Andrew Niccol burst onto the film scene in the late 90s like a chattering Kalachnikof AK 47 with his directorial debut, Gattaca, a post-1984 look at a world where genetic perfection through science has become commonplace and a film he wrote but did not direct, The Truman Show, about a man whos entire life has been broadcast on television unbeknownst to him.
Since then Niccol has become a respected film auteur with S1m0ne about a digitally created actress and his latest is Lord of War, his most perfectly realized film. Nicolas Cage plays the globetrotting arms dealer Yuri Orlov. Through some of the deadliest war zones, Yuri struggles to stay one step ahead of a relentless Interpol agent [Ethan Hawke], his business rivals, even some of his customers who include many of the world's most notorious dictators [Eamonn Walker].
Check out the official website for Lord of War
Daniel Robert Epstein: So everyones going to be asking you about Nicolas Cage and Jared Leto but I want to ask you about Eamonn Walker, did you see him on Oz?
Andrew Niccol: Ive never seen him before.
DRE: He is amazing.
AN: Theres something hypnotic about him, isnt there?
DRE: Yes and I heard hes very intense.
AN: Yeah, but also very sweet. When I hug him its like hugging a fire plug. Hes the most solid human being. Theres also this intensity in his eyes that makes it so you cant take your eyes off him.
DRE: Did he audition for you?
AN: I met with him. I dont really like to do that audition process because I think its bogus [laughs]. Its so artificial for someone to come into a room and do the scene for you. It just doesnt quite feel right so by talking you just get it.
DRE: Brothers are obviously very important to you. There was an important brother dynamic in Gattaca and now there is one in Lord of War.
AN: Yeah but I dont know why Im like that. Maybe its because I dont have one. Im working it out onscreen.
DRE: Do you have any siblings?
AN: Yeah, I have two sisters.
DRE: Is your relationship good with them?
AN: Its good. Were all in the communication business so we never talk to each other.
DRE: What do they think of these relationships that you put onscreen?
AN: We dont talk about it that much because theyre doing their own stuff. My sister is a TV director and my other sister is a writer as well. I guess were one of those reserved families. One of my girlfriends once said What are they reserving it for?
DRE: [laughs] Also brothers in your film are also kind of surrogate fathers to one another. The fathers are not in your film much, they are more of a presence.
AN: I have a friend who is like a brother to me actually. It is one of those relationships where, if I killed somebody, he would say You shouldnt have done that but then he would help me.
DRE: [laughs] I understand because I have a brother.
AN: I dont know why Im drawn to that, but I guess I am.
DRE: The design of Lord of War is amazing. Are all the key crew members from different countries?
AN: This is the United Nations crew. I have a French production designer, an Iranian cinematographer, a Brazilian line producer, an Italian costume designer, American editor and a Brazilian composer. Well thats two Brazilians.
DRE: [laughs] Were the burnt out cities sets? Is that what all the money was spent on?
AN: There wasnt that much money to spend. For instance, South Africa had to stand for 13 countries. So if you want to make North Africa the way to do it cheaply is to just get 10,000 bricks. Bricks are cheap so if you just lay out a field of bricks, then have a woman drying clay bricks then suddenly youre in North Africa. For me its a great contrast because Nicolas Cages character and Jared Letos character walk through the burnt out city on their way to sell the most sophisticated munitions in a place where theyre drying bricks in the sand. It instantly tells a bit of the story.
DRE: Did you build the Russian military base?
AN: No I didnt. That was an actual ex-Soviet military base in the Czech Republic. All of those guns in there are real because it was cheaper to buy 3000 Kalachnikof AK-47s than rent them which is what the US does all the time.
DRE: Was there any CGI used to create those tanks?
AN: All those tanks are real. Theres a guy in the Czech Republic who privately owns 100 Soviet T-72 tanks. I said to him, Listen I need to have some tanks. He said, No problem, a hundred tanks, no problem. Then he said Theres only one catch. In December I need them back because Im selling them to Libya. Which is exactly what Libya needs by the way. It was very interesting to meet these guys and see how open they were. The plane that I used in those pivotal scenes is owned by one of the most notorious arms dealers in Africa, hes Russian.
DRE: I guess when foreign money backs your film you have to deal with some unsavory characters.
AN: But theres no other way to do it. If you want a very authentic Russian arms dealer plane, what you find in Africa is that you have to get one from a Russian arms dealer. That plane was running real guns into the Congo, a week before we were using it to do fake guns. The Russian crew members would look at it and go, Its quite authentic.
DRE: I read that you do a lot of research. Did you or Nicolas Cage do on the spot research with those arms dealers?
AN: Yeah, that was a very good way to get a feeling for it. It makes you realize why its so difficult for anyone to combat this. Thats why Ethan Hawkes character is feeling so tortured in this film and Nicolas Cages character doesnt. There are so many loopholes. That plane that I was talking about later crashed in Uganda with suspicious cargo and there are only little pieces left. The crew is all dead.
DRE: I spoke to Jonathan Glazer actually about his music videos. I asked him if a certain video came out the way he wanted it to and he said, Nothing comes out the way I want it to.
AN: I agree entirely. Theyre always a compromise and sometimes things work out better than you imagined or worse. But very rarely do they come out exactly as you imagined.
DRE: How do you see Lord of War?
AN: Its a compromise like all movies are compromises.
DRE: Theres scene that is in the trailer o0f Yuri Orlov standing in the field of cartridges. That seems like it was envisioned perfectly.
AN: Yes thats true; its about as close as you can get to it. That shot is based on an actual photojournalists photograph of a carpet of bullets in a Monrovian street which really looked like that. Its not some art director gone mad. Im was a little concerned, because I look at it and think Oh that looks a little exaggerated but thats exactly what it looks like after a battle because they just fire like madmen. Most of them are high anyway.
DRE: Do you see this as a dark comedy?
AN: Yeah, there is just a macabre absurdity to this world like the arms fair.
DRE: The arms fair looked like the San Diego Comicon but with guns.
AN: Right. At those youll have mortal enemies from different nations going to the same vendor and buying the same munitions, go off and go to war against each other. Theyre being very congenial and all in the same hall together. Theyre not grabbing weapons and shooting each other. Its all very businesslike. They go off to their separate corners and come out fighting. So I just wanted some of that insanity.
DRE: When the guns going off and Nicolas Cage hears the cash register going ka-ching, ka-ching. That seems to me like something youd see a 100 times in editing and still chuckle.
AN: Yeah, sometimes I do. In that one moment you know what this man is.
DRE: A lot of directors resist the word auteur but this film keeps in line with a lot of the themes from S1m0ne, Gattaca and even The Truman Show. Technology has run amok but this time its the technology of guns.
AN: Yeah but I dont really analyze what I do because Im superstitious and I think Ill stop doing it [laughs]. But I can see some parallels in it. Theres always fraud in my films.
DRE: Do you resist technology such as a cell phone and computer?
AN: I have it all. But I have a healthy respect or disrespect for it. Someone said to me that Im always looking at the human condition but its really the inhuman condition Im looking at. How we do things to ourselves and use technology to the point where its running us.
DRE: As producer, is raising money for a film like gunrunning?
AN: Yes I guess its true. Like Yuri Orlov I have no allegiance to anything but green. Youll take money from almost anywhere. You become a total prostitute.
DRE: [laughs] I found an online chat you did when Gattaca was coming out. You wrote I always think of myself as an outsider. Lord of War film is very indicative of that. I couldnt believe a big studio didnt produce it.
AN: Then you went and you saw why.
DRE: Exactly, but why was the script turned down?
AN: It went out a week before the latest Iraq invasion in 2003 and that was the timing from hell. Arms dealers keep going; they dont care about the war du jour. American studios shy away from stating the fact that America is the big gun supplier of the world. For some reason they dont want to touch it. Coincidentally foreign countries, like France, have no such problems. Its so funny that the French who are so opposed to Iraq would put money into a movie about arms dealing.
DRE: When did Nic and Ethan get attached?
AN: Actually, Nic was attached at that time so even with Nicolas Cage this script couldnt get financing from a Hollywood studio.
DRE: Thats unusual. Hes like one of the top ten biggest stars in the world.
AN: But its also because of the political climate.
DRE: Are your films more popular in other countries?
AN: Yes.
DRE: I know S1m0ne was not received well in America.
AN: But that did well in France, Italy and for some reason in Japan. They like artificial people.
DRE: I saw this documentary Synthetic Pleasures and it showed that in Japan they have an indoor snow-covered mountain to ski on.
AN: I know and they have an indoor ocean as well. But the weird thing about it is that it is right next to the real ocean.
DRE: When Yuri shoots the gun it seems like its the first time he ever shot a gun.
AN: Yeah and its the first time hes killed a man.
DRE: Have you ever used guns?
AN: Ive shot guns but Im not a gun owner. Theyre too dangerous.
DRE: What made you cast Bridget [Moynahan]?
AN: The character had to have the looks to be an ex-beauty queen but she had to have smarts as well to be Yuris conscience. It was difficult, theres a physicality to her but there also has to be a complexity to her.
DRE: How was it shooting in Brooklyn?
AN: I love shooting New York for New York. No one does it anymore.
DRE: Was there a certain way that you approached Brooklyn?
AN: No, it was just a fascinating place to go. In researching the film I went to Little Odessa and its fantastic. You can walk down the street and only hear Russian spoken. Then actual mobsters wanted to audition [laughs]. So its a good place to be, it has a good feeling.
DRE: Do you see the ending as a little more cynical than your previous works?
AN: Its the truth. A well known arms dealer, living in Florida was about to be indicted on arms trafficking charges. Then he gets his passport back and hes allowed to leave the country. So Im only writing whats real. Im sure to some government agency hes more valuable on the outside than sitting in a jail cell.
DRE: The general was Donald Sutherland, right?
AN: His voice was but not the actual figure. He loved the material and then couldnt be in the film because he had a another movie he had to do. So Donald Sutherland shows up for me in LA and just plays the voice. Its a great compliment.
DRE: Its been eight years since you worked with Ethan [Hawke], now hes doing better work than ever. Was it as easy as you calling him up?
AN: Yeah, hes my best friend in the film business. In some ways he was doing me a favor, but also hopefully he was doing himself a favor because I think hes very good in the film. Theres some complexity to him thats great even though hes this Interpol agent, hes more than just some do-gooder. What I like about his character is that he doesnt want to catch the bad guy; he wants his picture in the papers. Hes got a certain vanity and thats why he puts his suit on when he goes in for that interrogation scene. He thinks hes got his man and the rug is pulled out from under him.
DRE: Your son Jack is in Lord of War as well.
AN: Its not the kind of nepotism you would think. I was in South Africa and I had three babies that I cast to play the role of Nic Cages son and they all fall asleep or start throwing tantrums. So I call up my girlfriend at the hotel and I say, Can you cut Jacks hair and bring him down here because all the other babies are freaking out.
DRE: How old is he?
AN: Jack is two and a half.
DRE: Does your family normally come to your film sets?
AN: Yeah, they do. If Im a nomad they just come with me.
DRE: Do they understand what youre doing?
AN: Its kind of interesting because children are such mimics at that age so when Jack sees me pointing on the set he starts pointing [laughs]. Its sort of like having a Mini-Me.
DRE: I read that you werent happy with the way The Truman Show came out.
AN: Listen, dont believe everything you read. This is not true. I made a mistake by writing my most expensive script first. I remember having a conversation with a studio head at the time and she said to me, Andrew were not going to give you 80 million dollars for your first film, but we would give you 20. So I went off and wrote Gattaca and made sure it was a 20 million dollar script so I could direct it.
[The Truman Show director] Peter Weir and I are friends now and we became friends during that process. You have two choices really when someone else is going to direct your material. You can wash your hands of it or you can embrace it. I chose to embrace it. It was a different version of the movie than I would have made but it was just as valid. I just wanted to make sure that as many of my ideas were in it as possible.
DRE: Were you the one rewriting it?
AN: Yes, I rewrote it. It was not as if Peter took it away and said Thank you very much.
DRE: I read that at the end of the movie Truman was supposed to wreck a souvenir shop. Were you happy with the way the movie ended?
AN: I think in the end Peters choice might have left more to the imagination. So it was a good choice.
DRE: I read that David Cronenberg was supposed to direct it at one point.
AN: Yeah, Im sure it would have been a darker version.
DRE: Has the way you write changed?
AN: No its frighteningly haphazard [laughs]. To me a script is like a newspaper, theres a new one every day. Ill rewrite it every single day so I dont even think of myself as a writer. I know that other people do but theyre just a means to making a movie. I dont even think they should be published because theyre not works of literature.
DRE: I absolutely agree.
AN: There are three times you make a movie. You write it, then you shoot it, then you rewrite it because reality sets in and youve written blue skies and its raining. Then you write it a third time when you edit it because you can really change things during that process.
DRE: I read that at one point you didnt want to write any more screenplays for other people, but then I read something about Paani to be directed by Shekhar Kapur.
AN: See now heres a lesson for you; do not believe what you read on the Internet. Shekhar Kapur is a friend of mine and he went to Cannes one time and he wanted to raise money for a party. So he said, Andrew Niccol is going to write this for me [laughs]. Then Im sure they gave him a lot of money but afterwards it appeared on the Internet.
DRE: Do you do script doctoring for people?
AN: No.
DRE: But you did work on The Terminal [directed by Steven Spielberg].
AN: The Terminal was an idea I had that I didnt want to write or direct because it was too close to The Truman Show. Another prisoner in paradise with a man trapped in this confined world.
DRE: So when the writer/director of Gattaca has a son, theres a question that must be asked.
AN: Is he genetically enhanced? Absolutely [laughs].
DRE: [laughs] Well thats something you obviously researched. What were you thinking when you were about to have a child?
AN: Its amazing because you cant do all of that research about that kind of area and not think about it. Now on a basic level you can choose the sex of your child. Also were very close to being able to tamper in other things as well. You could find out if there are certain inheritable diseases and you could not implant that child. But I did it the old fashioned way.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Since then Niccol has become a respected film auteur with S1m0ne about a digitally created actress and his latest is Lord of War, his most perfectly realized film. Nicolas Cage plays the globetrotting arms dealer Yuri Orlov. Through some of the deadliest war zones, Yuri struggles to stay one step ahead of a relentless Interpol agent [Ethan Hawke], his business rivals, even some of his customers who include many of the world's most notorious dictators [Eamonn Walker].
Check out the official website for Lord of War
Daniel Robert Epstein: So everyones going to be asking you about Nicolas Cage and Jared Leto but I want to ask you about Eamonn Walker, did you see him on Oz?
Andrew Niccol: Ive never seen him before.
DRE: He is amazing.
AN: Theres something hypnotic about him, isnt there?
DRE: Yes and I heard hes very intense.
AN: Yeah, but also very sweet. When I hug him its like hugging a fire plug. Hes the most solid human being. Theres also this intensity in his eyes that makes it so you cant take your eyes off him.
DRE: Did he audition for you?
AN: I met with him. I dont really like to do that audition process because I think its bogus [laughs]. Its so artificial for someone to come into a room and do the scene for you. It just doesnt quite feel right so by talking you just get it.
DRE: Brothers are obviously very important to you. There was an important brother dynamic in Gattaca and now there is one in Lord of War.
AN: Yeah but I dont know why Im like that. Maybe its because I dont have one. Im working it out onscreen.
DRE: Do you have any siblings?
AN: Yeah, I have two sisters.
DRE: Is your relationship good with them?
AN: Its good. Were all in the communication business so we never talk to each other.
DRE: What do they think of these relationships that you put onscreen?
AN: We dont talk about it that much because theyre doing their own stuff. My sister is a TV director and my other sister is a writer as well. I guess were one of those reserved families. One of my girlfriends once said What are they reserving it for?
DRE: [laughs] Also brothers in your film are also kind of surrogate fathers to one another. The fathers are not in your film much, they are more of a presence.
AN: I have a friend who is like a brother to me actually. It is one of those relationships where, if I killed somebody, he would say You shouldnt have done that but then he would help me.
DRE: [laughs] I understand because I have a brother.
AN: I dont know why Im drawn to that, but I guess I am.
DRE: The design of Lord of War is amazing. Are all the key crew members from different countries?
AN: This is the United Nations crew. I have a French production designer, an Iranian cinematographer, a Brazilian line producer, an Italian costume designer, American editor and a Brazilian composer. Well thats two Brazilians.
DRE: [laughs] Were the burnt out cities sets? Is that what all the money was spent on?
AN: There wasnt that much money to spend. For instance, South Africa had to stand for 13 countries. So if you want to make North Africa the way to do it cheaply is to just get 10,000 bricks. Bricks are cheap so if you just lay out a field of bricks, then have a woman drying clay bricks then suddenly youre in North Africa. For me its a great contrast because Nicolas Cages character and Jared Letos character walk through the burnt out city on their way to sell the most sophisticated munitions in a place where theyre drying bricks in the sand. It instantly tells a bit of the story.
DRE: Did you build the Russian military base?
AN: No I didnt. That was an actual ex-Soviet military base in the Czech Republic. All of those guns in there are real because it was cheaper to buy 3000 Kalachnikof AK-47s than rent them which is what the US does all the time.
DRE: Was there any CGI used to create those tanks?
AN: All those tanks are real. Theres a guy in the Czech Republic who privately owns 100 Soviet T-72 tanks. I said to him, Listen I need to have some tanks. He said, No problem, a hundred tanks, no problem. Then he said Theres only one catch. In December I need them back because Im selling them to Libya. Which is exactly what Libya needs by the way. It was very interesting to meet these guys and see how open they were. The plane that I used in those pivotal scenes is owned by one of the most notorious arms dealers in Africa, hes Russian.
DRE: I guess when foreign money backs your film you have to deal with some unsavory characters.
AN: But theres no other way to do it. If you want a very authentic Russian arms dealer plane, what you find in Africa is that you have to get one from a Russian arms dealer. That plane was running real guns into the Congo, a week before we were using it to do fake guns. The Russian crew members would look at it and go, Its quite authentic.
DRE: I read that you do a lot of research. Did you or Nicolas Cage do on the spot research with those arms dealers?
AN: Yeah, that was a very good way to get a feeling for it. It makes you realize why its so difficult for anyone to combat this. Thats why Ethan Hawkes character is feeling so tortured in this film and Nicolas Cages character doesnt. There are so many loopholes. That plane that I was talking about later crashed in Uganda with suspicious cargo and there are only little pieces left. The crew is all dead.
DRE: I spoke to Jonathan Glazer actually about his music videos. I asked him if a certain video came out the way he wanted it to and he said, Nothing comes out the way I want it to.
AN: I agree entirely. Theyre always a compromise and sometimes things work out better than you imagined or worse. But very rarely do they come out exactly as you imagined.
DRE: How do you see Lord of War?
AN: Its a compromise like all movies are compromises.
DRE: Theres scene that is in the trailer o0f Yuri Orlov standing in the field of cartridges. That seems like it was envisioned perfectly.
AN: Yes thats true; its about as close as you can get to it. That shot is based on an actual photojournalists photograph of a carpet of bullets in a Monrovian street which really looked like that. Its not some art director gone mad. Im was a little concerned, because I look at it and think Oh that looks a little exaggerated but thats exactly what it looks like after a battle because they just fire like madmen. Most of them are high anyway.
DRE: Do you see this as a dark comedy?
AN: Yeah, there is just a macabre absurdity to this world like the arms fair.
DRE: The arms fair looked like the San Diego Comicon but with guns.
AN: Right. At those youll have mortal enemies from different nations going to the same vendor and buying the same munitions, go off and go to war against each other. Theyre being very congenial and all in the same hall together. Theyre not grabbing weapons and shooting each other. Its all very businesslike. They go off to their separate corners and come out fighting. So I just wanted some of that insanity.
DRE: When the guns going off and Nicolas Cage hears the cash register going ka-ching, ka-ching. That seems to me like something youd see a 100 times in editing and still chuckle.
AN: Yeah, sometimes I do. In that one moment you know what this man is.
DRE: A lot of directors resist the word auteur but this film keeps in line with a lot of the themes from S1m0ne, Gattaca and even The Truman Show. Technology has run amok but this time its the technology of guns.
AN: Yeah but I dont really analyze what I do because Im superstitious and I think Ill stop doing it [laughs]. But I can see some parallels in it. Theres always fraud in my films.
DRE: Do you resist technology such as a cell phone and computer?
AN: I have it all. But I have a healthy respect or disrespect for it. Someone said to me that Im always looking at the human condition but its really the inhuman condition Im looking at. How we do things to ourselves and use technology to the point where its running us.
DRE: As producer, is raising money for a film like gunrunning?
AN: Yes I guess its true. Like Yuri Orlov I have no allegiance to anything but green. Youll take money from almost anywhere. You become a total prostitute.
DRE: [laughs] I found an online chat you did when Gattaca was coming out. You wrote I always think of myself as an outsider. Lord of War film is very indicative of that. I couldnt believe a big studio didnt produce it.
AN: Then you went and you saw why.
DRE: Exactly, but why was the script turned down?
AN: It went out a week before the latest Iraq invasion in 2003 and that was the timing from hell. Arms dealers keep going; they dont care about the war du jour. American studios shy away from stating the fact that America is the big gun supplier of the world. For some reason they dont want to touch it. Coincidentally foreign countries, like France, have no such problems. Its so funny that the French who are so opposed to Iraq would put money into a movie about arms dealing.
DRE: When did Nic and Ethan get attached?
AN: Actually, Nic was attached at that time so even with Nicolas Cage this script couldnt get financing from a Hollywood studio.
DRE: Thats unusual. Hes like one of the top ten biggest stars in the world.
AN: But its also because of the political climate.
DRE: Are your films more popular in other countries?
AN: Yes.
DRE: I know S1m0ne was not received well in America.
AN: But that did well in France, Italy and for some reason in Japan. They like artificial people.
DRE: I saw this documentary Synthetic Pleasures and it showed that in Japan they have an indoor snow-covered mountain to ski on.
AN: I know and they have an indoor ocean as well. But the weird thing about it is that it is right next to the real ocean.
DRE: When Yuri shoots the gun it seems like its the first time he ever shot a gun.
AN: Yeah and its the first time hes killed a man.
DRE: Have you ever used guns?
AN: Ive shot guns but Im not a gun owner. Theyre too dangerous.
DRE: What made you cast Bridget [Moynahan]?
AN: The character had to have the looks to be an ex-beauty queen but she had to have smarts as well to be Yuris conscience. It was difficult, theres a physicality to her but there also has to be a complexity to her.
DRE: How was it shooting in Brooklyn?
AN: I love shooting New York for New York. No one does it anymore.
DRE: Was there a certain way that you approached Brooklyn?
AN: No, it was just a fascinating place to go. In researching the film I went to Little Odessa and its fantastic. You can walk down the street and only hear Russian spoken. Then actual mobsters wanted to audition [laughs]. So its a good place to be, it has a good feeling.
DRE: Do you see the ending as a little more cynical than your previous works?
AN: Its the truth. A well known arms dealer, living in Florida was about to be indicted on arms trafficking charges. Then he gets his passport back and hes allowed to leave the country. So Im only writing whats real. Im sure to some government agency hes more valuable on the outside than sitting in a jail cell.
DRE: The general was Donald Sutherland, right?
AN: His voice was but not the actual figure. He loved the material and then couldnt be in the film because he had a another movie he had to do. So Donald Sutherland shows up for me in LA and just plays the voice. Its a great compliment.
DRE: Its been eight years since you worked with Ethan [Hawke], now hes doing better work than ever. Was it as easy as you calling him up?
AN: Yeah, hes my best friend in the film business. In some ways he was doing me a favor, but also hopefully he was doing himself a favor because I think hes very good in the film. Theres some complexity to him thats great even though hes this Interpol agent, hes more than just some do-gooder. What I like about his character is that he doesnt want to catch the bad guy; he wants his picture in the papers. Hes got a certain vanity and thats why he puts his suit on when he goes in for that interrogation scene. He thinks hes got his man and the rug is pulled out from under him.
DRE: Your son Jack is in Lord of War as well.
AN: Its not the kind of nepotism you would think. I was in South Africa and I had three babies that I cast to play the role of Nic Cages son and they all fall asleep or start throwing tantrums. So I call up my girlfriend at the hotel and I say, Can you cut Jacks hair and bring him down here because all the other babies are freaking out.
DRE: How old is he?
AN: Jack is two and a half.
DRE: Does your family normally come to your film sets?
AN: Yeah, they do. If Im a nomad they just come with me.
DRE: Do they understand what youre doing?
AN: Its kind of interesting because children are such mimics at that age so when Jack sees me pointing on the set he starts pointing [laughs]. Its sort of like having a Mini-Me.
DRE: I read that you werent happy with the way The Truman Show came out.
AN: Listen, dont believe everything you read. This is not true. I made a mistake by writing my most expensive script first. I remember having a conversation with a studio head at the time and she said to me, Andrew were not going to give you 80 million dollars for your first film, but we would give you 20. So I went off and wrote Gattaca and made sure it was a 20 million dollar script so I could direct it.
[The Truman Show director] Peter Weir and I are friends now and we became friends during that process. You have two choices really when someone else is going to direct your material. You can wash your hands of it or you can embrace it. I chose to embrace it. It was a different version of the movie than I would have made but it was just as valid. I just wanted to make sure that as many of my ideas were in it as possible.
DRE: Were you the one rewriting it?
AN: Yes, I rewrote it. It was not as if Peter took it away and said Thank you very much.
DRE: I read that at the end of the movie Truman was supposed to wreck a souvenir shop. Were you happy with the way the movie ended?
AN: I think in the end Peters choice might have left more to the imagination. So it was a good choice.
DRE: I read that David Cronenberg was supposed to direct it at one point.
AN: Yeah, Im sure it would have been a darker version.
DRE: Has the way you write changed?
AN: No its frighteningly haphazard [laughs]. To me a script is like a newspaper, theres a new one every day. Ill rewrite it every single day so I dont even think of myself as a writer. I know that other people do but theyre just a means to making a movie. I dont even think they should be published because theyre not works of literature.
DRE: I absolutely agree.
AN: There are three times you make a movie. You write it, then you shoot it, then you rewrite it because reality sets in and youve written blue skies and its raining. Then you write it a third time when you edit it because you can really change things during that process.
DRE: I read that at one point you didnt want to write any more screenplays for other people, but then I read something about Paani to be directed by Shekhar Kapur.
AN: See now heres a lesson for you; do not believe what you read on the Internet. Shekhar Kapur is a friend of mine and he went to Cannes one time and he wanted to raise money for a party. So he said, Andrew Niccol is going to write this for me [laughs]. Then Im sure they gave him a lot of money but afterwards it appeared on the Internet.
DRE: Do you do script doctoring for people?
AN: No.
DRE: But you did work on The Terminal [directed by Steven Spielberg].
AN: The Terminal was an idea I had that I didnt want to write or direct because it was too close to The Truman Show. Another prisoner in paradise with a man trapped in this confined world.
DRE: So when the writer/director of Gattaca has a son, theres a question that must be asked.
AN: Is he genetically enhanced? Absolutely [laughs].
DRE: [laughs] Well thats something you obviously researched. What were you thinking when you were about to have a child?
AN: Its amazing because you cant do all of that research about that kind of area and not think about it. Now on a basic level you can choose the sex of your child. Also were very close to being able to tamper in other things as well. You could find out if there are certain inheritable diseases and you could not implant that child. But I did it the old fashioned way.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
courtneyriot:
Andrew Niccol burst onto the film scene in the late 90s like a chattering Kalachnikof AK 47 with his directorial debut, Gattaca, a post-1984 look at a world where genetic perfection through science has become commonplace and a film he wrote but did not direct, The Truman Show, about a man whos entire...
perilsensitive:
It makes me sad that the movie's supposedly sympathetic star is a freakin arms dealer. Those people do not deserve to be glorified or made to be sympathetic in any way.