The news that MUBI had picked up and were exclusively streaming A Tiger In Paradise truly was music to our ears. Not only because it featured one of our favourite artists, but it is so rare these days to see many Nordic documentaries get a release in the UK, if internationally at all.
Alex spoke to both the director and the film’s subject, José González, over the course of a couple of days on Zoom.
First up was the director, Mikel, dialling in from a snowy Gothenburg…
Nordic Watchlist: I wanted to start with how and where your paths crossed with José González?
Mikel Cee Karlsson: I did a couple of music videos back in 2007 with him, back then I was mainly doing music videos. We met during those and then we decided to do a first feature documentary in 2010. That’s when we really started to get to know each other through that project – then I carried on doing some more music videos for him.
The pair created a special bond over their time spent together as they found they were really interested in the same things.
Mikel Cee Karlsson: We had a lot to talk about so it became fun making those music videos because they were always based on something a little deeper than it might seem.
The pair picked up a lot of attention for the music video to Line of Fire by Junip, a band that Jose had formed. Watch the video below to see why (and also check out one of my favourite songs by Jose). It has reached 14 Million views now which speaks volumes!
Mikel Cee Karlsson: It was one of those polarising videos which people really liked or really didn’t like.
Nordic Watchlist: The feature documentary film you made with Jose was called The Extraordinary Life of Jose Gonzalez – is your new film a companion piece to the previous work you had done together?
Mikel Cee Karlsson: In a way, A Tiger In Paradise is a lot deeper, it is a lot closer to him, and it is also a pandemic project.
The director explains that when the pandemic hit he was working on some music videos with Jose and discussing certain ideas together about what lies beneath the music. It was there that the idea came about and was planned out.
Mikel Cee Karlsson: It was a very different process for me, usually with documentaries you feel your way around the subjects with what you are trying to get to. This was the shortest shoot I had ever done. We’d shoot the sequences and then edit them in his house and pretty much 99% of what we shot was actually in the film! So it was very different process than usual.
The start of the film sees the singer open up about his struggles with mental health, it was something that the director saw as a jumping off point into talking about his ideas and beliefs.
Mikel Cee Karlsson: When we started with that we both got into the project but we knew that it wasn’t about mental health as a subject, it became a much bigger and interesting story beyond that.
Without doubt the openness of Jose about his struggles hooks you in from the start and in doing so it adds so many more layers to his music which in turns set you up for the rest of the film.
Nordic Watchlist: Which one of you were the behind the concept of this project?
Mikel Cee Karlsson: It was me – we were in the middle of this pandemic, in this bubble, and we had the time to do it. It was a perfect storm to do something and spend time together with the small team we had.
There was one scene which did come later which I won’t spoil but I was very aware of that dark humour that circles round moments of the film, that may be down to Mikel’s background and being part of Plattform Produktion – a production company formed by director Ruben Ostlund who is notorious for his awkward dark comedy.
Mikel Cee Karlsson: I think you can certainly see that humour. I edited Triangle of Sadness with Ruben and I also edited lots of Fantastic Machine (a new documentary out in 2024). I think the absurdity of human behaviour is something that is very close to my heart and it is something very common in Sweden too. We have common interests and work really well at Plattform Produktions!
The snow continues in Gothenburg as I speak to José González, it is all beautiful until the slush arrives he says, looking out the window beyond our Zoom screen.
I have been a fan of José’s music even since THAT advert that involves bouncing balls and a street in San Francisco, the song used was Crosses. I have seen the singer live on a couple of occasions, most memorably with Zero 7 when he performed another track called Crosses with Sia on guest vocals vocals.
When I watched A Tiger In Paradise I realised how little I knew about the singer and how much a learned from the film.
Nordic Watchlist: How did it feel to open up this window to your universe and share it with the world?
José González: It was an ambivalent feeling, in 2015 I had done an interview with a Swedish magazine called Filter about my mental health issues and I felt like when Mikel approached me he knew I was writing my fourth album and wanted to shoot something with all the songs featured in it.
As an artist what more could you ask for?
José González: We decided though that the film should stand on its two legs and I had stuff in my music that I wanted to share with imagery, and I knew that Mikel could help with that, but to do that we knew that there had to be a bit of background to it.
José was a little reluctant at first about what he was doing and saying – but in the end it turned out to be very therapeutic for him.
José González: I got to go back and revisit some old memories of mine that I had left behind – I have spent almost a decade without any problems so in a way I am looking back at the events of another person – giving almost a different view of myself.
The artist explains how much easier it became to talk about the challenges he had in those days, and also saw a way to talk about the issues we care about; what is reality, what is fiction, how individuals can fall into dogmatic ways of thinking, and connecting the two with the film was the best way of going about that.
This makes the film a wonderful repeat watch to delve deeper into those thoughts and concepts José brings up.
Nordic Watchlist: Did you ever feel pressure on you given you were sharing some personal experiences, whilst writing your fourth album, with a camera on you? How did you handle all of that and what was your approach in coping with it?
José González: So all the scenes are basically Mikel saying; “On Saturday we are going to shot three scenes”. Everything was laid out in detail and Mikel had a full idea of the film which he was able to shape as we went along. In my case I felt awkward in front of the camera, as I always do, at the same time I was pretending to not be whilst I was writing.
The real shaping of the film takes place with the voiceover, so that was how we could have scenes of me just sitting and playing guitar but whatever it was I was saying would shape that whole scene. The most effort was brought in working on the voiceover which both me and Mikel worked on together, sometimes disagreeing with some friendly fights.
Nordic Watchlist: The pair of you had worked together over numerous projects before – what brought you back to working with Mikel again?
José González: We have been working together for so long with videos – then he came up to me and just said: “We should do something now”. To sell me the whole idea of working together he had mentioned Nick Cave’s 20000 Days of Earth.
The problem was that finding the time to actually shoot the film was hard to fit in with both touring and family life keeping José busy, but Mikel’s predetermined set up for the film helped the pair of them shoot the film in a way that didn’t require Mikel to have cameras set up in every room invading José’s personal space.
José González: It felt natural to say yes to him because he knows lots of my ideas beforehand, we had talked so much about the same subjects and read the same books. So the things we wanted to tell the world were in sync.
Michael Shermer’s Heavens on Earth is one particular book that José cites as one their favourite books, which the pair both enjoyed and was in the background of this film. And books play quite an important role in the film, as you will spot José regularly reading throughout and gaining inspiration.
Nordic Watchlist: There is a lot of book reading going on in the film and I am sure many will be asking about which ones are being read – what are some of your top picks?
José González: There was The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity by Tony Ord, another was called What’s Your Dangerous Idea by John Brockman which is a collection of essays by different thinkers. Another about ethics and globalisation.
Nordic Watchlist: There are a lot of heavy subjects flying around here – does it play into your music at all?
José González: Sometimes I add words or sentences that people can look up later, we do something similar in the film too so people can get more insight into the subjects mentioned.
In a way, A Tiger In Paradise feels like you have opened up a book, learning things about José you may never have considered. It comes as no surprise the film has been such a big hit over its festival run during 2023, opening up a new universe to a singer you thought you knew, let alone introducing you to so many new books you might need to get a new shelf.
The film is playful in its philosophies, never taking itself too seriously yet leaving enough to make you think, all the while being serenaded by moments of José playing guitar – most memorably during a lightning storm. It is a unique and artistic experience, exploring the minds of both the people involved.
A Tiger In Paradise will be being streamed exclusively on MUBI from the 8th December – fall in love with José González all over again and prepare to have your mind blown.
