Oliver Stone names his most experimental movie: “I tried to explore the flexibility of film”
Oliver Stone has been there and done that when it comes to taking risks. The Oscar-winning director has made a living out of poking the bear, tackling topics most creatives would run screaming from. It’s not always worked out for him, as his views on topics like Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine have landed him in hot water over the years, but without Stone’s fearlessness, we wouldn’t have movies like Platoon, The Doors, or JFK.
Another Stone film renowned for pushing boundaries is 1994’s Natural Born Killers. Starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis as a pair of serial killers who fall in love and embark on a killing spree, the movie courted controversy for its provocative portrayal of violence and its perceived glamourisation of criminal behaviour. The film’s impact extended beyond the screen, with claims that it inspired several real-life crimes, including a connection to the tragic 1999 Columbine High School shooting.
According to the man himself, the movie was always intended to be controversial. “Natural Born Killers was an experiment,” Stone told David Sheff. “I wanted to make an action film. I’d never done a summer movie and wanted to. Once I started, I explored the idea, and it became about cartoon violence. Natural Born Killers is a breakthrough in experimentation. I tried to explore the flexibility and elasticity of film. I don’t think film had ever been used like that.”
Stone explained that, in his mind, Harrelson and Lewis’ characters weren’t real people but caricatures of human nature’s more violent side. “We scraped the edges off the behaviour perimeters to see how far we could go,” he added. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the definition of satire over-exaggeration? You can’t expect everyone to get satire”.
When asked about the copycat killings the movie inspired, specifically if he felt any guilt over them, Stone gave a similarly detached response. “You can’t account for every person in the world,” he protested. “The kid who killed John Lennon was reading Catcher in the Rye. Is Salinger responsible? Give me a break. Anybody who’d kill is psychotic in a deeper way and was psychotic before they saw a movie.”
In response to criticism from author John Grisham, whose friend was murdered by one of the copycats, the director claimed he was just trying to play vigilante and couldn’t see the wood for the trees. “I don’t know the guy at all, but he’s still gloating,” Stone said of Grisham, who penned the likes of The Pelican Brief and The Firm. “He recently said how glad he is that he put a spike into Hollywood.”
“I don’t know if the films you’ve seen in the past seven or eight years are far better than Natural Born Killers,” he continued. “But they certainly are violent, some far more violent and far more realistically violent.” He specifically mentioned Black Hawk Down, Ridley Scott’s tale of a helicopter crew shot down in war-torn Somalia. “I think that movie has done far more disservice to this country than Natural Born Killers.”
As long as people continue to watch it, people will continue to have opinions about Natural Born Killers and, indeed, about movie violence as a whole. While Stone is right in saying that he isn’t personally responsible for the actions of others, his dismissive tone and utter lack of remorse certainly don’t help his case. This is another frustrating statement from a man who continues to confound Hollywood.
