Frank Miller Discovers an Unlikely, New Hollywood

by Adam Tiller, El Gato, Gui de Mulder

Dieser Bericht und das Interview mit Frank Miller wurden bei einem Set-Besuch am 14. November 2007 von einem Journalisten geschrieben und geführt. Der deutsche Verleih Sony Pictures hat uns diesen Bericht über "The Spirit", der am 19. März 2009 in die deutschen Kinos kommt, ebenso wie die Bilder dankeswerter Weise vorab EXKLUSIV zur Verfügung gestellt.
Für alle, die des Englischen nicht so mächtig sind, gibt es hier eine freie deutsche Übersetzung.

If there’s one man to trust with the big-screen adaptation of the influential Will Eisner comic, "The Spirit", it’s Frank Miller. If you’re not a graphic novel buff, then you might have heard of Miller when Sin City made a killing at the box office in 2005. Then earlier this year, you might have seen a little film called 300, in which a bunch of half-naked Spartans pummeled an entire army of Persians and earned over $400 million worldwide. Both of those films originated as Frank Miller graphic novels. So when Miller decided to make The Spirit his solo directorial debut, comic and movie fans alike marked their calendars in anticipation.

The Spirit is being filmed at the New Film Center, in the middle of the Red-tinted desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The studio is only six months old, but is already booked through January 2008, and they are about to sign a deal that will have them occupied until 2009. Hopefully this is a sign that Hollywood will continue to expand studio space throughout the United States, giving talented people in other states the opportunity to work within the classic studio system.

Walking into the giant airplane hangar-like set is like entering the melee of a battleground, except the volume knob has been turned way down and everything is green. There are literally hundreds of people doing dozens of different jobs; it is perfectly orchestrated, silent chaos.
Nearby, the costume designer has a number of assistants fitting extras in vintage-1950's costumes. Samuel L. Jackson walks up, dressed in full wardrobe, wearing a silver jacket that shines like the scales of a fish; a great fur collar encircles his shaved head. It’s like Dick Tracy’s tailor got into a fight with George Jetson’s stylist.

In The Spirit comics The Octopus was always draped in shadows, only his glinting eyes and purple glove visible to the audience. But for the movie-going public, the bad guy can’t remain in the dark, so Frank Miller has decided to bring The Octopus to light in a magnificent fashion.
Suddenly a stunt man tumbles off a balcony, and Miller yells, "Cut!" He walks over to us, a black fedora swathing his face in shadow, as if he’s channeling The Spirit for inspiration.

Miller is a thin man, and it is easy to picture him drawing alone in a room lit by a naked light bulb. Great artists are often unfriendly, as if the common man can’t comprehend their genius. Miller is definitely a great artist and one of the most influential graphic artists of all time, but he is not unfriendly. He isn’t necessarily welcoming, but he answers questions perfunctorily, like he wants to keep his ideas locked away in his mind, as if his secrets won’t seem as brilliant unless they are unveiled at the right moment.

El Gato: How do you balance your passion for the art of comics with the technology it takes to bring it to life?
Frank Miller: That’s like asking a locksmith why would he use a hammer.
El Gato: Why did you cast Eva Mendes in the role of Sand Saref, The Spirit's ex-lover?
Frank Miller: You have eyes, don’t you?

I'm amazed at his off-the-cuff profundity. And although Miller comes off as slightly taciturn when answering questions about the movie, I have seen him open up with his cast. It is tough for even the most experienced performer to be placed on their mark in front of a green screen, given nothing to react to, and forced to deliver lines. But somehow Miller evokes intense emotions in each of his actors.

When it’s time for the next shot, producer Deborah Del Prete takes Miller’s place. Del Prete is an excitable, intelligent woman, whose passion for this project you can see in her eyes and hear in her voice. And unlike many producers, she is quite forthcoming.

She tells me that it will take a total of forty-eight days to finish the live-action shots, and then one year to finish the grueling post-production process in which computer artists will generate the whole environment of Central City. Will Eisner illustrated Central City to appeal universally to audiences. It could be New York, or Moscow, or Tokyo, or Vienna, or London, or Rio.

The only similarity is that The Spirit is destined to redeem it. Del Prete assures me she will stay as close as possible with Eisner’s universal ideal when it comes time to construct the digital world.

The Men Behind "The Spirit"

Will Eisner is legendary in the comic world. He is known as the "father of the American graphic novel" and created The Spirit, one of the most enduring comic heroes of the last century. "The Spirit" began as a comic-book insert in American newspapers in the 1940’s and featured a masked detective who returned from the dead to fight crime. Once described as "the only real middle-class crime fighter," The Spirit showed that comic heroes could have as much depth and humanity as a character in a novel.

Eisner’s work in "The Spirit" influenced generations of graphic novelists around the world, including Frank Miller, whose work has become popular worldwide.

Miller was not only affected by Eisner’s work, but also by the man himself. He considered Eisner a mentor and was a friend of the iconic man for over twenty-five years. Sadly, Eisner passed away in 2005, but Frank Miller is finally bringing "The Spirit" to life on the silver screen the way Eisner would have wanted.

"The Spirit": From Paper to Celluloid

In Eisner’s comics, "The Spirit" featured an array of titillating characters, and Frank Miller took it upon himself to gather an electrifying cast. Gabriel Macht, a relatively unknown actor, headlines the cast as the title character, The Spirit. Macht received critical acclaim for his performance in "A Love Song for Bobby Long," alongside John Travolta, and has appeared in a number of films with some of Hollywood’s finest actors, including Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. Macht says that taking on the role of The Spirit is the opportunity of a lifetime.
Macht has big boots to fill starring opposite Samuel L. Jackson, who plays The Spirit’s nemesis, The Octopus, whose sinister vision of immortality includes the destruction of Central City.
In his perilous exploits to save the city, The Spirit must navigate the treacherous clutches of temptation as femme fatales appear from under every shadow. Scarlett Johansson brings her sultry star power to the character of Silken Floss, the seductive accomplice to The Octopus. In a much darker role, Johansson is sure to surprise audiences. When the curtains part in 2009, let’s all try and remember that blinking is good for the eyes.

The rest of the tantalizing cast is filled out by Eva Mendes as Sand Saref, The Spirit's dangerous ex-lover; Sarah Paulson as Ellen Donan, the cunning, but nubile girl-next-door; and Stana Katic as a sexy, young cop on the force.
The film also features Paz Vega as Plaster of Paris, a nightclub dancer with a vendetta against The Spirit. Vega first garnered international attention when she appeared alongside Adam Sandler in Spanglish.

The Spirit is being shot with the next generation green screen technology utilized in "Sin City"; and those high-tech production values combined with Eisner’s masterful storytelling and Miller’s own fiendish imagination will make this film a dazzling spectacle for all audiences.

Unfortunately, my press pass for The Spirit only lasts a day; but before I leave the set, I notice Frank Miller sitting in the director’s chair in deep concentration. Perhaps in his mind, he is already painting the green-cloaked set to the dark hues of The Spirit that Will Eisner envisioned so many decades ago.