It might sound like a case of history repeating itself \u2013 the kind of event traditionally associated with a failure to pay attention to what had gone before and the resulting consequences that follow.<\/p>\n
During the 1988 Presidential election year, director Oliver Stone became linked to a prospective feature film called Company Man<\/em>, about illegal arms dealing. The filmmaker found the notion of an Iran\/Contra-like project fascinating, but felt he could only go forward on the condition it be released just prior to the national election in November. When that aspect could not be guaranteed, Stone, with some reluctance, abandoned the project.<\/p>\n With this year\u2019s W.<\/em>, scheduled for a mid-October release, one might be tempted to draw a parallel with that still born earlier undertaking which, no doubt, would have fit nicely into Stone\u2019s politically combustible canon of work. The same director, twenty years later, tackling an instantly controversial project about America\u2019s standing commander-in-chief, with a plan to release the film just prior to this year\u2019s polarized, and hotly-contested Presidential elections.\u00a0 But not so: this time out Stone insists there is no mandate for releasing the picture to coincide with the election.\u00a0 \u201cA mandate is a requirement, and there was no such requirement with W.<\/em> We have a very tight schedule for post, but I can only do the best I can with respect to making the scheduled release date.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Two-term president\u00a0 (now lame duck) notwithstanding, Oliver Stone\u2019s oft-stated intent with this biographical portrait is to present a legitimate, multi-sided view of Bush (critics will snicker, \u2018much as he did with Nixon\u2019), not deliver a polemic. But even-handedness does not preclude a certain level of cinematic artistry, which Stone has shown in spades in past efforts like JFK<\/em>, Natural Born Killers<\/em>, and The Doors<\/em>. \u201cHe wants to make an entertaining movie with W.<\/em>,\u201d says director of photography Phedon Papamichael. \u201cSo while it may not be 100 percent realistic, it isn\u2019t stylized to such a degree that audiences couldn\u2019t be drawn into the narrative. Early on we talked about Dr. Strangelove<\/em>, but it was more in the sense of not wanting to take things quite that far. Also, Oliver didn\u2019t permit me to say the name Kubrick in our discussions about the direction. I had to refer to the director in code, just as \u2018K.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Rather than naming that legendary filmmaker, Stone speaks only of, \u201cthe master,\u201d and half-seriously invokes, \u201ca Greek curse upon Phedon\u2019s head for speaking about the director who is such a hero to me. Tell him from me I had no idea he was such a blabbermouth.\u00a0 I suppose all DPs are gossips. But I love him and them anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n Cinematographers have done fine by Stone, as well. The filmmaker\u2019s fearless use of mixed media helped propel Bob Richardson to his first of two Oscars for 1991\u2019s JFK<\/em> (Stone and Richardson have collaborated on 11 films to date, three of which earned Academy Award nominations), while the 2004 epic Alexandra<\/em> brought a Camerimage honor to Rodrigo Prieto.<\/p>\n Stone says his affection for Papamichael\u2019s Greek heritage played into their partnership. \u201cPhedon\u2019s European sensibilities allow him to see all things American in a different way, and that perspective was one that I thought would help tell the story,\u201d he observes. \u201cAnother perspective came from Danny Hiele, who I brought over from Europe as an additional shooter, who often shot alternate takes, which adds some spice to the broth, making things more dynamic. I can\u2019t say one style dominated; they worked together to make various story points.\u201d<\/p>\n The 3-time Oscar winner says he \u201calways has personal relationships\u201d with his cinematographers, and the high degree of comfort with Phedon was instrumental in facilitating the shoot. \u201cI was very happy to get him.\u201d Stone continues.\u00a0 \u201cHe had done a great job on Wild Palms<\/em> (Stone-produced TV miniseries), where we had different directors for each part. His presence was the consistent thread that linked the various installments together.\u00a0 And his choices since then showed such versatility.\u00a0 Million Dollar Hotel<\/em> is a whack-job and hilarious; and as he probably told you, I loved Mousehunt.\u201d<\/p>\n Stone says that for satire to work properly, (he counts Network<\/em> and Joe<\/em> as other W.<\/em> influences) the form has to fit the function. \u201cTo anticipate the next question,\u201d he intones, \u201cwhich is going to be about Phedon\u2019s incredible style, my answer is, it fits the function — as needed on this film.\u00a0 We had to do this so very fast. He\u2019s been around awhile and worked on some low-budget shoots, so he is practical-minded beyond belief. We were able to shoot an incredible amount of footage in 46 days.\u201d<\/p>\n Considering W.<\/em>\u2019s subject matter, it\u2019s more than a little surprising that Stone shies away from political queries, even remaining mum on who gets his vote in November: \u201cSorry, I didn\u2019t hear that question,\u201d he demurs. Okay Oliver. We\u2019ll keep the pundits guessing. But if recent Stone-related controversies (everything from visiting with Columbia\u2019s notorious guerilla faction, FARC, to a proposed documentary on Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) are any hint, the GOP won\u2019t be counting on his endorsement. Then again trying to predict Stone\u2019s next move is a fool\u2019s errand: his chronicle of the My Lai Massacre and its aftermath, Pinkville, was shuttered by the writer\u2019s strike, and his next announced film is Black Ice<\/em>, an adaptation of novelist Michael Connelly\u2019s gritty L.A. detective series, featuring Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It might sound like a case of history repeating itself \u2013 the kind of event traditionally associated with a failure to pay attention to what had gone before and the resulting consequences that follow. During the 1988 Presidential election year, director Oliver Stone became linked to a prospective feature film called Company Man, about illegal arms dealing. The filmmaker found the notion of an Iran\/Contra-like project fascinating, but felt he could only go forward on the condition it be released […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[303,304],"class_list":["post-255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exposure","tag-oliver-stone","tag-w"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n