After their collaboration in the 2018 drama "The Favourite," actress Emma Stone and director Yorgos Lanthimos have come together one more time for a short, silent movie filmed in black and white.
Filmed on the Greek island of Tinos in 2020, "Bleat" explores the cycle of life and death centered on a local couple, played by Stone and French actor Damien Bonnard.
Describing the movie as a challenge, Stone told reporters ahead of Friday's Athens premiere: "I just immediately wanted to do it."
In the tradition of the pre-talkie age, it draws heavily on her facial expressions and features traditional Greek island images and a score that will be played by a live orchestra during its three days of screenings in the Greek capital.
Lanthimos – who worked with Stone on "The Favourite", an academy award-nominated black comedy set in the British court of the early 18th century – is no stranger to the unconventional.
He stays true to form in "Bleat," with the likes of an image of the severed head of a goat and Stone being buried in an open grave.
"The way I try to create is to just be true to what my thoughts are at any given moment and not think of serving some kind of purpose," he said.
Describing the "dirt in the face" burial scene as the most challenging part of the shoot, Stone added: "Was it the artiest thing I’ve done? I guess so."
Stone and Lanthimos have also collaborated on the upcoming "Poor Things," described as a Frankenstein offshoot.
"We are very opposite in many facets of our personality so it's a nice balance for me, and I feel very safe with him and challenged by him," said Stone of their cooperation.
"Bleat" was commissioned by the Greek National Opera and a scheme by cultural organization NEON connecting the work of artists and filmmakers with live orchestral music.
Its score, based on works by Johann Sebastian Bach, is by Knut Nystedt and Toshio Hosokawa.
Asked if she feared death, a recurring theme in the film, Stone said: "I am not afraid of death, no, I am afraid of dying, but death itself I don't feel afraid of, strangely.”
