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Director  Christian Frosch Waidhofen/Thaya (Lower Austria), 1966  Weiße Lilien

I think it’s interesting to play with outer form. Silent Resident is only peripherally science fiction, more “social fiction.

Christian Frosch about his new film Silent Resident which premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival 07.

Was the Alt Erlaa apartment complex a source of inspiration for the Silent Resident screenplay for a long time?
Christian Frosch: Alt Erlaa was the first thing that occurred to me. But at the same time it was almost too obvious, and I also considered a digital solution. I looked at a few large buildings around Europe and then decided that Alt Erlaa together with some digital post-processing would be ideal. I needed a place with the aura of a self-contained city which almost resembles a city-state. The fact that classically modern ideas -t hat of the machine for living in?played a role in its design interested me. In other words concepts for living life. Architecture always operates with the idea of designing the way life should be lived. It fulfills and creates needs. It’s no coincidence that many architects have totalitarian leanings.

What’s behind the concept of a “machine for living in”?
Christian Frosch: It was originally conceived by Le Corbusier and refers to living in masses in standardized units in a high-rise building. But part of it is also the idea of a “new man” who has new needs and makes a break with the old ones. It’s a place where the lives of modern individuals who live in masses are spent in a rational manner. Many of these buildings are now completely neglected, and in Paris and New York a number have been torn down or are now part of slums. This isn’t the case with Alt Erlaa. Surveys have shown that the residents’ satisfaction with life there is higher than average, though at the same time the suicide rate is too - a nice contradiction.

Silent Resident contains elements of science fiction, a psychothriller, and horror. What is it about genre that fascinates you?
Christian Frosch: I think I’m interested in genre in general, the fact that the audience has certain expectations that are then satisfied, disappointed or guided in a different direction. I think it’s interesting to play with outer form. It’s only peripherally science fiction, more “social fiction,” because the technology shown in the film already exists.

Paranoia, manipulation during therapy and the irrational are themes that already came up in Die totale Therapie. Is there some kind of arc of content between the two films?
Christian Frosch: In my opinion the difference compared to Die totale Therapie is that it has a pure view from the outside which looks at how a group develops. In Silent Resident there’s no difference between inside and outside. However the implosion of systems or sociological phenomena still interests me. In this sense it’s a kind of sequel, though formally and in its tone it plays out on a completely different level. If anything, Silent Resident is the antithesis to Die totale Therapie.