“Staggeringly powerful”: the director Ridley Scott called a master of the universe
While many filmmakers have tried their best to mix it up throughout their careers, very few have managed to display the kind of range that has become synonymous with Ridley Scott. Ranging from the sci-fi horror of Alien to the historical drama of Gladiator, Scott has taken on several interesting challenges in his quest to cement his cinematic legacy.
Currently, he’s busy with the much-anticipated Gladiator sequel, following his Napoleon biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix, which many fans chose to view as the Napoleon movie that Stanley Kubrick never got to make. Despite its several historical inaccuracies and eccentricities, it’s clear that Scott has developed a unique subjective style that marks several of his works from his late period.
A major part of Scott’s artistic signature is his ability to create engaging cinematic atmospheres which combine very well with the frameworks of genre filmmaking. During a conversation with the DGA, the English filmmaker opened up about what it takes to curate such an experience, referencing his 2001 war movie Black Hawk Down.
Featuring a huge cast, including the likes of Josh Hartnett and Ewan McGregor, Black Hawk Down also faced similar criticisms about its inaccuracies, but its stylised portrait of the Battle of Mogadishu, as well as its technical achievements, won many over. According to Scott, a good action film has to be an all-sensory experience.
The director explained: “All of it had to be handheld, all of it had to be dusty, all of it had to be in the streets. I’m right in there amongst it all with the engines and the machines. You’ve got to smell the dirt and smell the shit and the dust. I believe that things that fly through the air are all elements that are part and parcel of the visual side of the film.”
While talking about his influences, he added: “I really learned that from other directors, particularly Kurosawa in Seven Samurai and Throne of Blood. John Ford was a master of the universe in landscape and elements and dust and sunshine. And that’s before the actors get there, right? The proscenium is so staggeringly powerful that the actor in there had better be able to compete. I’d never be able to say that to an actor, but that’s what it is.”
It’s interesting that the two filmmakers Scott singled out were Akira Kurosawa and John Ford, since Kurosawa himself admitted to learning everything there is about the cinematic image from the American auteur. Through his unforgettable westerns, Wayne didn’t just define the legacy of the beloved genre but also taught filmmakers like George Lucas and Scott to apply those principles to other domains like sci-fi.
