Interview

[ezy]

It's really not fair. In addition to being one of the world's most beautiful people and a very talented actress, Natalie Portman is also intelligent and clued-up and generally sharp as a tack. In London to promote V For Vendetta, we got a few words with the screen goddess, who talks here eloquently about violence, terrorism, and the similarities between V and a hitman called Leon...

The word “subversive” is often used about this film. Do you go for subversive roles? You seem to always do the opposite of what people expect.
Yeah. I mean, I definitely – if it’s something I feel like I know I already can do, then I want to do the opposite. And not for shock value, but for personal growth. I think if you’re doing the same thing over and over again, I think I would not be excited enough by the material to do my best and give my all, and it doesn’t give you anything for growth. So if it’s something that I think I could really mess up with, then I’ll try it.

Are you a comic book fan in general?
Not really. I was really introduced to this genre by the film, and it was sort of a revelation for me to see this. It has content that is as compelling and rich as literature, but also has this incredible art in it. It’s such an amazing combination. But I haven’t been a comic person before at all.

Have you read any others since?
No, I’m still more of a books person.

The movie’s set in London but it also speaks about the situation in America. How do you see your country?
Well, I think that the beauty of the movie being in an imaginary future London allows many allusions to come through. It’s amazing sitting in these interviews, because everyone comes in thinking that it’s obvious what it’s really about, but I’ve had people say, “Oh my God, this is about fascist Germany”, or, “This is about Iran” or a South Korean reporter said that it was about North Korea, how are they going to show this there. The fact that it’s so applicable to so many different situations, and that it’s very faithful to the graphic novel which was written in 84 about here, leads to the conclusion that so many regimes have similar elements and that this whole concept of individual citizens of a country using violence to express their political disenchantment with the government is also something that has always existed.

Certainly it reflects many things that are going on in the United States right now, but it is relevant in many different places, which is one of the coolest things to me. I don’t want to make propaganda. I don’t want to make a movie that tells you how to think. The fact that it can be interpreted in many different ways, and also that people react in many different ways – some people really object to the content, some people are really offended – but I think you go home and people end up talking about it and fighting about it and that’s great.

So what’s it about for you?
I think it asks a lot of questions. Obviously there’s a very specific story where these characters are in a government that is oppressing them, and my character specifically goes through a transformation with the assistance of V to believe that violence is an acceptable means to express her political beliefs, but some of the questions it raises is, when, if ever, is violence justified? What is our threshold? How do we categorize violence? How do we categorize different kinds of violence? Why do we say that state-sanctioned violence is legitimate and individually-sanctioned violence is not? Why do we say that dying for your country is heroic but suicide bombing is cowardly? Why do we say that killing a soldier is better than killing a civilian, and what if the soldier is an 18 year-old kid who has to go to his military service? These are all things that are related, side-issues, but we have these ways of categorizing violence, and when you look at them closely they’re subtle and the line is fuzzy, and it ultimately trivialises the fact that the effects of violence are all the same, whether we’re bombing Iraq or they’re coming and bombing us back. The effects are equally destructive.

One of the elements of the film that I thought was most relevant to the modern world was the idea of fear of an imagined outside force.
Absolutely, and it’s relevant. Fear is one of the most confounding human emotions, because it’s obviously necessary for survival, because you don’t want to repeat past experiences that caused you pain – physical, emotional, whatever – but it also can be such an obstacle. So it’s obviously central to human life. So when Evey’s losing her fear it’s a revelation for her, but it’s also a very dangerous thing – fear is there for a reason! So it’s a tool of manipulation but it’s also a very understandable feeling for people to have. It’s not easy living in a violent world.

How was it working in Europe? You’ve not worked in Berlin, in London and Madrid.
I really enjoyed it. It’s really hard to be away from home so much – it’s one of the hardest things about the job. It’s lucky too, to be 24 and get to live in Berlin for a few months, and London and Madrid; it’s like a dream, but it’s sad to be away from family and friends. Luckily in all those places, Madrid the people were so, so warm, and Berlin too the people were incredible, and London is always fun. London is also a good city to be alone – there’s a lot of good alone things to do. I always like the European mindset – my dad always told me that in the US we live to work, and in Europe they work to live. But it’s really true and it’s lovely to see. There’s the same amount of passion and energy and good, talented hard work that people put in. England’s a little more like the United State, and Germany too, but in Madrid especially I was really impressed by the respect that people gave to their private lives. They party and they work hard. I was like, “I can’t keep up, y’all!” but it was very impressive and lovely to be around.

How was it working with Stephen Fry?
He’s amazing. He’s brilliant. He’s one of the most learned, intelligent people, but in such a humane way. You never feel intimidated by him, even though he’s twice my height and has five billion times my mind. I’m still so comfortable being around him. His humour, and he has a sort of vulnerability about him too, he’s just a lovely, lovely person, and he gives a really beautiful performance in this movie. It’s so fun to have him doing this part with us, because he lightens it all up. I mean, it’s like an action movie and we spend all our time talking about violence and terrorism, so it’s nice to have him to lighten it up sometimes.

Some people have made a comparison between this and Leon – is that something you see?
Well, I was so lucky that that was my first movie. That was just pure, good, old-fashioned luck. But I didn’t realise it before I made this movie, but watching it, the relationship between Evey and V is so similar to the Mathilda-Leon relationship in that it’s always shifting. Sometimes they’re like father-daughter, sometimes they’re enemies, sometimes they’re lovers, sometimes they’re friends and sometimes they’re mentor-student – and at all times those levels of relationship sort of co-exist. But I love that – it’s a sign of well-written characters and relationships that there are all those different parts, because in every real relationship you play different roles in different situations, different contexts. So it does definitely harken back to that, but now I’m legal!

What’s your next project?
Well, I finished Goya’s Ghosts (in which she plays the great painter’s muse) in December, and that’ll be coming out later this year, and I’m about to start a film called Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. That’s a children’s movie about a magic toy story – nit’s a little different! (laughs)

Do you have a V-like icon in your own life?
Like My Terrorist Guru? (laughs) Um, I don’t know. I think my heroes are always the opposite. I mean, Rabin was a real hero for me; someone who went from a military background and became someone who wanted to be a peacemaker, even though he never got the exact chance. But I’m pretty non-violent. The rule is that the people who accomplish the big changes are the ones that do it through violence, but the exceptions to the rule are the ones that are really exciting for me. Obviously the Ghandis and the Martin Luther Kings of the world. But it’s arguable that they co-emerged with other, violent organisations that aided their way. So I don’t know.

INTERVIEW: HELEN OHARA
http://www.empireonline.com/intervie...ew.asp?IID=470

[BlackWolf]

Great interview, thanks for posting it.

thanks for that