The action movie Yorgos Lanthimos calls a favourite
Known for his intelligent approach to storytelling with some of the most impressive narratives in modern cinema, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has established himself as one of the best of today’s filmmakers. Possessing an element of the surreal with stories that poke at and interrogate human nature, Lanthimos is a true cinematic enigma.
His works, including Dogtooth, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, often point out the absurdity of societal norms. They target the conventions that humans are so wont to subscribe to and conform to without a second, while his characters frequently confront such frameworks in torturous yet amusing ways.
However, while there is indeed a deep cerebral element to the works of Lanthimos with narratives that provoke philosophical rumination, the director himself feels that not every movie should encompass such a motive. In fact, Lanthimos once expressed his admiration for a widely-beloved action flick in something of a surprising turn.
“There are entertaining films that do it for you, and you’re having a good time, and it’s fine,” Lanthimos once told Rumpus. “And I do watch these types of films. When they’re good, I really enjoy them.”
He added, “Like, I enjoyed The Bourne Ultimatum. I think it’s a masterpiece! It’s a masterpiece of this type of cinema. It’s perfect: pure action, no bullshit dialogue. It’s action to the highest degree of beauty and perfection. I think he [Paul Greengrass] is a very good director.”
The Bourne Ultimatum is the third instalment in the Bourne film series, following on from 2002’s The Bourne Identity and 2004’s The Bourne Supremacy and predating 2012’s The Bourne Legacy and 2016’s Jason Bourne. Matt Damon reprises his amnesiac former CIA assassin character from the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name as he continues to search for information about his past.
In the same interview, Lanthimos explained why he is drawn to movies like the Bourne films, noting, “I don’t like when a film says everything. I saw a film yesterday, and I was really upset. At the end of every scene, someone would say what the gist of the scene had been. I hate that. I don’t go to the cinema to hear these clichés about life—something you say to someone so that they can move on.”
He added, “I enjoy the experience of watching a film and not being told things. That’s what cinema is—it should be about showing an image and having the people watching it put everything into it. You have an image of a chair—a still shot. Some see it as an ugly chair or a beautiful chair. Maybe someone has left, or someone is coming. I think that’s how cinema should work.”
Check out the trailer for The Bourne Ultimatum below.
