Joachim Rønning | The Film That Lit My Fuse

  • 3 months ago
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Transcript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 What film or series lit your fuse as a young man and
00:15 made you have to tell stories on screen?
00:18 >> Well, I have prepared for this question.
00:22 [LAUGH] No, for me, it was E.T., Spielberg's E.T.
00:27 I was 10 years old when that movie.
00:29 I was lucky to be 10 years old when that movie came out.
00:33 And I remember my uncle, I'm from Norway and
00:37 I'm from a small town like two hours south of Norway.
00:40 And I remember him driving me to the cinema in Oslo,
00:44 because it would take another months or something like that before it would come
00:50 to our cinema, and I was so obsessed with this film.
00:54 And before I saw it, everything back then,
00:59 obviously there was no internet or anything.
01:03 So it was like the local newspaper basically.
01:06 And obviously, the movie probably came a year later to Norway
01:12 when it opened in the States.
01:15 So there was already a phenomenon around it.
01:19 And he brought me to this big cinema in Oslo called the Colosseum,
01:27 which is I think it's like a thousand seats.
01:30 And I was sitting in there, I was 10 years old.
01:32 And the movie starts and I'm completely submerged in this story.
01:39 And I think for the rest of my life and my career,
01:43 I will always be looking for the elements of what that film gave me.
01:48 It has the drama, it makes you cry, it scares you, it makes you laugh.
01:56 And besides being a perfect example of filmmaking in my eyes.
02:06 So I think that magic of what that movie gave me
02:12 is what I will always be looking for when I make my own humble tries of films.
02:22 But I think, yeah, so that was a big moment.
02:27 And I decided then basically that I wanted to be a filmmaker when I was 10 years old.
02:32 You spent so much time making movies on the water
02:38 between Contiki and Pirates of the Caribbean and Young Woman in the Sea.
02:43 I would have thought if you were going to choose a Spielberg film,
02:46 you probably would have said Jaws.
02:48 Well, Jaws has kind of like become my favorite film, you know,
02:52 when I got a little older.
02:54 I mean, I'm obviously a huge Spielberg fan.
02:58 And I always watch Jaws before making anything.
03:03 So, yes, I think, I mean, I grew up by the ocean.
03:07 And so for me, I always long for the ocean when I'm not there.
03:15 So I think for me, the stories that attracts me somehow
03:22 is infused by that kind of sense of nature and elements surrounding you.
03:29 Yeah, and then with both E.T. and Jaws,
03:32 it's the uncanny knack of being able to create humanity
03:38 and relatable characters within.
03:40 I mean, I watch Jaws, I don't know, three times a year.
03:44 And it isn't to see the shark.
03:46 I mean, you know, that wears off a little bit.
03:49 But just, you know, the story of the Indianapolis and, you know,
03:54 and just there's so many moments in there.
03:57 The banter between the three guys is just unforgettable.
04:00 So now when you were on your way up, making your way as a filmmaker,
04:05 what movie or series did you watch that was so good
04:10 it made you think, what am I doing here?
04:13 Can I ever rise to that level?
04:15 Should I be playing in this sandbox?
04:18 Well, that happens all the time.
04:21 [laughs]
04:23 You know, every time I see a good movie, I'm like, oh my God.
04:26 And I think for every movie I make, it humbles me more and more.
04:31 And I work harder and harder to try to rise to every occasion.
04:37 It's hard for me to pinpoint one movie.
04:42 There's always, like, good movies.
04:45 But I mean, I did grow up in the '80s.
04:48 So obviously, like, I am a child of the '80s in that sense, you know.
04:54 And when you start out making films, you think you can make it better.
04:58 You think you can make everything better.
05:00 And when you're a teenager and in your 20s and 30s,
05:03 you kind of like--you just have this, I guess, ignorance is bliss.
05:08 And then you start--slowly you start realizing what it takes
05:12 and how hard it is.
05:14 And then--and I'm happy I discovered that, you know,
05:19 so that you always keep thriving.
05:21 You always keep working harder.
05:23 You can always make it better.
05:25 So I use all films that I see around me for inspiration, you know,
05:34 as a big kick in the butt, you know.
05:37 And I love when I see a good movie because we need that, you know.
05:41 We need the good movies.
05:43 And we don't all have to like the same films.
05:50 It's not about that either.
05:52 I like, you know, watching a good movie in the theater.
05:57 And I think that is my art form to make movies for the cinema.
06:01 It's a social experience.
06:04 We have to keep just making them, you know.
06:06 Yeah, I love the sentiment.
06:09 So now, you know, maybe it was a success of your own work
06:14 or approval for someone--from someone whose opinion really mattered to you.
06:20 What first gave you the confidence that, in fact, you could do this
06:24 and you did belong?
06:26 You know, I had done my first Norwegian film.
06:30 It was called Max Mannes, and it was like a World War II film.
06:35 And I remember one day getting a letter in the mail, you know,
06:40 that was back then.
06:42 And it was from Bruce Beresford, the director of many movies
06:47 Oscar-winning and driving Miss Stacy.
06:50 And he had this lovely letter where he wrote how much he loved
06:54 my Norwegian film.
06:57 And I thought that was so grand of him.
07:00 I never met him after that or was able to thank him.
07:04 But that was like a big moment for me, you know, being in my little town
07:09 in Norway and getting a letter from a big, you know, world-famous,
07:18 amazing director like him.
07:21 And then obviously when Contiki got the Golden Globe nominations
07:25 and the Academy Award nominations and all of that,
07:29 that was, you know, that was also pretty good.
07:35 [Laughs]
07:37 Well, now what would you say was the biggest obstacle that you had
07:41 to overcome to allow you to turn these projects that influenced you
07:46 into your own language as a filmmaker?
07:49 The obstacles are always, you know, when you want to be a filmmaker,
07:53 you have to make films to be a filmmaker.
07:56 You know, I was lucky to have, you know, a camera.
08:03 And I persuaded a local, you know, little infomercial company
08:10 to be able to sit there and edit at night for free back when
08:14 in the '80s the equipment was very expensive, you know.
08:19 And I just kept doing it and doing it and doing it, you know,
08:25 and been doing it ever since.
08:29 And I think I can't really say anything else that's been my obstacle
08:35 because I feel so lucky in my life.
08:40 Of course, I'm from a small country and, you know,
08:43 English is not my first language and all of that.
08:45 I never had any network, you know, growing up and all of that.
08:50 But that's just something you have to, you know, work on
08:56 and keep doing it and keep making films.
09:01 And, you know, so I just--
09:06 The biggest obstacle for me is just like trying to be a good director,
09:10 you know, and every day on set or in pre-production
09:14 or in post-production, like every day trying to be the best I can be
09:19 in some way and tell a good story, you know.
09:25 And that's the obstacle.
09:28 You know, Daisy Ridley was coming off Star Wars
09:31 and you were coming off the Pirates film and numerous other successes.
09:39 What made you put all your chips on the table to tell this story
09:45 about this woman, the first to swim the English Channel?
09:50 Why did you invest so much into that?
09:54 It's the best script I ever read.
09:56 It was a story that had everything I was looking for.
09:59 I have two teenage daughters that I wanted to make a movie for,
10:04 an inspiring story for them.
10:08 I think it's important that we know our history
10:12 and where we are coming from.
10:17 And I was baffled that I didn't know the story.
10:21 And when I talked to people about it,
10:24 nobody seemed to really know this story.
10:26 That was such a world event when it happened 100 years ago
10:31 and changed women's sports forever, most likely.
10:36 And I think that's important, you know.
10:40 That's important to tell.
10:42 And it had all of those elements, you know, the underdog story,
10:47 the symbolism, the ocean, you know, of Judy,
10:52 of Daisy Ridley fighting against the tide of the times.
10:57 And so for me, it's such a no-brainer that this was something
11:00 that I was immediately passionate about it
11:03 and took many, many years to be where we are today,
11:08 you know, with the movies going up in the theatre.
11:11 So this was not an easy movie to be made
11:14 in the Hollywood studio system in these days, unfortunately.
11:19 But everybody involved, you know, Jerry Bruckheimer
11:26 and Disney and Daisy Ridley, we were fighting so hard.
11:31 This was a true passion project for all of us.
11:34 So it was, I'd never been a part of a movie like that before
11:37 where we're such a unified, you know, gang of filmmakers
11:44 trying to make this happen.
11:46 What were the obstacles facing Trudy?
11:49 Now, I'd read that she, you know, she sold her story
11:53 to create the financing so that she would be able to do this.
11:59 You know, a few guys had made the swim.
12:04 But what part of her struggle grabbed you?
12:09 Well, I think it's the ultimate underdog story, you know,
12:12 like she's an underdog, not by her, she's, you know,
12:15 we don't choose to be an underdog, obviously,
12:18 but it was a world run by men.
12:22 And I think it resonates also a little bit of today,
12:26 obviously, but back then it was brutal, you know,
12:29 the Olympic Committee, they didn't believe women,
12:32 you know, should be in sports.
12:34 They thought it was physically harmful
12:37 or they used that excuse at least to suppress.
12:40 So they were, I think, honestly, men back then
12:44 and I in certain degree today as well, were, you know,
12:48 were nervous that she was going to do it,
12:50 that she was going to make it, honestly,
12:53 and that they would lose power.
12:56 So for me, when she decided to do this,
13:04 imagine she was willing to risk her own life
13:10 for what she believed in.
13:13 And that's a story worth telling, you know.
13:19 And that was the key to the movie for me
13:23 was to understand why.
13:26 Why are you willing to die for this?
13:29 And I think for her, there was no alternative.
13:35 You know, she had to do this to live
13:41 and to be respected as a woman, as a human being.
13:47 So she set out to do the most difficult thing.
13:52 And as you say, many men had died before her,
13:55 only two or three had made it over.
13:58 And it was so unthinkable at the time.
14:06 And it's mind-blowing that she actually went through with it.
14:12 it.
14:12 (upbeat music)
14:15 [BLANK_AUDIO]