“Mother’s baby”, interview with actor Claes Bang

February 22, 2025

Claes Bang: “I chose this film bacuse it talks about a taboo, about the alienation you can feel when you become a parent”

“Mother’s baby”, interview with actor Claes Bang Chiara Nicoletti

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Danish actor Claes Bang is at the 75th Berlinale in the cast of the competition film by Johanna Moder: “Mother’s Baby“.

The actor who gained international recognition for his leading roles in Ruben Östlund‘s film “The Square“ and Robert Eggers‘ film “The Northmann“, plays Dr. Villefort, a gynecologist specialized in couples with fertility issues.

A man who keeps his promises

As the film is deliberately narrated as a psychological thriller, while entering the world of taboos surrounding and what happens when having a child, Bang is either a representation of a certain kind of man, patronizing and the classical villain.

The actor reflects on these two layers the film plays with and remarks that he chose this film project because of its depiction of the alienation one can feel when becoming a parent.

Plot

40-year-old Julia, a successful conductor, and her partner Georg are longing for a child when Dr. Vilfort offers them hope. Julia becomes pregnant after successful treatment at the fertility doctor’s clinic.
The birth does not go as planned and the baby is immediately taken away, leaving Julia in the dark about what has happened. When finally reunited with the child, Julia feels strangely distant. She begins to doubt whether it is really her child.

Written by: Chiara Nicoletti

Guest

Johanna Moder