The one movie Andy Serkis could watch forever: “I absolutely adore that film”
Andy Serkis changed the way that the film industry approached visual effects when his groundbreaking motion-capture performances proved that there could be an artistry to creating digital characters, but while he’s mostly known for his work in fantasy, science fiction, and superhero films, he has much broader tastes than one might expect.
Although he will soon be reprising his most famous role as Gollum in an upcoming prequel to The Lord of the Rings franchise, Serkis has made considerable efforts in the past decade to prove that he is an actual filmmaker.
He helped to shoot second unit on Peter Jackson’s films and has supervised other actors when making the new Planet of the Apes films, but he’s shown an interest in telling stories that he has complete autonomy over. He directed the Netflix motion-capture film Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, a darker take on the story of The Jungle Book, but it sadly had the misfortune of being released shortly after Jon Favreau’s live-action remake of the Disney animated classic, which made nearly $1billion at the global box office, leaving his in the dust.
Although a CGI-heavy adventure film may have been what people expected from the director, he subverted expectations when he made the biographical period drama Breathe, which featured heartbreaking performances from Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy, so where it would be easy to pigeonhole Serkis’ interests when simply looking at the logline of his directorial efforts, he’s made choices that suggest he has a greater understanding of the broader scope of cinema.
His superhero sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, turned the grim comic book franchise into a zany comedy in the style of Joe Dante or John Landis, and likewise, his recent effort on an animated version of Animal Farm represents his interest in making a film that is exclusive for kids.
While none of his films have been particularly well-received, he’s at least shown signs that he can improve, and if nothing else, Serkis clearly has chosen the right directors to admire. When asked by The Hot Corn to name a film he could watch over and over again, he selected The Piano, an Oscar-winning period drama directed by Jane Campion, noting, “She’s an amazing director. I love it. I absolutely adore that film”.
Released in 1993, The Piano starred Holly Hunter as a mute woman who travels to New Zealand with her daughter, played by Anna Paquin, for which both women won Oscars, and Campion became one of the first women to ever receive a nomination in the ‘Best Director’ category at the Academy Awards. While she ended up losing the trophy to Steven Spielberg for his (arguably more impressive) work on Schindler’s List, Campion did take home the prize for ‘Best Original Screenplay’.
It’s easy to see why she was seen as such an aspirational figure for up-and-coming filmmakers, as she had highlighted the strengths of the New Zealand film industry and told very personal stories which ended up succeeding based on strong word-of-mouth.
Her career path is not all that different from that of Peter Jackson, another Kiwi who became one of Serkis’ greatest collaborators, so if the latter continues to value artists like Campion and Jackson, then he might have a bright future behind the camera.
