STACK #132 Oct 2016

CINEMA

Q&A

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MAN ON WIRE The Walk is director Robert Zemeckis's dramatisation of the true story about that crazy French guy who illegally walked a high-wire between theTwinTowers in the ‘70s. And it’s in 3D.

it’s not always a visual effect. So it’s not just big stuff. Sometimes it’s the power of a performance. That’s spectacle too. What’s been the biggest challenge with this film? Listen, here’s my feeling. I feel that reward is directly proportional to risk. This is a risky venture, because it’s a story that is… On paper, there’s no simple description of the movie that you can hang your advertising hat on. It’s not based on a comic book or a pre-sold title. It’s unique. That’s risky. Whenever you do anything that’s original and unique, then it’s risky. It sounds like you have a lot in common with Philippe Petit. Yes, we’re also flying without a net! That’s how we’re like Philippe. There’s no net. What was it like working with Joseph Gordon-Levitt? I just felt when I first met Joe that he completely understood the heart and soul of this character. If you look at Joe’s body of work, he’s very much the consummate showman. He’s one of the few young actors who not only [can] perform, but can also at the same time entertain. We discussed the spectacle of what you’re filming. But it also sounds like a caper film as well – how Petit and his crew managed to pull off this stunt. Is that how you approached it? It’s a caper film, but nobody is trying to steal anything or destroy anything. They’re not trying to blow up the world or rob anyone’s jewels. Philippe’s walk has been described as the artistic crime of the century. That’s kind of what it is. So it does have all the elements of a caper [film], but no one is a victim. It’s a caper of love. And the movie is a love letter to the Twin Towers. They’re very much present in the film as characters. So it’s also a celebration. In the tragic history of those buildings, this is one glorious and human moment that happened. And I think that’s something that’s important to remember.

What was at the core of the story that spoke to you? What speaks to me is the idea of this artist who will risk everything to create his art. That I completely relate to. That I completely understand, that thing that happens when you just must do this at all costs. You have to achieve this thing… What I [also] love about it is that it’s just a magnificent fable. It’s just got all the great things that you love in telling stories. Like Casey at the Bat (Ernest Thayer’s iconic-American baseball poem) or Robin Hood or any of those great stories, it’s this sort of magnificent fable. And it resonates very powerfully now because the Towers don’t exist anymore. It can never happen again. So it’s really only a fable now. You’re known for pushing the technology envelope with your films.With this one it looks like you’re doing it once again. I’ve always believed that one of the things we go to the movies to see is [spectacle]. I’ve said this many times, but one of my favorite quotes from any filmmaker is François Truffaut’s when he said, “A really great movie is the perfect blend of truth and spectacle.” And that’s what I think we go to the movies for. We go to see a story that is rooted in human truth and the human journey. But we also go to see spectacle. That’s what movies do better

It took several years to get The Walk into production.Why did it take so long?Would you have been able to get the film made without the success of Gravity , a movie which similarly employed state of the art technology at the service of dramatic storytelling? Good question. Maybe, not… Certainly one of the big struggles I had getting this film made was that it’s very difficult to make any film [today] that’s not derivative. Anything that tries to be unique and original is the hardest type of film to make. And then to say it’s about a wire-walker and I want to make it in 3D – that’s almost an impossible feat. But to answer your question, yes, I think when audiences embrace something – like they did with Gravity , which they embraced for its unique story and use of 3D – it made it a little easier to think that they might like something that has spectacle along with emotion, like this. In a recent interview you said you wanted to make The Walk because of how it would lend itself to 3D… Well, it wasn’t the reason to do it. I’ve always felt there’s a place for 3D if it comes from inside the story, rather than it being what most films are, which are just [3D] conversions. They’re not designed from the inside out to be 3D. So I was looking for a story that should be made in 3D. This story should be made in 3D. But I didn’t make it just to make a film in 3D.

• The Walk is in cinemas on Oct 15 and is reviewed on page 30

than any other art form. Sometimes that spectacle is a close-up. You know,

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