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Release: 2010
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SciFi Weekly - Luc, Mia & Freddie
SciFi Weekly
Ian Spelling, 2007
Writer-director Luc Besson has taken moviegoers on breathless rides through the future (The Fifth Element), into the past (The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc), in and around the French spy system (La Femme Nikita) and into the Parisian Metro (Subway). Now, with what he swears is his last film as a director, the part live-action and part animated Arthur and the Invisibles, Besson whisks audiences into a subterranean universe just beneath the grass surrounding a home in Connecticut in 1960.
That subterranean universe is the land of tiny creatures called Minimoys, and the home belongs to Granny (Mia Farrow), a woman caring for her 10-year-old grandson, Arthur (Freddie Highmore), all the while staving off a real-estate developer intent on claiming her property. Matters would be less disheartening were Granny's husband by her side, but the adventurer disappeared several years earlier during a hunt for a collection of rubies. It turns out that the rubies are down below—fiercely guarded by the Minimoys' greatest enemy, Maltazard (David Bowie)—and Arthur must piece together clues his grandfather left behind, change into a Minimoy (voiced by Highmore), join forces with a butt-kicking Minimoy princess (Madonna) and find both his grandfather (who's been imprisoned by Maltazard) and the rubies in time to save the day.
Already a huge hit in Besson's native France, Arthur and the Invisibles opens nationwide in the United States on Jan. 12. Besson, Highmore and Farrow recently spoke with reporters at a New York City hotel.
Luc Besson, is this really the last film you're going to direct, and, if so, why?
Yeah, probably. Probably. I start 30 years ago. I've made 10 films, and I'm tired. I'm tired. I feel, maybe as a sports guy, can he beat his record every week? No. One day he has to accept that after spring and summer there is autumn and winter, and I felt in autumn. I have too much respect for myself, first, for the moviegoers and for the cinema in general, because I feel lucky. And I can't just make a film. I can't go to Hollywood, take a big check and make a film. I can't. It's an act of faith, and I give everything to a film. On 10 films, there are four I finished collapsing on the ground because I was too tired. So it's a good average. I need to give everything to a film, my blood, everything. And I don't feel courageous enough to do it again.
Was this one any easier in that you have an animation team doing much of the film for you, or were you so involved and on hand all the time that it was just as hard as any other film you've done?
No, I was there for five years, every day. It was physically less difficult because in fact every morning I come from 9 to 11 with nerds, with the mouse. They barely say hi to you. So the first few months was difficult because I'm used to actors, actresses, and we scream and with tears and, "Oh my God, the sun is coming," and we have to run. And here it's very like, "Hi."
How did you assemble the cast for this?
A few days ago I seen the American poster and I realized the cast. I said, "Oh my God, there's all these people in the film?" I couldn't believe it because, in fact, I see them one by one on a course of four years. Madonna, I recorded her like three years ago. De Niro [who voices Selenia's father, the king] like four months ago. I was so happy to get out of the room with the nerds to come here [to New York] and spend two days with Robert, and it's great, and then I go back. Then, three weeks later I see Jimmy Fallon [who voices Betameche, Selenia's little brother]. So you don't really have the feeling to have this cast. You don't do a dinner with everybody, saying, "Thank you so much for accepting to be in my film." You realize later, in fact, and I'm lucky. It's wonderful. And they were all very gentle. We call, take a coffee and talk, and they say yes almost right away, all of them. So I guess I'm happy I made some films they can watch before.
Pretty much all of this film rests on Freddie Highmore's shoulders. What did he bring to the table for you?
I cast in New York, L.A., London and Paris for six months. I find a few boys, nice, but I was not so sure. I heard about Freddie, but I've not seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was not open yet. I met the boy and I was in shock. I had the same shock 10 years [ago] with Natalie Portman for The Professional. You can tell after one minute. I swear to you, you can tell. He's intelligent. He's watching you and understand everything you say and trying [to] do it. He's perfect. He's a little genius.
At the end of the day, what's the message you'd like a little kid to take away from your film?
I have kids [of] my own, and I think when you watch the [news] and you watch the world, every day it's harder to build yourself when you're a kid because who are you going to trust? The adults right now, they're killing each other in war for money and power, and on the way they destroy the planet. You're 5, 10 years old, you smell all these things. You see the sports guys, who half of them take drugs. The politicians, half of them, are in jail because they lie. How are you going to believe that? How are you going to find yourself in the way of being real and to stand up? So the unbelievable thing is it's a movie where everybody knows it's fake, but they're going to look for truth in it. And that amaze me, because everyone knows it's fake. But it doesn't matter. Even if it's done in the fake, if they can learn some truth in it, they're happy. So I was very concerned. When you do a violent film like Nikita or [The Professional], honestly, the adults are grown enough to separate the thing and say, "It's violence, but, yes, I understand," or "I agree" or "I don't agree." So that, I care less. The child, I really care. My big concern was to ... at least maybe I don't feel so proud as an adult today, and at least I try in one film to give good things to them, good food to them.
You've said that this is your 10th and final film, but would you really let anyone else direct the sequel if it were to happen?
No way.
You're listed as a producer on at least 10 upcoming films, including Ruby Tuesday [an animated musical-drama to be based on the music of The Rolling Stones] and Hitman [a video-game-based action movie]. Give us a sense of why Ruby Tuesday and the other projects excite you.
[Ruby Tuesday], it's a long process. It's a funny story. The Rolling Stones are involved. They're going to put 12 or 14 songs in the film, old songs. Mick [Jagger] is going to make a voice in it. So that's a good one. Most of them are French, so I don't know if you're really interested in them. There is one I really like called Michou d'Auber, and it's with Gerard Depardieu and Nathalie Baye.
Why did you choose to do Hitman?
Why? My friends at Fox, they have the rights. They want to do the film, and the film has to [be] shot in Europe, and they asked me if I can help them because I know how it's going on over there. It's my pleasure to help them. I didn't know the character before. I don't have computer or video games. I don't even have an e-mail. I like his tie!
Mia Farrow, you've been working more lately. You've done more commercial films lately, like The Omen and now this. You've made yourself more visible to the press in the past few years. Is that, in part, because the more you're out there, the higher the visibility you have, perhaps the more likely your voice—and your concerns about Darfur and your other causes—will be heard and perhaps listened to by people?
I think that's rather more organized than I am. I have a lot of young children, many with profound disabilities, who have now reached an age where I can consider doing a play, as I'd done last year, or doing the films that I've done that might take me away from them or require them to go somewhere. A lot of things have been possible, including my travel for UNICEF. These journeys to Darfur have changed me in significant ways, and I am unable to disengage on some profound level. Sure, emotionally, but my conscience doesn't permit me to walk away.
So can you just get on a movie set like this and have fun?
Yes, it's loads of fun. It's a lot easier than taking care of kids and certainly doesn't have the heavy download of going to the Darfur region, absolutely. But I do consider the latter a huge mandate in my life. I, as you have correctly observed, who have avoided interviews all my life, have now given over 1,000 since my first trip to Darfur. That says a lot. There's no self. I'm not promoting anything of myself, my work or anything. I'm just merely conveying what I have found. Darfur got less than 50 minutes on television last year, whereas a missing girl in Aruba ... that is tragic, but that is hundreds, hundreds of countless hours [devoted to it]. Where are our priorities? Again, back to the idea of a human family, and if we turn away we are diminished in significant ways. That's undeniable. We are defined by moments such as these. Elie Wiesel said, "The surprise was not that so many were killed, it was that so few cared at all." And so we have to be one or the other. Are we going to be one of the few or one of the many? I didn't mean to switch the whole thing from Arthur, but Luc himself is a man of such integrity, and a lot of this is reflected: peaceful resolution to conflict and common responsibility within the human family.
The general impression of Freddie Highmore is that he's a terrific young actor and a great kid. What was your own take on him?
I loved Freddie on all levels. Freddie is not only a brilliant actor, so it made my job loads easier. Just playing with him in the scenes, he's so alive and spontaneous and brilliantly talented. But then we talked about how great his parents are. It's a relief to know that the child is well taken care of by responsible, fun, intelligent, just excellent parents. And then Freddie himself loves doing what he does, so you feel a load better about that. Then, because we were on location at Luc's place in Normandy, it was so much fun just hanging out with Freddie. His dad was there, and his dad is hilarious, by the way, really fun. So we just had a great time. I couldn't have had better company, and I consider Freddie and his parents to be really good friends now.
If the film is as big a hit here as it is so far in Europe, there's every likelihood that you'll be asked to return for a sequel. There's a second book already, so any idea what Granny would be up to in a subsequent film?
No, it'll be a surprise. But it'll be fun.
Freddie Highmore, can you talk about the process of doing the movie? Did you do motion capture? Just voice-over?
Voice-over was something I'd never done before, so it was exciting to do. But I wasn't involved in any of the actual creation of the animation image. I just did the voice-over afterwards. But I think how they did it was they got actors to play out how the animation characters would move and then they sort of changed it into animation. That's what I think, but as I say I wasn't involved in that.
What did you make of Luc Besson?
Luc was great. He's a really nice guy. He has these two big bull mastiffs on his chateau, and they look like they could be a bit fierce, but actually they're really nice and they just want a bit of a cuddle. So he is a great guy to work with, because he's so energetic all the time and he had all the ideas. He was coming up with tons of them. And he wrote it and produced and he directed it and operated at the same time, unless there were more fun things to do.
You're in pretty high demand these days and receiving a lot of scripts. What makes you say, "Yes, I want to do this"?
If it's a new thing to do, that I haven't done before. Like, for instance, with Arthur, I hadn't done any of the animation side or the voice-over, so that was probably the thing I'd like to do. Also, just going to different places. We worked in Paris and Normandy, and I got to improve my French. So they're the things that sort of attract me to it. Also, it's got to be a good script, but also just the opportunities to do different things.
