Normally, I'd save this for a collection of newsy movie tidbits, but I'm not sure when the heck I'll get around to another one of those--since when is summer busier than the school year?! Anyway, as I mentioned earlier this week, I've been a bit hesitant about the remake of the 1951 The Day the Earth Stood Still (given how much I adore the original, not to mention the God-talk it elicits), but Peter Chattaway recently posted some intriguing excerpts from an interview at MTV Movies Blog with director Scott Derrickson, who interestingly is also a self-professing Christian. I especially was interested in this part:The original was a not-so-subtle allegory for Christ (the alien’s human name is Carpenter, he calls for peace, he is resurrected at the end, etc.). Is Derrickson’s version as overt?
“I don’t think you can really escape that metaphor,” Derrickson said. “I think the Christ-myth stories make great stories, whether it’s ‘The Matrix’ or ‘Braveheart,’ they all are tapping into some kind of deep myth in our DNA, and by myth I don’t necessarily mean false. I mean something that has mythological power and that’s definitely part of the story and part of what attracts me to it. My approach to that was to not discard that, but to be not quite as direct as the original.”
Read the more excerpts (including tidbits about robot Gort) at Chattaway's blog.
Also, for what it's worth, one of the images in the trailer included the above image, which I believe is the historic St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, right? Not that that means anything, just something I noticed.
Also, for what it's worth, one of the images in the trailer included the above image, which I believe is the historic St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, right? Not that that means anything, just something I noticed.