles that are not linked to money. Finding the meaning of your own life and surviving day after day could be some of them, as the filmmaker found.

I think people are trying to find meaning in their lives. So I think prosperity is one thing, but there are many layers to being a human being. It’s very difficult to compare. In a way, if you have something like a goal that is more than just trying to survive every day, that’s kind of a problem. But if this problem is resolved, you will have other problems that you will face. So I think it’s also related to what we’ve been talking about, the utopian visions. It’s really hard to find that utopian vision. If there is a utopia, I fear we will likely encounter new problems. – Mikel Cee Karlsson