‘There is no better director to focus on an audience’s sense of entertainment’

On November 8, 2024By Littum

A quartet of stars, led by Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, were on hand in Tokyo on Monday to celebrate “Gladiator II” and its master filmmaker Ridley Scott.

Mescal, who plays the gladiator Lucius, said what separates “Gladiator II” from “Gladiator” is that Scott, who also directed the original 2000 film, “had more resources at his disposal and put them to great use .”

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“There is no better director to focus on an audience’s sense of entertainment than Ridley Scott,” he said.

That sense of crowd-pleasing has clearly been on the minds of Tokyo festival programmers and Japanese distributors. The Tokyo International Film Festival designated “Gladiator II” as a centerpiece screening, explaining that it is the first time a major Hollywood film has ever played this way midway through the event.

Similarly, movies are often released in Japan months later than other territories, but with “Gladiator II,” local distributor Towa Pictures is wasting no time. It will play in Japanese theaters from November 15.

The actors in Tokyo, which also included Connie Nielsen and Fred Hechinger, were eager to talk about craft.

Washington, who plays Lucius’ mentor as well as an arms dealer with designs on the Imperial throne, said: “Obviously we were in the hands of a master filmmaker, so there was complete confidence in what he’s doing.”

Washington, who previously worked with Scott on 2007’s “American Gangster,” added that Scott “let us be responsible for what we were doing” while handling the technical side of a complex shoot. “There were so many angles, so many cameras, I had no idea where the view would be, but it didn’t matter.” With Scott in the lead, he said, “It freed you up to have fun.”

Nielsen, who plays the aristocratic mother of Mescal’s gladiator – the son she had with Russell Crowe’s general-turned-gladiator in the first film – said “it was incredible to see a master like Ridley Scott use subtle but unmistakable ways to show the change on. that has happened to Rome and the Empire (in the 20 years since the events of ‘Gladiator’).

She added: “He finally had the technology to bring his vision to life and I could tell he was enjoying every moment of bringing the visuals to life for the audience.”

Hechinger, who plays the corrupt emperor Caracalla, added that working with eight to 12 cameras on the Scott set “was a completely unique experience as an actor.” “What’s unusual and amazing about how Ridley makes a movie is that he doesn’t break up all the action into these discrete points,” Hechinger said. “Instead, he looks at each sequence as a continuous event – all on the same day at the same moment.”

When a fan asked Mescal how he was able to maintain the energy needed for the intense action sequences, he said, “It’s the dream of a dream to stand there. You don’t need another invitation to feel the adrenaline. It wasn’t lost on me that I stood in the middle of the Coliseum and was directed by Ridley Scott and worked with so many people that I absolutely love. So if that doesn’t give you an adrenaline rush, you should probably think about another profession.”

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