His eighth film as a director is James Cameron in the epic fantasy film ‘Avatar’ (2009). highest grossing in history almost picking up 3,000 million euros Until then, his seventh film ‘Titanic’ (1997) bore that title – and he decided to turn this success into an epic of five feature films. In the last 13 years I’ve been working on, the world of cinema has changed dramatically due to the rise of superheroes, the pandemic, and the paradigm shift driven by streaming platforms. Now finally The second installment, ‘Avatar: The Sense of Water’ hits theaters, the expected return to the planet Pandora. Will it succeed in causing the same effect as its predecessor?
Since the pandemic, we have been constantly reminded that cinema is dying. Why is this movie and this pentalogy important to your future?
That’s the big question. And maybe this will be the movie that comes at the right time to remind people what a true cinematic experience is. I know that everyone today enjoys the ease of access and amount of content that streaming services provide, but the experience I’m talking about is completely different. It’s not about a larger screen or higher image resolution; TVs today have as much resolution as movie screens. It’s about the viewer’s decision to abandon himself entirely and let himself be transported through a portal to another place, another time, and another world. I see it as meditating or doing yoga.
Fewer and fewer filmmakers like you are determined to expand the possibilities of the film medium. Feeling a little lonely?
To me, every director benefits from the discoveries and advances of another director. When a movie solves a problem, the whole industry comes forward, so I don’t think my efforts to redefine cinema are in vain, because I know many of my colleagues congratulate them because if I did, they wouldn’t need it. make them. And yes, there are directors who only need one camera and two actors to make a movie, but I’m not interested in making small movies. I have to create wonderful and even inexplicable experiences that gripped me at the age of 14 and as I had when I first saw ‘2001, a space odyssey’ (1968). I want other people to feel that way too. And I know how to get it.
Despite the box office success of its first installment, and unlike epics like ‘Star Wars’ and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ‘Avatar’ doesn’t seem to have permeated pop culture. Why? Why?
Because so far, ‘Avatar’ has only had one installment, and on the contrary, Marvel is a factory that makes movies that don’t stop, and they’re not afraid to hire as many directors as needed to periodically release a new installment. His universe is constantly renewed. I can’t work this way, I don’t have clones running with me. And to tell the truth, I’m also interested in other things besides movies. I’ve spent a lot of time doing ocean exploration, designing cameras and robots, and going underwater all over the world. And I had so much fun doing these that I asked myself when the time came: “Do I really want to make another movie? Another ‘Avatar’ movie?
You assured me that ‘Avatar: The Sense of Water’ had to be among the top four grossing movies of all time to be profitable. But what if he doesn’t?
I’ve been wondering for years. The pandemic was a real existential threat to the movie experience, and when it happened I had already been working on this movie for two years. I felt like my dream was shattered, that this flow would destroy everything I had created, everything I loved. I thought, “I’m a dinosaur, and here comes the comet that will put me out.” But the possibility of failure does not affect me, I feel immune to it. I am incapable of tempering my ambitions to please the market. When we finished ‘Titanic’ 25 years ago, everyone assumed it was going to be a blockbuster. Did this cause you to try to limit the risks? No! The exact opposite. If my film is going to be a failure anyway, I’ll make sure it satisfies me, at least on a personal level. The second part of ‘Avatar’ is now opening and the third is already finished. Public reaction will determine further deliveries.
While we’ve been working on the ‘Avatar’ saga for many years, first and foremost an environmental defense, the Amazon continues to be destroyed and politicians around the world pretend they only care about the planet. How do you feel about him?
I do not believe that the solution to our existential problems lies in the political arena. Humans will need to react to save the planet. I don’t think of a revolution in the streets, but of simply informing citizens, voting and forcing politicians to act, instead of serving the interests of capitalism; They are not real leaders, they are sheep, so they will do whatever the people tell them. It is true that people find it difficult to change. We like to burn energy, we like to eat meat and dairy products, and asking ourselves to change certain behavioral patterns is like asking us to change our religion. That’s why it’s important to be informed, it’s also important to be angry.
‘Avatar’ advocates environmentalism but is also a war adventure. In other words, it speaks of protection on the one hand and destruction on the other. How do you balance both aspects?
I must confess that I had a crisis of faith during the editing of ‘El sentido del agua’; I think it was a very violent movie. That’s why I decided to cut out the 10-minute violent scenes. I’m known as an action movie director, but what happens with guns in our society makes me sick to my stomach. So when I look back at some of the movies I’ve made, I feel like I don’t want to make them right now. I don’t know if I’d want to fetishize weapons like I did in the Terminator saga 30 years ago.