After Civil War, Alex Garland wants to stop directing films (MAJ)
He will remain a screenwriter and will be able to help other directors on occasion, but he no longer wants to direct feature films 100%.
Updated April 3, 2024 at 5 p.m.: Alex Garland has responded to misinterpretations of his decision to step away from directing. He claims to IndieWire that it has nothing to do with the quality of his last film, Civil Warwhich he defends, nor with the fact that it would be the highest production of his studio, A24.
“I just said that I wanted to take a break from directing in the near future…how can that be extrapolated as a matter of pride or that I would feel bad about my film? he begins. I don't understand the link. Why reinterpret such a statement in this way? It’s weird.”
“I simply said that I wanted to take a break from directing, that I was going to stop directing in the near future, he continues. But I made it clear that I wanted to continue writing, and the work of a screenwriter is also a way of making films. You cannot erase all the other professions apart from that of director: authors, cinematographers, editors, actors… They are all part of this same process. Making films is not just the job of directors.”
News from April 3, 2024 at 9:10 a.m.: Two pieces of information about Alex Garland fell in quick succession, a few days before the theatrical release of his war film Civil War. During Deadline announced that the director ofEx_Machina, Annihilation And Men was going to co-directing Warfare with Ray Mendoza, The Guardian relayed a long portrait of him explaining that he was on the verge of giving up directing. Who to believe?
It all starts from an interview New York Timesin 2022, while he was in full preparation for Civil War. The author of The beachadapted in 2000 by Danny Boyle was interviewed about his multiple hats, and he explained that he became a director by accident.
“I'm interested in fewer and fewer things, he said. But if a question strikes me, I delve deeper into it than before. And then, I'm not really a director. I am more of an author who moved to directing by force of circumstances…”
By meeting him to talk about Civil Warthe journalist of The Guardian says he has in front of him a very serious filmmaker and above all worried about the reception “polarizing” that his film is likely to receive. His sense of responsibility “wakes you up even at night”he explains, as he knows that the subject of Civil War is explosive.
When asked if he really plans to stop directing, or if he was just having a “bad day” when he said that, Garland responds straight away:
“Nothing has changed. I'm still in this same state of mind. I don't plan to achieve anything in the near future.”
Warfare was it announced prematurely? He speaks of it as a “collaboration”explaining that he will be there to support Ray Mendoza, who initiated this film and who supervised its military sequences from Civil War. He insists on being considered “the co-writer and co-director” of this project, and not as its main director. He also says he wants to continue writing, since he can't control his inspiration anyway.
This is how he says he had the idea of Following 28 days And 28 weeks later in just one time :
“Bing! In my mind came the idea of an entire trilogy in an instant. This kind of thing really makes me question what creativity is. I feel like an observer most of the time time.”
His interviewer then tells him that he speaks about cinema with passion, and that he does not feel it is “fell out of love with making films.”
“But that's what happened. he replies. I love films, but the act of making them… It doesn't exist in itself, it's part of a more global life, a greater context. And I have to interact with that… I don't want to seem rude (he says, pointing to the interviewer, the organization of the junket)but that's how I feel.”
In this context, Civil War will it be director Alex Garland's last film? This is the way he talks about it at the moment. Here is its trailer, pending its release on April 17:
