by SARAH ROWLAND

Is it possible to be a gun-toting pacifist?

“In theory, yes,” says Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg. “But the moment things such as greed, pride and power struggles come into the picture, then the experiment falls apart.”

Which is essentially the basis for his latest film, Dear Wendy, an unsettling and unorthodox drama about a group of misfit teens who start a gun-appreciation club called the Dandies. What starts out as a harmless way for these social outcasts to feel empowered soon ends up a bloody mess as their ringleader (Jamie Bell of Billy Elliot) lets his fragile ego interfere with the group’s peace-loving credo. Since the film is set in small-town U.S.A., the message is clear: America needs stricter gun-control laws.

“Even though I’m a born-and-raised socialist, I personally support the right for people to do what they want,” says Vinterberg, who is best known for 1998’s The Celebration. “But it’s not really working out there, is it? So I think it’s time to start controlling it.”

Despite the film’s obvious condemnations, Vinterberg came under fire from some critics when his film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September. The charge? Glorifying guns, of all things.

“I remember the first time I heard someone call it ‘irresponsible,’” he says. “For a moment there, I was thinking, ‘Could that be right?’ But I seriously don’t think so. On the contrary, I think this film could be brought into classrooms as a way to start a debate about firearms.”

Pre-shooting practice

In order to prepare for the film, Vinterberg brought his cast to a shooting range for a little target practice.

“I was frighteningly good at it,” he recalls. “I guess I have a natural talent, or maybe it was beginners’ luck. Either way, it turned out to be very appropriate because at that point I needed to earn their respect.”

Not only did he get Bell and co. to respect him, the experience showed Vinterberg how easy it is (even for card-carrying socialists) to be seduced by the world’s most deadly phallic symbol.

“There is something almost Freudian going on between men, for the most part, and guns,” he admits. “You can’t deny there’s something fascinating about being able to decide on another person’s life—it’s powerful. But there’s also something erotic about it. It’s a combination of many things, I guess.”

However, that doesn’t mean he’s gonna start packing heat anytime soon. “No, I don’t have a reason to have a gun,” says the Copenhagen resident. “I could never kill anyone. And if I did live in a place where I would have a reason to own a gun, I would move.”

Leaving Lars

The script was written by his long-time collaborator Lars von Trier and consequently has a little of that stage-production-caught-on-film feel to it—though not as blatantly as some of von Trier’s features do.

“We’re ultimately different people, so of course we have different ways of doing things,” says Vinterberg. “But making this film together was pretty much painless because it was decided very early on that I was in charge, so there were never any power games going on between us.”

Yet, according to Vinterberg, Dear Wendy marks the end of a decade-long working relationship between the two co-creators of the Danish cinematic movement known simply as Dogme 95.

“I’ve really enjoyed it,” he says of his time with von Trier. “But I just think that it’s natural. I mean, after 10 years it’s time to end it. At this point, we can’t get any closer. We’re practically in bed together now. And we both have big egos, so I think I’d better jump out before things get complicated.”

However, he’s pretty convinced that parting ways professionally shouldn’t affect their friendship: “We’re still going to have offices right next to each other and we’ll still show each other cuts of our films. But doing films together is definitely done.”

The way Vinterberg says this—as though he only just decided moments before he sat down with the Mirror—leaves one to wonder if von Trier even knows yet.

“He will if he reads this.”

Dear Wendy opens at Cinéma du Parc Friday, Feb. 10

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