"THE Batman" Matt Reeves x Keishi Otomo "same age" director special conversation complete version [Director's Interview Vol.194]

PAGES

2022.03.23SYO

Batman's strength lies in his failures.

Otomo: In this Batman, emotions truly are the driving force behind his actions.

Reeves: That's right. Regarding the violence at the beginning, I told him that I wanted Batman to "erupt" when he appears.

In Goodfellas (1990), after Karen (Lorraine Bracco) is attacked by her neighbor, Henry (Ray Liotta) becomes enraged and crosses the street, blasting the neighbor with a revolver as if to say, "What do you want?" We are shocked when we see this scene. Not only because he has righted an injustice, but because we feel a rage that goes far beyond simply getting revenge on what the neighbor has done.

The neighbor unleashed "something" inside Henry. The main character, who was the closest person to the audience until that moment, suddenly explodes and changes, and our impression of him is completely different. And the audience realizes that there is something dangerous inside him. I wanted Batman to be just as dangerous. Something very personal and passionate that cannot be explained by reason. I thought that all the action in this film had to be caused by that emotion.

Otomo: I totally understand that. The action in his first scene really brought that feeling to light.

Reeves: The scenes where Batman appears from the darkness to fight the thugs, and the Batmobile car chases, all had to be an extension of his obsession and anger. And in every fight, Bruce doesn't just vent his anger, he also receives a lot of violence and sometimes gets injured. He's always desperate and doing things on the edge.

The most symbolic scene is when Bruce flies in a wingsuit. He can't land properly and is thrown to the ground, which causes him pain. He's not used to it yet, so he can't succeed. But he endures that pain. That's Bruce's only superpower. His strong will to endure anything for this mission. Bruce throws himself into Batman's activities, which are almost suicidal, because he wants to find meaning in his life. That's why I wanted to show not only how much he can fight in this movie, but also how much damage he can take.

Otomo: Thank you so much for sharing your valuable insights with us today. It was a lot of fun!

Reeves: Thank you! Director Otomo's perspective was very interesting and I'm grateful for it. I'd love to see your work.

"THE Batman" Matt Reeves x Keishi Otomo Interview

Pre-order "THE Batman" now ↓

matt reeves

He directed Cloverfield(2008), which grossed over $175 million worldwide, and Let the Right One In(2008), starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Grace Moretz. He then directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (starring Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke and Keri Russell) from the Planet of the Apes trilogy (2011, 2014, 2017), and wrote and directed the final chapter, War for the Planet of the Apes (starring Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson and Steve Zahn), to high praise. On TV, he co-created and directed the pilot episode of the popular series "Felicity" (1998-2002), and is executive producing the series with his production partner and co-creator J.J. Abrams. He is currently creating and executive producing "Ordinary Joe" (2021-) for NBC, which premiered in September 2021. He is also teaming up again with J.J. Abrams on the new Batman animated series "Batman: Caped Crusader," which will be distributed on HBO Max in 2023. He is currently producing the TV series "Twelve Scarves" with Netflix's "Lift" (starring Kevin Hart) under his own production company 6th & Idaho. Other productions he has produced include "Mother/Android" (2021, unreleased), and as executive producer he has produced all 10 episodes of "10 Cloverfield Lane" (2016), "The Cloverfield Paradox" (2018), and "The Passage" (2019), as well as all 10 episodes of Netflix's "Away" (2020), and all 8 episodes of "Tales from the Loop" (2020-).

Keishi Otomo

Born in Iwate Prefecture in 1966. The Graduate from the Faculty of Law at Keio University. Joined NHK in 1990 and directed the TV drama series "Churasan" (2001-2004), "Hagetaka" (2007), "Shirasawa Jiro" (2009), and the historical drama "Ryomaden" (2010). He has won numerous domestic and international awards, including the Prix Italia. In 2009, he made his film directorial debut with "Hagetaka". In May 2011, he went independent and directed the two-part series "Rurouni Kenshin" (2012), "Platinum Data" (2013), and "Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno/The Legend Ends" (2014). Since then, he has released a series of popular works, including "The Top Secret", "Museum" (2016), "March Comes in Like a Lion: Part 1/Part 2" (2017), "Otoko: A Millionaire" (2018), and "Kageura" (2020). In 2021, the final Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter Part I - The Final/ The Beginning, will be released in two consecutive parts in theaters, becoming one of the biggest hits of 2021. The cumulative box office revenue of all five Rurouni Kenshin films has exceeded 19.3 billion yen, making it one of Japan's most representative series.

Interview and text: SYO

Born in 1987. After The Graduate from Tokyo Gakugei University, he worked at a film magazine editorial production site and a film information site before becoming a film writer/editor. Works on a wide range of topics including interviews, reviews, columns, event appearances, and recommendation comments. Contributed to ``CINEMORE'', ``Cinema Cafe'', ``Soen'', ``FRIDAY Digital'', ``CREA'', ``BRUTUS'', etc. Twitter「 syocinema 」

"THE Batman"

Now showing a big hit

Distribution: Warner Bros. Pictures

PAGES