‘3000 Years Of Longing’: George Miller Tells Cannes Press Why He Cast Tilda Swinton And Idris Elba In Fantasy Fairytale
21.05.2022 - 15:25
/ deadline.com
George Miller told press today in Cannes that his new film 3000 Years of Longing is a fantasy story that is “open to interpretation.”
Five years after Mad Max: Fury Road, Miller has brought a very different kind of film to Cannes, where he enjoyed a standing ovation following the screening last night on the Croisette.
Adapted from a 1994 AS Byatt novella, Three Thousand Years of Longing stars Tilda Swinton as narratology professor Alithea who encounters a genie – the Djinn, played by a pointy-eared Idris Elba. The film flips between their conversation in the hotel room and the Djinn’s previous adventures, while he asks her to come up with wishes he can grant.
Miller told the packed press room: “Most stories we tell are allegorical. They’re open to interpretation, depending on who’s watching them. Fantasy stories lend themselves to dealing with much more complex things than, say, a documentary.”
And Swinton pointed out how relevant the film is now, explaining: “The thing that’s dangerous is when you have only one story. It’s when people can’t hear any other stories that things go down the tubes very fast. It’s keeping people’s ears open, keeping their ears curious, it’s just that one story that we have to get away from. It feels very apposite now to make this film about a variety of angles, even the debate about whether it involves supernatural forces or not. It’s that feeling of keeping our ears and hearts open that is really important.”
Regarding his choice of casting in the two central roles, Miller explained that he found it easy to cast his leading woman after meeting Tilda Swinton at Cannes at the 70th anniversary celebrations five years ago. “I thought, she is Alithea,” he said. “But I had no idea who could play the
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