Kenneth Branagh Talks Thor
Over at SuperHeroHype.com, they report on a recent interview with Kenneth Branagh, director of Thor, where he talks about his love of Thor, and the filming of the movie. Check out the full article by LA Times here.
Here’s a little bit of it for you:
“Growing up, my single comic book passion was Thor," says the 49-year-old actor and filmmaker who surprised many industry observers by taking on the director’s job on the big-budget adaptation of the Marvel Comics thunder god. "From my time in Belfast as a kid, that’s the first time I came across that comic, really, exclusively, I don’t know why, but it struck a chord. I was drawn to it. I liked all the dynastic drama."
"Inspired by the comic book world both pictorially and compositionally at once, we’ve tried to find a way to make a virtue and a celebration of the distinction between the worlds that exist in the film but absolutely make them live in the same world," Branagh said. "It’s about finding the framing style, the color palette, finding the texture and the amount of camera movement that helps celebrate and express the differences and the distinctions in those worlds. If it succeeds, it will mark this film as different…. The combination of the primitive and the sophisticated, the ancient and the modern, I think that potentially is the exciting fusion, the exciting tension in the film."
The article also comments on alleged reports that Anthony Hopkins/Odin was having issues on the set with both Branagh and Chris Hemsworth/Thor.
Hopkins was said to be outraged by the report. The 72-year-old Welsh actor issued this statement: “I am having the time of my life making Thor with Ken and Chris. They have made every day immensely fun and collaborative, and we’re all puzzled that someone would fabricate a story suggesting otherwise. I’m proud to say that Thor has been one of the great experiences of my career.”
On filming Thor:
"It’s going very, very well," Branagh said Wednesday. "We’re in New Mexico now where we have a contemporary Earth part of our story. I guess we’re two-thirds of the way through the story and at this stage of the game what’s surprising and delighting me is the way the cast, the ensemble, has fused together. It’s kind of an interesting combination of very young and very experienced people and the double-up of that, it seems to me, is there is a lot of fire in the movie. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it doesn’t try to be too solemn."
Branagh made a point to praise Hopkins as "an extraordinary actor with his Celtic passion and incredible technique" and said he has been a binding force for the film on the set and will do the same on the screen. The cast that plays Asgard’s royal family are "people who can embody larger-than-life characters but retain at the center a natural, recognizable, human dynamic … and these people run the universe."
The article also speaks about Kevin Fiege, president of Marvel Studios:
Feige said the plan to meld the Marvel Universe on the silver screen will move forward dramatically now and he said there are some surprises in "Iron Man 2" that set up an unexpected bond to the "Captain America" movie that director Joe Johnston is doing early work on now in England.
"Now many of the pieces are in place … with ‘Iron Man 2’ finished and ‘Thor’ more than halfway done, that lattice work is being built."
Feige said Branagh is proving to be the ideal choice for "Thor" – the executive knew he would be after seeing the buoyant and accessible "Much Ado About Nothing," which made Shakespeare fun and funny even to "comic book fans like me," Feige said. He added: "You could actually laugh and understand all of it."
So a lot of praise being thrown around for all the parties involved, and while hard to take away from the excitement of Iron Man 2 being a little more than a month away, Thor is building up to be one of my most anticipated movies…well, ever.
