Film director Ridley Scott has been making headlines whilst promoting both The Last Duel and House Of Gucci. And it’s been a lot of fun…
We’re perhaps so used to filmmakers refusing to be candid in interviews to promote their movies that the recent round of promotional work done by director Ridley Scott has been a breath of fresh air.
Over the past few months he’s been promoting two different films – The Last Duel and House Of Gucci – and the man has not been short of shit-stirring zingers. As always, he can only answer the question put in front of him, and, well, he very much has done that.
Here’s your potted guide to the highlights…
Ridley Scott vs The Gucci Family
Let’s start with the latest. Responding to criticisms of his most recent film from the Gucci family, Scott was asked by Total Film what he thought, in particular relating to the Guccis’ unhappiness with Al Pacino’s casting in the movie.
“The people that were writing from the family to us at the onset were alarmingly insulting, saying that Al Pacino did not represent physically Aldo Gucci in any shape or form”, Scott shot back. “And yet, frankly, how could they be better represented than by Al Pacino? Excuse me! You probably have the best actors in the world, you should be so fucking lucky”.
This, friends, was just the tip of it all…
Ridley Scott vs Superhero Movies
There’s an odd trend amongst entertainment journalists at the moment to quiz directors who we all patently know wouldn’t touch a superhero film if they’d like to do so. They get a predictable response, and the headlines are duly generated.
Ridley Scott was not excused from this process either, although in this case, it didn’t sound like he was directly asked, but chose to answer the question anyway. Talking to Deadline, he said “their scripts are not fucking good”.
“They’re superhero movies. So, why don’t superhero movies have better stories? Sorry. I got off the rail, but I mean, c’mon. They’re mostly saved by special effects, and that’s becoming boring for everyone who works with special effects if you’ve got the money”.
“They’re boring as shit”, he summarised, lest we be in any doubt as to where he stood.
Clarity is important.
Ridley Scott vs Box Office
Scott has had his fair share of commercial highs and lows across the breadth of his career. Famously, 1982’s Blade Runner took some time to find its audience and critical acclaim, and when presented with the box office returns for The Last Duel, Scott was quick to agree “It was exceedingly disappointing”, he said to the New York Times.
“The fatal thing is when you think you’ve got it, you haven’t — I thought I’d got it on Blade Runner and I hadn’t! I was crucified by a big critic at the time called Pauline Kael. It’s why I never read critiques, ever. You have to be your own decider — if you worry about what the audience is thinking and what they may want, that’s fatal. A good film will find itself, and now Blade Runner is in the Library of Congress”.
Ridley Scott vs Fucking Cellphones
Finally, the headline-grabber over the last week or so has been Scott’s thoughts as to why his two and a half hour, 18-certificate The Last Duel wasn’t seen by more people during its week or so in cinemas. It wasn’t the distribution, though, or anything as trivial as that. Scott knew exactly who to blame.
Talking to the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, in an already-infamous diatribe, he lambasted “audiences who were brought up on these fucking cellphones”, adding “the millenian do not ever want to be taught anything unless you’re told it on a cellphone”. In the same interview, he did concede this was “a broad stroke” before adding a few words about Facebook for good measure.
Scott is shortly to begin filming his next film, Kitbag, and with a bit of luck, that means he’ll be back on the press circuit this time next year. We’re looking forward to it both the movie, and its promotional interviews…
