The actors Adrien Brody (49) and Jesse Eisenberg (39) presented their new film at the Berlinale. In “Manodrome,” directed by John Trengove, Eisenberg (“The Social Network”) plays Uber driver and bodybuilder Ralphie, who struggles with money and is overwhelmed with his pregnant girlfriend. When he joins a misogynistic masculinity cult led by a kind of guru (Brody), he increasingly loses touch with reality.
The film, which celebrates its world premiere on Saturday evening in Berlin, is in the running for the awards; it is one of a total of 19 entries in the competition.
Trengove described it as a major contemporary crisis that many men suppressed their feelings. As a result, they did not learn the essential skills for life to deal with feelings, he explained to journalists on Saturday. “We have the situation that we have grown men in the world who have the inner resources of little boys. And they have to hide that somehow and overcompensate with a kind of hyper-aggression and posturing.”
Brody (“The Pianist”) explained that aging offers perspective. When he was younger, he was much more emotional than today. It’s interesting to find ways to be more present. “When you’re present, you also calm down a little bit of all the distractions – internal and external – and find a stance on your own truth.” Brody explained that because he had to constantly adapt to new roles as an actor, he was able to cultivate that.