(Image from CWE, J Lundberg, 2011)

We publish today a short excerpt from an interview with Swedish writer and artist John Lundberg about his latest work: the feature film “Cooking With Erysichthon” (part of “The Erysichthon Project”) produced by LWBP.

There seems to have been certain problems… “Cooking With Erysichthon” (CWE) was supposed to have come out in 2010. Can you tell us about this?

There are certain… aspects… of the production – the postponing of the release date being the most obvious – that I have been advised not to discuss publicly at this time. These things will be revealed, however, at a later date.

What about the rumours that you don’t really exist?

The rumours that I am a fictional character, although appealing – especially to me – are false. Well… depending on your definition of “fiction”, I guess one should add.

What can you tell us about the process of making your first feature length film?

The process has been interesting. The general direction of the movie was quite finalized from the start – the only significant addition to the structure of the narrative, after the initial proposal, has been the inclusion of certain material inspired by the works of A. Crowley. That is, much of the material (everything from specific images to whole sequences, and much of the music) included in the finished film was invented during the three year long production, but these additions, although by no means mere embellishments, did not affect the general structure of the piece.

Do you consider CWE to be an experimental film?

I have discussed it previously as a “decentred” film, not a generally accepted category, but useful nonetheless. To give you some context I would include, for instance, Takeshis’ (2005), Inland Empire (2006) and Hotel Monterey (1972) in this category. I don’t think the term “experimental” when applied to any of the arts is really helpful.

What about the rumoured sequel?

It’s uncertain at this time if it will happen. We are talking about it – you guys here at LWBP seem very keen on it. The basic ideas for the sequel exists – nothing very elaborate yet, some drawings, and a very short plot outline – but I’m not sure how much more time I want to devote to this project. It’s been three years with the movie, and the original text, and I’m still working on “Walking With Erysichthon” [the graphic novel – red. ], and “Breakfast With Erysichthon” [a short prequel to CWE – red. ]. I might wait a while. Do some other work in-between. I’m not sure.