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Director Scott Derrickson took on a daunting challenge in remaking Robert Wise's much lauded 1951 classic SF movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, but was persuaded by the chance to update it for a 21st-century audience.
The remake, starring Keanu Reeves as the alien Klaatu and Jennifer Connelly as astrophysicist Dr. Helen Benson, also makes use of 21st-century visual-effects technology to bring to life Klaatu's otherworldly ship and robot guardian, GORT.
Derrickson, Reeves, Connelly and co-star Jon Hamm spoke with reporters in Beverly Hills, Calif., over the weekend about the remake, which opens Dec. 12. Following is an edited version of that news conference.
Can you talk about taking a sacred text for science fiction buffs and making it for the 21st century?
Hamm: That's probably for me, Scott. (laughter)
Derrickson: You're welcome to it, John. Twentieth Century Fox wanted to do a remake, and I was the first of the people here to sign on to doing it. When I was given the script, I was a bit skeptical. I do love the original very much. It's one of my two favorite Robert Wise films. ...
The screenplay certainly still needed work when I read it, but I was struck by the idea that updating this movie had tremendous value because of the original being so rooted in the social issues of its time. It was such an intelligent and interesting self-reflective commentary, coming from an American studio and an American filmmaker, on the Cold War and the fear of the atomic bomb and the struggle to establish the U.N. and things that were controversial and divisive.
I loved the idea of being able to tell basically the same story but bring in these new social issues that we have now, these new interesting messes that we've gotten ourselves into now in the world and that alone seemed to have value to it and made sense.
I think the other thing was it's been 57 years since the first one, and you'd better have a good reason to remake a classic film. ...
Reeves: I had the same question you had, and I then heard that answer. And I went, 'OK.' And it would be fun to play an alien, and it's a worthwhile story. And that's when I came on board. ...
This Klaatu is not completely alien.
Reeves: That's correct. That was part of the interesting side of the role was that it starts alien and becomes quite human.
Derrickson: It became an interesting conversation that Keanu and I had quite a bit during the making of the movie: ... To what degree is he human? You know, he says his body is human. Where does the body end and the mind begin and vice versa? And we had to sort of work out at least an understanding for ourselves: where, how his becoming human was really occurring. And that was part of what was fun and interesting about the process of that, working on that character. ...
In keeping with the film's environmental theme, wasn't this a green production?
Derrickson: Yeah, this was Fox's first show that was a green production. ... I honestly don't know all the ins and outs of it. I do know that there was a lot of effort that went into making it a true green show. It didn't have much of an effect [on us]. The only effect that it had on me personally was that it was paperless, and for a director, storyboards become very complicated, because they were all digital, and so I never knew who had what. There was no notebook to carry around, and that became confusing. ...
Keanu, what were the sources of your characterization of Klaatu?
Reeves: It really came to me through the obligations of the character in the story. It was in the script. That's really where I worked from. The character has certain cues when he's born and the first time he starts to speak, and he tries to drink a glass of water and says, "This body is going to take some getting used to." So it was just kind of the concept of the separation of his consciousness and his body. And what else? I just approached it like any other role: What does it want? ...
Jennifer Connelly, your character has huge responsibility, deciding whether we live or die on Earth. Did you feel that? And can you talk about working with Jaden Smith, the young actor who plays Helen's son?
Connelly: Well, that's a lot of questions. Well, yes, it felt like a huge responsibility. ... I think it was really clever what Scott did. It's not just ... Helen. It's not just on my shoulders in reality. I think that the relationship between Helen and Jacob [Jaden Smith] is employed in a different way than it is in the original film. It really functions as a little microcosm of human nature and how we are treating each other. They're sort of in conflict, and there's a bit of a crisis, and then there's a sort of reconciliation. They each take responsibility, and there's a move towards resolution. And Klaatu observes this, so there is that dynamic.
There's also the Barnhardt [John Cleese] scene and other encounters that he has that helped shape [his ultimate decision]. So that was a little bit of a relief, that it wasn't just me. ... I wanted people to be able to identify with her, and I thought it was important that she herself be aware of the task and the enormity of that task and that position. So I liked that she has a moment with Barnhardt where she says, "What do I do? Tell me what to do?" She's aware what the stakes are and what she's found herself in.
I liked about Patricia Neal's character in the original that she is open-minded, and she's very strong, free-thinking individual. I thought that was important to carry over, that bravery and thought as qualities: To be human without prejudice, without bias, was really essential, that she be able to communicate and that you feel the depths of her love. I thought those were all really important things. ...
Working with Jaden was fantastic. It's really clear that he has a lot to offer. He did a great job. As I mentioned, it's a complex relationship, and I think that's a lot of nuance to ask of someone his age, and I think he did it beautifully. He even seemed to have a good time doing it, which was really a relief.
At the end of the film you save the earth but with a high price--New Jersey may no longer exist. What was the decision to walk that line between happy ending and not focusing on the negative impact of what happened?
Derrickson: That's a good question. No one's asked me that question, and it was something I thought a lot about. I think that the ideas of this movie--and certainly what I think the movie is ultimately saying--I don't think it's a message movie. I'm not trying to tell anybody to do anything in particular. I'm just trying to be entertaining and tell an entertaining story and represent the world where it's at right now. But I like the idea that the solutions to the problems that we're creating in our world right now--I love the line when she says, "We can change. Can you stop this?" And he says, "It would come at a price for you and your way of life." So I wanted to find some way at the end to not just have everything wrap up perfectly and be inconsequential. There is a price.
But I decided not to try to dissect exactly what that price would be. Because I don't know what it's going to be. But I know it's the thinking that matters. It's that idea that the messes that we've gotten ourselves into as Americans and [as] a species and a human race, the solutions to these will come at a price. And we have to be willing to pay that price. ... There is an open-endedness to it. There's both closure and an open-endedness to what comes next after what just happened that I like.
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