Now playing in theaters is director Lasse Hallström’s (Chocolat) adaptation of the Richard C. Morais novel, The Hundred-Foot Journey. The story centers on the Kadam family, who set up an Indian restaurant in a small village in the south of France, unknowingly beginning a rivalry with the nearby classical French restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren). However, this rivalry eventually turns into friendship as the two establishments begin to learn and appreciate the other’s cuisine. Produced by Oprah and Steven Spielberg, the film also stars Manish Dayal, Om Puri, and Charlotte Le Bon. For more on the film, watch the trailer.
At the Los Angeles press day for the film, I landed an extended video interview with Lasse Hallström. He talked about how he got involved in The Hundred-Foot Journey, film versus digital, his shooting style, the first cut, deleted scenes, turning down Catch Me If You Can, how the failure of Casanova affected his career, future projects, and a lot more. Hit the jump to watch.
And here's my video interview with Charlotte Le Bon in case you missed it.
Lasse Hallström:
- 00:00 – Hallström shows Collider some love.
- 00:18 – The Hundred-Foot Journey as a family movie; deciding to direct the project.
- 03:04 – Comparing colors captured on film to digital.
- 05:25 – How a film roll’s 10-minute length effects his shooting style.
- 06:31 – Trimming his first cut.
- 07:04 – Are there many deleted scenes from his previous films?
- 08:17 – Does he overshoot and find his films in the editing room?
- 09:05 - On a deleted scene from The Hundred-Foot Journey that would have cost $1 million to complete.
- 09:23 – How he picks his projects; turning down Catch Me If You Can.
- 11:00 – How the failure of Casanova affected his career.
- 12:56 – On the Matthew Quick story he’s currently adapting.
