A documentary vindicates the impeccable career of the producer, among others, of Bertolucci and Cronenberg, winner of nine Oscars with ‘The Last Emperor’: “Today everyone is offended by everything, it’s pathetic”, laments this defender of the most transgressive cinema
Jeremy Thomas (London, 1949) is the dream producer for any director. His mantra: “Shoot more, shoot later, shoot weirder.” David Cronenberg and Bernardo Bertolucci have made some of his best films alongside him, from the disturbing ‘Crash’ to ‘The Last Emperor’, which won nine Oscars and amassed a fortune around the world. Son of director Ralph Thomas and nephew of fellow filmmaker Gerald Thomas, he grew up in the aristocracy of British cinema and went through all the trades of the world until he became the producer of the best and most risky auteur cinema of recent decades: ‘Contratiempo’, ‘ Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’, ‘The Sheltering Sky’, ‘Sexy Beast’, ‘Fast Food Nation’… Honored at the recent Barcelona Film Fest, Thomas stars in a documentary by Mark Cousins, ‘Jeremy Thomas, a life of cinema’, which hits theaters this weekend and in which he reviews his impeccable career on a multi-day trip to the Cannes Film Festival aboard his Alfa Stelvio.
-Mark Cousins calls him “prince of cinema” in the documentary.
-I have been a participant and an actor on the subject, it was very nice when Mark told me that he wanted to make a film with me, incorporating that famous trip to Cannes that I have been doing for the last forty years. I love driving around Europe, I like France and the final destination. It is difficult to see yourself on the screen, you think you are still young and you see an old man with gray hair, who walks with difficulty. But I still feel like a child. It’s ironic that they call me ‘prince’ (he says it in Italian), it’s a nickname given to me in the past. I guess I was at a certain point.
-What did you learn from your father and your uncle?
-I had the privilege and luck of being born into a family involved in the world of cinema. I grew up thinking that this was normal, that Bob Hope, Brigitte Bardot and Katharine Hepburn were in your house. That had to be my job, I’ve always felt that way. I felt admiration and respect, but the presence of stars in my life has never surprised me. For me everyone is the same.
-He has not been mythomaniac.
-I have tried not to be, I have chosen to make strange films for more than half a century. Someone could look back and think that I can’t do that job, that it’s for other people. I always remember myself working in this profession that I chose.
-A producer is an achiever?
-There are many kinds of producers. Everyone knows what a director does, a cameraman does, but no one knows what a producer does. And they don’t have to understand it either. I work in a certain way, I am a colleague and collaborator of the people with whom I make the film. If you look at my career, there are many such businesses. I like to get involved, be a participant but not dominant. I like to check, yes. I grew up in the cinema, I trained in each of its departments. I have earned my living in the laboratory, with the camera and in the editing room, which is what I like the most. I was Ken Loach’s editor. And then I did my career.
-He considers himself a creative producer.
-Absolutely. There is a cliche about us. And without a producer there is no film. What happens is that today the producer is Netflix, Amazon or Apple, he is not an individual. The role of the producer has changed. And I am resisting it.
Jeremy Thomas in the cutting room of ‘Brother Can You Spare a Dime’ (1975).
-The classic Hollywood studios also ended up in the hands of corporations. What is the difference with the new platforms?
-That have nothing to do with the cinema. Maybe the studios are run by people who have never been to the movies. Well, I exaggerate a little, but there is something to it. We cannot talk about Godard or Oshima without having seen his films.
-The traditional role of the producer is to restrain the director: instead of 1,000 extras you will have 500. But in the documentary it is stated that you encourage directors to go further.
-Not necessarily with the 500 extras… I encourage them with the radicalism and even the provocative nature of what we do. Don’t hold back because you think there is a political censor, don’t be ashamed to be free. Let’s go to the end and we’ll see what happens. Because then comes the montage. Shoot more, shoot later, shoot weirder.
David Cronenberg.
-Teacher. He is the director sergeant, precision, perfection. He is ready. Before shooting he has already made the film and has chosen the music in his head. It is the precise moment, silence everyone on the set. Don’t bother the thought, don’t let anyone shout behind you, please. We are doing something artistic, everyone has to think about the same thing and we are going to try to make a wonderful film. David is a very good leader.
– Bernardo Bertolucci.
-Party. Opera. Genius. Poet. Kind, soft, violent. He is a very special man, the greatest. Brave. In front of 10,000 people directing. Balls (in Spanish).
-Is ‘The Last Emperor’ the film that has given you the most satisfaction?
In some ways, yes. Nine Oscars and a profit of hundreds of millions of dollars. Known by everyone on the planet. The small films I have made have also given me incredible pleasure. Like ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,’ which was a perfect movie in some ways. Because of culture shock, half British, half Japanese. It was like a brutal battlefield. A fantastic experience. You know? Before we used to go to places to make movies, not anymore. We crossed the desert in ‘The Protective Sky’, 200 people and 30 trucks. Now it is not necessary because we have the technology. But before you went to Bhutan with a team, or to China with 40 cars of the time brought from Europe. And you were carrying tons of pasta, because the Italian technicians only wanted to eat Italian pasta. Bertolucci was an incredible teammate, very brave and always ready to go to the end.
-David Bowie, star of ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence’.
-A fantastic man, a charming guy. And a normal person, like us. He sleeps, he wakes up, he goes to the bathroom… he wanted to be treated normally, without favoritism. Because when you are known they treat you in a special way, and that ends up being corrosive. Bowie was very smart, he knew what he had done and what he had to do.
Jeremy Thomas receives one of the nine Oscars that ‘The Last Emperor’ won in 1987.
-Now it is more difficult to transgress with a film?
-Yes. The world has changed, it is narrower. Now everyone is offended by everything. It’s pathetic. Restrictive. reductionist.
-It seems that there is less and less space for auteur cinema in theaters.
That’s also pathetic… I believe in quality and humanity. I don’t think people are stupid. The world of cinema continues, not as it was, because nothing is as it was. No one is safe anymore with this (shows his mobile). This is a traitor, with this you film your best friend with another friend’s wife, you give stupid opinions… This has changed the world metaphorically and has changed my life. Some things for better and some for worse. The cinema has suffered, but I think that part of the platforms will regenerate the cinemas. Amazon is killing the malls, we don’t like to shop there anymore. I venture that within five years the cinemas will be in the center of the cities. I believe that in the future they will flourish, it is my vision of the future. We prefer to see a movie in a room near a nice bar than to drive.
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