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  • 16 hours ago
Christophe Gans on 'Return To Silent Hill': ‘A big piece of Romanticism’

"My sincerity is the thing that I put on the table. But for sure, some people will be shocked by some of the choices that I have made."
Euronews Culture sits down with French filmmaker Christophe Gans, who returns to the world of Silent Hill, 20 years since his first trip to the nightmarish town.

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/01/30/christophe-gans-on-return-to-silent-hill-a-big-piece-of-romanticism

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00:00I think the obvious question obviously to start with is after 20 years what made
00:18you want to come back to the world of Silent Hill? Actually it was in my
00:24intention back in 2006 to adapt the second game to the one that I have
00:33adapted for this one and but it was it was I think it was too big to swallow at
00:40that time you know the horror of cinema was entirely based on some gimmick like
00:48like jump scares like the fun footage you know it was it was a very different time
00:54meanwhile we have seen the rising of a very sophisticated you know trend of horror film
01:02but back in 2006 I remember that my producer and me we were knowing that the
01:09movie will be very different of what the people was expecting to see in the
01:15theater so the problem was that the second game Silent Hill 2 is based is not
01:23only happening into that strange town which is shifting you know of shape it's
01:32also entirely seen through the point of view of of a broken mind and I remember
01:42that with my producer we said to each other maybe it's it's too big maybe it's
01:48too big for this time maybe it's too too different of what the people expect from
01:53another film so we decide I think wisely to just adapt the first game and the first game
02:00is interesting because it established very well and very simply the world of
02:04Silent Hill the world of this ghost town changing of of shape you know sometimes it's in the fog
02:12the fog sometimes it's a rusty inferno you know so you know it's it's why so bit but I kept in my
02:18mind the the you know the the the the will of of of adapt silent you're not from here are you I'm
02:30looking for someone everyone got sick in Silent Hill you really never heard about any of this
02:35this one returns Silent Hill is is based on the second game which is widely known in the the gaming
02:58community is something of a masterpiece I mean you know it's really highly put up there as one of
03:04the the best of the best did that in any way put any pressure on you as well because you know you
03:10you have you have to to think about the fans of the game you have to think about audiences and it is a
03:17standalone story the second one but you have to think about audiences who are entering this world
03:21potentially for the first time as well so what what kind of state of mind did you go into this film
03:27with was it nervousness with excitement great responsibility you know I was I was helped by the
03:36fact that the first film was pretty well received by the fan you know and and during 20 years the
03:43reputation of the first film has grown very well you know so I decided to go back to Silent Hill 2
03:51knowing that in in in in 20 years the community of gamer has grown you know very powerful very very
04:01powerful and so very very aware of its power power so I knew that it would be a big risk to adapt
04:11Silent Hill 2 knowing that the film was considered for good reason as a masterpiece so you know I I I I went
04:21you know very boldly but at the same time with yeah a sense of responsibility and you know it's it's
04:28important to be confident with yourself you know when you're doing a movie like that simply because I'm a
04:33fan and so I'm very aware of what a fan can expect from a movie like that one thing that is a major
04:43talking point at the moment in in the whole artistic community but also with cinema is the rise of
04:49artificial intelligence and whether in music it's coming into the charts and more and more people are
04:55trying to inject it into cinema where do you where do you stand on this is this something that fascinates you
05:02worries you interest you it fascinates me it worries me at the same time you know for me artificial
05:10intelligence could be very dangerous if it's it's a proposition of the producer to cut the price yeah
05:20you know to make the thing more easy more standardized you know and and that's my my big fear about
05:29uh artificial intelligence you know I think that an artist will know how to use into artificial intelligence
05:37in an interesting way you know but for the moment all the people I I saw talking about artificial intelligence
05:46intelligence are the producer yeah because they think that they can cut the price very well with that
05:51tool Christophe Gantz thank you very much thank you thank you
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