Michel Gondry on The Green Hornet, Difficult Writers, and Why 2D is as 'Gimmicky' as 3D
Michel Gondry is an eccentric choice to direct a superhero movie like the Seth Rogen starrer The Green Hornet, but perhaps the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind helmer can use his left-field sensibility to mine something new in a very crowded genre. In a chat this afternoon with Movieline at Comic-Con, Gondry sounded off on working with Rogen (and his frequent collaborator, Charlie Kaufman), Nicolas Cage's brief flirtation with the film, and why Hornet's post-production conversion to 3D is no gimmick.
You've worked with some interesting writers before -- incuding Charlie Kaufman and yourself -- but what is it like to direct a movie where the star, Seth Rogen, is also one of the writers?
It's complicated. It's not easy, but it's not easy to work with Charlie Kaufman, for all the greatness there is, I have to say. When the actor is as well the writer...thank God Seth doesn't have a big ego. I don't think my ego is that big either, and I don't even think [producer] Neal Moritz's is that big! I think everyone on this project didn't have any agenda, which makes every conflict easy to solve. It could feel like a sandwich sometimes, to have the writer and the actor be the same person, but I think it worked very well. The good thing is that you don't have to call the writer at 3 in the morning if you want to change a line. You just change it!
It was a collaboration, and with Charlie Kaufman it was a collaboration, but they are both very demanding situations where there is material you have to respect. Sometimes screenwriters say they are making a bone and everyone will chew on it, but you can't do that with Charlie Kaufman or the actor who writes his own script.
Is this the first movie of yours that had a set release date when you started shooting it?
Hmm. I guess so.
Did that feel like added pressure?
There is more pressure, but I think I always have the pressure. If it doesn't come from the studio, it comes from me, so there is always pressure.
And now you've been bumped to the same year as The Green Lantern. Do you worry moviegoers will be confused?
It's fine. It's legal. [Laughs]
At least you'll come out first.
Yes!
Nicolas Cage was originally attached to play the villain, and there was some conflict over him wanting to make the character Jamaican...
Yes, that's true.
Was that something you would have been amenable to, ultimately?
Yes, that was something he wanted, and we were open to it. After, he changed his mind, and he didn't want to do the movie anymore. I think we have always been open-minded that each actor could bring their own contribution. Sometimes it could be a little complicated, but that was not the reason he did not do the film.
Pages: 1 2
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
Comments
He didn't really answer that last question.
I'm pretty sure that when the black and white to color switch happened there weren't people shooting in black and white and then having their films rotoscoped into color.
Shooting in 3d like Avatar or Tron: Legacy is not a gimmick. Transferring a 2d shot film into 3d, hell yes that's a gimmick. And a shitty one that fucks up the movie.
Yeah, I think Gondry's ultimate stance on the 3D thing is 'who cares at this point?' Like, it's out of his hands so why be bitter about it, so he just says all this stuff about how 3D itself isn't inherently bad and leaves it at that.
I have to disagree. Post Converting is NOT a gimmick. Doing it just to do it and rushing it so you can have the movie in 3d and up the ticket price just cause, that is a gimmick.
Taking your time to do it well, assuring it looks good, is color corrected to account for the glasses and even only using it in scenes that really benefit from it. That is not a gimmick. That is using your tools. The trick is time and the willingness to say "you know what, it does look like shit. can it we aren't releasing this"
That last bit was the problem with Clash and Airbender both. They did it too fast and didn't have the guts to admit it was trash. Which really really bit M Night in the butt cause he made all those statements about how great it looked.
So much of what Gondry does could be dismissed as gimmicky, anyway (I mean, you know, if you don't have a soul). He has so many old school camera tricks up his sleeve, I would actually love to see him embrace 3D from the beginning. That said, as long as he's overseeing the conversion, I look forward to what he can offer.
Here is the sweded Tron Mr. Gondry was talking about.
http://gizmodo.com/372771/sweded-tron-movie-is-probably-best-sweded-movie-ever
So sick of 3D I could puke.
You say all that, but didn't give an example of a movie that was converted to 3d in post that actually looked good. I'm having trouble thinking of any.
So basically he didnt answer the question. The green hornet has Flop written all over it. Its some of the worse Casting I have seen for a movie in years. And the trailer just looks like some dry-humor satire of the Green Hornet. The 3D is just a way to sham people out of extra money so that when people find out how crappy it is the studio will already have most of there money. There are people like the Warner Bros President"Alan Horne" who will tell you not to look down on 3D conversions but I say how can you not?! between Clash & Airbender & the worthless Shrek forever After this has been one crap-taculer year for 3D conversions. And Harry Potter will also not work in 3D. Mainly becuase while the first 4 Harry Potter films had more flashy visuals & effects the last 2 films have had more dark & Dim Look & cinematography to go along with the darker and dreary tone the movies are taking. Therefore the 3D will most likely mak th movie look severe shades darker and the effects very flat. 3D is no longer Art, it has become a cheap, predictable gimmick and if hollywood doesn't change there ways fast moviegoesrs are gonna wake up one day and realize that every movie is in 3D and most of them arent worth it. Directors should penn the success of there movies off there films being good and not if there movies are being converted to 3D.