Martin Scorsese’s producer was thrilled to work on Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut
Posted by Danny Miller Wednesday, March 28, 2012 2:02:11 PM
Sir Graham King met Angelina Jolie on the set of “The Tourist,” a film he produced in 2010 and one of his rare critical flops. But King and Jolie developed a friendship and when she was gearing up to direct her first film, “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” she turned to King for his advice. He was entranced with her script and eager to produce the film, which he considers, along with Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo,” one of the films he is most proud of.
King is one of the busiest producers in the film industry. This year he is bringing Tim Burton’s “Dark Shadows” to the screen, as well as Ben Affleck’s film about the Iranian hostage crisis, “Argo.” He is also working on “World War Z” with Brad Pitt, Scorsese’s “Silence” with Daniel Day-Lewis, a remake of “The Battle of Britain,” and a biopic about Queen’s Freddie Mercury starring Sacha Baron Cohen.
Jolie’s
deeply moving “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” a love story set
against the backdrop of the devastating ethnic conflict in Bosnia during
the 1990s, has received mixed reviews. Many critics praised Jolie’s
writing and direction and the immensely talented cast made up of actors
from all sides of the conflict, but the film and Jolie have also had
their share of controversy, including attacks from some Serbian
organizations who dismissed the film as propaganda. “In the Land of Blood and Honey” was released this week on DVD and Blu-ray. I had a chance to talk with Graham King when the film opened in Los Angeles. At a roundtable discussion that included four international journalists who had flown in for the premiere, King described what moved him so much about the story.
Graham King: I’m as guilty as anyone at turning a blind eye to what happened in Bosnia during that time. So when Angie sent me that script, I thought, how can we NOT tell that story? It’s a story of genocide—and how not only Americans but all of Western Europe did nothing to stop it.
MSN Movies: What do you hope audiences will take away after seeing this film?
That we can’t let this happen again. We cannot turn our backs, no matter where it is in the world. For me, I think being able to send an important message through a film is one of the best things I can do. I’ve done it with movies like “Traffic,” in biopics like “Ali” and “The Aviator,” and even in “Hugo” in a way. I always gravitate towards that.
How did you first get involved with the film?
Angie called me out of the blue and said she’d written a script and wanted my opinion of it. She wasn’t asking me to finance or produce it, she just wanted to see what I thought, so I read it and was blown away. I called her up and said that we should talk, and the next thing I knew she drove over and we sat for four hours! She had photos of locations, casting ideas, she brought all these books full of pictures and research, and we sat there for hours talking about her vision for the movie. As a producer, you can tell when someone has the right passion for a piece of material. This film was purely run by passion, not just hers but also the cast and crew.
How was she on the set with the actors?
It was a very emotional set but Angie has such a way about her, the way she talks to people. She gave the actors so much respect—it was their country, their conflict, they lived through it, so she was going to listen to them. She told them that if she made any mistakes in the story, they needed to tell her. It was a very tight-knit family, the cast and crew on this set, everyone just rolled their sleeves up every day and did the work. I showed up about three weeks into shooting and saw that she had full control of that set. Brad was being the photographer, the kids were running around, it was fantastic, a great experience. I would definitely work with her again as a filmmaker.
When I talked to Ms. Jolie, she mentioned that she’s also written a script about the war in Afghanistan. Are you trying to wrench that one out of her hands as well?
I’m sure it will come my way! We really built a close relationship on this movie. As a producer, you always try to build on these kinds of relationships, I’ve worked with Scorsese four times now, and people like DiCaprio and Johnny Depp. This is a business of personal relationships!
You must be thrilled by the worldwide success of “Hugo.”
I don’t think I’m ever going to be so proud of a movie! I think “Hugo” is a masterpiece and one that’s going to be around for a long, long time. I want to be proud of the films that I make. I want to take Angelina’s film around to schools and colleges, I did that with “Traffic.” Sometimes it becomes a passion, it’s not always about dollars and cents!
Ryan M. Stephen
Just saw Angelina Jolie's directorial debut, In The Land Of Blood And Honey. Gripping, heart wrenching & so unexpected from Jolie!
I'm truly impressed that she's written,
produced & directed a film that has so much depth & substance.
Proof that looks can be deceptive!
