- Title: Tom Ford returns to Venice and film-making with thriller "Nocturnal Animals"
- Date: 2nd September 2016
- Summary: VENICE, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 2, 2016) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** WATER TAXI CARRYING CAST OF "NOCTURNAL ANIMALS" ARRIVING DIRECTOR TOM FORD GETTING OFF WATER TAXI AND WAVING / MEDIA FORD SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS AND SAYING "FAST" IN ITALIAN ACTRESS AMY ADAMS GETTING OFF WATER TAXI MEDIA / ADAMS WALKING ON JETTY ADAMS WAVING AS SHE WALKS PAST FANS VARIOUS OF ACTOR AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON ARRIVING AND SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS ACTOR JAKE GYLLENHAAL GETTING OFF WATER TAXI AND WAVING AS HE ARRIVES ON JETTY GYLLENHAAL SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR TOM FORD SAYING: "I opened a hundred stores, I had a child, life sort of took over and I didn't find the right project for a few years. So, hopefully three more years until the next one and not seven." VARIOUS OF GYLLENHAAL SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS FOR FANS OUTSIDE VENICE FILM FESTIVAL CASINO BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR TOM FORD SAYING: "I wanted to do a thriller but not just an empty thriller. There had to be a point, there had to be something that speaks to more than just an exciting ride in a theatre and to me, this did. As I said in the conference it's really about finding those people in your life that mean something to you and holding onto them. Loyalty is something that is certainly a theme in my personal life in terms of people I work with, people in my personal life. I don't let go of people when they are wonderful so that to me is what this is about." ADAMS WAVING AS SHE ARRIVES TAYLOR-JOHNSON SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS FORD SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS AND POSING FOR PHOTOS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR TOM FORD AND ACTOR JAKE GYLLENHAAL SAYING: (FORD SAYING) "Oh, let me say about that. It was red and the reason it was red..." (GYLLENHAAL SAYING) "It was off-red." (FORD SAYING) "It's that now scripts are often printed on red because they don't photocopy or scan so they can't just jump online. So every script I sent out was red and then that way they couldn't pop up on the internet." (GYLLENHAAL SAYING) "But it had, you know, as in the title and how the colour of the font...Red is a big part of the movie also and it's a sign of confidentiality I think in terms of documents but there was something about that that resonated with me as I was reading it, it's pervasive in the story telling, there is blood, there is heart." (FORD SAYING) "I dressed you in part" (GYLLENHAAL SAYING) "You put me in red, all those things so as I was reading it, that colour, even while reading it was just sort of beating at me and left me shaking not only in the story telling but also just having read it off a red page. You know, like redundant read it off a red page." (FORD SAYING) "I should just embrace that." (GYLLENHAAL SAYING) "Yeah, just embrace that." (FORD SAYING) "And just say, oh I made it red just because of the story." GYLLENHAAL POSING FOR PHOTOS WITH FANS AND WAVING (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR TOM FORD AND ACTOR JAKE GYLLENHAAL SAYING: (GYLLENHAAL SAYING) "I think over the aesthetic and all those things I think Tom is always looking for some sort of honesty. He wanted particularly from my character, the person who is sort of continuously emotional or sensitive or asking for truth from people so none of that other stuff came to play. Though, we had a discussion early on where I was like if I'm doing something and you don't like the way I look, will you let me keep doing it, he's like, absolutely and I was like, oh cool because I didn't know what to..." (FORD SAYING) "Of course, it's not about being beautiful, it's about giving a credible performance." (GYLLENHAAL SAYING) "I didn't know what he was going to be like." (FORD SAYING) "I didn't want anyone to be hung up about that at all. Let go of it. You have to." (GYLLENHAAL SAYING) "And it looks pretty good."
- Embargoed: 17th September 2016 19:03
- Keywords: Nocturnal Animals Tom Ford Jake Gyllenhaal Amy Adams Aaron Taylor-Johnson Venice Film Festival
- Location: VENICE, ITALY
- City: VENICE, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Film
- Reuters ID: LVA0014XVJCCT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: After a seven-year hiatus Tom Ford is back to film-making with thriller "Nocturnal Animals" premiering at the Venice Film Festival on Friday (September 2) and the busy fashion designer promises he will be back much sooner next time.
"I opened a hundred stores, I had a child, life sort of took over and I didn't find the right project for a few years," Ford told Reuters on the sidelines of the cinema circus on Lido island. "So, hopefully three more years until the next one and not seven."
The movie showing in Venice, which stars Amy Adams as an art gallery owner troubled by her ex-husband's novel she receives in the mail after years of silence, is a cautionary tale about coming to terms with the choices we make in life.
"I wanted to do a thriller but not just an empty thriller. There had to be a point, there had to be something that speak to more than just an exciting ride in a theatre and to me, this did. As I said in the conference it's really about finding those people in your life that mean something to you and holding onto them. Loyalty is something that is certainly a theme in my personal life in terms of people I work with, people in my personal life. I don't let go of people when they are wonderful so that to me is what this is about," Ford said.
"Nocturnal Animals" is only the second film from the 55-year-old designer-turn-director, whose first foray into directing happened in 2009 with "A Single Man", about a gay college professor who loses his longtime partner, which also premiered in Venice and earned its star Colin Firth an Oscar nomination.
The colour red is a recurring idea throughout the images, but was also what Ford chose for the script he sent to his actors, including Jake Gyllenhaal who plays Adams' ex-husband.
"Oh, let me say about that. It was red and the reason it was red..." Ford said.
"It's that now scripts are often printed on red because they don't photocopy or scan so they can't just jump online. So every script I sent out was red and then that way couldn't pop up on the internet," he said.
"But it had, you know, as in the title and how the colour of the font...Red is a big part of the movie also and it's a sign of confidentiality I think in terms of documents but there was something about that that resonated with me as I was reading it, it's pervasive in the story telling, there is blood, there is heart," said Gyllenhaal.
"You put me in red, all those things so as I was reading it, that colour, even while reading it was just sort of beating at me and left me shaking not only in the story telling but also just having read it off a red page. You know, like redundant read it off a red page," he added.
While the designer-turned-director's aesthetic and attention to detail are evident in the film, they never got in the way of the story telling, Ford and Gyllenhaal said.
"I think over the aesthetic and all those things I think Tom is always looking for some sort of honesty. He wanted particularly from my character, the person who is sort of continuously emotional or sensitive or asking for truth from people so none of that other stuff came to play. Though, we had a discussion early on where I was like if I'm doing something and you don't like the way I look, will you let me keep doing it, he's like, absolutely and I was like, oh cool because I didn't know what to..." said Gyllenhaal.
"Of course, it's not about being beautiful, it's about giving a credible performance," said Ford.
"I didn't know what he was going to be like," said Gyllenhaal.
"I didn't want anyone to be hung up about that at all. Let go of it. You have to," Ford added.
Speaking to reporters at a pre-screening news conference, Adams said, that just like the characters in the film, she sometimes wanted to get even with those hurting her feelings.
"I have fantasies about revenge. I probably will never do them. Mine happen very quickly, like my fantasy happens fast and then I move on and I grow up inside myself and deal with it because ultimately I don't know that revenge is very satisfying. It doesn't fix it. It makes you feel better for a second. The thought of it makes me feel better. Isn't that horrible now you know that about me?" she said.
The thriller is one of 20 movies competing for the Golden Lion that will be awarded on September 10 at the world's oldest film festival, once again seen as a launch pad for the Oscar season after premiering several winners in its last three editions. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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