As I just said in the intro of the Olga Kurylenko interview for âJames Bond Quantum of Solaceâ, with the latest Bond movie set to open this weekend, itâs time to post the interviews I recently did with the cast and director Marc Forster.
All you really need to know about âQuantum of Solaceâ isâ¦.the movie starts about an hour after âCasino Royaleâ ended and itâs a Bond movie where heâs looking for revenge.
Anyway, during my roundtable interview with Marc, he talked about the challenges of making this movie, casting, the music, and pretty much every other thing youâd want to know about.
As always, you can either read the transcript below or listen to the audio by clicking here. Finally, if youâd like to watch some clips from Quantum of Solace
Marc Forster: Everybody seems very happy here.
Question: Were the other rooms not happy? We like the film.
Marc: Oh, we like the film. That makes it easier. I think if I had to divide the room up in the people who liked the film, who donât like the filmâ¦
Really?
Marc: Just joking. Iâm kidding.
I havenât heard anyone saying they donât like the film.
Marc: Iâm glad they like it because the pressure was like enough because âCasino Royaleâ was so successful and the expectations were so high I felt like oh my God itâs likeâ¦and the pressureâs still there to hope that the film performs.
Did you feel like you were making a sequel or did it feel all brand new and you just so happened to be talking about people who were in the last film and so forth.
Marc: No, I mean I wanted to approach it as like Iâm making the movie I wanted to make and wanted to make the Bond movie I would like to seeâ¦so artistically and any other way. But I still felt like okay, thereâs some characters Iâm inheriting and Iâm taking along for the ride. And in that sense, yes. What I thought was interesting for me to do a sequel was in the last 5 minutes of âCasino Royaleâ Bond loses his love of his life and heâs in this emotional state and I felt to continue that state into âQuantum of Solaceâ would be a good thing instead of starting him out fresh and Bond feels thereâs no attachment. And he forgot the girl he loved and now whereâs the next girl I can be with? And so I kind of like to have that sort of kind of pain, you know?
Iâm curious about how early on did you decide on the editing betweenâ¦you have some very interesting editing choices which really look great on-screen. How early on did you put that together and was that when you first got the script or could you talk about that?
Marc: I mean a lot of the action sequences I sort of developed when I went to go to locations and thatâs sort of how it came together more. My first idea of intercutting the sequences, especially the sequence in Sienna and the opera and the final sequence, came from the Siennaâ¦they showed me the tunnels which the Romanâs built under the cityâthe water channels and I thought it would be interesting to put the safe house underground before it was sort of up on a roof like in a building and then the roofâ¦.sort of a rooftop chase. I thought it would be interesting to put it underground and then start the chase exactly when the horse race starts and have them intercut those 2 chases and then he pops up in the middle and then we have sort of on ground level and then he goes up to the roof and then crashes through the dome from the top. Originally in the script it was to enter the dome from the ground and fight up some scaffolding. I thought it was more interesting and more spectacular to crash in from the top and have the intercutting between the race and them. And then with the opera sequenceâthat sequence was set in the script in a U.N. type of setting with people over-listening these conversations through different languages and stuff and I thought it was interesting, but totally visually I couldnât get it in my head and I felt it looked a little familiar and then I saw the opera set and the eye reminded me of Bond and it was blue and I always loved the influence of Hitchcock on the Bond filmsâthe early Bond filmsâand that was âThe Man Who Knew Too Muchâ certainly popped in my head. I thought this whole kind of that film could really work really interesting because I knew it was Tosca. I thought Tosca was a parallel to our story and so I could have the opera and him and then go into this sort of Mexican standoff dream-like action sequence which wouldnât be sort of based real and I always enjoyed it also in those âGodfatherâ films how Coppola dealt with it and so I thought it would be kind of a cool kind of sequence.
I guess Iâll also ask when you were shootingâ¦how was it with shooting coverage on these films and are you the type of filmmaker that likes using a lot of cameras or are you very focused? Do you have everything in your mind how itâs going to be?
Marc: I mostly have a lot of it in my mind in dramatic sequences anyway, when I shoot with actors I usually shoot with one camera, sometimes 2, because it restricts your lighting. In action sequences I shot with more cameras because thatâs just easier otherwise you lose too much time. But usually I try to limit the amount of cameras.
Do you enjoy the scope in like doing all the huge action set-pieces or are you ready to do another small very quiet drama?
Marc: No, I think thereâs some switching genres and something smaller again. I mean, I enjoyed making the film and it was creatively satisfying and I loved working with Daniel. I mean heâs been such a great collaborator and it was really so satisfying working with an actor like him. And the producers really support my visions. I have nothing to complain about but its just hard to carry that kind of size of production and having like shootingâ¦.and it was my choice to shoot in 6 countries. It wasnât theirs. I mean like up to them. They said oh, we can shoot it in Pinewood on green screen but I thought no, we need to shoot in real locations. It has to feel real. I want to be there like in these old Bond movies they sort of lost it a little bit along the way. They started shooting more in studio and had the 2nd unit out on locations. And I felt no, I want to shoot on locations. I think itâs more intimate and feels better. And so Iâm in London prepping and shooting there and my productions are in Panama prepping that and then Iâm seeing images of locations and suddenly I chose the locations that the wall was gray and I said we have to change the color to like a green. And then I see images and when I arrive on the day I say well, thatâs not really the green I wanted, but itâs too late to change, you know? And then while Iâm arriving there heâs already in Chile prepping the Chile locations so theyâre always ahead of you prepping and the details make the movieâ¦.so you have to be so aware and itâs hard on the computer when they send you these photos because the color changes depending if youâre using a flash another flash, what the lighting situation is, so it gets tricky. And yes, if youâre doing a DI you can change the color again on the DI but it gets very complicated to get the color right and Iâm really particular about that because it affects you in your subconscious, the way you feel the movie and the space and the characters. So that kind of stuffâ¦if you shoot at one location, you know Iâm always in control and I think most directors are control freaks.
So when you watch the movie now is there still like scenes youâre like oh my gosh I canât believe that greenâs still in the back?
Marc: No, Dennis Gastner, the production designer, is really phenomenal and he really has a good eye. I chose him because he did 8 movies with the Coen brothers. He did âThe Truman Showâ, you know. His credits are really great. Great taste. We worked it out very quickly, but it happened here or there but we could always fix it at the last moment.
What location or which scene was the greatest challenge for you then?
Marc: I mean they were all challenges because I had this idea I wanted to do 4 action sequences and 4 elementsâwater, fire, air, earth. And so every time you work with the elements, you know, you put your actors into fire it gets very hot, so itâs very hard. You put them in water, you have the wind, the waves. Itâs hard and dangerous. I think the hardest one for me to actually push through because of different reasons was the Sienna scene which ends at the sort of art gallery cathedral at the end because that sequence the studio felt a couple of timesâ¦because originally the rooftops were supposed to be built in Pinewood and we couldnât afford it. It was too expensive. So they said weâll just have to cut the rooftops. I said no, I canât cut the rooftops. I need thatâs foreplay. And I shot already the cathedral scenes and I shot the beginning in chasing so I had him up on the thing and I said no, he just should run up into the tower and crash through the rooftop. I said no I need to rooftops and then so it was really hard to shoot that. So then I said why donât we ask Sienna if we could shoot on the real rooftops in the final location. So Sienna, the city, allowed us, and Iâm so thankful to them, to shoot on real rooftops. And engineers had to look at the weight of the buildings and itâs quite extensive. And then he flies from one rooftop to the other side where the balconies are so that was all in the real location. That was all shot in Sienna on location. So then there was an issue with the bus. Then the bus got too expensive and we had theseâ¦but then I said no, now we have him on the other side. We have to get him over and they said I know but you can figure something out but just the bus thing is too much money and too complicated. But I said I have him on this side, how can they linkâ¦weâll just cut into the tower. Then I was thinking, no that doesnât work and we have to get him over there. I need the bus.
You got your bus.
Marc: Yeah, I got the bus finally. But no, no the bus was always in the concept but I donât see another way to get him over except when he jumps on the bus and he gets over and goes up again anyway.
Were you shooting in Sienna during the Palio di Siena?
Marc: Yeah, we shot the real Palio and I shot that actually August 16th last year before we shot anything and the script wasnât finished. I didnât really actually at that point completely 100% know where the Palio would sort of fit in.
Was there any stunt that you did that you were really worried that you were shooting that you thought oh boyâ¦and you really put a lot of fear to? I was thinking the fire scenes at the end were very dangerous.
Marc: Yeah I know. I mean, itâs actually Daniel what is really dangerous is like when he leaves the villa where Mr. Green isâ¦after he pulls him up and he runs across and the thing crashes down. Thatâs all Daniel. And things are exploding left and right next to him and itâs all real. And heâs in the midst of those flames and then at the end of it he stands there and he stands there for a moment and then he just like goes into this door which is a side door, but itâs all extremely hot. And he has like protective tissue on but itâs stillâ¦and also once the thing crashes through the door, itâs like heâs there. He enters the door, the thing crashes behind him and he enters the room which is like filled with flames as well. So that was intense, yeah.
You mentioned that you shot that sequence in Sienna in August.
Marc: Yeah.
And that was months before actually filming the rest of the film. That must have been your being thrown to the fire kind of realizing what kind of interest there was because a lot of that leaked on the Internet that you guys were filming there, people were taking photos. What was that experience like for you? Did you see all that online? Did you hear about it?
Marc: I heard about it. I didnât reallyâ¦I started very early on. I said okay, I canât follow this online or go onto any blogs or anything because I would likeâ¦like people say okayâ¦I would think okay theyâve chosen a director who has never done action. What is he going to do? And I felt like if I go in and start reading that stuff it really will affect me.
With all this action, how do you make sure the nature of this character and the humanity of Bond is intact?
Marc: I felt like the main thing is what I was always concentrated on like I said at the beginning I canât approach it like a big franchise movie. I have to like really think about the character. See it as like a sort of âart filmâ. How can I make this my own within that Bond framework? And itâs all about Bond and the character and the intensity and how I feel. So I felt because he lost the love of his life in the last one, I said the Bond girl should sort of be a mirror to him and have sort of like in a sense have her own revenge motives. And because of that mirror, we can get sort of an emotional response out of Bond. But just in his eyes or so when she opens up a little bit. At the same time I thought also when heâs like with the John Carlo Gininni character, Mathis, thereâs a nice sort of thing about the 2 of them that you feel how much pain heâs really in.
I just wanted to ask about the selection of Jack White and Alicia Keyes to do the theme song. How much input do youâ¦I mean can you give me a song? Or how closely did you work with them about doing it?
Marc: Itâs basically, I heard that Jack White was interested. He loved Bond movies and he was interested in writing a Bond song. I thought okay. I love his music. Iâm a big fan and I thought it would be really an interesting combination. It was his idea to have Alicia Keyes as a duet. I always wanted to work with her. I thought that would work out great and I thought itâs important not to have the typical Bond song. I thought because itâs not a typical Bond movie and I thought to go against the grain a little bit and then he sent us that song in a rough version. I thought that would work. That goes in the right direction.
Even the score sounds a lot more, you know, contemporary and moreâ¦.it doesnât sound like your grandfatherâs Bond score. I mean, itâs very different.
Marc: Yeah, itâs the same composer, David Arnold but I also worked with David very much. I wanted to push him more, I played him some temp tracks which we were thinking of and I thought it would be more interesting than going full orchestral and have it a little bit more of a modern edge. And even at the end credit, like after the Bond theme, thereâs like this artist called Fortet who sort of re-mixed one of his compositions and re-mixed it in an interesting way. So that was sort of my approach.
Whatâs your reaction when you read the final script? Were there a lot of adjustments that went along the way as the film proceeded?
Marc: There wasnât really ever a final script. It was just evolving, a constant evolving and changing especially with all the action. You know, you canât sit on a blank page and just write. Itâs just looking at the locations. How can we make this work and what can we work and whatâs the possibility? And then mainly what I was focusing on in the script was the dialogue sequences and sort of what happens in that structure.
Why did you pick Olga? What was it about Olga that blew you away for that character?
Marc: I saw hundreds of tapes and then from those hundreds of tapes I selected around 20 girls to come in and read for me. Out of those 20 I selected 4 to read with Daniel Craig and just basically played the scene and who would connect in the most natural way with Daniel. And Olga just seemed to naturally connect with him well and it was like sort of an alignment and I thought there was some depth in it and I felt like this girl really likeâ¦there was something in her eyes where I felt like she has lived life. Itâs not some like someone who fought and it was important for me in Camilleâs character that she was a fighter and she had this tragedy in her past and I thought when I met Olga that she had these sort of qualities about her.
What can fans look forward to on the DVD/Blu-ray as far as deleted scenes or extras? Or are you even thinking about that yet?
Marc: Not so much yet but there is only one little deleted scene and then thereâs tons of footage from behind the scenes, you know we made the whole behind the scenes piece and several other pieces that theyâve been working on, so I just looked at it a little bit but thatâs probably what will be included.
Was that scene a different ending?
Marc: That scene? Actually yes, where it ends now there was another scene following. But I took that scene out.
Can you tell us what this scene might be?
Marc: No, you donât want to spoil that becauseâ¦itâs better just to keep it as it is. I mean itâs like I was thinking we shot the scene and it worked. I think itâs a great scene and everybody loved it and thatâs the 1st screening I had was that scene and then we just felt no, letâs just end it right there on that necklace. He got his quantum of solace. Thatâs where it is, thatâs where the movie ends and letâs not even go there.
Can you tell me how long it is though?
Marc: Itâs like a minute.
Okay. Interesting.
Marc: I tell you that he does encounter Mr. White in that scene.
Really? Youâre killing me now.
Marc: So you can almost start the next movie with that scene.
Thatâs what I wanted to know.
Marc: I donât know if itâs a trilogy or not but theyâre thinkingâ¦I donât know. I was thinking to them if they wanted to they could just likeâ¦
Thatâs what I was curious about because this one ends like itâs a book-end. Itâs a part 2 of 2 and that scene would have been part 2 of 3.
Marc: And thatâs why because like them it gives them the opportunity to either start completely new or toâ¦.but with that scene youâre almost forced to follow the movie into a trilogy.
How come you didnât use the catch phrase? The Bond, James Bond? Do you like not having that in your film? Is it a nice little mark or is itâ¦?
Marc: You know, interestingly enough I did shoot it and it was taken out. I did cut it. It wasâ¦and when I cut it outâ¦but I did shoot the line, but the producers felt the same so I lost it.
Are there a lot of little scenes like that? A lot of little cuts like that like little one-liners here and there that were in the film that were cut out of it?
Marc: No, no, no. Just that particular one.
With the range of films that youâve done theyâre all uniquely different. Is there a genre you havenât worked in that youâd like to do in the future?
Marc: I would like to do a Sci-Fi. Iâd like to do a musical. So those are the 2. And I would like to do a big epic love story. A couple of genres.
Would you like to do another Bond movie?
Marc: They offered me the next one but at this point the pressure is so intense and itâs a year off like not having a life and I donât know if I want to do that again. Itâs literally not having a life and I mean thatâs not exaggerated so I feel like life is short, you know, you have to find a balance.