USA: KEVIN COSTNER IS BACK IN THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR WORKING ON "THE POSTMAN", A STORY OF A POST-APOCALYPTIC MAILMAN WHO SAVES THE DAY

Record ID: 387371

  • Title: USA: KEVIN COSTNER IS BACK IN THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR WORKING ON "THE POSTMAN", A STORY OF A POST-APOCALYPTIC MAILMAN WHO SAVES THE DAY
  • Date: 12th December 1997
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 12, 1997) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) COSTNER SAYING, "YEAH I DON'T THINK THAT NECESSARILY FAST IS BAD AND I DON'T THINK NECESSARILY THAT TAKING YOUR TIME IS BAD EITHER. I JUST THINK THAT STORIES NEED TO BE WHAT THEY ARE, NOT WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE PEOPLE THINK THAT THEY WANT TO HAVE. I THINK PEOPLE WHO MAKE FILMS SHOULD MAKE WHAT'S IN THEIR HEART AND IN THEIR MIND." (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) TOM PETTY SAYING, "I THINK IT'S COOL THAT IF YOU HAVE A VISION FOR SOMETHING YOU'RE DOING IT'S LIKE MAKING A DOUBLE ALBUM. IF YOU FEEL IT SHOULD BE THAT LONG AND YOU CAN JUSTIFY IT BEING THAT LONG THEN YOU DO IT. I ADMIRE HIM FOR NOT REALLY BENDING TO COMMERCIAL PRESSURE OR WORRYING ABOUT THOSE SORT OF THINGS."
  • Embargoed: 27th December 1997 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES/ FILM lOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA74HJH360K5I0WCZ31NSTS3549
  • Story Text: - A bleak vision of American life in the future, where society has disintegrated following years of war and pestilence, is central to Kevin Costner's latest movie "The Postman".

    Terrorized by militias, people are forced to live in barricaded enclaves where everything we take for granted is gone - no cars, microwaves or phones. People live hand-to-mouth with little hope for change.

    Enter Costner in the role of a postman to save the day.

    "We see it in Bosnia - the world is torn apart constantly," Costner said at the film's premiere in Los Angeles on Friday (December 12). "We have not come to peace with ourselves politically and religiously, since racism exists all over the world," he added.

    Costner's film, which has its general release in the United States (U.S.) from December 25, sees him once again playing the loner-turned reluctant hero. His initially selfish actions inspire others to rebel against their oppressors and restore order.

    For all that talk of impending doom, Costner's "Postman" prevails in the end when, as expected in any big-budget Hollywood movie, good overcomes evil.

    With his first directorial effort, "Dances With Wolves," Costner pulled off what most directors only dream of - creating a film which claimed seven Oscar awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

    After a seven-year absence, Costner is back in the director's seat, reaching for his "Great American Movie." The film has been criticised, however, for a running time of 3 hours and 15 minutes which some say is the only thing epic about the picture.

    "I don't think necessarily that taking your time is bad," Costner said, defending the film's length. "I think people who make films should make what's in their heart and in their mind." Costner's romantic interest in "Postman" is British actress Olivia Williams. At 29 years-old, her experience to date was three years of supporting roles in the Royal Shakespeare Company and two minor made-for-television European movies.

    "Amazingly Kevin Costner watches people's hopeless video auditions and watches them and rings them up and hires them!" Williams joked.

    Also appearing in the film is American folk-rocker Tom Petty, who compared Costner's liking of long duration movies to the making of a double album, "If you feel it should be that long and you can justify it being that long then you do it. I admire him for not really bending to commercial pressure."
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