BAFTA-nominated director Anton Corbijn may just be one of the most interesting filmmakers working today. Aside from directing Control, which tells the short life story of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, Corbijn also helms the occasional Depeche Mode music video and some other music videos for bands like Coldplay, U2, and Arcade Fire. While at Sundance Film Festival to promote his latest film—and his very first feature documentary—Squaring The Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis), Corbijn talked to Collider about present and future projects.
During the interview, Corbijn revealed to our own Editor-in-Chief Steve Weintraub that he’s already working on a brand-new feature film, and it’s called Switzerland. In Corbijn’s own words, Switzerland is "A story about Patricia Highsmith, who was the writer of The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train for [Alfred] Hitchcock, and stuff like that.” Even though it sounds like a biopic, the director stressed that it will be a fictional story with biographical elements.
We Won't Have to Wait Too Long for Switzerland
Corbijn also revealed that Switzerland is coming sooner rather than later: He and his crew hope to start filming this October or November in Europe, so it’s safe to say they’ll be in the movie title’s location—Highsmith died in Switzerland in 1994 at 74 years old. In any case, this is a pretty big development for Corbijn, considering that he’s known for spacing out his feature film projects. His last movie, Life, came out in 2015. And fans of his work know he’s got a great hand for telling real-life stories, so Switzerland will definitely be a must-watch.
Who is Patricia Highsmith?
Patricia Highsmith penned over 20 novels across her writing career, most of them psychological thrillers, and five of them were dedicated to the character Tom Ripley, a serial killer who always managed to get away with his crimes. The character was brought to cinema screens several times, and the most famous adaptation was the one led by Matt Damon in 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley. Highsmith’s body of work has inspired several movie adaptations that include 2015’s Carol, The Two Faces of January, The Cry of the Owl, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train.
Corbijn’s most recent film Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) had an early premiere at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival and is now featured in the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The documentary tells the story of two brilliant minds who came up with two of the most famous album covers of all time: Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell created the cover for Pink Floyd’s legendary albums The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. The duo created the covers through their design studio Hipgnosis, and the film showcases how they managed to exercise their creativity to its full extent after establishing themselves as a driving force in the music industry.
You can watch Anton Corbijn talk about Switzerland in the player above, and look for our full interview with him soon.
Special thanks to our 2023 partners at Sundance including presenting partner Saratoga Spring Water and supporting partners Marbl Toronto, EMFACE, Sommsation, Hendrick’s Gin, Stella Artois, mou, and the all-electric vehicle, Fisker Ocean.