- 6 weeks ago
Brady Corbet ('The Brutalist'), Coralie Fargeat ('The Substance'), Denis Villeneuve ('Dune: Part Two'), Edward Berger ('Conclave'), RaMell Ross ('Nickel Boys') and Ridley Scott ('Gladiator II') join The Hollywood Reporter for our Director Roundtable.
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00:00I want to know what people would you all do with takes like how many takes are you you all like
00:04I'll do 30 takes if that's what it takes or are you
00:08Like do you just put it in the hands of what really what one yeah, yeah, I mean it's got four cameras
00:30Welcome to the Hollywood Reporter Directors Roundtable we have a phenomenal group of filmmakers here with us today
00:47So let's dive in Ridley when you have one of those days where you have the 12 cameras and the 500 extras and you're in the Coliseum
00:56How do you let everybody know that you've begun?
00:58Simple as that
01:00At BBC I did live drama where you have six cameras
01:05And they're all joined by a wire and you're doing a lot. You're on the air live with 13 million people
01:11Watching that was a big audience. There's a show called Zed Cars and that's what I learned about the six multi-camera
01:17And the problem is that point BBC would pay me as a director
01:2275 pounds a week after tax was a little bit more than your breakfast this morning
01:28And then one day somebody said to me you want to do a commercial and I caught the wave incoming news thing called
01:35commercial advertising and my first day of shooting I
01:39I escaped from BBC and snuck out and they gave me 200 pounds at the end of the day so I knew there was something seriously wrong
01:46So I left and did advertising for the next 20 years
01:49Hmm well talking about beginnings does anybody have like a day one ritual a thing that you do when you're starting out to set the mood have a panic attack yeah
01:58I tried to but I I tested positive for COVID on day one
02:03Yeah, oh geez what did you do?
02:05I want everyone to feel sorry for me
02:08Everyone please
02:10I directed from a tent or from a trailer. Yeah, but we were fine. I just wanted to yeah cut the ice with some depressing
02:18Worst-case scenario maybe for for production. I mean anybody else things that you do on day one to help you kind of settle in
02:25I I I I I love to it's a old it's embarrassing thing but it's I love to listen to François Truffaut music of
02:36La Nuit Américaine
02:38Before the my first it's an old ritual. Are you serious?
02:41Yeah. That's really sweet
02:42Like in your... No, no, no, no, no, but it's it's it's like it's it's I know you will laugh at me Ridley. I'm ambers
02:47But it's it's something that it's like since it's one of my when I was film student and it's just the
02:53The fire of cinema. I love I love that song
02:57Are you on headphones or is it like playing for the whole?
02:59No, no, no, no, no for the crew just for me. No, just for you
03:02Just for you. I don't know that is it fast-paced but like what's the what's the rhythm? What's the vibe of it?
03:07I don't know. It's just like a kind of little uh, uh, melody that
03:09Hum it go on hum it
03:11Huh? Hum it sing it now go on
03:14I will not dare to do that sir Ridley Scott
03:20Let's cut that out. Okay. There will be some montage
03:25Coralie, what about you? Do you have a thing that you like to do when you begin?
03:28Uh, yeah, I always have a little uh, thank you
03:34And good wishes for myself
03:37Before I start shooting and I like also to have a little word for
03:43Everyone, uh, like starting the journey and because I know it's going to be a tough one usually so
03:49Yeah, I like to gather the crew and just have a little word to wish everyone a good shooting
03:54I feel like there's this idea that a director is always confident and in control
03:59One of the things edward that I like about your movie is it's about doubt
04:02Your lead character, uh, is a is a cardinal who's going through sort of doubt. I think
04:08Directors like uh, religious leaders we assume have it all figured out
04:13Is there room for doubt when you're a director? Are you allowed to have doubt?
04:17Privately
04:18Privately, yeah
04:19Don't discuss that you're and if you show
04:21Any form of doubt with an actor you'll eat you alive. You can't let that happen
04:25You've got to you've got to not let them get in
04:28Are there any actors in here? I hope not
04:30Don't get
04:30Brady
04:31Formally
04:32Do you agree?
04:33If the director looks a little anxious dude, does that bother you?
04:36Um, I mean, you know, it's hard for me to say
04:39I did it at such a young age and I was working with the extraordinary people
04:44I was working with Michael Hanukkah and Lars von Trier
04:47And I think that people always ask me, you know, how that informed my own process and and my own films
04:54And I think that it just was very demystifying for me because I saw a lot of people that I admired very much that
05:01We're having, you know, real, you know
05:03Crises that they were dealing with and and
05:06And so I think that when I started to face a lot of my own
05:10That um that I didn't worry about it too much
05:12I I you know, I don't I don't I don't do the job performatively. I don't think that much about how people perceive me
05:19I'm mostly just trying to you know get it done, but you have to turn up fully prepped here
05:25Absolutely
05:27If you don't then you're going to be truly anxious
05:30Because the actor will spot it in a heartbeat, but you can have doubt and faith, you know
05:37Yeah, I mean, it's always good to be on thin ice because then it means you're paying attention
05:41There's nothing worse than getting a perfect script and everyone relaxes and then you put it together and somehow it's dull
05:48But do you get a script which needs a bit of work and everyone's paying attention?
05:52I wouldn't try this by the way
05:54But if this the week of the script just means the better the film but everyone's really paying attention
05:59You can relax everyone thinking you're having a great time. You're doing a great job. You look at the film. It's boring. Mm-hmm
06:05Right? Yeah
06:07If I have doubt I I I I can give them
06:11allow me to the space
06:14to
06:15Say to everybody back off and just space to think and not freaked out about that
06:21Do you shout?
06:23Uh, very rarely
06:23Very rarely
06:25Rarely
06:26I don't know
06:28No, no, no, but if if I swear as a french canadian they know that they are
06:31No, I don't I'm not you. Do you shout? Yeah, do you shout?
06:42That said all of this
06:44It gets easier the older you get right now. I don't care about anything. I don't worry about anything
06:49I'm fully fully relaxed the film goes like lightning
06:52But you go back to 30 years ago. Yeah, I would walk in the morning be very worried
06:56You've got prepared the hell out of it
06:58I'll still be concerned about because I learned about talking to actors last is the last thing I learned
07:04Because I didn't go to drama school. I didn't go to film school. You were from art
07:08I was a designer. Yeah, and one day at BBC's they said do you want to do a director's course? I said yes
07:16Three weeks later. I was given strips. See there. Just don't fuck it up. That was it on life
07:21So I was terrified
07:22Edward since it was your movie that provoked this question. Where did you come down on the issue of doubt and direct?
07:27I think it's absolutely fine. It's part of it
07:30Yes, I mean you need to be prepared you need I need to I mean I can have it because I'm completely prepared
07:36I know theoretically I have a total plan and I'm
07:40Theoretically know what I'm doing then everything changes because actors come in and
07:46You know other weather comes in and all these elements and then you adapt to it and and and
07:52You know see something better and then you go for it and sometimes you don't know the answer right away
07:57And then like Denise says and it's about taking space and I think I've I've learned that people really respect that
08:03They say oh great. He has a weakness, you know, like and that's fine, you know, like it's that's just let's give him space
08:09Let's go away for five minutes and or half an hour
08:12And then we are in trouble
08:15Total trouble no, no
08:18So I think I I love that. Yeah, I think I feel like people want to help you out in a way
08:24I mean, I saw I saw this interview with Tom Hanks once where he said like Steven Spielberg has this thing
08:29He comes in the morning said listen guys. You've got to help me like I don't know like how to do this
08:33Of course. He knows how to do it, you know, but somehow but like, you know
08:38Bring everyone in make everyone feel they can do their best work
08:42Coralie
08:43Why did you decide horror was the genre that you were going to tell this story and
08:46And to me I wouldn't call it horror
08:50I would call it more of genre film which is to me very wide in the scope going from sci-fi to you know action to
08:59Everything that is not grounded into a reality
09:02Um, and basically that's how I grew up loving films everything that were allowed me to escape real life
09:10Which I hated which I felt totally and adapted to and very
09:15bored into so
09:18Especially for that film and the previous one that's really where I found my freedom and where I felt powerful and where I felt fully
09:26Capable to express myself in in a way that there are where there are no boundaries
09:33Also, where I love to go very much into the excess and kind of touch my part of
09:39Yeah, craziness and and you know things that I have to handle in my real everyday life
09:46And especially for the theme of the movie it felt totally
09:49Relevant uh for it to be as excessive as what I wanted to say and make the audience feel that excess and feel that
09:59You know craziness
10:01Um, so that's
10:03It's even not a question where that I choose. It's just what I do and that's the film I love and
10:10I think I'm more
10:12To the theme that are relevant to express into that genre
10:16It's the kind of the other way around did you ever see a film?
10:19What John Frankenheimer I think did it called seconds. Yeah
10:23And
10:24You should it reminds me of that because it's really about a man who's obsessed with staying young
10:30And the demi story in a bottom line is obsessed with staying young correct. Yeah, absolutely
10:36Does anybody relate to what Corley's saying about genre and about that being a way that they can access
10:42stories or ideas? I do I think
10:45Have you anyone made a documentary before?
10:47Yeah, no
10:48No, well, there's something about the documentary genre that
10:52It predisposes you to truth like when you go to watch a doc
10:56They're like i'm encountering truth
10:58And that's not something that like people experience even when they're walking down the street
11:01They're not like that's true that dog's true that birds true
11:04And so it's interesting what was interesting in the first film I made hill county this morning this evening
11:09To situate a certain type of like black aesthetics at certain type of like open poetic image in this space of truth
11:16Because if someone approaches it with that then when they see this image, that's like strategically ambiguous
11:21You don't really know what's happening
11:22You're forced to sort of complete the image with their imagination
11:24Then you go out into the world and see the world with that same
11:28Hopefully ambiguity and you're sort of less absolutely judging people for lack of a better way to say it
11:33So if anyone hasn't had the opportunity to see ramels movie nickel boys
11:37It's shot from the point of view of the characters like to the point where the actors are actually wearing cameras. Is that right?
11:42Yeah, they're they wear the cameras. It's not the most. I mean, maybe 10% of the times
11:46Okay, but they are essentially camera operators
11:49There's like snory cam rigs, right? Like yeah, there's a snory cam rig for the sequence in the bar
11:55Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it's I guess it's almost all of David scenes
11:58But the majority like the the primary idea is like how do you make the camera an organ?
12:02Bring it into your body and kind of shoot from a personal poetics
12:06So the first film I made in the south is like I said kind of like black poetics like very atmospheric
12:12And I wondered like when making this film
12:14What if the two main characters had their own cameras to make their own hell counties their own versions of first-person films?
12:20Um, and that seems to be really interesting specifically
12:23In a case in which it's based on a true story of the dozer school for boys
12:27In which boys were just straight murdered in north florida it closed in 2011 started to exhume bodies in 2013
12:36Yeah, well like what an interesting idea to give life
12:39Um to those who lost it by allowing us to you know vicariously see from their perspective
12:45What was that like for your actors to be I mean?
12:47I think of actors actors know how to work with cameras when they're
12:52Experiencing them in a certain way. It feels like that would be very different to have them
12:56It's you're shooting what they're looking at
12:58Yeah, I think a lot of its hindsight because you know doing things like this, you know
13:01We articulate our films I believe to ourselves in our own ways
13:05And then when we're asked tons and tons of questions, you're forced to excavate it and like really you're like, why did I do that?
13:10Yeah
13:11Well, not never why but like but how new ways of expressing it
13:14Yeah, to be more meaningful to other people because we know why it's meaningful to us
13:18But to have some to exchange the meaning to another person like that communication language needs to be specific
13:23You can't just be like I wanted to make this film, you know
13:26Um, so in the process of all of us sort of excavating why we were feeling the things we were feeling when we were filming
13:33Um, one thing the actor said two things and I'll be short one was that like the exchange from
13:40ingenue to the audience
13:42Through the camera lens and through the the film medium was something that
13:46Explored a version of like black love
13:49That she hadn't quite seen yet in cinema because traditionally when you're watching two characters
13:55It's between them and of course you get close with the camera. They're looking at each other
13:58But the way in which some could argue a lot of
14:03Discipline has been expressed in in in black child in black families in cinema is through discipline
14:08It's like, you know, you guys come in don't stay out late like I love you be safe
14:12But to see the gaze from the grandmother to the boy
14:16Is something that gives you access to something that's fundamentally human
14:20But they had a issue obviously because the camera is not something that people traditionally feel comfortable with
14:25And so they had to sort of convert the loneliness they felt by not being able to like really be tactile with people
14:31To the loneliness of the characters
14:33Which then gave them a way to really embody what they what they needed to so they say
14:39Yeah, it's like the audience gets to be hugged by ingenue
14:42That's kind of a cool a cool sensation
14:44Yeah, I was just thinking about like when day players would come in to work with you because one thing with the
14:49Principal actors who come in and like, you know, they've they it becomes a sense memory thing
14:55Yeah, where they start to get the hang of it
14:57Yeah, but I was thinking that it must have been incredibly
15:00Challenging to show every single person in the movie the ropes like you are interfacing with the camera in a way that generally you're specifically told not to
15:08Yeah, but I feel like everyone here would have so much fun doing it because then I'm like treat the camera like a character
15:14I want you to look at I want you to glance at the camera and then they're just playing a different game
15:19You know, they're actually more free to be on the playground than to be in a place in which the choreography
15:26Is a little bit more traditional I guess
15:28How much trial and error did you have of this to get this this sounds incredibly how long did you shoot for?
15:32Um, we had 33 days, but then we lost four to covid so it got squished down
15:39But did you have any preamble to take each actors through what they're gonna do before they hit the floor?
15:45We didn't have time to rehearse it. Yeah, no
15:48Good for you. Yeah, it's an incredibly short movie
15:51Um, it's so it I mean from the you said it earlier from the first one frame on you know
15:57You're in the hand of a great filmmaker, you know, you're like you watching on it. Oh
16:01You know, and it's poetry, you know, the whole thing is poetry
16:04It doesn't matter if a shot makes sense or it's too long like you just immediately like the shot with the with the
16:11Suit on the car. Yeah, you said earlier it doesn't you know, it doesn't you know
16:17Doesn't need to be in the movie
16:19But it's but it's a shot. I it's just a shot. I really remember
16:22Yeah, yeah, like I really remember is like IQ like Japanese
16:26It's a very yeah
16:28An idea each shot is a specific idea that uh, yeah, like bricks. I I love that and I love feeling
16:34When you when as an audience member when you're in your movie in all of our movies
16:37I mean, I don't know if mine but in all of your movies
16:40I feel like oh, I know that the people who made it they take me by their hand and they direct me
16:46Not that not the actors only but they direct me like they're yeah
16:50Sort of I'm in your hands and I hand myself over to your timing also your sense of timing or your sense of
16:56Especially yours also, you know your sense of timing is like
17:00um, you know, you you you I love it going to a cinema and go. Oh, okay. It's a different different time count
17:08I'm gonna settle into Brady's world
17:10I just love this now like he like I mean or talk about everyone's film
17:15But I mean you have a couple shots in your film that are I mean moments that are
17:20un-fucking-believable
17:22Especially the opening that goes from the bottom of the ship to the top and with uh
17:26I guess that's why it's the opening but like there's something about the immigrant experience that is expressed through that
17:33That is just the most sweeping
17:36Emotion or sentiment that I think I've seen
17:39Like I've never experienced anything. It was so claustrophobic
17:44Until you find out the the the Statue of Liberty, but before that I was like I didn't know I was totally disoriented
17:50I mean to be honest. I didn't understood at first that I was in a boat
17:54I thought I was like in some kind of I didn't know he was brought to a torture chamber
17:58Yeah, I can't he's like cursing and stuff
18:00I was like suffocating I was like
18:04And when he came out I felt like totally manipulated in a great way
18:08And and but having through been through an experience
18:12Quite intense. Yeah, right from the start
18:14But that's one of the nicest things is perspective, you know as a as a director like I'm really an Adrian Brody's perspective even though
18:22Even though you you you yeah
18:24Yeah, it's very long evolving shots and so forth. I'm always with him and see it through zoom
18:29I'm always with timothy in your movie, you know sort of seeing it through his eyes and also
18:34Your perspective of course is very intense. I grew up with an architect to my family. My uncle John Pfeiffer
18:41Uh, went to talias and west which was frank lloyd wright school in in arizona
18:46And when while he went there he lived with my mother and I because I had a single mother and I was an only child
18:52Um, and so architecture was a part of my life from a very young age
18:55But one thing that I think is very interesting about frank lloyd wright is that you know all of the residences predominantly
19:01You would you would enter not into a massive foyer
19:05But into a space that is you know six or seven foot ceilings a sort of antechamber
19:11That would really kind of force your perspective because it was a place for you to hang up your coats and take off your shoes
19:16And then you know you would go up a very narrow corridor and then suddenly pow like there's the space
19:22And there's something about you know
19:25That the dynamic is so powerful and so I think that
19:29That this is it's it's it's not something I mean this film happens to be about an architect
19:35But for me cinema is inherently architectural
19:38I I do think that you are guiding people through a space like you really are sculpting in time
19:44Since we're talking about time um
19:47I'm curious how you all
19:50Feel about the fact that people's attention spans are getting shorter when you work in a medium where you're making art
19:55That's two to three hours long. How do you grapple with your audience's ability to pay attention?
20:02You try not to do three hours
20:08And every cut is always too long and you know that and you have to sit down and actually decide
20:15You've got to decide if you're going to run for three hours. You better be worth it
20:18It's what I call the bum ache factor audiences have a certain kind of tolerance
20:23Oh bum ache like sitting on your bum
20:25You shouldn't stop doing that you're in trouble
20:26Oh but there's there's like uh there's the the physical time and there's the mental time of a movie
20:32And we all I I'm sure around this we we all saw five minutes short film that were last forever
20:38And and you we all saw three hours movie that went like that it's about emotion
20:43I think it's like about the involved emotional impact of the film if you
20:47If you lose if the audience lost track of the emotional path and then you're fucked
20:51Yeah, so if I can say my time dilates if you do it if you do it, right?
20:54Yeah
20:55Yeah, I think yeah
20:57No, I think all the movies pretty much around the table were pretty what you call long
21:03And I I found it was also great to have movies that take their time to
21:10Kind of you know present a world present a universe and also presents things that are more radical
21:16I'm thinking about yours of course, which is like
21:19Yeah, more than three hours and a half with this information
21:23I think it's also great to have things that are out of the regular format because we have so many
21:28things that kind of look like also
21:31The the same like I like to see things that are that are different and I'm not so sure about the audience having less
21:40Attention time because I think it really depends about yeah
21:45What you put them into and how you make their journey be immersive and be as you were saying like not feeling that time passes
21:55And also think that it's also okay to sometime be bored during a film like you don't have to be all the time excited
22:02There are moments that can go down and I think what matters what stays with you after the movie is finished
22:07Um to me at least
22:10I think I also don't know about the attention span maybe I'm an internal optimist
22:15But I think it'll swing the other way and if you
22:19Give the audience if they hear
22:21There's this guy brady corbet. He made a movie. That's almost four hours. It's got an intermission
22:27It's 70 millimeter. It's it somehow becomes I gotta go see it
22:31You know because it's like a spectacle it's I don't get that on television
22:35And I don't get your movie on television or yours, you know, like I don't I don't have
22:40I don't I know an immediately dune part two
22:43I saw one
22:44But I want to go see two because it's going to be another spectacle. I can go only get it there
22:49I really believe that and then if the emotionality is right and can be two and a half hours or four
22:54It doesn't really matter. I think part of the selling point of your movie of getting people to the theater will be its length
23:00Yeah, I think the engine is you should be talking about the engine of the material whether it's four hours or two hours
23:07You better have in that engine the reason to want to go to the next step
23:13That's called drama. Yeah, so you've either got to leave them with what's going to happen
23:17You do not ever want anyone to be bored
23:20In my in my world. No way
23:23So you've always got to move even though a scene is designed to be long. It better be interesting
23:28So you're gonna go what's happening next. That's the fundamentals of theater and
23:33You ain't got that you ain't got a movie. I will say though
23:35I think that the fundamentals of theater and film need to adapt to the complexity of the times
23:41I feel like the way in which that aren't people are getting more and more simplistic. That's a challenge
23:45Mm-hmm true. I mean everything you see now
23:47We're also dumbing down the aesthetics to match. Well, there's a big dumbing down
23:52I'm not seeing at this table there's any dumbing down whatsoever
23:55But there's a lot of big dumbing down which is not to nothing to watch and flash cutting
24:00Some usual suspects on mostly on the platforms on tv and they're made to stream and in a way a funny kind of way
24:07It's a pity because it's watering down what we're trying to do
24:11Mm-hmm
24:13Denis, there's such a huge and really remarkable cast in dune
24:17Um, can you talk a little bit about assembling the cast and what was important to you?
24:21Oh, but frankly, I don't like that question because it's it's a boring
24:25My answer would be boring. I mean, it's like they have specific characters that those characters have been beloved for 60 years
24:31And the book is well known
24:33Those are big shoes to fill so and I I just went through the actors that I felt that had the necessary characters mind that will bring
24:41The the qualities I was looking for let's say and I went
24:44Those movies are are not easy to shoot. I mean, it's like the none
24:49No movie are easy to shoot, but what will deal with tons of vfx?
24:52I need people that will show up on the day and know their job and and and and give a
24:56performance the performance needed because it's it's um, the movie that I tried to do is uh, uh
25:02It's sci-fi, but it's not really sci-fi that the science fiction is behind. It's like in the backdrop
25:07It's about the the human interaction the human drama between those characters
25:11So I needed people that can focus on the day and and deliver strong performances that uh, yeah, that would be this
25:17Yeah, that the that without that I would have a new movie to him soon
25:21We had zendaya for actress roundtable and she talked about um
25:25You were shooting I think it was just one hour a day where you had the right light to shoot a particular sequence in the desert
25:31Do you know the sequence that i'm talking about? Can you tell us a little bit about that?
25:35The thing is that I went a bit uh
25:37Dogmatic on with the light we we shot exclusively
25:41In the desert with the natural light which meant that uh, and we didn't want to compromise aesthetically
25:46So it meant that some scenes were shot over a week
25:50Every night at the end of that between those two hours when going back there
25:54And doing the coverage different coverage on the end
25:56And I I put a lot of pressure on the actors but uh
25:59My cinematographer great Fraser and I we were we were I I I was in love with the idea to bring some kind of naturalism
26:05To the to the the the screen as much as possible to feel close to nature
26:09And it meant that uh
26:12Actually, we we we had to prep like uh
26:15Anything I've done before uh
26:17Uh the way we did it is that there are some scenes like the opening scenes for instance where it uh there's a battle around a rock
26:24Of course, it's not there's that rock doesn't exist. It's a it's like 12 located different locations in in jordan
26:30And we planned greg fraser was scanning the rocks with with the uh uh
26:34uh uh uh uh the drones yeah exactly later and then the drones
26:39And then put that in computer to know on november 3rd at 9 45 if denny wants the sun behind the the actress when she smashed the head of the guy
26:47The the sun was gonna be there at 9 45 so we have to plan and all the shots were planned
26:53And it was like a kind of puzzle to photo to that's what uh uh zendaya was referring to like
26:58uh um
26:59It's it was a puzzle for for the actors and for my first ad but uh but the very rewarding in the camera
27:05That's all astronomy you guys are doing astronomy
27:09Totally
27:11What is crazy about that a day a crazy comes with coincidence
27:16We we there's a the movie open with an eclipse and as I was shooting there was an eclipse
27:23A real eclipse
27:23You didn't know that was gonna happen and and and no
27:27I cannot say to the the legendary you know what gonna shut in jordan in fall 2022 because there will be an eclipse there
27:34No, no, it's like is it's a it's a coincidence. It was not full
27:36But uh, we all put the camera on the on the sun and shot the eclipse and that thing
27:41How do you figure out what natural light is on another planet?
27:45Like how do you give people a sense that we're looking at something natural, but it is alien?
27:50Man, that's the thing is that I was trying to bring the planet close to us
27:54I wanted to to bring I tried that the prediction design
27:57I I tried as much as possible that uh to cut the exotism
28:00I tried to to bring things like like the ornithopters those flying machines that are described like flying like birds
28:06I tried to make them as close to helicopters as possible
28:09I tried to bring the design that close to us so the people will not question
28:13And when my mother see the machine say oh, of course it flies
28:16It sounds like a helicopter
28:17It's like that just to just so we are not distracted by the technology
28:21No exotism no
28:24Esoteric thing happening in front of camera trying to bring that down close to earth as much as possible
28:30You also almost create another planet with your lighting in the conclave
28:34Yeah, yeah
28:36That wasn't natural light
28:40Yeah, we shot in the Sistine Chapel
28:41Yeah, you guys did you guys rebuild you guys one-to-one modeled the Sixteen Chapel, right?
28:47Yeah
28:48That's crazy
28:49I know
28:50I thought you shot inside
28:51Obviously can't shoot inside
28:53Yeah
28:53So let's talk about that a little bit. I mean, um
28:56Usually we would say as a metaphor. I can't believe
28:59Uh, you built the Sistine Chapel you built the Colosseum, but we actually have people here at this table
29:04who did those things with their crew
29:05Yeah, it's actually cheaper
29:07Yeah
29:07Yeah
29:08Did you?
29:09Oh, yeah
29:09Did you build the Colosseum? I mean, did you shoot in the Colosseum ever? No, huh?
29:13You can't
29:13No, I went to the Colosseum, my production designer, we stood in it
29:17We both turned to each other and said, it's too small
29:20Whoa
29:21My Colosseum is about 10% bigger because when you have a horse going full gallop
29:27You want to build a rain and not run into a wall to make 10% bigger
29:31So we built 50% real, four full stories
29:3550% and then digitally put the rest in, that's easy
29:38And Brady, you had the task of communicating that someone's a great architect
29:43However, you had not a lot of money to do that
29:46So how did you and your crew figure that out?
29:49If the film had been about a more ornamental style of architecture
29:56We would not have been able to do it at this budget level
30:00Because, you know, we built massive facades, real concrete
30:07And then we just did very simple digital extensions
30:11So that you had real texture, you have real light, real shadow
30:16And it essentially is just a big cube
30:20So it's kind of VFX 101
30:23And I think that if we had been trying to create something
30:27That was much more detailed and a less minimalistic style of architecture
30:32That it would have been a lot less successful of a trick
30:36And then also, you know, because the film was shot on VistaVision
30:41And VistaVision's field of view is just immense
30:44So you can be physically close to an object
30:47And you can see from the ground to the sky
30:51Even though you are, you know, you don't have to back off of it
30:55And that's the beauty of the format is that it doesn't warp the object at all
31:00It doesn't distort on the edges at all
31:02It is, you really feel the impact of the architecture
31:06And you feel it in Carrera too, you know, the scale of, you know, those caves
31:14And so, you know, I think that, I also, we just, I just try to do everything
31:19As practically as possible
31:21I've seen some photos of your set and it's insane
31:25That's like one of the greatest sets I think I've ever seen
31:27I mean, the Colosseum, it's really incredible
31:30There's Colosseum and Rome and the palaces and three palaces and the senate and
31:35Where did you shoot?
31:36Malta
31:36Okay, okay, okay
31:37Did you tear it down? Did you leave it?
31:39No, um, well, yeah
31:41You really want to hear that? Okay
31:42I mean
31:43No, I did a big film called Kingdom of Heaven years ago in Wazazat
31:50And to take it down would have cost me $300,000
31:54So I said to the Wazazatis, do you want to buy it?
31:57Yeah
31:57I'll sell it for $10, but you have to take on all the responsibility of insurance
32:02So I saw it for $10, and they would take it over
32:0515 years later, I want to rent it back to do the Numibian sequence
32:10Because I want to put it as a seafront thing
32:12I'll pay a million dollars to rent my own site
32:14Yeah
32:14It's not coming
32:15I saw that coming
32:17Whatever
32:17It's inflation
32:18It's inflation
32:19Moroccans, man
32:20They'll rule the world shortly
32:22But that gets me to a question about, you know, kind of the environmental impact of movies
32:29You know, I used to think that sets were always destroyed
32:32Beautiful things are made and then destroyed
32:35Is there another way to do it?
32:36Is there a more sort of environmentally sensible way to make movies perhaps?
32:41Then
32:42Reuse them
32:43Yeah
32:43Reuse them, store them
32:44I mean, that Sistine Chapel set is still in Rome
32:49It's in storage
32:50People are going to shoot in the Sistine Chapel again
32:53And it needs to be built with reusability in mind
32:55Exactly
32:55You know, if you don't approach it that way after the fact
32:57Then you're building shit out of styrofoam
32:59Also, Kovali shot a movie that takes place in LA at home
33:05That's environmentally good
33:06Yeah, we didn't have to fly
33:07Yeah, we shot everything in France
33:09Whoa
33:10I never would have guessed
33:11Yeah
33:12The use of color and light, obviously, it just
33:14It was LA
33:15Yeah, well, we built the apartment, which was the most important decision
33:20Because it's like maybe 70% of the film
33:23And our main question is how we're going to do that view
33:27That view over LA, which is the main thing
33:30And I knew from, to start with, I didn't want to shoot on green screen
33:34Because it was going to be like 70 days in front of a green screen
33:39Which is hell, and you don't get to see what you have, you know, unless
33:43Until post-prod for the actors, I think it's a nightmare
33:46And then we researched because it's a huge backdrop
33:49Whether we're going to do it with the backdrop, like the curtain, you know, from the old time
33:54Or they now have like new LED screen when you can project a video
33:59So we did some tests with my DOP, Benjamin Krakun
34:03And we were like, we felt like we needed to have something that is real, that is practical
34:10And so even if it was scary because it was a huge, like, curtain that we didn't know until we have it on set
34:16If it was going to work, we decided to go for that
34:19And I remember we did a few tests with the LED screen and the practical backdrop on a very small scale
34:27And I discussed at the end of the day with my DP
34:30And he said, you know what, I feel like I prefer the backdrop because it's more poetic
34:36And he said, like, I feel it's the way we've done movies since the age of time
34:40The old movies that I watched, they had this backdrop
34:43And I feel, and I knew like this was the thing that convinced me that it would be the right way to do it
34:49And I remember when the thing, the LA backdrop arrived in something like that, like a UPS delivery
34:56Because we took the photos remotely from LA, choosing the view
35:01So when I'm here, it's funny because I'm saying, oh, this is a view from the apartment that we scouted
35:05And it arrived, it was like that
35:07And so we had to unpack it, let it go down for 48 hours, light everything
35:12And I remember I entered the set and I was like, oh my God
35:17And I pushed a huge scream because I felt it was going to work
35:21It was like so realistic and so
35:24It felt as fake as LA
35:26Art of this
35:29For me, I won't be like that, but we built everything, like we built as much as I could
35:39And I don't want nobody to shoot there again
35:42And we destroy everything
35:44They take the wood, they recycle the wood, but all the sets are so
35:49Is it environmental friendly? I don't know, but I will not start to shoot
35:55Your world is totally invented
35:57Yeah, yeah, I know
35:58It cannot be reused, I don't want it to be reused
36:01I just, you know
36:02But the vehicles, we keep the vehicles, we keep the costumes, tons of costumes
36:06How many vehicles you have left?
36:08Right now there are three or four, any doctors?
36:10Are you guys, what are you doing? I'm just, I have a parking, a small parking lot
36:14No, I mean, if you're, if you guys just have extras, Denny, it seems
36:18You got one this weekend during your garden
36:19I would, I would love a vehicle
36:21Ridley, what's Denzel Washington like to direct?
36:24Uh
36:27Next question
36:30He's uh, I did the second film with him, I did an American character with him
36:33So we kind of got used to each other there
36:36Mm-hmm
36:37But he changed all the time
36:38He's probably one of the best actors we have today
36:42And he just gets it in two seconds, doesn't want too much explanation
36:46On the paper, got it, comes in, he says, you want to shoot it
36:49So yeah, you got four cameras, do what you want
36:51Wow
36:52So, and, and so
36:53The beauty of multi-camera is that each scene is like a play
36:58So the actors are completely freed up
37:00So if you got two actors in there who aren't acting, I said, you're on whatever, I'm watching you
37:06Whatever you want to add
37:07So it's a one big, oh, scene, theatrical scene
37:11And it's fast, and so at the end of it
37:15Uh, every actor is the virtuoso of himself
37:19I can't, finally, you can squeeze it so far
37:23And then you've got to leave it to him or her, right
37:26And, and if they're not going far enough, then I start shouting at them
37:29But I never had to shout in my life
37:31So they always, they always deliver
37:34And, uh, so Denzel is just fantastic
37:37I want to know what people, what you all do with takes
37:40Like, how many takes?
37:41Are you, you all like, I'll do 30 takes if that's what it takes
37:44What?
37:44Or are you, like, do you just put it in the hands of three?
37:48One
37:48One?
37:49Yeah, yeah
37:49One?
37:50It's got four cameras
37:51Yeah, yeah
37:53That doesn't count
37:54That's a small piece
37:55He doesn't even need a take
37:56He doesn't even need a take, in fact
37:57He's CGI is helping
37:58One of the best friends I've had was Al Pacino
38:00He said, I hear you don't give me more than four takes
38:02I said, you got as many as you want to
38:05Because we had several cameras
38:06He hadn't really experienced that before
38:08He felt free
38:09I said at the end of it
38:10Always, uh, what do you think?
38:13I think you have it
38:14He said, really?
38:15So you want to go again?
38:16No, I think we got it
38:18Boom, two takes
38:19I feel like maybe for you, Edward
38:21Because I feel like a lot of our films
38:22There's like so much more motion going on
38:25Like people are
38:26I feel like yours is like strictly
38:27Like very photographic
38:29Your actor is
38:30Static
38:30Static
38:31Yeah
38:31And obviously
38:32Yours too
38:32Yeah
38:33Yeah
38:33But
38:34I do a lot of takes
38:35You do?
38:36You do?
38:36Oh yeah
38:37Yeah
38:38Like 15 is a kind of a
38:40Everace
38:40But you're also
38:42You're also more
38:43I think you have less coverage
38:46Yes, exactly
38:47In your movie
38:47You're very sort of
38:48One camera
38:49One camera
38:50Then you have that top shot
38:51And then this
38:52Like three shots per scene
38:54Yeah, but I know
38:55It recorded a hundred takes
38:56On a boiling egg
38:57That's psychotic
38:58Well
38:59Well, if you watch it
39:01It doesn't boil
39:01That's why
39:02I mean, everyone knows that
39:04And what about you?
39:05My movie doesn't work
39:06Quite that way
39:07Because I have so much dialogue
39:09And so much POV of Rafe
39:11And so many people
39:12That he needs to interact with
39:13Yours is like about
39:14This one person
39:15Yeah
39:15So I just need much more coverage
39:18And then I maybe do
39:19It depends on the scene
39:20But I would say
39:22If it's just like a shot on Rafe
39:23It'll be like two, three, four maximum
39:26He's amazing
39:27I mean, he's just great
39:28Because
39:29But also just trying things
39:31And
39:31Maybe four maximum
39:34Maybe some
39:35Very rare exception
39:37I would say it's five
39:38But
39:39And then if it's a one taker
39:41Like a scene
39:42That is like two minutes
39:43Then more
39:45But like up to like
39:46Twelve, thirteen
39:47Forty
39:48But it's entirely
39:48Depends on who your actor is
39:50Rafe finally can give it in two
39:52Or one
39:52I usually ask
39:53You know
39:54Rafe, how do you feel?
39:55You want another one?
39:56Let's go
39:57Yeah, exactly
39:58And then he usually goes like
39:59Yeah, let's do another one
40:00Well, he's a virtue also
40:02Yeah
40:02And what about you?
40:04Because also with your
40:05I think there is a whole
40:06Technique things
40:07That, you know
40:08Take some time
40:09Yeah, you've got a much
40:10Bigger challenge in the way
40:11Because we work with
40:12Say, very good
40:13Practice actors
40:14You're working with people
40:15Who are doing something
40:16They've never done before
40:17Yeah, and it's all oners
40:18Yeah
40:19Like everything's a oner
40:20Yeah
40:20How many takes do you do then?
40:23Well, didn't have so much time
40:25So kind of limited
40:26By the takes away from the next day
40:28Or takes away from other things
40:29I don't think we did
40:30We did more than
40:31Maybe four
40:32I think I would have
40:33Very reasonable
40:34Yeah, I think I would have liked
40:35To have done
40:35But I mean we had
40:36But they're just really good
40:37They're really good
40:38Kids are great
40:39Thank you
40:39I mean we had
40:40Like Joe Moffray as a DP
40:41Sam Ellison
40:42Who you know
40:43Also camera operator
40:44Amazing operator
40:45Yeah
40:45Brandon Wilson
40:46You know
40:47Ethan Harisi
40:48They came in like
40:50So open to play
40:51That whatever they did
40:52Was so genuine
40:53Because they weren't trying
40:54To like play a character
40:55They were kind of
40:56Being themselves as boys
40:57In that time
40:58It just made it really
40:59Really smooth
41:00I guess
41:00Do you have multiple cameras?
41:03No
41:03Just one, right?
41:04Yes
41:05It feels like
41:05We're on camera
41:06No, no, no
41:07But I know
41:07Stop it
41:10I mean
41:10I was going to say
41:13I didn't know
41:13When I watched your movie
41:15I'm a maniac
41:16I love to work
41:16On one thing at a time
41:17I'm like Hakim
41:18I love
41:19I love
41:19And
41:20But I don't do a lot of takes
41:22When I watch your movie
41:23I feel like
41:23Where would the second camera go?
41:25But it's
41:26You can take it out
41:28You can just rub it out
41:30Sure
41:30I hate that
41:31Did you
41:33When you were making
41:34Blade Runner 2049
41:35Did you guys
41:36Like
41:37Chat about that?
41:38Not at all
41:39It came right out of his way
41:40Yeah
41:40It was
41:42Very elegant
41:43And just
41:43Yeah
41:44For the best
41:45Of the worst
41:46I don't know
41:47So you don't do a lot of takes
41:48I don't like
41:49I don't like to do a lot of takes
41:51I'm not aiming
41:51If I can
41:51If I have it on the
41:53First
41:53I'll be comfortable
41:54Specifically with Digital
41:56Today
41:56You know
41:56You see
41:57What moves me
41:58Is sometimes
41:59There are specific actors
42:00That you say
42:01Okay I get it
42:01And the actor turns
42:02Can I do it again?
42:04Oh yeah
42:05Like
42:06Ravi Bardem
42:06He always
42:07He wants
42:08He wants to play
42:09He wants to explore
42:10I give it to him
42:12I will have fun
42:13I will have fun
42:14I mean
42:14Do you rehearse a bunch then?
42:16No
42:16I don't rehearse a lot
42:17No
42:17I have a lot of conversations
42:19Prior to the shoot
42:20On the day
42:21I don't want to have questions
42:22On the shoot
42:24It's very visceral
42:25I don't want to have
42:26People talking to me
42:27About ideas
42:28On the day
42:28But in prep
42:30I'm very open
42:31But I feel
42:32Yeah
42:32If Javier Bardem
42:33Comes and said
42:34Can I have another one
42:35You're not going to go
42:35Yeah
42:35What's a seemingly
42:40Small detail
42:41In your movie
42:42That was actually
42:43Very important to you?
42:45It feels like
42:45Every second
42:47I have a day of shooting
42:48Yeah
42:48Yeah everything
42:49It's the accumulation
42:50Of the details
42:51It always goes through
42:52You come see
42:53Come see
42:54That means
42:55You know
42:55I'll give you an example
42:59I made a film
43:00Called Martian
43:01We invested in a desert
43:05At a 75 foot green screen
43:07In Budapest
43:08I shot all of the stuff there
43:10I fitted it to Jordan
43:13I went to Jordan
43:14Afterwards and photographed
43:14Everything
43:15And fitted it
43:16It's seamless
43:17Yeah I know
43:18You don't know
43:19So set is in Budapest
43:21Shooting Jordan
43:23Where you have markers
43:24For everything
43:25That just goes
43:25You know what I heard?
43:28I heard that it was
43:28More expensive to make
43:30I say this respectfully
43:31And funnily
43:32More expensive to make
43:34Martian
43:34Than to send
43:35A rover to Mars
43:36Is that true?
43:37Bullshit
43:38No no no
43:39I think we cost about
43:42I think about 80 million
43:43Really?
43:44I'm sure
43:44Yeah
43:45That's shocking
43:45Low or high?
43:47Low
43:47Yeah
43:48I thought it was
43:49300 million or something
43:50I guess you
43:51I guess you
43:52Yes
43:52I mean it feels huge
43:55The scope of the movie
43:56Feels huge
43:56The studio didn't realize
43:57It's actually a comedy
43:58So it sat on
44:00A shelf for two years
44:01And then they said
44:02Do you want to look at this?
44:03And I read
44:03And they said
44:04It's really funny
44:05Funny?
44:06That's what
44:07That was the first
44:08Exchange of swords
44:10It's a comedy dude
44:12Yeah
44:12Well tell me
44:14Since we're talking
44:15About dealing with studios
44:16What have you learned
44:18From dealing with studios
44:19Or financiers
44:20By the way
44:21This is something
44:21Your movie engages with
44:22A little bit
44:23Metaphorically
44:24No comment
44:24Okay
44:25How do you manage
44:28The relationship
44:29With the people
44:29No I can't
44:30I am continually amazed
44:33That people will give us
44:35Money to do our dream
44:37They've got to be crazy
44:38And so that is real trust
44:41So I'm very respectful
44:42Of that
44:43So my G2
44:46Is $10 million under budget
44:48Yeah
44:49You
44:49I move fast
44:50Yeah
44:51You're always on budget
44:53Under budget
44:54Yeah
44:55Always respect that
44:56Totally respectful
44:57Me too
44:58Me too
44:58I feel that
44:58They give you a box
44:59And you have to
45:00Clean that box
45:01Yeah
45:01I'll say I was like
45:03Wildly surprised
45:04I went into the entire process
45:05Like deeply hesitant
45:06Because I have like
45:07An art practice
45:08And
45:09It's a good title
45:10Deeply hesitant
45:10Very good title
45:12I mean it's a
45:13It's a mental state
45:14My friend
45:14Yeah
45:14You know
45:15Because
45:16I have like an art practice
45:18And like I'm just used to
45:19Doing things on my own terms
45:20And like
45:20I don't want to make art
45:22And argue
45:23Ever
45:23That's not in my blood
45:25And so
45:26The idea of working with the studio
45:28To do something
45:28Always just
45:29For superficial reasons
45:30Seemed like to be constrictive
45:31But
45:32I was like left with a lot of hope
45:33You know
45:34I worked with Plan B
45:34And Adam's Content
45:35Orion
45:36And Louverture Films
45:37And like
45:37Never did anyone question
45:39Any of the ideas
45:41And I know that they're at fringe
45:42You know
45:42I know that
45:43They're going to cost a lot
45:44I know that
45:45They're going to have to like
45:46Say yes to things
45:47That they may not quite understand
45:48Which we were talking about
45:49With images
45:49If you're making a poetic film
45:51You have to be open to the idea
45:53That the meaning
45:54And the understanding
45:55Will come after it's done
45:56Right
45:57Like that's pretty hard
45:58And for a studio
45:59To invest in that
46:00I think was the biggest stress
46:02In that
46:03If it didn't work
46:03It seemed like
46:04It would close down doors
46:05Because it was
46:06Such a big risk for them
46:07So I had a really
46:09Kind of great experience
46:10Yeah but it's
46:11I would say
46:12When you say
46:13When you make a film
46:14If it fails
46:15It will close down doors
46:16That's part of the game
46:18It will always be like that
46:20Each film
46:20You are always as good
46:21As your last film
46:22And it's like
46:22It's always like
46:23Yeah
46:24Not you
46:25Because
46:25Well maybe for others though
46:27Because like
46:28A regular human being
46:29No
46:29As long as the film was good
46:30Yeah yeah yeah
46:31If it didn't play
46:32But the film was good
46:33That's what counts
46:33Yes yes
46:34But I got
46:35Carte Blanche
46:36Imagination Space
46:37In Colson Whitehead's
46:38Pulitzer Prize winning book
46:39I don't know any other
46:41Person of color
46:42My age
46:44Maybe Barry Jenkins
46:45With Underground Railroad
46:46But like
46:47That opportunity doesn't exist
46:48You know
46:49And it has a lot to do
46:50With like
46:50More systematic reasons
46:51Who was the studio?
46:53Plan B
46:54And Anonymous Contents
46:54I was going to say
46:55Same producers as Barry's
46:56Yeah exactly
46:57Who paid for it
46:59Who was the studio?
47:00MGM
47:00It was a partnership
47:01With Orion
47:02Alana Miles Orion
47:03Yeah
47:03But yours was
47:05Completely independent right?
47:07Or relatively
47:07It wasn't even a US production?
47:09Yeah we had
47:10We'd done an international sale
47:12For the
47:13You know
47:13We sold the world
47:14For a very very small amount of money
47:17That made it almost impossible
47:20But I was quite determined
47:22To be like
47:23Alright we'll make it work
47:25And
47:26And on the domestic side
47:29You know what's funny
47:29Is that
47:30That my partners on this film
47:32Were incredibly supportive
47:34And
47:34I didn't have any antagonists
47:37In this process
47:38In the past
47:39I've
47:40I've had quite a few
47:41And
47:42And this film
47:43Was
47:43You know
47:45It was written
47:45As a sort of exorcism
47:46In response
47:48To a lot
47:48Of what my wife
47:49And I had been through
47:50Because my wife
47:51Is also a filmmaker
47:52And we write the films together
47:53And we
47:54Yeah we'd been
47:55We'd been through a lot
47:56The last decade
47:57Fighting a lot
47:59About
47:59About
48:00About
48:00Money
48:01Because the thing is
48:02Is that I don't have a problem
48:03With the bottom line
48:04Ever
48:04I can make
48:05A movie with
48:06You know
48:07A shopping cart
48:08And
48:09And
48:09You know
48:10A piece of string
48:11And two cups
48:12No problem
48:13But
48:13I don't want to be told
48:15How to move sand
48:17Around in the box
48:18So
48:18You give me that number
48:19But don't tell me
48:20How to spend it
48:21And
48:22Because
48:22I am very
48:24I'm very very
48:25Exacting
48:26The film was 170 pages
48:27And it was shot in 33 days
48:29And
48:30You know
48:30I just
48:31I had
48:31I had to be
48:33Very very precise
48:34Very organized
48:35And like yourself
48:36What you said
48:36It rings true
48:37For me
48:38That
48:39In the
48:39In the preparation
48:40I'm inviting
48:41Lots and lots of ideas
48:43And
48:43And
48:44And I really
48:45You know
48:45I mean
48:46My crew
48:47You know
48:48They prop me up
48:49I don't
48:49I don't know
48:49If there's an exception
48:51To the rule
48:51But
48:51I didn't see a lot
48:52Of great movies
48:53Come out of COVID
48:54Like those COVID movies
48:55That people did
48:56Like on their iPhones
48:57At home
48:57Not so great
48:58And
48:59And so
49:00I really
49:01You know
49:02Especially after COVID
49:03I mean
49:03It's
49:04It
49:04It
49:05It
49:05It
49:05It
49:05It was so clear to me
49:06That
49:07I really
49:08I need
49:09Like real infrastructure
49:10I need a lot of personnel
49:11But what was so great
49:13About this process
49:14Is that
49:15You know
49:15When I would say to someone
49:17You know
49:17Listen
49:18I promise you
49:19I promise you
49:19That we will not
49:20Go into overtime
49:21But we need
49:22A technocrane
49:23Because if I send
49:24A steadicam operator
49:26Walking backwards
49:26Down a hill
49:27Then
49:28We're never gonna
49:29Make our day
49:30And it's gonna
49:31You know
49:31It's
49:32It's
49:32You know
49:32It's gonna blow up
49:33In our face
49:34So
49:34This movie went
49:35Quite well for us
49:36Because
49:36We had real support
49:38And we didn't have
49:39A lot of money
49:40But we had
49:41Really a lot of faith
49:42And
49:43We had a cast
49:44And crew
49:45All moving
49:46In the same direction
49:47We're gonna start
49:48Winding down
49:49And I
49:49Ridley
49:50You know
49:50I've been to your office
49:51And there's something
49:52In it that's striking to me
49:53You may know
49:54What I'm talking about
49:55You have something
49:56Framed in your office
49:57It's a
49:57It's a review
49:58A Pauline Kael review
49:59Pauline Kael
50:00Yes
50:00Esteemed New Yorker
50:02Film critic
50:02Pauline Kael's
50:031984 review
50:04Of Blade Runner
50:05Which she panned
50:06Viciously
50:07She
50:08She hated that movie
50:09It enters the realm
50:10Of industrial espionage
50:12Destroying the subject
50:14Before it's out
50:15And she wrote this
50:16For the very posh
50:19New Yorker
50:20Yeah
50:20And she was the
50:21Dean of film criticism
50:22At the time
50:23And I was kind of
50:24Actually distressed
50:25I mean enraged
50:28And so I wrote
50:30To the editor
50:31Saying if you hate me
50:33That much
50:33Just ignore me
50:34Don't write anything
50:35I never got a reply
50:37And then it was
50:38Discovered
50:39In the Santa Monica
50:40Film Festival
50:41About ten years later
50:42There'd been one
50:43Or two diehards
50:44Who'd quite liked it
50:45When it came out
50:46So they called up
50:47Warners for the print
50:49And they'd lost
50:50The negative
50:51And so then
50:53They went to a drawer
50:53And pulled out
50:54The drawer
50:54Didn't look at it
50:55Sent it to the festival
50:57It was minus
50:58The voiceover
50:59Had a bit of
51:01Van Gellis
51:02And a bit of
51:02Jerry Goldsmith
51:03On it
51:03And it ran
51:04And that reignited
51:05The whole thing
51:06And that's the craziness
51:08Of Hollywood
51:10Well yeah
51:11What do you all take
51:11From that story
51:12What you take from it
51:14Is you're your own critic
51:16So I've framed it
51:18So I never read
51:19Critique ever again
51:20Ever
51:20I read everything
51:21Me too
51:22Every letterbox
51:24Everyone
51:25I mean I don't
51:27It's hard
51:28I don't read any
51:29Oh really
51:29What happens if they hate it
51:32I try to build language
51:35To combat it
51:36Because most of the
51:38Do you reply
51:38No no
51:39I thought about it
51:40Many times
51:40Not the time
51:41What you said Ridley
51:43Is very important
51:43Because I think
51:44That when your movie
51:45Comes out
51:46You have to have
51:47Your own perception
51:48Of your work
51:49And where you stand
51:50Where you go next
51:52You went through it
51:53And nobody
51:53Because if people say
51:55You're
51:55It's a failure
51:57You're a genius
51:58I mean you need
52:00To keep your own
52:02Perspective about your work
52:03To be honest
52:03About where you stand
52:04And where you have to evolve
52:05And that's
52:06Yeah that I think
52:07That relationship
52:08With the object
52:09Is super
52:09Ideally don't
52:10Don't read any critique
52:11No absolutely
52:11No the positive
52:13As well as the negative
52:14I don't
52:14Equally dangerous
52:15I don't want to read
52:16Equally dangerous
52:17Absolutely
52:17Because it's going to
52:19Hinder me from
52:19Making my next one
52:20And thinking about
52:21My next one
52:21By continuing
52:22To think about the past
52:23But you don't
52:24Make bad things Edward
52:25Edward we know
52:27No you don't
52:28You don't have to
52:28Act like you're
52:29Not doing great stuff
52:30You can only
52:32Try by not reading
52:34What other people
52:35Write or think about you
52:37I want to know
52:38What you think
52:38About the movie
52:39Like I invite you
52:40To my movie
52:40Say tell me
52:41What you think
52:42Let's discuss it
52:42I want to learn from you
52:43That I find interesting
52:45And if someone
52:46Says you're a genius
52:46Someone else
52:47Will think
52:48The right opposite
52:49You have the
52:50All rainbow of opinions
52:51In a way
52:52Oh there's so many
52:53Opinions
52:54I mean I can't
52:55Like I can't worry
52:56About what I think
52:56François Truffaut
52:57Said everybody
52:57Everybody has two jobs
52:59Their jobs
53:00And film critics
53:01So it's like
53:02Everybody
53:02But I think it goes
53:03With the question
53:05Before like
53:06Keeping where you
53:07Want to go
53:08And why you did
53:09The movie
53:10To start with
53:11Because you're only
53:12Always going to have
53:13Devizes opinion
53:14No one is never
53:15Going to think
53:16Your movies
53:16Everyone is never
53:18Going to be aligned
53:18Anyway
53:19But what do you take
53:20From your reviews
53:21When you read everything
53:22What do you take
53:23From it that
53:24Is positive
53:25In a way for you
53:25When they're good
53:26I'm so happy
53:27Like it makes me
53:28Feel so good
53:29Yes
53:29And of course
53:31Like if there are
53:32More that are good
53:32Than more than
53:34That are bad
53:35It changes
53:35The way you feel
53:36But yeah
53:37Like each good review
53:38Makes me feel
53:39So good
53:40And kind of
53:41You know
53:41Makes me feel
53:42Like I succeed
53:43To do what I wanted
53:44You want to hear
53:45A story about Can
53:46Yeah
53:47I did my first movie
53:49It cost $800,000
53:50Called The Duelist
53:52Right
53:52You ever saw that movie
53:53Oh I've seen it
53:54Great movie
53:54And I was 40
53:56I had it in a movie
53:57And I was very successful
53:58In advertising
53:59So I had the money
54:00To be the completion bond
54:02I didn't get a fee
54:03I got no fee
54:03It was a bond
54:04So I now make it
54:06And I approached Harvey Keitel
54:07Who said
54:08Are you out of your fucking mind
54:09Do you want me to be
54:10A fucking Azar
54:11I said yeah
54:12So I had to sit
54:13For three months
54:13While Harvey finally agreed
54:15Anyway
54:15Finish the movie
54:17And then Putnam
54:19Who was my producer
54:20Said they want us
54:21To be the English
54:22Entry at Cannes
54:23I said wow
54:24That's good
54:24So I'm at Cannes
54:26And I'm approached
54:28By a very important
54:31Gentleman
54:32Who was on the committee
54:33Very important
54:34Very big
54:36American director
54:37Who said
54:38I'm not going to say his name
54:39Who said
54:40Love your goddamn movie
54:42The problem is
54:45The jury
54:46Had been given
54:4750 grand
54:48As bribery
54:49To actually
54:50Vote for another film
54:52I'm like what
54:55And he said yes
54:56He said what do you want to do
54:57He said I will create a prize
54:59For you to give you this film
55:00He said well I didn't think
55:01I was going to get this far
55:02So let's
55:03Keep it going
55:03He said good man
55:04I didn't get the palmed door
55:06But I got what they called
55:07The golden egg
55:08And ironically
55:10The film didn't go to
55:12The guy who was
55:12Paying them off
55:13It went to
55:15Two guys
55:15Brothers
55:16Padro Padroni
55:17The Tavionis
55:18So that was
55:19They did
55:20They earned it
55:21By having a good film
55:22So I thought
55:23Fuck this corruption
55:24Even at this level
55:25Couldn't believe it
55:26I thought you were going to be like
55:27And so I gave him
55:27A hundred thousand dollars
55:28And that's how I got here
55:30Scott Green
55:31I was like
55:35We're actually
55:35We're actually
55:37Ramel that is a perfect kicker
55:39I have to wrap you guys
55:40Thank you so much
55:42Thank you so much
55:42This has been a wonderful conversation
55:44I appreciate it all so much
55:45Thank you
55:45We're all good guys
55:45Thank you
56:07Thank you
56:15You
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