One of the most essential questions in Joe Wright’s musical adaptation “Cyrano” is not how far someone can go for their passion, but instead… whether or not the character, played by Peter…
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
One of the most essential questions in Joe Wright’s musical adaptation “Cyrano” is not how far someone can go for their passion, but instead… whether or not the character, played by Peter Dinklage, could take on all of the soldiers he was fighting against at once.
Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey spoke to Variety’s Clayton Davis about the technical aspects to portray the fight sequence, including adding LED lights and CGI, to make audiences believe that Cyrano could actually take down this band of men.
“[Wright’s] initial idea was that it was to be a single take shot, so obviously with the impact and the nature of stunt photography and stunt people, we had to create the illusion of a single take.”
Wright and McGarvey were joined with production and set decorators Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer at Variety Streaming Room presented by UAR and MGM, to talk about the shooting of the film, the locations in Noto, Sicily and how the conditions of snow and possible volcano eruptions at times made shooting unsafe.”
Greenwood spoke of turning Noto into France, where the film takes place. “We were going to find our world in this one place… and in no way was it a compromise to make it in one place, it was just perfect, it all lived together, and became this world.”
Spencer added, “The hardest place we’ve ever [worked] on is that volcano on that mountain. Being the first people up there, there weren’t even any paths… altitude has no respect of age, health or anything, so people were carrying things, then they had to sit down, and they actually started to move like soldiers to pass things on. It was the hardest, but it was one of the most beautiful places on Earth.”
McGarvey also believed that Mount Etna was one of the most challenging sequences to shoot.
“Since we were prepared to shoot at 16,000 feet, and there was a massive snow dump that happened. Our set, camera platform, and everything were completely inaccessible. So we had to move down the mountain and improvise that entire sequence with a camera and a tripod.”
Wright spoke about why it was at this moment in time that he wanted to create the film, during a pandemic, saying: “We had to make it now because it was a film about human connection and a love of life, and I wanted to make it in defiance of the incredibly bleak circumstances that we find ourselves in.”
Watch the full conversation.
