The Following Has Been Translated. Actor Matthew Modine recently spoke with the international website
Tribuna about his experience working with Christopher Nolan.
"Working with Kubrick marked me forever, it was a great experience. Two years were dedicated to Full Metal Jacket, and I have no words to describe the impact that had on me. He liked to ask the right questions to an actor, to the intent through the understanding of a character, which is something I've revived with Christopher Nolan on The Dark Knight Rises."
"My relationship with Nolan became very interesting towards the end of filming, because I started asking questions similar to those experienced with Kubrick, and although I only spent a few months on the set. I find it very important that, a director question his actors. Something that often does not happen. It is a mistake many (directors), will only just say what to do and nothing more, when to lead and invite to play through the understanding of the character's situation."
Man, is there a more overrated director than Stanley Kubrick? Gee, I really don't think so. If boring your audience to tears is something worth praising than Stanley Kubrick is a God. While Christopher Nolan just creates one masterpiece after another. I could watch a Nolan movie over and over and never tire of it.
Oh sure Kubrick's
Full Metal Jacket is a wonderful film, and
The Shining is at times top notch, but after that his filmography is filled with stale movies that have been heaped with undeserved acclaim. There are three films that really stick out, 1971's
A Clockwork Orange, 1968's
2001: A Space Odyssey and 1964's
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
Now, mind you I'm not saying any of these films are bad, and to be honest Kubrick never made a bad film, except for 1999's
Eyes Wide Shut with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Sadly his last film was his worst, but there are still people that pretend to enjoy that movie because they think it's the posh response. You know those same people will never watch it more than once. And to me that is what makes a good movie great.
If you don't want to re-watch a film a couple weeks, months, or years after seeing it, it wasn't a great film. Go see how many people have watched Kubrick's
Lolita more than once, and wasn't a pedophile. Trust me you won't find too many. But if you ask someone if it's a good movie and they know Kubrick made it, they are sure as shoot gonna say it's good or even great.
Back to Batman for a second, also in the interview, Modine had this rather interesting quote about
The Dark Knight Rises:
"It will be a fantastic movie, because in addition to telling a story about Batman, there is a parallel story about corporations, (...) the parable of the world in which we live."
The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters July 20th 2012 and stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon, Tom Hardy as Bane, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake and Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate.