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WASHINGTON: Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone's "W", a biopic about current US president Bush, will be released October 17, just weeks before Americans elect Bush's successor.
The movie chronicles Bush’s transition from a simple man to the most powerful leader in the world.
Stone, a Democrat, insists that “W” is a “fair” portrait, contrary to expectations that the biopic will depict the 43rd US president in a negative light.
The 62-year-old said he wanted to shed some light on Bush’s character and story. “Fifty million people voted for him on two occasions,” Stone said. “He was in the same league for a long time as Ronald Reagan, until he became so offensive.”
“I am not interested in that radical 15 per cent that hate Bush or the 15 or 20 per cent who love Bush,” he said. “That's not our audience. Those people probably won't come. I'm interested in that 60 per cent in the American middle who at least have a little more open mind.”
“W” is essentially divided into three acts – Bush’s youth, his personal and religious conversion, and his first term in office.
Stone, who was briefly schoolmates with Bush in Yale University, wanted “W” to answer a central question, “How did Bush go from an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world?”
Bush, a former Texas governor, has never hidden the fact that he was once an alcoholic, and he had said that he has not touched alcohol since 1986.
His election to first term over Democrat Al Gore was much disputed, but he won a second term in 2004 over John Kerry.
However, his eight years in office have been tumultuous, blotted by the September 11, 2000 attacks and the costly Iraq war, which saw his approval ratings plummet to historic lows.
The US$30 million movie stars John Brolin as George W Bush, James Cromwell as Bush Sr, and Elizabeth Banks as First Lady Laura Bush. “W” will also feature portrayals of Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Tony Blair, and even Vladimir Putin.
However, it has not been an easy film-making process.
Christian Bale of “Batman” fame, was the original choice to play the title character but he declined, citing scheduling conflicts. Robert Duvall was asked to play vice-president Dick Cheney but he too, turned down the offer.
Josh Brolin was against taking up the role as well, until he read Weiser’s original screenplay and changed his mind.
Funding was also a huge problem. Stone said, “Nobody wanted to finance this film. Every studio said no. You'd be surprised to know the number of people in the business who don't want to have their name associated with politics. This thing almost never got made.”
Stone is known to make political movies such as “World Trade Center”, “Wall Street”, JFK” and “Nixon”, but his most recognized work is “Natural Born Killers”, a satire on the media portrayal of serial killers.
- CNA/sl
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