2024-01-29 09:20:17
The 31ste Gérardmer fantasy film festival paid tribute to the Englishman Gareth Edwards, director of Godzilla, Monsters and Rogue One. Meeting with a genius DIYer whose latest film, The Creator, is nominated for an Oscar.
CHILDHOOD
Gareth Edwards : My father was really into sports: rugby and golf. Me? Not at all ! The only times we were close was when we went to the video store and picked out a tape to rent. Before watching each film, my father spoke to me at length regarding it, whether The Godfather or The good, the bad and the ugly. He gave me the context, explained to me why these films were important. We watched them and I felt my father’s admiration for these filmmakers. And I must have thought that if I ever made films, my father might say nice things regarding me. I think I became a director to get my dad’s respect. I never spoke to him regarding it. I don’t know what he thinks of my films, even though he always says positive things to me when I invite him to my previews.
INFLUENCES
I grew up with Star WarsI was two years old when the first, A new hope, is out. We had a Betamax VCR at home and I destroyed the tape of Star Wars from seeing her and seeing her once more. I am the biggest fan in the world of Star Warsif there were an Olympics Star WarsI would win the gold medal without any problem.
When I was 11, on vacation in Arizona with my parents, I turned on an old TV in a remote motel. We came across an episode of The Fourth Dimension. It blew my mind and when the final twist came, I fell asleep, so I missed the ending. The next day, my father told me the ending and it was so incredible that it stayed with me. And I said to myself that it might be a career.
BEGINNINGS
I went to art school in England and I wanted to be a director, not do special effects. I copied Steven Spielberg and sent letters to Hollywood studios. But I, on the other hand, received a clear and solid “No”. My college roommate designed digital special effects. It was the time of the first Jurassic Park and I bought myself a computer, with Windows 95. I made little films with robots and dinos. I made a demo reel and everyone loved this little piece of film with my SFX. No one believed that I had made it with Windows 95. But hey, we didn’t take it seriously, I would have liked to have recognized a little talent as a director… I felt like an actress who was only hired because she has nice breasts. I did special effects but it was to move on to directing, it was not an end in itself. I have accumulated failures. Even my music video didn’t work, while Chris Cunnigham and Jonathan Glazer were a hit with their music videos and managed to get their foot in the cinema door. My luck was to master the tools that gave the illusion that my images seemed to have cost much more. I was 35 when I made my first film. I felt like a total loser!
MONSTERS
A company contacted me and I assured them that I might make a feature film for several thousand pounds. Three months later, I was in Mexico for Monsters. I mightn’t show too much of the monsters or aliens in the script and I did the 220 special effects shots in my room, with my PC, for $25,000. I had very little money, a few technicians and two actors, so I focused on the love story.
GODZILLA
Godzilla talks regarding the nuclear threat and the trauma of Hiroshima. Just before our shoot, there was the Fukushima disaster, a threat that comes from water and destroys everything in its path… It’s not easy to convey that in a studio popcorn thread. We didn’t want to scare the studio with an arty film, but the nuclear dish is at the heart of the film and I am very proud of Ken Watanabe’s speech on Hiroshima.
You know, you can’t fight once morest a big studio, engage in a showdown, let alone win. We don’t always agree, but it’s polite and we try to compromise. In the event of a big disagreement, you’re fired!
ROGUE ONE
I worked Godzillaand I knew JJ Abrams was going to work on a new Star Wars. I receive an email from LucasFilm. I mightn’t go but six months later, we chatted. The next day, I received two ideas by email. “ Would any of them interest you? » There was an attachment that contained two stories. I read the first one and thought it was great, but not for me. Then I read the second, a prequel to A new hope. I initially thought it was a very bad idea, sacrilege. Then I realized that it was me who would be directing and so I said to myself that it was a great idea, and of course I accepted! Star Wars, it was impossible to refuse, it was the origin of my vocation, it was a dream, how might I say no? On the set of Rogue oneI put crazy pressure on myself, it was impossible for me to screw up this film, I am the biggest fan in the world of Star Wars. And the fans would have insulted me all my life.
While promoting the film, I received a phone call from George Lucas. It was very positive, he was very nice, but I was so impressed that I don’t remember anything.
THE CREATOR
It is a film in response to the frustrations of Rogue one or of Godzillaa film in guerrilla mode, with few actors, sets, the freedom of an independent film, with a big budget for SFX. The Creator hasn’t worked out so well, and I’m not going to buy a yacht, or even a car. But the studio is proud of the film, of its look, so I will be able to make another one.
CURRENT BLOCKBUSTERS
I really believe that there is a before and following of CGI (digital special effects). With computer-generated special effects, you can do EVERYTHING, show everything that’s in your head. Before that, you were terribly limited. You would think that movies would get better with CGI, but they got worse. And my favorite films were all made before the invention of computer-generated images. I think technology has bred a kind of laziness in storytelling. Some people think that they can go there very quickly without a concrete script, and that the effects will solve everything. The filming of most of the big blockbusters begins, while the scripts are not finalized, this happened to me for my two big films… Besides, I don’t like the digital look and I really tried that The Creator has a 70s look.
A NEW STAR WARS?
If they call me why not? But I already won the jackpot, not sure if it’s a good idea for me to play once more. I have to concentrate on personal and original projects.
By Marc Godin
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#GARETH #EDWARDS #DIRECTOR #RESPECT #DAD
