World Trade Center

[MacGuffin]

Oliver Stone says September 11 movie not political

Director Oliver Stone says he doesn't know if America is ready for his upcoming film about the September 11 terror attacks, but stresses the movie is a human rather than political account of the tragedy.

The often controversial three-times Oscar-winner said "World Trade Center", to be released this year around the fifth anniversary of the attacks, documented a day in the life of two men trapped at the scene, their rescuers and families.

Speaking to an audience during a question and answer session late Monday at the Bangkok International Film Festival, Stone was asked if Americans were ready for the first major Hollywood film on the subject.

"Is America ready for 9/11? Is America ready for gay sex? I don't know," Stone told the audience, referring to Ang Lee's Oscar-nominated cowboy film "Brokeback Mountain" which has been a surprise hit in US cinemas.

"It's about a rescue and families involved in the rescue. It's really a technical attempt to be realistic about what happened in that building," he said.

Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage plays the film's lead role, New York Port Authority policeman Sergeant John McLoughlin, who was trapped along with a fellow officer in the mangled wreckage of one of the twin towers that crumbled after being hit by hijacked passenger jets.

Besides the sensitivity of the subject matter to the American public, industry media have reported that some people linked to the Paramount Pictures project were concerned that Stone may introduce his own politics into the movie.

Stone has been publicly critical of US President George W. Bush's handling of the attacks and their aftermath and in Bangkok told the audience that "the present administration has been a nightmare".

But Stone, whose film "JFK" was condemned in some quarters for pushing the argument that the 1963 assassination of president John F. Kennedy was part of a plot, said there were no conspiracy theories in "World Trade Center".

"No, there's no mention of that because it's truly a 24-hour document of these men's lives," he said.

"They were right at the heart of the destruction ... right in the middle by an elevator shaft. They survived. It's about their rescue and their children at home," Stone added.

Stone said filming had finished two weeks ago, with the last four weeks proving difficult to work in as the set was filled with smoke.

But Stone, who won best director Academy Awards for his war epics "Born On the Fourth Of July" (1989) and "Platoon" (1986) as well as best screenplay for prison drama "Midnight Express" (1978), said making the film had humbled him.

"It was a wonderful experience to go back to working class people and their ordinary lives, the cops and firemen in New York. It was a very humbling experience," he said.

Stone, whose films have aroused controversy ever since "JFK", said the political landscape had changed "radically" under the Bush administration.

"If we get to make films and plays about it, it will be an interesting era to write about," he said.

[polkablues]

"It's really a technical attempt to be realistic about what happened in that building," he said.

So there will be demolitions going off inside the building, then?

[squints]

"It's really a technical attempt to be realistic about what happened in that building," he said.

So there will be demolitions going off inside the building, then?

of course

[MacGuffin]

'World Trade Center' Cast Calls Oliver Stone's 9/11 Movie 'Intense'
Film stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, Nicolas Cage, Maria Bello, Michael Pena.
Source: MTV

Setting aside sequels and superhero movies for a moment, many eyes in the moviemaking world are transfixed right now on writer/director Oliver Stone and his latest project, "World Trade Center," Hollywood's fullest exploration yet of 9/11. And according to the cast, there's a feeling of being a part of history that sets this project apart from anything else they've ever worked on.

"We shot for six weeks in New York," Brad William Henke ("North Country") recently remembered. "Just talking to people when they hear that you're shooting this film, it's such a responsibility. 'Oh you're making a film about 9/11. What is it? I'll tell you what I was doing that day.' "

"It was such an intense, unbelievable experience," Maggie Gyllenhaal echoed, softening her voice. "He's pushed me more than any other director ever has. It's hard stuff. It all takes place in the day, and reliving that day is ..."

Trailing off, the 25-year-old actress stared down as if she could once again see Stone's meticulously detailed Ground Zero set, where she was surrounded by co-stars Nicolas Cage, Maria Bello and Michael Pena as well as real-life survivors serving as advisers.

"The character I play, I met him," said Henke, cast as a loved one waiting helplessly for word on those trapped in the collapsed towers. "He told me how he felt, what happened, how I should feel. It's a big responsibility."

"I'm the wife of someone who's trapped, and I'm pregnant in the movie," Gyllenhaal said of the emotionally charged process of meeting her real-life alter ego, the wife of Pena's Officer William Jimeno. "I met her a lot of times. I'm not really playing Alison, but I am on another level. She's got such a huge heart. I mean, that's such a clichéd thing to say, but I feel her heart. I feel her heart, and I feel that it's still kinda broken about what happened to her husband."

According to Henke, such interaction is invaluable as the actors try to capture a level of emotion most people can only imagine. "It is additional insight that really helps you," Henke said of his somber friendship. "He said, 'I was the guy who had it together all day. I was trying to be strong for everyone. I was worried how I was to support two families if someone died.' That kind of stuff. Then he said when his situation ended up OK, he just lost it. That, for me, was very helpful."

Both actors admit that fostering such connections to a subject matter that touched everyone so personally can be a drain. "I have really high hopes for that movie," Gyllenhaal sighed. "It's very hard. ... It's been overwhelming and a lot of work."

Echoing the recent comments of co-star Jay Hernandez, Gyllenhaal and Henke praised the dedication of Cage and the other actors, but he insisted that Stone's obsession with getting the tone right has trumped them all. "It's just been a great experience working with Oliver Stone," Henke marveled. "I can't describe what a great director he is. He creates the tension on the set for you, but he's also so helpful and nurturing when he directs you."

"A lot of Oliver's movies are like operas," Gyllenhaal added, insisting that "Center" will aim to echo the power of his best historical dramas. "They're painting a really emotional, really committed portrait of a time. ... That's what he pushes you to — a really committed, honest opera."

The film could conceivably be ready for a late summer/ early fall release, perhaps around the same time as the fifth anniversary of the events it depicts. Gyllenhaal and Henke think such a release would be appropriate, since Stone is aiming to construct a history lesson that will commemorate the disaster for years to come.

"When we were rehearsing, someone was asking, 'Hey, can I change this line or can I do this?' and he thought about it for a second and said, 'No, because if someone watches this film in 20 years, if they weren't born until 20 years from now, they might not know that [expression],' " Henke said, grinning admiringly. "I thought to myself, 'This man's thinking about making a film, and he's thinking about someone who's born 20 years from now watching it, and he wants them to be informed about really what it was all about.' And that really put it in perspective."

"[He's making] a memorial service, honoring what happened," Gyllenhaal said. "That is how it feels. ... It's all these feelings — it's numbness, it's anger, it's fear, it's pain, it's so many things. And you go through it, as Oliver demands that I do."

[©brad]

 

it's going to be soooo good.

[polkablues]

"...because if someone watches this film in 20 years, if they weren't born until 20 years from now, they might not know that [expression],' " Henke said, grinning admiringly. "I thought to myself, 'This man's thinking about making a film, and he's thinking about someone who's born 20 years from now watching it, and he wants them to be informed about really what it was all about.' And that really put it in perspective."

Um... in 20 years, someone who's born 20 years from now will be 0 years old. 

Just trying to finish putting it in perspective for him.

[picolas]

if a 0 year-old likes this it will be the best movie ever made.

[Ravi]

if a 0 year-old likes this it will be the best movie ever made.

Or a sign that pandering to the young couldn't get any worse.

[mogwai]

german dubbed trailer

(can anyone help me... every time i see a quicktime movie it's way out of sync, the image plays double fast. what gives?)

[matt35mm]

I don't know about your Quicktime problem, but this movie looks way more sensationalized and dramatized than United 93.  I guess it'll be the first movie to attempt to show the inside of the building during the collapses.  But all the hugging and "I (heart) U" stuff... I dunno.  Seems like it'll be a sappy movie.

[Weak2ndAct]

That trailer sickens me.  There goes Stone's promise of a 'Algiers' style film (actually, Greengrass delivered that one).  And so the decade-long-downslide continues...

[©brad]

um i don't see the trailer in that link...

[MacGuffin]

um i don't see the trailer in that link...

It's been taken down. Try:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evlio5kr-QY&search=world%20trade%20center

[Ravi]

Damn you, Paramount...

[grand theft sparrow]

Damn you, Paramount...

Yeah, to be as accurate as possible, they should have put up at least one poster for Glitter.