Kenneth Branagh on Bringing Artemis Fowl to Life

From the series: Kenneth Branagh on Artemis Fowl to life

It's April 2018 and Sir Kenneth Branagh (as we are reminded many times) is shooting the first big screen Artemis Fowl movie. On a sound stage outside London, he built the famous Fowl Mansion and filled it with holes for Disney's big-screen release. Although spring is upon us and many trees outside the mansion (a real manor house built at the back) have kept their green leaves, it is actually pretty windy and cold. Cold enough for Sir Branagh of the Artemis family library to wear a down vest and flannel to keep out the cold, even indoors.

KB: There is a certain Irish attitude towards the weather we have benefited from. There was a moment when we settled in what appears to be a frozen Siberia that we were about to build, and about to build a huge set, then the snow came in and we just went to the house. ;outside. Often, even for a short time, I think of the spirit of the place, even for a few days if you are in a different place, if you go to a store or if you hear voices, the feeling of vibration is different. We went to Ho Chi Minh City to film at first and I do not know if you went there – Ferdia and Nonso who came with us – they had never seen him before and were both on mopeds circulating in the city safely. ! No children have been exposed to any danger to safety during this carefully orchestrated event. But it was an incredible cultural shock with the noise and density of traffic, the kindness and curiosity of the people and all this is an incredible injection into the beginning of the film, as in Ireland. I always think that when I go home, there is a green, that there is no other color than Irish green. It sounds sentimental, but if it's in the movie, it's fine. Have a nice day until now?

CS: of course.

KB: Well, good, good. It's usually a good day when you can go past a plateau and there is a big troll catapult outside. It never gets old. I am very happy to answer what I can.

CS: What attracted you to these books?

KB: The imagination, it was original. I loved his irony because I am from this country and the kind of collision sometimes between the proximity of very different worlds. I love this creativity, it feels like a good risky place. I've had some experience with filming Thor's film where I lived in a very contemporary world, even more moved, that science is right next to a world of magic. It's fascinating for me because it means you can be poetic. This means that you can have a size that invites an audience to go to the movies and watch it on a big screen with a lot of other people. Because in a way, the subject is moving away from norms. And the combination of terms, not just the appearance, the textures and all types of visual techniques that you could use, but just yours often very, very funny and as I always find myself attracted by a balance between that and the emotional content that we have chosen to highlight in the books. So, frankly, there is a lot to learn. It's a fantastic thing to do. The same thing with Thor is an invitation to dive into something you do not know, you do not read and you do not have the chance to discover new things that have been incredibly rewarding.

CS: The majority of the main actors are very young and two of them were very young, so was it difficult to work with young actors who have the burden of this film? What was the decision to age them?

KB: There was, it was a great theater director, Peter Brook, who talks about intuition in uniform. The uninformed impression was that there was a very young quality in these stories that I thought was really nice to be in a way that people of the same age could tell if there was such a fellowship. And maybe some sort of elder sister or some sort of teacher figure, Holly to Artemis, was differently calibrated. Holly is in no way, it seems in the books, a Tinkerbell fairy. You know she's not small and she's running in miniature. She is a very lively woman, although she is a fairy. He plays admirably human characteristics and his own invented. But the idea that we could see without having to get into more movies – the audience will tell us if they want to see more – that if it works, they can somehow grow together. And I like the idea of ​​it, so that for me the type of blur that he explores is the one I wanted, where their justice or their humanity continues to be confused and the many times the kind of emotional quality I've mentioned If you forget a second, Holly Short is a fairy or Commander Root is a fairy because you're not aware of their ears some of the time. And when you are caught in their kind of sometimes family or simply social dynamic and sometimes it allows you to play quite dramatic or emotional scenes as if they came from another kind of drama and you open a door and you get into another kind of crazy world and you go wow! She can fly! & # 39; & # 39; She has big ears! & # 39; You have magic, etc. More and more young, it seems that Artemis is less isolated and that we could have fun with this age group.

CS: Do you want a stranger for Artemis from the beginning? Was it important?

KB: It was probably likely that, given the age group, this was probably the case. Although there are fantastic actors of this kind of age. But I guess we had thought the movie would probably do something if the actor was really Irish. We auditioned some 1,200 boys, all Irish applicants, but people from all over the world, and a tough guy, were people from other countries or backgrounds with an Irish accent. It is difficult in the best case as in any country. There are billions of accents and there is not one so easy. But there's a kind of free cultural thrill that you get from a child – in his case, it comes from Kilkinney and Laura McDonald who plays Holly Short who comes from a fairy-tale part of the world that seems to be find under Ireland. Irish. And it helped to locate something quite distinct from the film, not the focus to make us feel like we were elsewhere. But eventually known / unknown was less of a problem than this illusory thing in rendering something creative. Does this sound correct? Whatever the right.

CS: How much do you think Artemis is mean in this film and what sympathy?

KB: It was always a big challenge to see if … the starting point of the book is that he may be a little more willing to be mean. And we know how fast the world is changing these days in terms of what seemed pretty normal at one point, which is rather abnormal, the idea that big crime is cool is kind of a thing to review without trying to be revisionist. We try to find the center, the spirit of the book. I suppose we are the first film, to try to answer your question, to offer a relatively normal course: we place more Artemis in a normal school, a regular school, we see it with other people. We suggest that this beautiful crazy house, bonkers, is full of imagination from the birds that has been added over the centuries, by imagination. It is not so much the acquisition of land and objects as the discovery of the world of magic, cosmos and astronomy. And that this kid, when we see him here, hopefully invites our movie audience to come here and be here with him in a place as crazy as it is warm, but not exclusive. So, to that extent, he may not be friendly but recognizable, a little more of us. This first film, if it is a first film and definitely if it is not, becomes in the first one a story of origin and in the second a report on how a guy who does not do not know the magic – or in this case the operation of his father, his secret business practices – and must tell a story that gives him the idea to think that it is good to be mean, that it is good to to be a criminal? Is he starting to love the golden fairy? Does he like the power gained when you steal a neutrino handgun at Holly Short or face Commander Root or do all that stuff that history forces him to do? To be honest, do not take this story too literally, but a form of history that seemed interesting to me when we thought about it – I always look at the masters, the great clbadics – is The Godfather. Michael Corleone at the beginning of the first film while he was part of a family that he knows how to get into the business world is someone who has been serving, n '. is not quite aware of what a father does, but he must finally face the end of the picture. should I do some of that too? Do I believe it? Am I behind? 'I am aware that we are in a world that offers a different kind of pleasure and rhythm. One of the things that interest readers of books, and I hope the film, is that it will be very fast. It's a movie that will be, in my mind Touch Wood! (and it does) it will be well under two hours. I have 90 minutes in mind; when I[Quandjefaisdesfilmsj'essaietoujoursdefairedesfilmsclbadiquesdupbadéquelsquesoientleurgenreetleurgenre-toutesles90minutesparcequej'estimequec'estterriblementlapériodepourfairepleindechosesEtpourtantcommejevaisaucinématoutletempsetquejeprendsles20minutessupplémentairesdontjenepensepasquenousavonshabituellementbesoin-etj'aifournices20minutesàdenombreusesreprisesjeparledonccommeuncoupableDoncjenepensepasetc'estparcequel'attentiondesgensestnécessairementpluscourtemaisc'estunechosemerveilleuseetmiraculeusequandvousvoulezquelquechosed'undivertissementd'évasionquidoitêtreimpliquéetdivertietdivertietoùledramepeuttoutarriverunesorted'espacecompactàcouperlesouffleC'estcequejeviseC'estlaraisonpourlaquelleEoinColferproposeuneinvitationcommeillefaitdanschacundeseslivres[MmakingfilmsIalwaystryandmakeclbadicmoviesofthepastofanykindandgenreat90minutesbecauseIthinkthat'saterriblytimeperiodtodolotsofthingswellAndyetasIgotothemoviesallthetimeandIsetfortheextra20minutesthatIdon'tthinkweusuallyneed-andI'veprovidedthose20minutesonnumerousoccasionssoIspeakasaguiltypartySoIdon'tthinkandit'sbecausepeople'sattentionspansarenecessarilyshorterbutit'samiraculousandbeautifulthingwhensomethingyoumightwantoutofanescapistentertainmentwhichistobeinvolvedanddivertedandbeentertainedandhavedramacbadlhappeninasortofbreathlesslycompactspaceThat'swhatI'maimingforThat'swhatEoinColferoffersaninvitationforashedoesthatineachofhisbooks[Quandjefaisdesfilmsj’essaietoujoursdefairedesfilmsclbadiquesdupbadéquelsquesoientleurgenreetleurgenre-toutesles90minutesparcequej’estimequec’estterriblementlapériodepourfairepleindechosesEtpourtantcommejevaisaucinématoutletempsetquejeprendsles20minutessupplémentairesdontjenepensepasquenousavonshabituellementbesoin-etj’aifournices20minutesàdenombreusesreprisesjeparledonccommeuncoupableDoncjenepensepasetc'estparcequel'attentiondesgensestnécessairementpluscourtemaisc'estunechosemerveilleuseetmiraculeusequandvousvoulezquelquechosed'undivertissementd'évasionquidoitêtreimpliquéetdivertietdivertietoùledramepeuttoutarriverunesorted'espacecompactàcouperlesouffleC’estcequejeviseC’estlaraisonpourlaquelleEoinColferproposeuneinvitationcommeillefaitdanschacundeseslivres[mmakingfilmsIalwaystryandmakeclbadicmoviesofthepastofanykindandgenreat90minutesbecauseIthinkthat’saterriblytimeperiodtodolotsofthingswellAndyetasIgotothemoviesallthetimeandIsetfortheextra20minutesthatIdon’tthinkweusuallyneed–andI’veprovidedthose20minutesonnumerousoccasionssoIspeakasaguiltyparty SoIdon’tthinkandit’sbecausepeople’sattentionspansarenecessarilyshorterbutit’samiraculousandbeautifulthingwhensomethingyoumightwantoutofanescapistentertainmentwhichistobeinvolvedanddivertedandbeentertainedandhavedramacbadlhappeninasortofbreathlesslycompactspace That’swhatI’maimingfor That’swhatEoinColferoffersaninvitationforashedoesthatineachofhisbooks

CS: Adding Judi Dench to Holly's story where she is the first female officer – how did you handle this situation?

KB: I think you can imagine with Judi Dench that we have a powerful mentor discussing other ways in which Holly's advancement and her special position in LEP RECON can be distinct and powerful and effective. Holly's intention has aroused great interest, as has the isolation that history puts under the spell of the legend of her so-called possible father. So, we do not simplify her life in a progressive way, there are many obstacles, systemic and sometimes male, that annoy her. And that also happens to a certain extent for Commander Root's character, so I think we're trying to inject with lightness and fun some real politics into that. The world will be reflected in the way it approaches history.

CS: Was Josh Gad in the back of your mind while you were doing Murder on the Orient Express for this role?

KB: I'm trying to start with a clean slate. What I knew was a joy to work, just like Judi Dench. It was a first experience working with him, I had met him before, but I knew it was because it was Irish to create a fringe of anarchy in the film. Everyone participates in this issue, be it today where Mulch Diggums is attending in a moment of tremendous stress and tension and where the drama decides he can subject a troll in an unusual way – and we had fun with that . If it's something, we work, we get along well with our Disney family. There was an understanding that we were going to improvise a bit, not just Josh Gad but also Nonso Anonzie who is a terrific actor with whom I have had the chance to work many times and even Dame Judi Dench. The other day, facing these perspectives, I thought, "That's great, we have exactly what is written in the script. Now, would you say this, this and that, and then if you do something else, what she said Josh Gad! He is terribly, very smart! "I said," Do you want to do it? "Yes, I like to improve. "It's partly because it's Irish and the fairies and the speed and rhythm of this type of seat film are volatile – and you never know what's going to happen. tried to get rid of everything that was too far from the common good.Although I was lucky to be part of the Untouchable Potter, we are here to be part of something a little crazy, but a little bit more Celtic, you know.

CS: What happened in the cast of Butler and his niece? They do not seem exactly linked.

KB: Juliet who in the book is Butler's sister is in this case the niece of Butler. We immediately asked Eion "we would like to be free to bring as much imagination as possible to the casting." So, for example, he describes Butler in the book as being Eurasian and, in the context of the world that he created, he had the impression that could lead to a number of possibilities. But it certainly must have the impression that he was an efficient bodyguard, whether he was very tall or very small or whatever his country of origin. I've always wanted to have Nonso in the role, he was really a person I was thinking of very early on – I worked with him in movies probably 15 years ago. It started that. With Artemis and Holly and Juliet, we literally looked at hundreds, if not thousands, of people to find what we thought were the right features. We did not worry too much about the absolutism of origins. So she is Métis and we think that's okay. My attitude in this respect dates back to the beginning of the work and the A lot of noise for nothing and doing Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves as half-brothers. It's a world where, I think, part of the film's spirit of saying yes, it's the world we live in. Judi Dench is not the boy he is in the book, but at the same time, you can say that Faerie. We asked Eion if we could get a license to do it. He replied that we were going to do it. We then followed our instinct about what we thought were talented people we thought were appropriate. It's a bit my taste for eclecticism and pluralism.