Marc Forster is a German-Swiss director and screenwriter. The director of the 22nd James Bond film produced by Eon Productions, Quantum of Solace (2008), Forster is best known for directing the films Monster's Ball (2001), Finding Neverland (2004), Stranger than Fiction (2006), The Kite Runner (2007), and World War Z (2013).
Bond involvement[]
In June 2007, Marc Forster was confirmed as director of Quantum of Solace.[1] Shooting began on January 2, 2008, shortly before his 39th birthday, making him the youngest director in the series' history (beating the previous record set by Guy Hamilton, who was 41 when he directed Goldfinger five years before Forster's birth). He was surprised that he was approached for the job, stating he was not a big Bond film fan through the years, and that he would not have accepted the project had he not seen Casino Royale prior to making his decision: he felt Bond had been humanised in that film, arguing since travelling the world had become less exotic since the series' advent, it made sense to focus more on Bond as a character. Born in Germany and raised in Switzerland, Forster was the first Bond director not to come from the British Commonwealth of Nations, although he noted Bond's mother is Swiss, making him somewhat appropriate to handle the British icon.[2] The director collaborated strongly with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, noting they only blocked two very expensive ideas he had.[3] The director found Casino Royale's 144-minute running time too long, and wanted his follow-up to be "tight and fast ... like a bullet."[4]
Production was plagued with problems, not least those surrounding the film's screenplay. Following his arrival, Forster, along with writer Paul Haggis and producer Michael G. Wilson rewrote the story from scratch.[5] Haggis said he completed his script two hours before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike officially began.[2] According to a December 2011 interview with actor Daniel Craig, "We had the bare bones of a script and then there was a writers' strike and there was nothing we could do. We couldn't employ a writer to finish it. I say to myself, 'Never again', but who knows? There was me trying to rewrite scenes—and a writer I am not."[6] He said that he and Forster "were the ones allowed to do it. The rules were that you couldn't employ anyone as a writer, but the actor and director could work on scenes together. We were stuffed. We got away with it, but only just. It was never meant to be as much of a sequel as it was, but it ended up being a sequel, starting where the last one finished."[6] During filming, after the strike ended, Forster read a spec script by Joshua Zetumer, which he liked, and hired him to reshape scenes for the later parts of the shoot, which the director was still unsatisfied with.[5] Forster had the actors rehearse their scenes, as he liked to film scenes continually.[7] Zetumer rewrote dialogue depending on the actors' ideas each day.[7]
Forster noted a running theme in his films were emotionally repressed protagonists, and the theme of the picture would be Bond learning to trust after feeling betrayed by Vesper.[8] Forster said he created the Camille character as a strong female counterpart to Bond rather than a casual love interest: she openly shows emotions similar to those which Bond experiences but is unable to express.[9] The plot of Quantum of Solace was strongly influenced by Forster's use of symbolism, leading to departures from Haggis' original draft screenplay, such as the film's proposed climax in the Swiss Alps[10]. Notably, many of the film's action sequences were structured around the four classical elements of earth, water, air and fire.[11] Similarly, the decision to homage Goldfinger in Fields's death came about as Forster wanted to show oil had replaced gold as the most precious material.[12] Forster also chose the Atacama Desert and the Paranal Observatory's ESO Hotel to represent Bond's rigid emotions, and being on the verge of committing a vengeful act as he confronts Greene in the film's climax.[13]
Quantum of Solace was released in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2008.[14][15] This was the third highest grossing Bond film (behind Skyfall and Casino Royale), pulling in over $586 million worldwide.[16]
Selected filmography[]
| Year | Title | No. of Oscar nominations | No. of Oscar wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Loungers | ||
| 2000 | Everything Put Together | ||
| 2001 | Monster's Ball | 2 | 1 |
| 2004 | Finding Neverland | 7 | 1 |
| 2005 | Stay | ||
| 2006 | Stranger Than Fiction | ||
| 2007 | The Kite Runner | 1 | |
| 2008 | Quantum of Solace | ||
| 2011 | Machine Gun Preacher | ||
| 2013 | World War Z | ||
| 2018 | Christopher Robin | ||
| TBA | Upcoming Thomas & Friends film |
Trivia[]
Both Forster and Pierce Brosnan have been involved in the Thomas & Friends franchise: Brosnan narrated the special, The Great Discovery, and had recorded narration lines for the twelfth series of the television show, but was replaced by the previous narrators for unknown reasons; Forster is set to direct the upcoming movie.
References[]
- ↑ "Forster back in action with 'Bond 22'", The Hollywood Reporter, 20 June 2007. Retrieved on 19 June 2007.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Terrence Rafferty. "A License to Pursue the Inner Bond", The New York Times, 9 December 2007. Retrieved on 9 December 2007.
- ↑ "Bond 22 Pre-Production Diary (22)", MI6-HQ.com, 30 December 2007. Retrieved on 31 December 2007.
- ↑ Alistair Harkness. "A Quantum leap", The Scotsman, 30 October 2008. Retrieved on 30 October 2008.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "A James Bond Set Visit and Seven Exclusive Quantum of Solace Images!", Rotten Tomatoes, 4 April 2008. Retrieved on 5 April 2008.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Goldberg, Matt (7 December 2011). Daniel Craig Talks about the Script Problems on QUANTUM OF SOLACE; Says Why He's Encouraged for SKYFALL. Collider. Retrieved on 29 August 2012.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Karl Rozemeyer. "Mathieu Amalric on Being the 'Bond 22' Villain", Premiere, 18 March 2008. Retrieved on 19 March 2008.
- ↑ Marc Forster on directing 007. MI6-HQ.com (11 November 2008). Retrieved on 13 November 2008.
- ↑ Jim Vejvoda. "007 Responds to IGN Readers", IGN, 22 September 2008. Retrieved on 22 September 2008.
- ↑ Ian Nathan. "Quantum's Leap", Empire, October 2008, pp. 82–90.
- ↑ Anne Thompson (film critic). "'Solace' offers thinking person's 007", Variety, 23 October 2008. Retrieved on 1 November 2008.
- ↑ Carty, Ciaran. "'I felt there was pain in Bond'", Sunday Tribune, 2 November 2008. Retrieved on 2 November 2008.
- ↑ "Seeking Solace on the Bond set", USA Today, 3 April 2008. Retrieved on 4 April 2008.
- ↑ "Forster back in action with 'Bond 22'", The Hollywood Reporter, 2007-06-19. Retrieved on 2013-01-05.
- ↑ "New Bond film title is confirmed", BBC News Online, 2008-01-24. Retrieved on 2013-01-05.
- ↑ Quantum of Solace (2008). Internet Movie Database. Box Office Mojo.
External links[]
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