Oscar Nominee Renate Reinsve on Itonje Søimer Guttormsen’s ‘Butterfly’

Fresh off her Oscar nomination for “Sentimental Value,” Renate Reinsve transforms in “Butterfly” – visually, too. 

“Itonje wanted me to move away from how I’ve looked before. Lily went against normal beauty norms,” she says.

“It made a lot of sense for this character, who had grown up being exploited because of her beauty. She’s trying to remove herself from the male gaze. At the same time, she enjoys provoking reactions, but without attracting anyone’s sexual attention.”

In the movie, shown at Göteborg and IFFR, she performs Lily, a performance artist who reunites together with her sister Diana (Helene Bjørneby) in the Canary Islands after their absent mom’s mysterious demise.

“It’s one of the hardest things we do, and it requires constant effort: trying to get over the hurt and pain caused by somebody’s actions. See a more nuanced picture or innocence of where that came from and be free,” she says. 

“You can tell how much strain these sisters have because of how they grew up, in such an unusual way. The only way to reconcile it is through each other.”

Norwegian actor loved being on set that felt like “a mix between a fictional movie and a documentary.” Mostly because of the non-professional actors who had a real connection to the locations the place they filmed.  

“I love filmmakers who try to challenge the established,” she notes. 

“Itonje’s ideas come from somewhere else. It’s so unconventional and I really admire that. Hopefully, I’ll keep on working and learning from directors with different tastes and different ways of making movies.” 

Itonje Søimer Guttormsen obtained arthouse recognition due to her earlier feature “Gritt” about a polarizing character who truly makes a cameo in “Butterfly.” 

“She’s such an atypical female character. You love her on some level because she’s so hard to like. There’s something sympathetic about that,” admits Reinsve. 

“I definitely knew we were moving into the same landscape with Lily. She has many traits that make it difficult for her to blend in or function as expected, and she has no intention of changing. She’s in a constant fight with the world.” 

Itonje Søimer Guttormsen jokes that she’s drawn to “difficult women.”  “Women who are fighting and finding strategies, perhaps because they were wounded, neglected or abused. But Lily and Gritt are quite different. Grit has projects and ideals, while Lily is quite selfish.” 

“Butterfly,” with its focus on strained household relationships, may be her most accessible work yet. It’s offered by Protagonist Pictures.

“It’s quite relatable, and then it shifts gears and goes off-piste. Maybe it will encourage more audience members to join in, and then I’ll take them on a journey into the wild anyway.”

She provides: “I don’t want to compromise. I want to be bold in my art and dig deep. Still, I would love to reach out to a wider audience. ‘Commercial’ is not the right word, but this is my most inviting film.”

Having Reinsve as the lead actually helped. “In Norway, it’s all very democratic. Everyone knows each other. When we started, she wasn’t yet on that level yet, but she’s a huge star now, so people will notice the film because of her. It’s a gift, but I just knew she was right for the role.”

With her outrageous appears, Lily actually stands out. But there’s a way to the insanity, assures the director. 

“Lily uses clothes to armor herself; that’s how she sets herself apart, also from her sister. She’s telling everyone: ‘I don’t belong here.’ But she’s also a chameleon. She adopts traits from the people she meets. I always saw her as worn-out and definitely not healthy, and of course Renate is amazingly beautiful. She was bold, embracing that and really curious about how to enhance her looks.”

As Guttormsen’s characters reluctantly resolve to observe of their mom’s footsteps, they get to know her by the people who reworked her.

“She’s made an incredible journey, which a lot of Norwegians have also made in Gran Canaria. It’s our most visited island and everyone has a relationship with it. She felt trapped and neglected her own children in order to escape, but then she built a healing retreat center for women. Now, after her death, she’s healing them too.”

With Norway on everybody’s lips because of the Oscar frenzy, Guttormsen hopes it’s going to deliver about concrete modifications. 

“What’s happening with ‘Sentimental Value’ is just amazing. It has never really happened in Norway before. The whole industry is excited and a bit dizzy from it, and I hope it results in more funding. So many people are leaving their jobs as filmmakers,” she says.  

“Sometimes, I see institutes focusing on just one tendency. It can be ‘we need more viewers’ or ‘we need more awards.’ Personally, I want to see a variety of filmmakers. For me, an Oscar is neither within my reach nor on my radar. So here’s to hoping there will be more space for other things as well.” 

And for more Gritt, who would possibly still present up in the future.

“I know I will meet her again. I would like to see how she ages and maybe make a whole film about that. She might not appear in my next, but maybe someone from ‘Butterfly’ will? With my films, I’m creating a whole universe. It’s my world.”