Angelina Jolie Planning To Write & Direct A Film About The Afghanistan War
But of course, any future directing gigs will likely depend on the success of "In The Land Of Blood & Honey." And while she is nervous "that people are going to not understand it" -- with the story centering on the unlikely romance between a female Muslim prisoner and her Serb commandant -- advance word has been very strong. She's well aware that the film will have limited commercial prospects, given its dark subject matter and particularly as it goes out to theaters in its original Bosnian/Serbian/Croation lanuage version, but being behind camera is a new world that appeals to her.
"I loved having the spotlight on somebody else. And I would much prefer it," she said. But like it or not, the spotlight is on her for now. "In The Land Of Blood & Honey" kicks off a qualifying run on December 23rd and will open wider in 2012. The full interview is below.
Angelina Jolie Once Wanted to Direct Funerals
The "In the Land of Blood and Honey" director sat down for an interview on "60 Minutes" on Sunday night. Angelina Jolie has always been known for having a dark side, but who would have thought that the actress once had dreams of being a whole different kind of director – of funerals?
In an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes, the In the Land of Blood and Honey director talked to Bob Simon about her past, her family life and her films. She revealed that she once hoped to be a funeral director.
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"It sounds like this very strange, eccentric, dark thing to do but in fact I lost my grandfather and was very upset with his funeral," Jolie said during the interview.
"How somebody passes and how family deals with this passing and what death is should be addressed in a different way. If this whole acting thing didn't work out that was going to be my path,” she added.
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Jolie, 36, is currently promoting her directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, which opens in theaters on Dec. 23. The FilmDistrict film is a love story set during the Bosnian War in 1992.
"I prefer directing. I love having the spotlight on someone else,” she said. “It's nice for all of that not to matter." Jolie also admitted that the toughest part of the filmmaking process was dealing with the press promotion.
"I had never felt so much part of a team," she said of working on the film. "I don't know if it was the subject matter or just that we all came together in a very specific time and environment about something that meant something to us, but somehow it became probably the best experience I've ever had."
The production process was not without its challenges for Jolie, however. Jolie was forced to cut her Bosnia shoot short after facing criticism from locals who were upset with the movie's controversial plot line.
Angelina Jolie Talks Blood & Honey on 60 Minutes: Afghanistan Set War Drama is Next, Punching Through Gender Stereotypes & Being Scared in a Good Way
News by | November 28, 2011Angelina Jolie is promoting her directorial debut, "In The Land of Blood and Honey" (December 23), which means conversation inevitably veers toward Jolie's tabloid existence rather than the work at hand. 60 Minutes' Bob Simon kept his conversation polite but still asked the usual questions necesary for people to pay attention. He met with Jolie several times to put together a profile on Jolie; you can watch the video below. As for her directorial debut, she is "nervous that people are going to not understand it." That's probably because she thinks people don't understand her.
Yes, she's beautiful, has a dark side, and has a bunch of kids with Brad Pitt. Cut to the relevant parts: She chose to do a love story set amidst war torn Bosnia and ethnic cleansing, not a action flick or comedy. "I think I'd be terrible with a comedy," she says; Simon confirms there's no humor in "Blood and Honey." This is no surprise, given Jolie's years of humanitarian efforts. But it is "a movie, a love story, not a documentary," Jolie reminds us. She plans on shooting another war film--next time in Afghanistan, where Simon points out two things: 1. Her beauty won't matter -- "It's nice for all of that not to matter," she replies., and 2. It's risky -- "Is it?" she says, "I think what's risky is living your life and-- and never trying for anything and never doing something brave and never getting yourself scared." Is she scared? "In a good way."
Jolie now prefers directing and "having the spotlight on somebody else."
Simon reminds her she was once asked if she wanted to be a Bond girl. Jolie's reply was that she wanted to play Bond. "Is that one of your ambitions, to punch through these gender stereotypes?" he asks her. Her response; "It's not something I intentionally did, but when it comes my way, it's-- and I'm aware of it, it was really fun to do especially 'cause I just had kids. I just had my twins, and I'd been in a nightgown for about seven months. And I felt like-- I felt like getting up and punching something." (See also: Jolie Transcends Gender)
Jolie names "A Mighty Heart" her favorite of her films, and says it was also the hardest as an actress. Being a mother, however, is harder. Jolie's self-proclaimed soft spot: her mother. "I will never be as good a mother as she was. I will try my best, but I don't think I could ever be. She was-- she was just grace incarnate. She was the most generous, loving-- she's better than me."
Angelina Jolie Smartly Promotes "Blood and Honey" on 60 Minutes
Only Madonna has reinvented herself more than Jolie, and as it happens both have directed serious dramas coming out this season. (Madonna's is W.E, about Wallis Simpson and a contemporary woman obsessed with her.) And that is a competition no one quite saw coming.
Comment:
david |
November 28, 2011
This woman is fiercely intelligent. She has a
way of talking about world issues so pragmatically without that sliver
of hammy sentiment that so many actors fall into.
#60Minutes Overtime: Bob Simon asks Angelina Jolie if and when she realized she was beautiful. cbsnews.com/8301-504803_1...
