2024-01-28 10:36:26
When did you want to become a director?
As a child, we went on vacation to France in the summer with my parents, one of those very intrusive British families. I remember going into a shop for tourists where they were selling an imitation of a small super-8 camera and if you pressed the button you saw different images of Paris. I was 4 years old, I told myself that if I pretended to film in the street with this plastic gadget people would think that I was indeed a director. Kind, they got into my game. Today, I’m 48 years old and I still walk around with a camera pretending I’m a director. So I thank the French for keeping the secret once once more! (Laughter)
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Why did you set your sights on this particular cinema?
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Ah, because there are other genres besides fantasy and science fiction? I grew up with Star WarsI was 2 years old when A New Hope is out. I have a vivid memory when I was 10 years old. We went on vacation with my parents to the United States and found ourselves one evening in a crappy motel in the middle of Arizona. In the shabby room, there was an old TV from the 1960s. We turned on and an episode of the series was broadcast The Fourth Dimension. I loved it, but unfortunately I was so tired that I fell asleep ten minutes before the end which always has a huge twist. Fortunately, my father told me regarding it. Back home, I recorded every episode on VHS, 125 in all. Then I left for college and my father continued in my place, programming the VCR in the evening from 11:30 p.m. The soap opera lasted thirty minutes on average and at exactly midnight there was a show, let’s say, for adults! My father was cool because he sent me my tapes to school which I watched with the volume turned up. Once I lost my nose once more and when I woke up I found a porn movie on my little screen. My classmates in the dormitory thought I was a pervert! (Laughter)
Let’s go back to Star Wars. Why did you develop such an obsession?
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I think this was the very first movie I saw on VHS at home. As a kid, I dreamed of joining the Rebel Alliance and defeating Darth Vader. Growing up, I wanted to become a liar like George Lucas, a way to achieve immortality by passing on heritage and memory to future generations. And to do good around me, because this type of lie helps us to live, to move forward. I learned that his bedside book was The Hero with a thousand faces, by Joseph Campbell. He is right because we keep seeing the same stories over and over once more, only the details change. I wanted to be a director, so I followed Steven Spielberg’s model and sent letters to Hollywood studios. Except it didn’t work! I had a roommate who practiced designing special effects on his computer with Windows 95, the resourcefulness. I did the same, the bosses mightn’t believe it because they were spending millions of dollars for the same results. I felt like an actress who was chosen only because she had pretty breasts. They didn’t look at my proposals, but just at the technique that I had mastered.
“I’ve been lucky so far”
Pour Monsters, I produced 250 visual effects for regarding $25,000 on my PC in my bedroom. Before that, I tried to break into music videos and commercials, without success. So I stayed in my niche. At the time of my first feature film, I was 35 years old, I thought I had ruined my life, I searched on the internet at what age my idols had started. I was reassured to see that Ridley Scott was 40 years old. I saw seven times Reservoir Dogs (1992), by Quentin Tarantino. I managed to meet him and get him to sign the poster that I still have. When I was finally approached by an agent who wanted to represent me, he also said he handled Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, Wes Craven and John Woo. There were some in the room for the very first session of Monsters and the projector broke! The disaster, I was completely depressed.
Do you consider yourself politically engaged?
Not particularly. For the filming of The Creator, I was in Thailand. I remember that I needed Caucasian extras and the largest expatriate communities there were Russians and Ukrainians. They were brought together for a battle scene, the same day the Russian army entered Ukraine! On set, everyone got along well, talked to each other, laughed together. When you get to know yourself, there’s no reason for things to go wrong. This is all nonsense. When I launched into Godzilla which, in the 1950s, was the metaphor for the trauma of Japan following Hiroshima, there was Fukushima! I had access to all the logistics of the American army, I wondered if I was not going to be censored because it was a way of exorcising the horror suffered by the victims and expressing the regrets of the UNITED STATES. During the shoot, Lucasfilm absolutely wanted to see me. I remember pretending to have gone to the bathroom at Warner who was producing Godzilla to go to Disney just a stone’s throw away. I stayed there for an hour, my colleagues thought I must have a very bad stomach ache! When I read Lucasfilm’s proposal, I screamed sacrilege that they dared to consider a prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) with Rogue One. Then I realized that I was the only candidate to direct it, suddenly the idea seemed brilliant to me. (Laughter)
What was your investment?
Total. I am the biggest fan in the world of Star Wars, if there were an Olympic Games I would easily win the gold medal. I put immense pressure on myself. I would hate myself if I screwed up the movie. I mightn’t have stood it if people had told me I had ruined their childhood. I went to Tozeur, Tunisia, on a pilgrimage to the filming locations. I put John Williams’ music in my headphones and visited the site in amazement, because I wanted to have a moment alone because I was so moved. My girlfriend at the time, sick following eating something that didn’t work, emptied herself into the toilet. She asked me for paper, but I didn’t hear her! Result: we are no longer together today. (Laughter) George Lucas called me when he saw Rogue One, I was terrified but he comforted me with his kindness and positivity. I am very happy to have signed such blockbusters but I now have the desire to develop my own stories, to encourage my creativity, to be the only master on board, the advantage when you have less money at stake. During Covid, we often organized meetings on Zoom and I made the joke of writing down the name of a master like Steven Spielberg or George Lucas instead of mine. They changed the world with their films and influenced me like other directors of my generation. I’ve been lucky so far. But to try to be like them I have to settle down and concentrate on my original personal projects. I’m very excited regarding the future. Even if no one calls me, now with the technological tools available and artificial intelligence we can still produce something ambitious. By paying attention to platforms that transform into Hollywood studios. At first, they promised complete freedom. Now we have to make concessions with them in the same way as with the others if we want to be distributed. George Lucas proved his independence from the start. I am grateful to him on two counts: not only is he an inexhaustible source of inspiration, but he also made the digital camera and the visual effects.
What film traumatized you as a child?
My father showed me when I was 6 The Werewolf of London (1981), by John Landis. He forced me a little, telling me it was really good. Indeed, a masterpiece except I was so terrified I didn’t sleep in my own bed for four years. I had nightmares every night. I was squatting in my parents’ bedroom, I thought I was going to destroy their marriage! I ended up meeting John Landis and told him the story. I loved them Muppets at the time and they are massacred in a scene of the film, it shocked me terribly. I thought I had skipped it but everything is recorded in the hard drive of your brain, and sometimes the references come back to me unconsciously. At the same time, I also saw The Blue Lagoon (1980), by Randal Kleiser, and I fell madly in love with Brooke Shields. I tried sending him my phone number telepathically. She never called me unfortunately, I must have got the numbers wrong or I had forgotten the UK country code!
Do you use cinema to exorcise your deepest fears?
I think it serves as a crutch, a life jacket, when I have problems in life. Each time, I console myself by telling myself that I can record the ordeal I am going through in a film, like therapy, a diary.
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