“A little bit of an experiment about dance, sex and joie de vivre,” is how Luca Guadagnino describes his Directors’ Cuts premiere, Part Deux. “That famous French notion of the beauty and joy of being alive.” A 2010 labour of love shot with actor friends Alba Rohrwacher, Valentina Cervi and Massimo Mezzavilla, and frequent collaborator and I Am Love costume designer Antonella Cannarozzi, the project resulted in a style-blazing trilogy of shorts. “For me it’s a thermometer of the state of my friendships and my personal inspirations,” says Guadagnino, who gets personal about meshing life and art, and a year in film, below. 

On his acclaimed wardrobe references…
I am very much inspired by the concept of contemporaneity. For Part Deux I gave Antonella the inspiration of a Wolfgang Tillmans picture. I said, “Transform his world into our world.” There are great references to the old times–the films we grew up with in the 1970s and 1980s–but I want to try and do it for my own times instead of looking backward. I think it’s important to give a sense of now. I did try the same with the new movie I’m working on, A Bigger Splash. 

On paying homage to his hero…
I am obsessed with a great filmmaker called Jonathan Demme. I always try to pay homage to him in everything I do. In this instance, it’s the use of a piece of music–"Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus–that is the soundtrack from his glory, The Silence of the Lambs. It's what the serial killer Buffalo Bill dances to when he wants to become a woman and puts his crotch between his legs. I always wanted to make an homage to that great scene with someone dancing to that music.

On the films of the year…
Jean Luc Godard’s Adieu au langage (Goodbye to Language) is the movie of the year for me. The capacity of Godard to always truly understand a sense of the times is remarkable. I also liked Gone Girl. I thought, even if it’s painted with a misogynistic view of women, it’s an homage to “femme fatale” noir. And it does so with great originality.

On the actor of the year…
The last movie I saw is Nightcrawler, and I must salute the amazing performance of Jake Gyllenhaal. I think he is one of the finest actors of his generation; he is never banal, always fantastic. I also love Jason Schwartzman. I want to send Jason my love letter. 

Check back tomorrow for a Directors’ Cut from Elaine Constantine.