Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Scary and intense - but not gory

Some of us have been rather concerned that Guillermo del Toro, given his answer — "I was never into heroic fantasy. At all. I don't like little guys and dragons, hairy feet, hobbits — I've never been into that at all. I don't like sword and sorcery, I hate all that stuff," was probably a pretty bad choice to direct the Hobbit films. An interview with del Toro and Peter Jackson is reassuring. They touch on many aspects of their plans for The Hobbit. Mr. del Toro reveals that he has been a fan of the Tolkien book since he was eleven. I've excerpted below some of the answers particularly focusing on his plans for Smaug:
WetaHost —  ...My question is to Guillermo, what can we expect from your vision and approach with this picture and I'm guessing there will be alot of dark elements to this film, but how far will you go in terms of horror and violence?

Guillermo del Toro — I hope that Mirkwood can be pretty scary but not graphic, I hope "Riddles in the Dark" has an element of fear and suspense and to be deeply atmospheric but still allow the ingenious, engaging contest to take place. And Smaug should be all shock and awe when he unleashes his anger so, it will be pretty intense but not gory. [....]

WetaHost — In the Hobbit book, we have talking trolls and the Eagles and Smaug talks as well, however in the LOTR Trilogy, trolls did no more than grunt, Fellbeasts screamed, and the Eagles, who were meant to talk, just stayed silent. How much will the portrayal of such animals change in The Hobbit?

Guillermo del Toro — I think it should be done exactly as in the book- the “talking beast” motif has to exist already to allow for that great character that is Smaug. It is far more jarring to have a linear movie and then – out of the blue – a talking Dragon. [....]

WetaHost — I always thought creating Gollum would pose a great artisic challenge to the artists whose job it would be to adapt the Lord of the Rings. With The Hobbit I believe Smaug will pose one of the great challenges. Now we have all seen dragons in movies. But for The Hobbit I personally am expecting nothing less than unbelievable. ....

Guillermo del Toro — .... Smaug should not be "the Dragon in the Hobbit movie" as if it was just "another" creature in a Bestiary. Smaug should be "The DRAGON" for all movies past and present. The shadow he cast and the greed he comes to embody- the "need to own" casts its long shadow and creates a thematic/dramatic continuity of sorts that articulates the story throughout.

In that respect, Smaug the CHARACTER is as important, if not more important, than the design. The character will emerge from the writing - and in that the magnificent arrogance, intelligence, sophistication and greed of Smaug shine through-

In fact, Thorin's greed is a thematic extension of this and Bilbo's "Letting go" and his noble switching of sides when the dwarves prove to be in the wrong is its conceptual counterpart (that is a hard one to get through, Bilbo's heroism is a quiet, moral one) and the thematic thread reaches its climax in the Bilbo/Thorin death bed scene.

Anyway, back to Smaug: One of the main mistakes with talking dragons is to shape the mouth like a snub Simian one in order to achieve a dubious lip-synch. .. A point which eluded me particularly in Eragon, since their link is a psychic one.

To me, Smaug is the perfect example of a great creature defined by its look and design, yes, but also, very importantly, by his movement and - one little hint - its environment - Think about it... the way he is scaled, moves and is lit, limited or enhanced by his location, weather conditions, light conditions, time of the year, etc. That's all I can say without spoilers but, if you keep this curious little summary you'll realize several years form now that those things I had in my mind ever since doodling the character as a kid had solidified waaay before starting the shoot of the film. [the interview]
Weta Holics: Updates and News about what's happening @ Weta - An Unexpected Party Chat transcript now available!

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