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SINGAPORE : Filmmakers make movies for different reasons - some use it as a form of self-expression, some to tell a story, and some to entertain. “Taken” director Pierre Morel is just passionate about it, and is not at all bothered by box office numbers.
“I don’t talk about box office, I always talk about making movies, not whether they make good or not ... once you’ve done it, it’s too late anyway. When you’re making a movie, it’s your baby, you just deliver and if the fans like it, perfect,” he said.
Perfect indeed. The action thriller starring Liam Neeson and Maggie Grace, became the top opening US release for French producer Luc Besson, raking in US$141 million in the US and more than US$217 million at global box offices.
Morel who has directed three of Besson’s movies, was surprised by how well the film has fared.
“We’re always surprised. You never know when you make movies, whether it is going to be okay, whether it is going to do well or not.”
In “Taken”, Neeson plays Bryan, a retired secret agent who cut his career short to spend more time with his teenage daughter, Kim. She gets abducted by Albanian sex traffickers during a vacation in Paris and Bryan is determined to hunt them down to rescue his beloved daughter.
Morel feels “Taken” is so successful is because it provides a look into a very real problem - sex trafficking - and the subject matter is one that every parent can identify with.
“It appeals to universal and visceral feelings. You always think that if someone touches your kids, you will go after them... it’s very universal, it’s very touchy.”
However, achieving that balance between the action and emotional elements in the film, while keeping it realistic, was a challenge for the French director.
“We had to be a very fast-paced, super active action flick and at the same time, add that emotional part to it,” said Morel. “It could not be a superhero movie, it had to be very realistic so the balancing was actually the toughest exercise.”
And 57-year-old Neeson who plays the protective father, brought that emotional quality to the film. “He was exactly the guy for the part,” said Morel, who had Neeson in mind for the lead role even before he found out the Irish actor had signed on for the part.
“He was the right age to be a father and he has that fragility in his acting that made him a very sensible and very emotional character and it matched perfectly with the action thing.”
Morel who began a career as a cinematographer in 2001, has had a long working relationship with Besson. He used to work as a camera person for Besson, then as a director of photography and was later offered the chance to direct his films – he made his directorial debut in futuristic action flick “District B13" in 2005.
Morel says he is “very lucky” because the French producer gives him free reign to do what he wants. “I hardly see him, he’s a very busy guy. He doesn’t have much time to show up on set. When I do a movie, I see him five, six times in a one-year period.
“He shows up on set maybe once to say hello, I don’t even receive a phone call, it’s just like that, then I show him the cut and that’s it. He’s not very present and proactive, not interfering with the creation of the movie,” said Morel.
“It’s just like he hands me the keys to the car and says just do what you want.”
So how would Morel rate “Taken”?
“Oh I can’t judge myself, that’s too tough!” he said. “I’m never happy with anything… you always feel you could have done better, but honestly, it’s a good eight.”
Guess he’s pretty happy then.
Taken is screening in cinemas across Singapore.
- CNA/il
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