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Monday, Dec 1, 2008
Wolfgang Petersen, director of "The Perfect Storm," wanted to cast Mel Gibson instead of George Clooney, and is "perfectly fine" with Salon's chilly review of his blockbuster.
Jul 14, 2000 | Wolfgang Petersen, 59, is the German director of "The Perfect Storm," starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. The film's strong opening over the July Fourth weekend, and continued strength at the box office, have surprised many industry veterans, who were betting that "The Patriot," starring Mel Gibson, would do bigger business. As it happened, "Storm" racked up $63 million over the holiday while "Patriot" brought in a paltry $35 million. Result? Petersen's a happy man and Clooney and Wahlberg aren't feeling so bad themselves. As for Gibson, he's undoubtedly hanging in there.
Petersen began his directing career in German television during the 1960s. His first feature film, "One of Us Two" (1973), won the German National Film Prize for director. In 1981, he directed the acclaimed "Das Boot," for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for best director. And after moving to the United States, Petersen wrote and directed the stylish thriller "Shattered."
His other films include "In the Line of Fire," "Outbreak" and "Air Force One." We spoke a few days after the opening of "The Perfect Storm," and the publication of Salon's not exactly glowing review of the film -- "loaded with dumb dialogue and blubbery melodrama," wrote staff critic Stephanie Zacharek.
Petersen began our conversation by good-naturedly needling me about the review, "So this is Salon, eh? You are really big fans of my movie. I hear that Salon hated 'The Perfect Storm.' Why did they hate it? Who wrote the review? Did you write it?"
"No, I didn't write it," I was relieved to be able to tell him.
"Well," Petersen continued, "maybe hate is too strong a word. I heard only that it was negative. [He laughs.] I'm fine about it. I'm only a little bit joking. But I thought maybe you had written it, and then I was going to have some fun with you. I'm perfectly fine about the review. Now, let's begin." And so we did.
What attracted you to directing "The Perfect Storm"?
Everything started with Sebastian Junger's book because in reading the book ["The Perfect Storm"] I got into this world in Gloucester, Mass., which I found fascinating. I grew up in Hamburg, Germany, and know a little bit about the water, ships and boats. But I had no idea about the fishing industry. And the book gave me a pretty good insight into what kind of job it is, how dangerous and hard. But then, what became the most important thing to me was that here was a true portrait of a contemporary, American blue-collar world.
That became fascinating when I considered making a big movie out of it. To do that would be miles apart from what Hollywood normally portrays -- you know, the more glamorous jobs. And I wanted to go with the common man or the "little people," so to speak.
Then, of course, I could deal again with the frightening element of water. I just love that and it's always a challenge for me to do a film that deals with that element. I did it 19 years ago [in "Das Boot"] and I was ready to do it again.
What is it with you and the water? There's "Das Boot," which takes place in a submarine. There's "Shattered," where an eerie, key scene occurs underwater. Tell me more about your fascination with water.
I grew up in a little town called Emden in Germany and, later, Hamburg. Both had harbors, ports and shipyards, although Hamburg was a very big seaport. As a boy, I was just hanging out with these people on boats and ships, and whenever I wanted to think about life and philosophy, I'd just go and sit on the shore and look out at the ocean. The sea was magical to me. As a 13-year-old, it was a place where my imagination and fantasies were transported to infinity.
Also, when I was 6 or 7 years old, during the 1940s, something powerful happened. I will never forget this. It was shortly after the war in Germany and we were very, very hungry people. All of a sudden, I remember that out of the mists of the sea came these huge ships streaming into the harbor. Again and again. They were mostly American ships, and we were looking up at these ships. Sailors onboard were throwing to us kids below all kinds of goodies, like food and chewing gum. We scurried around like little rats to grab the food. And that added to my idea of wonder coming out of the sea, that the ocean carries us to places far off, like spaceships do. These memories add to my feeling that the sea is a magical place. I'm very connected to it.
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