Source YT Korita05
Showing posts with label Ang Lee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ang Lee. Show all posts
Monday, February 13, 2017
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Kristen and Ang Lee's interview with Courier Mail (Australia)
Director Ang Lee had only seen one Kristen Stewart film when he approached the actor to play a pivotal role in his groundbreaking drama Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, about a traumatised US soldier who is celebrated as a hero when he returns from the Iraqi War. It wasn’t Twilight.
The performance that had etched itself onto Lee’s subconscious was the free-spirited teenager Stewart played Sean Penn’s survival drama Into The Wild (2007).
In terms of screen time, that role, shot the best part of a decade ago when Stewart was just 16 or 17, didn’t amount to much more than a cameo.
“It reminds me of how Heath Ledger used to work for me,” says Lee.
“If you saw him in one movie — like Monster’s Ball — you just remembered him. He was like the emotional core.
“Kristen gave me that vibe.”
The far-reaching impact of Stewart’s performance in Into The Wild goes some way to explaining the success the former “tabloid brat” has had in reinventing herself as a serious independent actor in the wake of the final Twilight instalment, which was released in 2012.
The actor had already received solid reviews for her performances as Joan Jett in The Runaways, Marylou in On the Road, and Em Lewin in Adventureland.
Post-Twilight, however, the critics have been positively effusive.
“Sensational” was the adjective Rolling Stone used to described Stewart’s performance in Clouds of Sils Maria, for which she became the first US actor ever to win a Cesar, or French Oscar.
"The role … calls for a baleful eye, rare cunning and expert comic timing. Stewart nails every nuance,” was the verdict.
Recent notices for Woody Allen’s Café Society, in which she starred opposite Jesse Eisenberg, have been even more enthusiastic.
“Stewart is good enough to almost make you wish for another version of The Great Gatsby just so she could play Daisy,” said the Hollywood Reporter.
“Glorious” was New Statesman’s passionate summary of her performance.
“It’s been hard, but obviously every step I have taken has led me to this particular spot,’’ Stewart told News Corp Australia when American Ultra was released last year.
“And I wouldn’t change it. Not personally. Not professionally. Nothing.”
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s the phenomenally-successful Twilight Saga stands out as the aberration in a career that spans Panic Room with Jodie Foster (2002), and more recently Still Alice (2014), with Julianne Moore.
Lee approached Stewart to play the role of Billy Lynn’s sister because he needed an actor who was capable of packing a big punch in a relatively short space of time.
“It’s an angry part. She sort of represents the dissolution of the American dream,’’ he says.
“It’s not a big role but it’s a significant one; the emotion lands on her final scene. The movie didn’t have time to develop her actually so it’s a lot to ask.
“I think she delivered.
”She has the necessary weight and intensity and devotion.”
For Stewart, who is currently dating singer-songwriter Annie Clark, better known as St Vincent, the character functions as the film’s emotional backbone.
She embraced the challenge but “without sounding simplistic, I would probably have done anything with Ang. I have grown up watching his films.”
An added incentive was Lee’s decision to push the technological boundaries of 3D, shooting the film at 120 frames per second, twice the previous record (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) and five times the standard speed of 24fps.
The technology is so groundbreaking, only half a dozen cinemas in the world have the capacity to screen it in that form.
"The way it’s being captured is just so forward and I wanted to be the first step in that new process,” says Stewart.
But when it comes to choosing roles, the actor insists she has no real game plan.
"I make really instinctual, impulsive choices in terms of stories and people that I find myself able to bring to life.”
Like the Ben Fountain novel from which it was adapted, Billy Lynn is set on a single day in 2004.
The title character’s Iraqi War platoon is to be celebrated at the Dallas Cowboy’s Thanksgiving halftime show.
But everybody seems to have their own take on the war hero’s story, which is revealed in flashback.
And that makes it exceptionally difficult for the traumatised soldier to work out what his own version might be.
“He comes home a different man. There’s a massive separation or divide that occurs,” says Stewart, whose outspoken character is passionately concerned for her brother’s welfare.
She tries desperately to dissuade her brother from going back.
“It’s not the most divided way of looking at things — it was a ridiculous and senseless war,’’ says the actor who plays her.
“Let’s be honest, we didn’t know. But when you put young boys in the middle of that, it’s important for our generation of filmmakers to tell those personal stories.
“Yes it’s political. But at the same time it’s just so close to home, it needs to be explored.”
After shooting seven films, back-to-back, over the past two years, Stewart has taken a bit of time to “replenish the well.”
“I got a little burned out,” she says.
“My schedule was pretty full on for a long time … I guess I tempered it rather than taking a break.”
During that “down time” she wrote and directed the short film Come Swim, which is currently in the final stages of post- production.
“I have never been happier doing anything,” she says.
“It was so much fun.
"I don’t see a huge distinction between acting and directing — it’s kind of like the next level of my life and I feel really lucky to be able to explore that now.”
Over the Christmas break, Stewart intends to start developing her first feature.
But right now, she is filming the psychological thriller Lizzie, based on the infamous 1892 Borden family murders, in Savannah.
Chloe Sevigny plays the title character. Stewart plays the young maid she befriends.
After that, the 26-year-old actor is open to offers.
“I am just going to keep my head down and plough through,” she says.
“There is no rhyme or reason as to how things fall into your lap, what becomes the story that you want to tell.
“I have nothing other than my gut to lead me and it’s not let me down so far.
"So right now I have no grand plans. I am just going to carry on.”
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Kristen, Steve Martin and Ang Lee talk 'BLLHW' with Nashville Scene
What was the motivation behind inventing a new kind of cinematic language for this film?
Ang Lee: I believe art is what you don’t have, not necessarily what you do have. That compensation very frequently becomes the art itself. Twenty-four frames per second has been the standard for almost a hundred years, and has given us so much great art and so many great movies. How dare I challenge that? But when it comes to digital cinema, I just get the urge to see dimension, and when I see dimension, 24 frames per second doesn’t suffice, which leads to the next step. And I know that is a big leap.
Do you think this is the next step in the evolution of cinema?
AL: I have no interest in technology. But since I did [Life of] Pi, I’ve seen what digital cinema can do, and what it does is allow cinema to be dimensionalized, to be seen the way our eyes see. This seems like a logical step for me. I think it’s just the beginning. It can do anything, as long as you know how to do it. I know eventually I want the reality of a thing, the information. I want to read faces, and the close-up of the human face and the spaces that you put them in — that really draws me in.
As an actor, what was it like to be approached with this whole new way of making a film?
Steve Martin: Going into it, I thought, “I’m 70 years old, and I’m going to be shot in high-def, with no makeup. I’m gonna look fantastic.” You know how you take a photo of your dog with your phone, and their nose comes out, and it’s so cute, because the nose looks almost as big as their head? I thought, “I’m gonna be in 3-D; does that mean my nose is going to be poking out into the audience?” But I prepared for the role — I went to fancy restaurants, I drove around in fancy cars. But I was impressed by the idea of the technology.
So there was an appeal in the newness and potential of it?
SM: The camera was actually quite physically beautiful, and I became rather attracted to it. It’s a gorgeous piece of machinery, and the operation of it is so skillful. I felt like I could only act, and do my job. And it felt like, a lot of the time, that we weren’t really acting; it became quite a natural experience. As a process, it became really fun, especially when working with so many talented people.
It seems like one of the main recurrences in both Fountain’s book and in the film is the way in which no two people seem to know what the concept of “supporting the troops” means or entails. How did you approach that?
Kristen Stewart: What I found most interesting about this was that you have [Kathryn, the titular character’s sister], who is essentially a pacifist, but who never expresses her liberalism in any way that isn’t humanitarian. She’s never provoking anyone, and she’s being made to acknowledge a gap that has grown between her and someone that she’s known her entire life but can now no longer hold as close as she has before, because they’re now completely different beings. That changes a person, when you can no longer keep someone close enough to love them and comfort them as much as you want to. You’re so deep inside of something that you’ve never been able to get an exterior perspective on, and is that fair? Can you be proud of that?
It’s very contentious now in modern storytelling: Who can represent whom? How do we responsibly tell the story of others?
KS: I have so much more distance than someone who has served does, yet I still have that same feeling. Can I own my feelings? Do I really understand the situation? I think Kathryn is coming from a place of, “Let’s understand what we’re fighting for.” It’s a personal response, but she’s genuinely worried for him. Because what’s going to happen when his training fades, when the conditioned responses fade and you have to be a human being again who doesn’t necessarily know how to contend with what happened? And further on from that, how do we contend with having put those people there, in that situation?
She’s a different kind of a character than we usually get in stories about military families.
KS: She’s the personification of Question, rather than Opinion.
Are there any of your other films you wish you could have had this technology for?
AL: No. Only a few shots in Hulk. He has a big head, and the separation between the eyes is greater than a normal human head, so you can represent “puny human.” It’s not for everything.
Are you at all worried about how audiences will react to the film, especially depending on how they are able to see it?
AL: My eyes are different than your eyes, because I’ve been doing this film for two years. Before that, it was a four-year struggle getting into digital cinema and 3-D. I think you get used to it. I think it can allow you more ways to put things together in your mind, and when you have more and more detail from the image, more information, it’s not necessarily overwhelming. It becomes comforting.
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Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Monday, November 14, 2016
Friday, November 11, 2016
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Monday, November 7, 2016
Friday, November 4, 2016
Video: Ang Lee mentions Kristen at the 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' Press Conference in Taiwan (Mandarin)
Ang Lee mentions Kristen at 58.14mins (translation):
- He sent the script and she accepted the part. It's their 1st phone call.
- Ang Lee remembered Kristen from Into the Wild. Impressive performance. Kristen rehearsed with Joe without make up.
If you don't understand Mandarin, it's interesting to hear Joe Alwyn's answers throughout the press conference too (in English).
Thanks to @CiderFlood for the video and translation of Ang Lee's comments on Kristen.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Video: Ang Lee mentions Kristen at the 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' Taiwan Press Conference
(Mandarin) Ang Lee, director - on casting newcomer Joe Alwyn:
"When you've got the talent, then ou've got it. I've been pretty good about that. If a new actor has talent, I can probably smell it from two miles away."
Emcee: "Just by smelling?"
Lee: "After one or two minutes of the audition, I already knew… "
Emcee: "Just one or two minutes?"
Lee: "But we kept going for one or two hours. Right from the beginning, I had a feeling that he was going to be the one."
(Mandarin) Ang Lee, director - on casting Vin Diesel and Kristen Stewart:
"(Vin) is very similar to the character as described in the book. They are both like a Buddhist Rambo. The character was also like a leader of the group. He's bald and looks like a mushroom. He was a great fit for the role. I believe that he can act. When I spoke to him, I knew we had a good chance of getting him. I spoke to him on the phone first. In the hour (we spoke), he was very excited. He didn't stop talking. He wanted to talk about philosophy, religions and went on and on. So I knew we weren't going to have a problem. You know, the movie stars all have the entourage, of course they had to take care of that themselves. We wouldn't be able to afford him if he did the job for free. But he just really wanted to be a part of this film. He had quite a few scenes. Kristen…we didn't cast her through a casting director. When I read the book, I thought of her. She was also my first pick."
Source via plus YT Korita05
Friday, October 28, 2016
Kristen, Ang Lee, Joe Alwyn, Garrett Hedlund & Steve Martin will be on the 'Today Show' for 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' - 8 November 2016
"Billy Lynn" stars Kristen Stewart, Steve Martin, Joe Alwyn and Garrett Hedlund and director Ang Lee will appear on the 11/8 TODAY Show.
“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” opens on November 11.
Three days earlier, several principals — including female lead Kristen Stewart and director Ang Lee– will appear on NBC’s TODAY Show.
Per tentative listings, Stewart, Lee, Steve Martin, Joe Alwyn and Garrett Hedlund will appear during the 9-10AM hour on November 8.
They are the only celebrities presently scheduled for that hour.
9am ET/ 6.00am PT/ 2.00pm UK/ 3/00pm CET/ Wed 1.00am AEST.
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Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Kristen at the 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' Photocall and Press Conference at NYFF - 15 October 2016 (Video, Photos, Audio)
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