Jaydon Martin speaks with one of Hollywood’s most recognisable and versatile directors, Steven Spielberg about adapting one of Ronal Dahl’s most beloved books {The BFG}.
Many directors have taken on the daunting task of putting Dahl’s work on the big screen w
ith as many failures as successes. Dahl’s imagination and work has been ingrained into the young brains of an entire generation, as the films of Spielberg have done.
{The BFG} was first published in 1982, the same year {E.T.} was released in theatres. It’s quite a coincidence when you see that Steven Spielberg
has once again teamed up with {E.T.} screenwriter Melissa Mathison to create a world in which children’s imaginations can run rampant. It’s not always the best advice to judge a book by its cover but that’s exactly how Spielberg was first introduced to {The BFG}: “I read it to my kids; I picked it up in a bookstore, and I was more familiar with {Charlie and the Chocolate Factory} than I was with {The BFG}, but it had a great illustration on the cover… and I thought this would be a nice book to buy. I read it out loud so I heard myself reading it four years after it was first published to my first child and I had started to understand why it had become so popular… I didn’t see it as a film back then, I saw it as a way to popularise myself with my own family.”
The film itself is a wonderful visual and emotional journey that really throws back to the feeling of 80s children’s films. Spielberg’s classic style is instantly recognisable and takes you on a rollercoaster through the streets of London to Giant Country. Along with the stunning dream hunting sequence, the CGI used to transform Mark Rylance into the BFG is remarkable and is elevated by such a suitable and sweet performance by Rylance. Spielberg was on the forefront of the digital revolution alongside his friend George Lucas in using CGI as a tool to expand their visions.
He then delves into how the introduction of computer effects has changed the way he tells stories: “With the digital revolution today there is no limit to anyone’s imagination, you can literally put anything on the screen where it took a lot of imagination to figure out how to craft an illusion, so the illusion is gone. We no longer have to use practical magic to make you believe something is real because through digital effects, it’s real and it’s photo real. Hopefully the success of {The BFG} for me is measured not just by the heart expressed by the two main characters and their relationship, but also that 15-20 minutes into the movie you forget there are any effects at all. If the movie is working you forget we are using special effects to make Mark 25-foot-tall and to keep Ruby in every scene with him in her 4-foot range. That’s the biggest change I think that’s happened, and there’s pluses and minuses to that too.”
Along with the 100th anniversary of Ronald Dahl’s birthday that has sparked massive interest in his work, Spielberg will celebrate his 70th birthday in December, and from all accounts it doesn’t seem like his workload will slow down anytime soon. Although having one of the influential careers in cinema history, Spielberg doesn’t like to sit back on his laurels. Like a shark he’s always moving forward: “I’m happy I still get to keep working, I’m in my 70th year and I feel like I don’t get tired, I love what I do, I love telling stories and working with great actors. It gets me to not look at myself as a legacy and I don’t have a chance to look back because I think if I dwell too much on that it’ll make me sit back on my tush and I’m not ready to do that.”
The BFG. Info: www.disney.co.uk
