Tomorrow, October 5, the screens are released "Running blade – 2049". We, like you, are worried about the fate of the new film in the cult universe, so we spoke thoroughly with his director Denis Villene – about replicants, future, special effects, actors and risk.
Trailer of the upcoming premiere.
Film with blurry borders of morality
Denis: I come from a small town in Canada. This means that we did not have many contacts with the outside world, even there were very few newspapers. I lived in the French part of the city and was far from American culture, I knew about it only from thematic magazines, Fenzines. I didn't even know that the first part of the film had bad reviews. I saw the film – and fell in love with it. For me, he was a masterpiece from the very beginning.
– Why did he hook you so much?
Denis: At that time, it was the first film that showed a possible future, and not just fiction in the style of science fiction. It is more like a sociological and anthropological study of our society of a model of the eighties. I realized that all this could well become a reality, our future.
In addition to flying machines and bioenginery, the film observed many thought -out elements that were part of a more complex concept. It turned out mature, interesting in artistic. This is a science fiction, what it should be. The film explores complex issues that can be less interesting in drama, but become very dynamic in science fiction. For example, who we are. In what relations are we in the personality, memory, soul. How we develop. All this very resonated with me teenage.
It was also great to see a film with blurry boundaries of morality. When the viewer does not know which of the characters is good or bad. And it was also the first film with really strong, interesting female roles. I can talk about the first film for hours, he did not leave me for many years. At the university, I even wrote a work on the ratio and development of femininity in the “Running Blade”.
Denis Villeneuve-Franco-Canadian film director. Four -time Laureate Canadian Screen Award, Canadian Higher National Film Premium (Best Direction in Films "Whirlpool" , “Polytechnic "," Fires "and "Enemy" ). His film "Arrival" 2016 received eight nominations for Oscar. After the “Running Blade 2049” will work on the film adaptation of the novel "Son" Norwegian writer Yu Nesbyo and the new film on the "Dun" Frank Herbert.
My own little world
– Such a project is an extremely difficult task. What was your main goal when you agreed to make a film?
Denis : I would say that our main task https://fat-pirate-casino.co.uk/ was to maintain the spirit, poetry of the first film. By spirit I mean the aesthetics of the genre noir. I had to make many difficult decisions, because the sequel is very different from the first part. This is an existential detective story, but it contains elements that endow the plot with a larger volume.
Therefore, I wanted to make sure that I maintain a connection with the spirit of the original, even when we touched a little dangerous topics. I have always been looking for contact points with Roem Batti, Rick Descard, and all the characters from the first film. I hope we did it. We have laid out one hundred percent. Now you decide whether we have done it or not.
– The film remained in the framework of the Nuir genre?
Denis: Certainly. The sequel is slightly more dynamic, but the original was several "combat" scenes. I tried to withstand about the same ratio of action and everything else.
-Will the film return to the past and show the events of the 1930s and 1940s to set the tone for the narrative? That in it from Nuar, in addition to the police and crimes?
Denis: The fact is that I did not feel the need to "dig" this topic. Some films are literally built around references and quotes. Maybe this is arrogant, but I, as a director, try to reduce the number of references and instead looking for inspiration in real life. For example, during the study of a photo language that I spent with Roger, we went outside with cameras and tried to create our own language of images.
Yes, sometimes it seems that everything has already been invented before us. However, it’s easier for me to work when it is possible to maintain the illusion that I am creating a new world. I have few films [with references]. I remember about Sikario they said that it looks like “seven samurai”, because there is a similar rhythm, an action is in a similar way. It always touches me when I see the directors who can say: “My films are based on these four to five key films,” but I'm not like that. On the contrary, I try to work more on my unique style. I create my own little world – as a child who does not know that there is much other around.
– You really think that now the right time for the sequel is a “run on the blade”? After all, the audience has new Star Wars, Westworld, a lot of remakes with a lot of modern special effects ..
Denis: Personally, I think that now the audience has a more mature approach to science fiction. The films of this genre in the 1960s and 1970s were a kind of experiments. The fate of the first film predetermined how it was presented – and what were the expectations of people regarding Harrison Ford. Perhaps we will have easier simply because people are already used to such a movie. But this is true. It is very strange to work on the project when people are rooting for the universe, but at the same time they are afraid that the film will befell the fate of the original.
We are still doomed
– You said you were a teenager when the film was released. And here you are an adult. How difficult or easy it was to decide to remove the sequel?
Denis : It was a long process. The truth is that at the very beginning, when I was offered to shoot, I was very delighted and touched by such confidence. Then he read the script and fell in love with this story; I immediately thought that she was very strong. But then I realized that the preparation of the film would take a lot of time, because I constantly said to myself: “This is a crazy undertaking. It is simply dangerous ".
I'm used to difficulties, but here it was about risks at a completely different level. As soon as I put up with this, my thoughts began to visit me that the chances of success were very small, that we strive for something unattainable, and we do it just as a kind of artistic gesture of love for the first film. I just don't know how you will react to the sequel. I know that – potentially – this is a strong film. But he can at least compare in some way with the first part? I just don't know how people will react to all this.
And as soon as we accepted and this, I had a conversation with Ryan Gosling about our sensations. We decided this: if we shoot this project, then we go to the end: we lay out one hundred percent, not expecting praise. We do this from pure artistic and cinematic respect, because we are still doomed in a certain sense of the word.
This is what the tension looks like when you need to create a continuation of the masterpiece. But as soon as you begin to do work, come to terms and find some calm, a feeling of incredible freedom comes. This is fantasy: uncomplicated cinematic joy. We had many incredible incidents, wonderful days and beautiful characters. This is an amazing universe with which it is pleasant to work, in which it is nice to be located.
– It was your idea – to invite Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling?
Denis : Harrison Ford became part of the team long before me. The rights to the film "Running Blade" for many years have been frozen. When our producers managed to get them, they immediately called Ridley Scott. They said: “We have rights, and we would like to make a continuation what you think?". And he agreed. This idea captured him. They began to create a plot with Hampton Fancher. And as soon as they got something worthy, they immediately turned to Harrison Ford. He is the most important part of the first film, and without Harrison there would have been no project. Therefore, he was here before me – and it was not for me to decide whether he was participating or not. On the contrary, it was he who had to approve me! I met with him, we discussed the project for a long time, whether I was interested in it, and all that. As you can see, everything went well.
I am not invented to invite Ryan either. The idea arose even before I joined the project. In my opinion, this is all Hampton Fancher. He said at the very beginning: "I am writing a script for this film and I think that this character should play Gosling". And honestly, when he gave me the script, he said: “Listen, do what you want, take on the role of whom you want, but we think that Ryan Gosling is an excellent candidate for this role”. What happened next is obvious.
I don’t know what the audience will think after watching the film, but I personally know that the script was written specifically for Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling. My work was to invite Ryan to the project – but I did not have to persuade him. We held a wonderful meeting in New York, discussed our love for the first film for several hours. And when I invited him to join the team, he immediately said "yes".
Gloomy optimism
– What do you think, why in the cinema our future is all the time in jeopardy? Why do we see some kind of post-apocalypse or peace in crimes over and over again?
Denis : I will say this: the fact that we are still alive in 2049 is already good news. I think this has its own optimism, albeit a little gloomy.
For me, good science fiction is a study of the world of today, a kind of expansion of what we see now. Not so interesting that the films are talking about the future. It is exciting that they show about the present.
– Let's talk about replicans. How did you relate to this special group of objects – and whether you retained this attitude while working on the sequel?
Denis : I think one of the delights of the first film is that in the soul they are like small children in adult bodies. They feel that they are not loved, they seem to be abandoned. It touches. In addition, replicants are a greater existential problem and the problem of self -identification. They seem to be a reflection of ourselves. I think we have the same feelings for them, the same empathy. I believe that replicants are a great reflection of our thought process, which is why they are of interest.
– How much do you rely on special effects?
Denis : When you make a movie like ours, you can’t do without special effects. But we tried to shoot more scenes on camera, there are no completely painted fragments in the picture. We relied on traditional scenery, and there are very few frames in the film, where we used chromakes.
We built an apartment, streets, most of each scene. They sought to control the light, atmosphere, the original view of the film when shooting on camera. And only then layers of computer graphics were applied over this. This, of course, is a dream, but we had all the resources for this.
I think this approach helped the actors better fit into the world. I do not like, I can't work on a site of continuous green screens. It exhausts. I admire the directors who can get along with this. I can't. It's like the Jungle Book: it looks great, but I would not survive it. One day of work in continuous chromakey – Hello, depression. In this regard, I am a man of old hardening. And I had a lot to build a lot in the real world! But the film is still pretty VFX. Alas, there are shots that are simply impossible to remove without computer graphics.
– One of the integral parts of the first film is music. But Vangelis did not participate in the creation of a sequel. How did you solve the problem of sound accompaniment?
Denis : Very good question. There were a lot of conversations and disputes about how to approach music: try to recreate what Vangelis did, or create your own new sound. Personally, I believe that the “Runner on the blade” cannot exist without something in the spirit of Vangelis. In moments when the music was supposed to revive the scene, we worked with [yamaha] CS-80, a synthesizer of the same model as Vangelis. No one else needs a Wangelis spirit as much as this.
The famous Greek composer Vangelis, one of the first performers of electronic music and the author of the soundtrack for the original "Running Blade". In the sequel, his work was completed by Johan Johannsson, Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Walfish.
Lay out a hundred
– How did you first meet Ridley Scott and what you discussed?
Denis : We gathered immediately after I agreed to participate in the project. I came to his office in Los Angeles, and there was a very glorious conversation. Scott talked about how the idea of the first film appeared, about the sources of inspiration, about the goals that he pursued during the shooting. In fact, this conversation was more about the first film than about the sequel; Scott, as it were, tried to convey to me the essence, DNA of this story.
After that, he said that he was ready to help at any time, but at the same time he would go aside so that I could make this film on my own. This was a very generous gesture on his part; I felt that every time I needed advice, I could easily get it from Ridley – but at the same time he was always ready to step aside. I really appreciate it.
I will always remember the moment when he shook my hand, looked into my eyes and said: “Listen, if you do your job well, you will get something delightful. If not, a disaster may happen ". And he was right. I thought that on his part is quite fair so to speak. I had to give all the best – otherwise it is just a game with fire.
Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford on the shooting of the "Running Blade".
-He said something about his work with Harrison Ford?
Denis : He said that he loves Harrison very much, but I think it was not easy for them to get along on the site. However, many people warmly love Harrison, deeply respect him as an actor and man. Harrison is very fun to work, he is very smart and has a fantastic sense of humor. He will help you create exactly the character you want – and which you need. “Go to Harrison and work with him” – this is what advice Ridley Scott gave me.
– What is it – to work with Ryan Gosling?
Denis : Only thanks to him I was able to make this film, he has a very strong spirit. He acts like an adult: he never brings his own problems to the site. He is a truly disciplined professional, which means that I always had an open, strong, ready for work at hand. Each time he came to the site prepared. And he grabbed everything right on the fly: he immediately understood what exactly should be done and what would be required for this.
His endless energy really helped me in working on the film. Gosling's enthusiasm was transmitted to other people. He was always deeply interested in bringing something fresh, something special to every stage – and achieved that we respect his vision. We had one goal, and we were in the same team. It is wonderful to realize that you have a strong partner in creativity. From the very beginning, Ryan had a lot of good ideas about the character and how to improve scenes. From my point of view, it's just wonderful. I can safely say that I shot this film together with Ryan Gosling. He is an incredibly strong actor.
Denis: Honestly, I do not perceive work on the project for granted. I don't know how long I last in Hollywood. Every time I expect that someone will still press the button-and throw me out of there, as from an airplane. I knew that the task would be very exhausting, but I really liked working on this film.
I have never had such artistic pleasure: to grow along with resources, to be able to control the environment. It's just fantastic. There are one or two projects that I would like to do, and now I know that I have all the possibilities to bring these plans to life. Therefore, I will touch here for a short time.
"Running blade 2049" is not a masterpiece, and that's why
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