CraveOnline: If we look at your body of work, if there is a director’s trademark is it that you choose stories that deal with socially relevant themes?
Costa-Gavras: This is not based on a real story, but what we can say, what we can affirm is that what we see in the movie, all the elements and most of the dialogues are real ones. The amazing thing is when the script was finished, I gave it to one of the bankers to read it and he told me, “You know, your numbers are very low. You have to bring them up, all of them.” I didn’t do it because it seemed to me so big, so difficult to accept. But it’s just to say that we are not far away from the reality of a real story.
Even if they are not true stories, like Mad City and Missing weren’t biographies but they were about the media and kidnappings in South America, do you look for fictional stories that will illuminate real issues?
Yes, those become sort of metaphors about our society, our world.
When you see some recent movies like Margin Call, The Help, 42, or The Butler, are movies serving and fully exploring the social issues they’re dealing with?
I think movies, the maximum they can do, is to make people think a little bit if they want to. If they don’t, they just change the subject, but I think it’s the role of the movies. The real role of the movies also is to try to show what is hidden, what’s not obvious in society. My answer is that we directors have a serious responsibility in front of our audiences, for what we show them.
You’ve worked with Hollywood studios and internationally independently. How do you compare those experiences?
For me, they were easy because I was very clear with the people asking them to make these movies. I said, “Let me do it in my way” and they accepted. What I believe also is today Hollywood won’t do this. Hollywood has drastically changed. It’s interested in all those big action movies with special effects and costing hundreds of millions. I don’t believe they have any more artistic ambition or social ambition, whatever. It’s a completely different world.
There are some studios like The Weinstein Company who do movies like The Butler, and even Warner Brothers did 42.
Yes, but Weinstein who are trying to do good movies, there are very few of them. How many movies can they do every year? Two or three movies maximum. I think the theaters we have in the world need tens and even hundreds of movies. I think the ones like Weinstein or even sometimes some major because of an actor, like an actor wants to do a different movie, they’re doing it to please them but it’s really minimal. The majority of the movies is Superman or zombies. Even a movie like Oblivion with Tom Cruise, there was kind of ambition at the beginning of the movie because of his starring and so forth, but then very quickly switched to be like any other.
Looking back at Z, was the editing style something you did at the time? Is it ever something you’d like to bring back?
Everybody speaks about the editing style, not only for Z but for other movies. You write the movie when you’re writing the script, and then during the shooting and then during the editing of course. But you cannot have great editing if you don’t have it in the script. So the first important element for the editing is the way you tell the story.
What was your experience at the Oscars for Z?
Oh, the Academy Awards are very important but I still think major directors never had an Academy Award. Kubrick, Charlie Chaplin, there’s a whole list of them. But obviously it’s important because every time I go to a television show or radio show, they say, “Academy Award winner” which looks like something very important for the audience to be presented someone.
How many more movies do you hope to make?
If I make two or three more movies it will be great. I will be very happy.
Do you know what the next one will be?
More or less, more or less. I’m working on it.
Anything you can share right now?
Not so much, apart from it’s modern day.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and Shelf Space Weekly. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
