Opinions differ about his professorial MeToo drama with Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield: a conversation with the Italian film director Luca Guadagnino about the lost interpretive power of the old intellectual elite.

The Italian director Luca Guadagnino is considered one of the most sensitive storytellers in contemporary cinema. His films – from “I Am Love” to “Call Me by Your Name” to most recently “Queer” – are characterized by an intense sensuality and a rare balance between intellect and emotion. In his new film "After the Hunt", which was screened out of competition in Venice this year, the 54-year-old continues this line: The drama is about truth and perception, as a student accuses a lecturer friend of sexual violence and her professor has to take a stand. The work received particular attention thanks to Guadagnino's cast, especially leading actress Julia Roberts.

WELT: Julia Roberts is the perfect protagonist in this drama, not only as the center of an elite university clique, but also as a magnet for global media attention. What exactly made her the ideal main character for you?

Luca Guadagnino: The character of Alma stood out in the script in such a powerful, persistent way that reminded me of the great characters of classic cinema, which I love very much. Characters like Joan Crawford, Bette Davis or Faye Dunaway might have played. For me, this role immediately exuded iconicity. And Julia is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood - not only today, but also in the entire history of Hollywood. I grew up with the canon of their films and their almost magical appeal. When I had the opportunity to meet her and talk about this project, I immediately felt very fortunate. Then it turned out that we had very similar thoughts about Nora Garrett's script, and that immediately led to deep, complex conversations.

WELT: Her character Alma, a philosophy professor at Yale, has German roots. Why?

Guadagnino: We found an origin from the land of Adorno significant. It should be clear that she comes spiritually from this lineage. It also implies that the character is also a little uprooted, a little out of place. She belongs and then she doesn't. I find that to be something very American.

WELT: Your film begins in Alma's house, on an evening with intellectuals happily debating. Are you portraying an ideal with this elitist bubble? Your ideal? Guadagnino: No. When I made “I Am Love,” many people believed that I was part of the noble Milanese industrial bourgeoisie myself, or that I was at least in love with that world and wanted to glorify it. But it is simply one’s privilege directora director, to create worlds. One of the greatest joys of my job is bringing people and worlds to life.

WELT: That sounds godlike. However, among the many worlds you create, is there a favorite one?

Guadagnino: It may seem a bit shameless: but the world I prefer to all others is the world of my home. Where I stand in the kitchen and cook for my friends and my partner, and where I otherwise spend my time reading books. This is my world.

WELT: Friendships and elective relationships are extremely important to you. You usually work with acquaintances in order, as you said, to “avoid conflicts on set”...

Guadagnino: Conflicts only arise when there is a lack of understanding and listening. It's true, I've been working with some people for three decades. With these confidants, I have already explored the possibilities that cinema gives you so intensively that it allows us to avoid both incomprehension and misunderstanding. As we strive for greatness together, we are much more likely to achieve ambitious goals.

WELT: Nevertheless, you had a lot of new faces here, including Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield. Was it now more confrontational?

Guadagnino: I think I let my intuition – and desire – guide me when it comes to the people I want to work with. Desire is a force that cannot be controlled and that guides intuition. I hope that these people's intuition will in turn suggest to them that I am the right person for them. I see someone like Andrew Garfield on the screen in “Of Lions and Lambs,” directed by the great Robert Redford, and in that moment I think: I really want to get to know this actor.

WELT: “After The Hunt” deals with a possible sexual assault – and violent conflicts, alleged manipulation and divergent opinions. They call them “subjective perceptions.” Is this allowed under MeToo? Is playing with truths just an intellectual exercise for you?

Guadagnino: Hopefully not – I sincerely hope never to do exclusively intellectual exercises! I want to create structures, shape stories, and give impulses using the means of cinema. For me, After the Hunt is a moral thriller, a labyrinth of secrets and truths revealed. In this dynamic, the audience must decide for themselves what they believe to be the truth.

WELT: Let's take the thought further: If truth is replaced by subjective perceptions, where is our society heading? Into a “fake democracy”?

Guadagnino: Haha! Of course everything is more complex. We live in a time in which an opinion is sold to the majority as truth via social media. The 20th century is over, and with it the idea that the moral compass is shaped by intellectuals. Today every opinion is valid, even if it is controlled by the invisible hand and a consensus of the majority. This applies to democracies and non-democracies.

WELT: Do you think social media is distorting our sense of reality?

Guadagnino: Our identities are so strongly shaped by the ubiquity of the digital that we don't notice that we are just “acting” instead of acting. With artificial intelligence it becomes even more explosive: we see a video and no longer know whether it is real or AI. The boundaries between truth and untruth are becoming increasingly blurred and confusing. We are still questioning. But maybe not tomorrow.

WELT: Does the idea that we might give up questioning scare you?

Guadagnino: I very much hope that we continue to - or even more so - seek conversation. That we revive the exchange. That people talk without feeling censored. Only then does truth remain a process for everyone.

“After the Hunt” will be released in German cinemas on October 16, 2025.