Video director Jonathan Glazer made a startling film debut in 2000 with Sexy Beast which got Ben Kingsley an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. His latest film, Birth, is causing waves not only because of the amazing performances by Nicole Kidman and Cameron Bright but also from the tender kiss they share and a scene where Kidman and Bright share a bathtub together.
Ten years after the death of her husband Sean, Anna [Nicole Kidman] is ready to move on with her life by marrying her fianc Joseph [Danny Huston] but then a young boy [Cameron Bright] enters her life, claiming to be her dead husband and warning her not to marry him. After the boy answers all the questions thrown at him by Anna and her family, she decides there must be some credence to his claims, allowing him to move into her apartment, causing friction with her family and fianc.
Check out the official website for Birth
Daniel Robert Epstein: Besides your big stars you have some amazing characters actors that usually play villains like Peter Stormare and
Ted Levine. Did you specifically want to cast against type do you just love them as actors?
Jonathan Glazer: I love them as actors. They fulfilled a role for me in my head just by virtue of who they are and theyre both very expressive actors. Even when theyre silent, they communicate, and thats probably what I love. But I think Nicoles a great character actor.
DRE: If you start with somebody like Nicole Kidman is it tough to find compatible people?
JG: You have to find credible people. Its a delicate balance. Its almost chemical. You have to make sure there are no wrong personalities.
DRE: A lot of flack is given to directors that come from music videos with people usually saying they use style over substance. When arguing against that, I point towards you. But how did directing music videos influence your filmmaking?
JG: Thats the world I come from; Ive made principally music videos and television commercials. Because of that you learn good habits and bad. People think youre often going to create some sort of you know, substance with this meretricious sort of tar, because you come from that world. I think Ive just seen enough films, that I have a sensibility which doesnt really lend itself to the way you make commercials. I wasnt interested in paying homage to anyone. I feel the story.
DRE: What were the bad habits you had to break?
JG: When youre doing a short film piece, its almost like a sentence. So that is folds in on itself and it has its own narrative. With a film youre not missing another sentence; youre creating one after it. Except the narrative is a much longer piece. Theres no difference really. Its just that you realize that within a shorter piece there are ways to lead you to the next sentence so you integrate. It becomes very stylistic.
DRE: What is it about this piece that made you want to make it as the follow up to Sexy Beast?
JG: Birth is a pretty powerful piece. Every man has his reasons, but I cant explain why I choose it as the film or why I had the idea to make the film. But it looked just very fertile to me, I think every drama has its scale and this did.
DRE: There are a lot of movies coming out right now about reincarnation. Did you realize this?
JG: No I didnt, though I had been told so. Maybe its Gods word, or a cycle of things. I remember when I made, Sexy Beast, people were like, are you worried that there are all these gangster movies coming out. How can you be? You can only do what you can do. Im just doing it my way and if it withstands then good.
DRE: Sexy Beast and Birth share the similar theme of a past catching up with someone. Do you have an old life?
JG: Well no. Funnily enough for me, its about more than the past. Its about an alien coming into an environment or some kind of symmetry and disrupting it.
DRE: Though Nicole is the star of the film she isnt a heroine, in fact people may be disgusted by her.
JG: I wanted to bring her luck down and have her be drawn into herself. She was like an anti wrinkle in the afterlife. Sort of the idea that the boy would put color back into her life and wake her up. Ive never set out to do anything where I know who to root for. Thats the first question people usually ask you when they read your screenplay Who are we supposed to be rooting for? Who is the hero?
Im not prejudging a character; Im not predigesting a character. In my films, Im trying to be truthful of what that characters part would be like in that situation. You discover whos who when you finish the film.
DRE: When did you know you had this story?
JG: I was sitting in Paris for months, writing and [co-screenwriter] Jean-Claude Carrire and I talked about the film. Neither one of us wanted this to become a ghost story. We didnt want it to be a paranormal piece. Jean-Claude had the idea of what if another woman comes into the film. These are the elements, these are the ingredients. But if you look at the logic of the story Anne Heche gives you the flesh, and Nicole gives you the soul; so you get the duality of this thing.
DRE: What did you learn from working with Ben Kingsley?
JG: He helped me to keep directions clear and simple. You have to give an actor as little to think about as possible.
DRE: Is it much different working with musicians than it is with actors?
JG: With you are getting the finished article and all you are doing is trying to conceptualize it. But with an actor they are an instrument.
DRE: Youve spoken at ResFest in the past year. Have you thought about shooting a movie on digital video?
JG: Yeah! I mean if it fits in with what Im doing then absolutely.
DRE: Are we going to see a collection of your music videos and commercials like Palm Pictures did with Chris Cunningham and Spike Jonze?
JG: Yes in like a month.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Ten years after the death of her husband Sean, Anna [Nicole Kidman] is ready to move on with her life by marrying her fianc Joseph [Danny Huston] but then a young boy [Cameron Bright] enters her life, claiming to be her dead husband and warning her not to marry him. After the boy answers all the questions thrown at him by Anna and her family, she decides there must be some credence to his claims, allowing him to move into her apartment, causing friction with her family and fianc.
Check out the official website for Birth
Daniel Robert Epstein: Besides your big stars you have some amazing characters actors that usually play villains like Peter Stormare and
Ted Levine. Did you specifically want to cast against type do you just love them as actors?
Jonathan Glazer: I love them as actors. They fulfilled a role for me in my head just by virtue of who they are and theyre both very expressive actors. Even when theyre silent, they communicate, and thats probably what I love. But I think Nicoles a great character actor.
DRE: If you start with somebody like Nicole Kidman is it tough to find compatible people?
JG: You have to find credible people. Its a delicate balance. Its almost chemical. You have to make sure there are no wrong personalities.
DRE: A lot of flack is given to directors that come from music videos with people usually saying they use style over substance. When arguing against that, I point towards you. But how did directing music videos influence your filmmaking?
JG: Thats the world I come from; Ive made principally music videos and television commercials. Because of that you learn good habits and bad. People think youre often going to create some sort of you know, substance with this meretricious sort of tar, because you come from that world. I think Ive just seen enough films, that I have a sensibility which doesnt really lend itself to the way you make commercials. I wasnt interested in paying homage to anyone. I feel the story.
DRE: What were the bad habits you had to break?
JG: When youre doing a short film piece, its almost like a sentence. So that is folds in on itself and it has its own narrative. With a film youre not missing another sentence; youre creating one after it. Except the narrative is a much longer piece. Theres no difference really. Its just that you realize that within a shorter piece there are ways to lead you to the next sentence so you integrate. It becomes very stylistic.
DRE: What is it about this piece that made you want to make it as the follow up to Sexy Beast?
JG: Birth is a pretty powerful piece. Every man has his reasons, but I cant explain why I choose it as the film or why I had the idea to make the film. But it looked just very fertile to me, I think every drama has its scale and this did.
DRE: There are a lot of movies coming out right now about reincarnation. Did you realize this?
JG: No I didnt, though I had been told so. Maybe its Gods word, or a cycle of things. I remember when I made, Sexy Beast, people were like, are you worried that there are all these gangster movies coming out. How can you be? You can only do what you can do. Im just doing it my way and if it withstands then good.
DRE: Sexy Beast and Birth share the similar theme of a past catching up with someone. Do you have an old life?
JG: Well no. Funnily enough for me, its about more than the past. Its about an alien coming into an environment or some kind of symmetry and disrupting it.
DRE: Though Nicole is the star of the film she isnt a heroine, in fact people may be disgusted by her.
JG: I wanted to bring her luck down and have her be drawn into herself. She was like an anti wrinkle in the afterlife. Sort of the idea that the boy would put color back into her life and wake her up. Ive never set out to do anything where I know who to root for. Thats the first question people usually ask you when they read your screenplay Who are we supposed to be rooting for? Who is the hero?
Im not prejudging a character; Im not predigesting a character. In my films, Im trying to be truthful of what that characters part would be like in that situation. You discover whos who when you finish the film.
DRE: When did you know you had this story?
JG: I was sitting in Paris for months, writing and [co-screenwriter] Jean-Claude Carrire and I talked about the film. Neither one of us wanted this to become a ghost story. We didnt want it to be a paranormal piece. Jean-Claude had the idea of what if another woman comes into the film. These are the elements, these are the ingredients. But if you look at the logic of the story Anne Heche gives you the flesh, and Nicole gives you the soul; so you get the duality of this thing.
DRE: What did you learn from working with Ben Kingsley?
JG: He helped me to keep directions clear and simple. You have to give an actor as little to think about as possible.
DRE: Is it much different working with musicians than it is with actors?
JG: With you are getting the finished article and all you are doing is trying to conceptualize it. But with an actor they are an instrument.
DRE: Youve spoken at ResFest in the past year. Have you thought about shooting a movie on digital video?
JG: Yeah! I mean if it fits in with what Im doing then absolutely.
DRE: Are we going to see a collection of your music videos and commercials like Palm Pictures did with Chris Cunningham and Spike Jonze?
JG: Yes in like a month.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
i can't wait for birth too, even though i'm not a kidman fan at all