The Dorchester hotel on Monday afternoon was the rather lavish setting for this discussion of Martin Scorsese’s latest offering, HUGO. Despite the irritating sound of a mobile phone interfering with the sound system for half of the event, THN still managed to ascertain some insights, musings and anecdotes from two vastly differing generations of filmic talent; the legendary Sir Ben Kingsley and Martin Scorsese, as well as new blood Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz.
Here’s what they had to say:
For everyone: This movie is about the power and history of cinema, and its ability to inspire people. Can you remember the first time you were truly inspired by a film, and what was it?
Sir Ben Kingsley:
I can indeed, and it’s wonderful to be sitting next to the man (he gestures towards Martin Scorsese) who gave me the DVD years later. It was a film that we both saw when we were very young, called NEVER TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER. It was also about an orphan, who, survived allied bombing – his parents didn’t – and his sole means of everything was his donkey, ‘Violetta’.
(Scorsese laughs)
I was very taken by this film, and when I was a very little boy I looked very much like him. I decided that that was me. We bonded on the screen. After the screening of this movie in Salford, the owner of the establishment saw me and thought I was the star of the film. He then addressed the crowd and introduced me as this boy, before lifting me up on his shoulders. I thought to myself… I could really get used to this.
Years later I told Marty about it and, of course, he said ‘I know that movie,’ and within 24 hours he had the DVD; I’m now able to watch it all over again. It was the first movie to make a huge impression on me and I’ve been determined to be an actor ever since.
Chloë Grace Moretz:
My mum has always been obsessed with Audrey Hepburn, and, as a result, so am I. One of the first films that really inspired me to be an actor was BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S, because I saw how Audrey Hepburn just lit up the screen and made people smile. I wanted to make people smile, dream and imagine that they’re in that particular time and feeling.
Martin Scorsese:
I think movies, for me, were a refuge at the time. It was 1945, and because I had asthma, we were not allowed to do any sports or that kind of thing. As a result, I was taken to the movie theatre quite frequently. I saw many films in the forties and became enamoured with the western genre.
The film that made the biggest impression on me, at least in terms of the process of filmmaking, was THE MAGIC BOX. My father took me to see that in 1952 when I was nine or ten years old. It was the passion of the people creating that movie and their love for the moving image that nurtured the same feelings in myself.
Asa Butterfield:
It wasn’t so much watching a film that inspired me. It was during the filming of THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS when this switch flicked in my head. Before that it was more of a past time, but it was then I decided this was what I really wanted to do. It has now become a passion that I put every effort into. I just love being someone that you couldn’t necessarily be in real life; doing things that would otherwise be impossible. It’s just magical.
For Chloë and Asa: What did you think of the films of George Méliès that you saw?
Asa Butterfield:
I loved them. Marty did give us lots of old films to watch, particularly George’s films. One of the first that we watched was actually THE MAGIC BOX.
Chloë Grace Moretz:
Yeah, we went to the screening of it somewhere… I forget where…
Martin Scorsese:
At the British Film Institute!
(A ripple of laughter)
Chloë Grace Moretz:
That’s right. It was somewhere like that! It was a surreal and magical experience; you know you’re not only doing a movie with Marty, but that you’re also such a young actor. It was like a dream, you know?
Asa Butterfield:
I think the first Méliès film we saw was when Marty flew us out to New York. We were jet-lagged and so me and my Mum woke up at three o’clock in the morning. We were bored, there was nothing to do outside, and we didn’t have any room service, so we watched his work on youtube.
For Martin Scorsese: The film comes across as a tribute to silent movies. How important is it to you that today’s generation recognises where movies came from, and how important is it that film as an artistic medium is preserved?
Martin Scorsese:
The problem for the new generation, which is the problem with every generation, is the obligation of the generation before to inform and expose the new minds to the great art of the past; as well as the good and the not so good. To a certain extent, I think it is the same with everything. Many painters would study the old masters and re-paint their work before working on their own. It is, of course, the same with theatre and literature, etc. However, that’s not to say that you have to have engaged with past works in order to express yourself through art.
It is incredibly exciting to watch young people’s take on the whole thing. I think that as we progress, the cinema experience is going to be something that isn’t restricted to the stage. It’s going to be moved out to the audience in many different ways; whether it be an independent film or a film that costs a great deal of money. It is important to make younger people aware of what came before, in every aspect of every art form. It is all part of life and I think we can all gain from it. I know I do.
For Martin Scorsese: With HUGO and THE ARTIST coming out now, there does seem to be this resurgence of interest in silent films. Why do you think that is?
Martin Scorsese:
I don’t know much about THE ARTIST. I understand it is a silent film shot in black and white, but I think it is just timing; a coincidence. I mean, I live in Manhattan so I don’t really know what is going on in California. My manager just calls me once in a while….
(laughter)
Yeah, so I had no idea that our films would be coming out at the same time.
Since the realisation of film, certain expectations have come about. Sound was desired very early on, as well as colour and depth. The Lumière brothers shot several films in 3D which have been restored. I saw them. They were made in the twenties so it was happening way before it was widely known.
More than ninety per cent of silent films are gone anyway. They’re gone. Nobody cared enough. If you really see a silent film in its original form it seems like another language, really. When I was a kid I didn’t understand what the attraction was aside from the moving image itself. I don’t think there are many people around now who truly appreciate it.
So, like you say, I wonder if this small boom is the appreciation and the harking back to where films began, or just a matter of timing.
For the actors: What was the experience of filming in 3D like for you?
Asa Butterfield:
It is quite different, but for the actors we mostly forget about the camera, as it is more for the crew to deal with. Occasionally there was the 3D moment, as they call it, which they did a lot with Sacha [Baron Cohen]. He would lean in to the camera and it would have him come out in to the audience, which was great fun. It wasn’t that much of a change really, apart from the process taking a lot longer.
Sir Ben Kingsley:
I think that Chloë and Asa are so young that their performance is pure. It is not filtered through anything and it was a great addition to the 3D discipline on the set. Chloë and Asa work from the heart and not from the head. If you work from the head in 3D you will be spotted. You have to be utterly genuine, accurate and modest in front of the camera. It is far more scrutinizing than any close-up lens I have ever experienced in my life. The youngsters were acting with total naturalism and it helped me to portray a stillness and a modesty that I loved going into.
I had the temerity to have a conversation with Marty at the beginning of the shooting where I offered that if he would like take two, it would be less than take one. If he would like take three, then he would see less than in take two. I was always trying to minimize, minimize, minimize. The joy of 3D and Marty being behind the camera is that nothing is lost. Nothing is wasted. Everything is seen. It is amazing and beautiful to have everything that you offer captured.
For Martin Scorsese: Did you have to adjust your work ethic and style for 3D, and is it something you will take into your future works?
Martin Scorsese:
It is definitely something I would like to adopt in my future films. I just happen to be a great admirer of it. I feel it furthers the imagination and taps into the imagination of people, especially children. Personally, I depend on that every day when making a film. My first experiences of 3D had that childhood imagination, and it has fascinated me ever since. I don’t see any reason why not to utilise it, if it is used appropriately for the story. It is the same as sound or colour. Everybody complained about colour until 1935 when they got it right, then by 1970 it was announced that all films would be made this way. We were appalled because some of the black and white films, especially British films from the 1950s and 1960s, were indescribable. They were what we were aspiring to.
Somehow, through the evolving audience, colour just became natural. Colour is part of the story and is part of life. We may forget that space is too, and that playing around with it is just as vital a process.
So, yes, it is definitely something I would like to continue to pursue in future projects. The equipment is becoming much more efficient, and they’re working on a way in which we can lose the glasses. So… why not?
HUGO opens in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on Friday 2nd December.
