411 Movies Interview: Director Uwe Boll
Posted by Tony Farinella on 09.12.2008
411's Tony Farinella sits down with controversial director Uwe Boll for an exclusive interview!
Uwe Boll is one of the most outspoken directors in Hollywood today. If you even mention the name Uwe Boll to someone in Hollywood, you're probably going to get a number of very interesting responses. Needless to say, I was looking forward to interviewing Mr. Boll and getting inside his head. Even if you're not a fan of his films, it's hard to ignore his passion and love for film. In my interview with Uwe Boll, we talked about his new films, Seed and Postal, which are both currently available on DVD. I hope you enjoy my interview with Uwe Boll.
TONY: How do you compare Postal to some of your earlier work?
Uwe Boll:Postal is totally different, and, in a way, Postal is also going back to my roots. My first movie was German Fried Movie, and this was a spoof basically, and it was a German version of Kentucky Fried Movie, so I went back to my beginnings with Postal, because I wrote it on my own after I did a lot of the horror and sci-fi and action movies that were all not really based on my scripts. And with Postal and Seed, I went back to this where I do the movies totally complete and developing it, writing it, directing, and producing it. And I'm really happy with the result. So Postal and Seed are, I think, better than the movies I did before.
TONY: As a director, do you know what's going to offend the audience? Do you have a certain barometer on what's going to get under their skin?
Uwe Boll: On Postal, it was, in a way, easy, because you could see if everybody was laughing and even the electricians, the grip people were really laughing their asses off. But in the Postal way, it's also because it's so ridiculous, so these were people that were used to working on movies from the major companies and X-Men, Fantastic Four, and everything was done in Vancouver at this point, and they couldn't believe it that I made a movie like this. So on Postal, I trust my instincts that I have to make a movie like this, and, at the same time, I could see what the reaction of the crew was. And in other horror movies or action movies, it's harder, because a lot of stuff works basically only with the editing and the sound later. You don't really see it on set that this is now a thing where you have to jump out of your seat.
TONY: It really seems like you surprised a lot of people with this film. How does it feel to surprise people?
Uwe Boll: I think on Postal, because it's so different to everything that I did before, that at least some people gave it a new chance and gave me a new chance with it. If you have very dirty humor, then you'll like it. But there were also voices, like I think in the Chicago Tribune was written that it's a shame that this movie ever crossed the border of the United States. But I think, in the end, this is maybe the best advertising line we can use now.
TONY: Were you surprised that so many edgy comedians turned down Postal?
Uwe Boll: Totally. It blowed me away, to be honest. I couldn't believe that a Dave Cross or Sarah Silverman turned it down, because they are known, if you see the live shows of them, for really dirty, dark, racist and everything humor. And that they turned it down, it shows me a little that they are also following the advice of the agencies. And if you see the feature movies where Sarah Silverman is in or Dave Cross, I think they are a lot of times really harmless and ridiculous in the feature movies they are in. Dave Cross did that small part in Men in Black 2, so really small performances. It looks like they prefer to play shitty parts in big movies as opposed to playing a good part in a smaller movie.
TONY: Why do you focus so much on the reviews? It seems like a lot of filmmakers just ignore them, but you always respond to reviews and pay attention to them.
Uwe Boll: I think with the reviews, the reality is that I think some filmmakers are lying that they say we don't care about the reviews. I care about the reviews, and I take reviews serious and learn from reviews, and I started as a critic, because if you don't make movies in the beginning of your career, you, of course, think about other movies and you write about other movies and you criticize other movies. I think every filmmaker pays attention to the critics, but a lot of people don't admit it. And I'm verbally answering also to the critic, and I still have that illusion that I can see a movie more objectively, and I know that, for example, Alone in the Dark was not the The Dark Knight. I just saw The Dark Knight, and I think it's a great, great movie, but I know, also, that Alone in the Dark was not the worst movie ever made and deserves to be in the bottom fifty somewhere. I know that Alone in the Dark was better than Elektra even with Tara Reid as the female lead, at least the quality of Daredevil or tons of other movies I can list. And I think that I got criticized in an over the top and absurd way, and a lot of times, especially in the U.S., was basically blocking me and my movies from a better theatrical distribution and a lot of times my movies are only on DVD and they totally outperformed on DVD, like In The Name of the King. I think the DVD results are similar to movies that made fifty-million dollar box office, and I think on DVD, the real potential of the movies came out in a way.
TONY: It seems like people are just programmed to hate you. That being said, when people sit down and actually talk to you, it seems like they walk away from the experience with a new perspective on you. What's it like dealing with that?
Uwe Boll: I think a lot of journalists are just reacting or let's say they put a stamp on me without talking to me, without thinking about me, or without looking deeper into it. A lot of people are prejudging based on what they're reading on IMDB or whatever Rotten Tomatoes. I think as soon as a critic looks a little more into details and actually looks at the movies, also, they see that the avalanche or whatever against me on the Internet is really over the top. It's not reflecting the reality of my movies, and at least a few people also appreciate that I really fight for my movies. It's so untrue for example what is on the Internet about me that I don't care and that I make it only for the money or whatever. I've made movies where I've made no money. I was thirty-four before I made any money in the film business, and the decision to make movies was done when I was ten, so I had a long time working my ass off with independent projects and everything to get it going. One of the worst things on the Internet about me is that I do it for the money. It's just absolutely not true.
TONY: Let's simplify things here for a second. Why do you think people hate you? Have you figured it out?
Uwe Boll: So I should explain where the hate is coming from basically?
TONY: Yes. Where do you think it comes from?
Uwe Boll: I think it started with one thousand or two thousand people on the Internet bashing me non-stop and getting support from people like Harry Knowles and some other Internet critics, and these people infected a lot of the non-reviewers, like the real journalists. Then, at one point, it was cool to bash Uwe Boll, so they keep going with it, even if it makes no sense. But I think there is where the hate comes from. And the other thing is, also, there are a few people, especially with the Harry Knowles or Quint from Aintitcool.com, that they're jealous that they talk. Five years ago, I met Harry Knowles, and he told me he would produce a Paramount movie for 120 million dollars in the next six months, and he treated me like a piece of shit, and what happened in the last five years with Harry Knowles? Did he ever make any movie? No. And this is the thing, I think they are jealous that they're not getting it done on their own.
TONY: Do you think that people don't understand how much you love the film business and how much it means to you?
Uwe Boll: I think a big problem is I always talk about money, also, in my interviews and everything, because I think film is just too expensive in making movies only for yourself, so making a movie without looking into a market, there's a reason to do video game based movies for example, because people know it, so it's easier to sell a genre movie like Alone in the Dark because it's based on the game. Because I talk about this market reality, some people think I'm not an artist. They think I'm only a producer and not a director. But I think a director who doesn't care about what happened to the movie later or what happens to the producer if he is bankrupt are not good directors.
TONY: If you had one-hundred million dollars and you could write any story, what kind of story would you like to tell?
Uwe Boll: I would do a movie like Postal again, but I would spend only twenty, and I would spend eighty-million dollars in advertising, because then you finally get the box office and the audience the movie deserves. I think if people see the movie like Postal, they have to admit that a comedy like this was never made and not made in the last ten years and that it brings up some interesting points about politics. I think it's an interesting and important movie against all the political correctness we have around us. So I would spend the hundred million like this.
TONY: Finally, what is your dream project?
Uwe Boll: I have a script in development a long time, United States of America is the script, and it's about social welfare and an older guy who worked his whole life and then he still fell through the social net, because the life insurance is bankrupt and he has no health care. This is a movie I definitely want to do, but I need a really great actor doing it. I don't wanna give what I develop away with a medium actor, so I need a Dustin Hoffman or Jack Nicholson, a really big one who is now old enough to play something like this to also get the movie the necessary attention. So I'm looking forward to doing that.
