In LA for a press day to promote the Sony Pictures Classics film, Jeunet (Alien: Resurrection, A Very Long Engagement) provided a little insight into the creation of the story and his approach to filmmaking.
On the Story of MicMacs:
"In fact, you have to know something before. I worked two years on Life of Pi. It’s a beautiful project for 20th Century Fox and now Ang Lee is supposed to make the film. I spoke with the producer this morning and it’s on the way, but it was so expensive because it was a story about a kid after a shipwreck in a lifeboat fighting against the tigers. You have the three worst elements for a film: the sea, a wild animal and a kid. So it was too expensive. That’s the only reason I didn’t make this film after two years, and I made the work. I wrote the script. I made the storyboard with my video camera with a model. I spent six months to make the storyboard. It was huge work. I was so starving to shoot."
"I wanted to make something very quickly and I had some different ideas in my computer. In fact, I mixed three different feelings. One of them was a preoccupation about weapon sellers because I had a fascination for these strange people who are able to invent things to give suffering. Also, I wanted a story of revenge. I love Once Upon a Time in the West. I love a story of revenge. And the third thing was to make something with a band of original, weird people like the Seven Dwarves and Snow White. One of them is shy. Another one is always pissed off. You know, this kind of stuff. So, I mix [these] with really strong feelings. It wasn’t so easy. I was concerned to mix a serious issue, like the weapons issue, and a slapstick cartoon. I thought, 'Okay, The Great Dictator was a comedy too.' I hope it works pretty well."
On the Political Undercurrent of the Film:
"I want to say politic because it’s such a cliché to say it’s not good, it’s bad to sell weapons. But we made real research for what we did. We made a beautiful interview in a weapons manufacturer in Belgium who built some arrows to go through the tank. It gets the temperature so high. In one second, everybody burns inside the tank. We met very interesting people. They have the passion for technology. I would like to have these kind of people in my crew – very nice people. When you say, 'But at the end you kill people,' they say, 'Yes, but we work on the right side. We work for the Minister of Defense, not for the Minister of Attack.' Isn’t that beautiful? They say, 'No, no. We sell to people just for… not to the bad guys, of course.' They know it’s hypocritical. They know that we sell it in Africa for poor people. You know, it’s a war."
On the Visual Style of His Films:
"I like people, directors, with a strong style. When you recognize the style after 10 seconds. When you see a film from Tim Burton, you recognize immediately it’s Tim Burton. Same thing for Terry Gilliam or Costa-Gravas. A long time ago it was Fellini or whatever. I don’t want to compare myself with these great directors. I love to shoot with a short lens, to use warm color. I love to do that. This time I wanted to make something faster with a lighter camera but everybody told me no. 'It’s too early for digital. We spend too much time fixing the defects.' Next time I want make it all in 3D or in a lighter camera."
On Sharing His Characters' Vision That Naivete and Ingenuity are a Way of Defending Yourself:
"Yes, absolutely, I believe about imagination. You know, I was a worker when I was 17. Between 17 and 21, I was a worker in the telephone company and imagination saved my life. In fact, the character of Dany Boon is a little bit a metaphor of my work because to accomplish his revenge, he needs a crew with specific characters, like I need a crew to accomplish my film. It’s kind of a metaphor. Isn’t it beautiful?"
On His Approach to Working with Actors:
"They have to be precise. That’s the reason I love Audrey Tautou or Dany Boon. You have to have the head here and here in order to move a little bit, because when you use a short lens, if they are too close to the lens, they could be like a monster. I am very precise. But, on the other hand, if they want to surprise me or they want to propose me something different, I am very open. I am free. I make a storyboard, but, 'Okay, new idea, no problem.'"
On What Defines a French Film:
"I don’t know. Really, I don’t know. I love Paris. I try to show a different Paris each time. I don’t know if it’s French. Of course, if I use the music with an accordion, it sounds French, of course. But, in France, you have to know that I am not French. They think I am international because my films are shown everywhere, and I don’t feel especially French. I’m not a member of any guild. For example, Almodovar, they don’t like him in Spain. You know that? He quit the Academy of America’s Spanish Oscar because they don’t like him. In France, I can complain. But now, it’s getting difficult because I had three huge successes: Alien...Alien was a success in France...Alien, Amelie, and A Very Long Engagement. Now it's time to pay."
And Speaking of Alien: Resurrection...
"I was waiting for this question. [Laughing] No, it was a great experience. And I read so many times, 'It was a nightmare for Jean-Pierre Jeunet.' You know the guy who made Up in the Air? He made a joke with the photo like the dwarf in Amelie and they say, 'It's like in the French film.' Because I read in an interview he said, 'Because it was a nightmare to make Alien for Jean-Pierre Jeunet and he came back in France to make Amelie.' It’s an homage.' No, it wasn't a nightmare. I'm sorry. You would like? It was tough. It was difficult because you have to convince people to have your own editing. You have to speak with a lot of people. But it wasn't a nightmare, it was just tough. And in France, it's not tough. You have the freedom by law. We have the final cut by the law. It's the law."
