Yeah, I did.
I did documentaries because there wasnt really a feature film industry in Britain.
Well there was, but it wasnt very fruitful.
So when I left film school, that was really all there was.
And there wasnt a burning passion in you to be a documentary maker then?
Not really, no.
And it was really interesting, a great way to see the world as well.
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You were mainly doing them for the BBC?
I was freelance, but I basically just worked for the BBC.
So how did you end up going from there toNineteen Eighty-Four?Nineteen Eighty-Fourwasnt my first film.
I made two films before that.
One was a feature film for television.
And amazingly the film was picked for the Directors Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
I got letters from Bertolucci and people like that…
Really?
It was kind of amazing.
So then I was on my way, instead of making documentaries, I was now making feature films.
Maybe we could try and get the rights?
Never thinking that we could.
And we found that the rights were held by a Chicago lawyer called Marvin Rosenblum.
He had been trying to get it made, but he didnt know anything about putter a film together.
Hed been trying to get it together with Coppola, Scorsese and people like that.
But had never actually managed it.
And we said, you know, would you go into partnership with us.
And we were off and running!
It took us about two months to get the whole film together!
It wouldnt happen now.
Have you had an experience like that since?
No, because nowadays it takes years to get pictures together.
But then we even started the film without having cast Richard Burton.
So when did Richard Burton come in?
Well, I was looking for an OBrien.
And he lived in Haiti.
I mean, I spent a lot of time talking to him.
And then we went to Rod Steiger, hed had a facelift that had gone wrong.
We went to Paul Scofield, whod broken his leg.
And I said look, wed better just go for Richard Burton and hope for the best.
Not at all, no.
He became completely teetotal during the making of the film.
And in fact he would always have these open Diet Cokes around the place.
Hed offer one to me, and Id say oh, thats very nice, thanks.
And Id sip it, to check there was no alcohol, no vodka in it.
I just couldnt imagine the film with Sean Connery in it.
But there you go!
I didnt know whether he would.
And he was great.
And hes done the reverse role now inV For Vendetta.
Yeah, he played Big Brother in that.
Your Big Brother turned up inHolby City, Im reliably informed.
I always wondered what happened to him.
He only turned up for the photographs and that was that.
We ran a competition in The Guardian and about 10,000 people sent in their pictures.
He just had this fantastic face.
How much work did you have to do on the locations themselves?
There was a huge amount of artwork.
A lot of it was done in the studios.
So that was pretty much as it was, but the rest was shot on all sorts of locations.
We had to build the Ministry of Truth, we had to build all sorts of things.
How much of an issue was budget?
Did you catch Virgin at just the right time?
Virgin backed the whole thing.
So we had a few quarrels about that.
And it didnt have any special effects in it at all.
So would you say you set out to achieve all you were looking for from it?
I think so, yes.
In a sense, when youre adapting a classic book, its very, very difficult.
Youd just lose your audience!
[laughs] The funny thing was that the film became amazingly popular with kids.
Yeah, we saw it at school Im a big fan of it.
And it does have it fans.
I think at the time the demographics were completely different from what the distributors were expecting.
And actually the demographic was like 16-25.
All the kids turned up to see it.
It was very nihilistic, something in the air at some time.
And I have to say!
the most amazing thing that happened was we invented short hair!
We reinvented short hair!
That was the best thing that ever happened to me!
I though, oh blimey, Im actually having an effect here, I can see it!
I read that Tim Robbins is trying to raise the money to do another take onNineteen Eighty-Four?
I read that too, but I wouldnt hold your breath.
Do you think the story has been told?
You always like to think youve made the definitive version.
I always tried to make mine anti-tyranny.
I have to tell you this, though.
you might always tell the difference between right wing tyranny and left wing tyranny.
And that holds true absolutely without fail!
Ours was in the major key!
Right wing tyranny is about flamboyance and brutality, left wing tyranny is all about guilt and self-criticism.
And I just wanted to get away from all that stuff.
So I said okay, Ill do it.
And it was based on the fact that actors have a fantastic amount to give.
Although the film is flawed, it was a phenomenal experience.
It came out of it.
Because Id been working with Daryl Hannah.
And this guy called me up from London and said could I persuade Daryl to go on the stage.
And I said I think shed be really good, as shes a great improviser.
So thats what we did.
How bad did the Miramax experience become?
And I was broke.
I was waiting for this film to hit big if it was going to, to get another job.
When it hit the big time, they had me.
So I was very worried about the script, but thought no, Ill do this.
And I was getting divorced at the time, so needed the cash.
Not very good reasons to make a picture to be honest.
And I ended up making this picture I didnt really want to make.
And Miramax absolutely hated all that.
Harvey [Weinstein] hates all that stuff.
It was just horrible.
But Im not the first and I wont be the last to get into that with Miramax.
Not Miramax, but Harvey Weinstein.
Which in a way leads us on toIl Postinothen?
Well, not if theyd seen my first movie, which was half in Italian!
I dont know why, but I didnt.
I felt I was more European and all the rest of it.
White Mischiefpicked up an award or two though?
Yeah, it did, and people liked it.
And I found it very difficult.
And I thought I cant make a film in Italy.
And then I suddenly started listening to what he was saying!
We can do this.
We can actually make the picture.
So I thought well, hes the only person who was asking me, so why not?
And that was the late Massimo Troisi, presumably?
He was a huge star in Italy, big comic.
He was like the Steve Martin of Italy, really big, really beloved.
What had drawn him to you?
Another Time Another Placewas his favourite movie, and he really, really loved it.
And so he said Ive bought the rights to this Chilean novel, do you want to do it?
We can do it in English, in Spanish?
And I said look, you dont speak a word of either of those languages you hardly speak Italian!
Lets try and make an Italian picture at least.
Its what you know, and its where youre going to get the money from.
So we actually went to Hollywood, and wrote the screenplay in Santa Monica.
And how long did that one take?
It always seems thats the way!
When it seems to come together, it comes together really quickly.
And he didnt really, so we decided to make the movie anyway, and then he died.
I understand you could only work with him for a few hours every day?
He had a heart defect.
And it hit him almost immediately after we finished the script.
But it meant that he could only work about an hour a day.
He was so weak.
And he would come in at the end of the day.
Presumably all that makes the success the film enjoyed all the more poignant?
Certainly for me, yeah.
He was such a great guy, a real special guy.
Dont let anybody tell you that Italians are not brave.
Bravest man I knew, he really was incredibly courageous, incredibly witty.
I liked his sense of humour.
Italians dont often have this, but he had a real English sense of humour.
He once said something to me.
And one day he said I snuck a peak, and there was no-one there.
Thats a very English, understated sense of humour.
He was amazing like that.
Thats why I liked him, and found him very easy to work with.
Because he was basically a comic.
And did it affect how you reacted to the success of the film?
I had no idea, these things come out of the blue.
And then when it got five nominations, that was phenomenal.
It happens to Julian Schnabel this time with his French film [The Diving Bell And The Butterfly].
The one prize it should have won was Best Foreign Picture, but it didnt get nominated.
Id never done any Shakespeare before, Id never thought about it.
And one of the producers had worked with Al Pacino, and gave him the script that Id written.
I thought this is too good an opportunity to pass up.
But also, while doingThe Merchant Of Venice, I had a very good take on it.
Basically the dad inBend It Like Beckham.
The girl in that film just wants to play football, wants to get away.
It was a huge hit in Italy, it made seven million dollars in the first week.
But actually Im very proud of it.
Al wants me to do another one.
He wants me to doKing Lear, obviously, and Id like to do it.
It seems to be one of the few projects where you didnt write the script yourself?
Thats right, yeah.
And it was really interesting, because it was what do I bring as a director to this film?
It was very liberating.
It works, the film works.
If at the end you think its a great film, I dont know.
But it really works.
And youre heading to the US to promote it?
Yeah, its about to come out.
I want to ask you about the oracle that is the Internet Movie Database.
[Laughs] That pretty well sums it up!
Theres no female nudity in Flawless I have to say!
Its really interesting becauseFlawlessgoes against all of those.
Its an original screenplay.
The interesting thing is that I dont know why people accuse me of always adapting novels and things.
90% of movies are adaptations!
Its really hard to find one that isnt.
Youre moving onto a Spanish language film next?
I like to think ofAnother Time Another Place,Il Postinoand this third film as a trilogy.
Its about a muleteer, who is just trying to hold onto his mule during the way.
Its a lovely story, I have to say.
Im really passionate about it, really, really passionate.
Michael Radford, thank you very much.
