Viggo Mortensen: “I won’t shoot a film without being sure of having the final cut”
The actor and director of the recent Until the End of the World denounces the current functioning of the film industry.
Barely had his second film been released when Viggo Mortensen is already working on his third. After Falling In 2020, the actor, director and screenwriter promoted this year Till the end of the worlda western in which he shares the bill with Vicky Krieps. A few months after its release, the American-Danish confides in the columns of his next project Varietywhich he is having difficulty seeing come to fruition:
“There are only indigenous languages, no white characters and no movie stars – just a lot of horses. But I’m sure it will appeal to a wide audience because it’s a universal coming-of-age story for a teenager.”
An idea that has been on his mind for a long time, it seems. He would have made his first two films to prove that he had what it takes to carry such a project, that is to say, a western where the horses and the landscape are as important as the characters (and their actors). Because it is against the reluctance of investors that Mortensen is fighting, apparently always hesitant when it comes to betting on him and his performances:
“People who bring money are very conservativeregrets the filmmaker. It is increasingly difficult to maintain creative control and I will not make a film without being certain of having the final cut. This one is complicated, but I know it will work. It’s just a matter of convincing someone to invest in it.”
Viggo Mortensen knows what he’s talking about: in 2022, he’s in the cast of Thirteen Livesa drama of Ron Howard produced by Metro Goldwyn Mayer. “It was supposed to be released in thousands of theaters around the world, but Amazon bought MGM and decided to stream it, which is sad. It’s one of (Ron Howard’s) best movies,” says Mortensen.
One of the solutions that presents itself to him is to conform to the precedent established by Kevin Costnerwho invested several million dollars of his personal fortune in the western of his dreams, Horizon: An American Sagaan epic in four chapters. Francis Ford Coppola also sacrificed some of his assets to produce his main work, Megalopolis. However, for Viggo Mortensen, this is not how the industry should work, and although he wished his colleague good luck, he is still looking for outside investors, with, it must be said, not much hope:
“Unless you’re part of a big company that has a lot of money to force it on (studio) voters, it’s difficult.”he asserts.
While we wait to learn more about Viggo Mortensen’s next project, Till the end of the world is still showing in some French theaters.
Viggo Mortensen: “I wasn’t supposed to play in Until the End of the World”
