Niels Arden Oplev will be making his American directorial debut next week when “Dead Man Down” is released in theaters on March 8, starring Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace and Terrence Howard.
The State Press spoke with Swedish director of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and discussed his new thriller about two people that become romantically involved through their mutual yearning for revenge on those who have hurt them.
Oplev spoke about the filmmaking process and his transitory journey into American film.
The State Press: “Dead Man Down” is a film about seeking revenge. What draws you to these films?
Neil Oplev: Well, I think that when I came over here with “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” I wanted to do an American film, and I read so many scripts, and J.H. Wyman (screenplay) … sent me the script. I was really lucky. When I read it, I had been looking for something special, but at the same time could be an exciting, action thriller … and this is really what the script has. It is an intriguing double revenge story, where the two characters are each seeking revenge and getting in between each other's stories and disrupt each other’s revenge stories. That was what was so compelling to me about this script.
SP: How was it making the transition into American film, and how does it differ from European cinema?
NO: I wanted it to feel and read like an American film … just having that very strong character driven side to it also and at the very same time be called action. To be able to work with this kind of budget and to shoot scenarios this size was just really great and working with stars at this level.
SP: What made you want to work with Noomi Rapace again? Both Lisbeth (“Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) and Beatrice (“Dead Man Down”) are so different from each other. What made her the right choice?
NO: I think the thing about Noomi, after we were done putting the character together, I thought it was really cool to do a character that was quite different in the exterior. Beatrice is this little French, petite, fragile, beautiful, French-manicured kind of character, and at the same time, she contains this fury and wrath that is unexpectedly right in our faces. … It’s like a date that blows up. It was just so great to be able to take her and start out with a character that is so different and then yet, she contains like Beatrice, this revenge as a woman, this revenge that we don’t normally see in female characters.
SP: Both Noomi and Colin expressed that you create a lot of trust on set. How do you do this?
NO: You are capable of creating an environment where you allow other’s creativity to flow naturally and to get into the film. That’s what it’s all about. If you are capable of doing that, then your crew and your actors will walk through fire if you ask them to. It’s like we find friends and family that mean something to you, and it means a lot to all of us. … It’s not just a job, it really is joining the circus and doing great work. I also have a lot of trust in my actors. I am curious with what they come up with themselves for their character. They have to have passion and play their character relentlessly. Actors with the talent of Noomi and Colin, they each give something to the film, they give me gifts every day, and that’s what it’s all about — creating that secure environment.
SP: Action-packed thrills like this have a lot of intense action sequences. How do you know when the scene is finished and perfected?
NO: It’s kind of like, you know, I’ll shoot one take and then be curious to see what we can change or what we could add on … whether the actor has something to say or whether we want to do this, and I ask them whether they could try that. I have a curiosity to work with the material and any nuance that can get out of it will make me do another take, for trying to capture that. Of course, it’s not like I do one take and then move on. I want to exhaust the material in each shot to give me a rich material for the editing. That’s really my nature. It’s a constant curiosity to see which scene and which shot can do. Of course, sometimes we wish we could have more time.
SP: What’s next for you?
NO: I have some really exciting stuff. … Right now, I’m doing a TV pilot for DreamWorks for a Stephen King book called “Under the Dome.” I have to film two days and so it’s a little hectic. … We start shooting on Thursday morning in North Carolina.
Reach the reporter at rlopez20@asu.edu
