Known for work in blockbuster movies like the Alien series, after a break since 2017, Ridley Scott, with Darius Wolski, is coming back to theatres with his latest features ‘House of Gucci’ and ‘The Last Duel’. The latter, starring Adam Driver, Matt Damon, Ben Afleck and Jodie Comer, is a story about a rape in the 14th century. The release of the same was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘House of Gucci’, on the other hand, stars a phenomenal cast of Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, Jack Huston, Reeve Carney, and Jeremy Irons. The movie follows the murder of Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) by his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga).
In a podcast episode with The Film Stage, Polish cinematographer Dariusz Wolski discusses his work on the two films. Wolski has worked closely with Ridley Scott – including his latest films ‘Alien: Covenant’ and ‘All The Money in the World’ – and continues to work on the upcoming films.
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Discussing the delay in the production of ‘The Last Duel’, Wolski shares, “Recently, it’s been pretty simple because Ridley doesn’t like to shoot nights and it’s pretty organized and comfortable, ten hour days–he just doesn’t want to work any longer. The movie that I did, The Last Duel, I have huge hopes for. I haven’t seen the final film––he’s going to show it to us here––[but] I saw half of the film cut because we had to stop because of COVID. So I saw half of that, and it was very long and it was just so powerful, knowing we still have to shoot the second half of the film.”
He further adds about his surety of the movie becoming a huge hit. He says, “It’s the story of a 14th-century rape, it’s like Rashomon, from three different perspectives: the perspective of husband, the rapist, and the final is the perspective of the wife. It’s 14th century going to [themes of] the 21st century. It has a very contemporary resonance and the performances are phenomenal. Matt Damon is like you’ll never recognize him and Adam Driver and Jodie Comer; she doesn’t even know how famous she’s going to be, absolutely phenomenal. She was in this TV show Killing Eve. And Ben Affleck, in a supporting role. It’s very powerful. I think it’s my best work, photographically [speaking]. It’s very dark, but it’s beautiful.”
Wolski describes ‘House of Gucci’ as “a high-end soap opera”. He discusses, “Every movie is a different thing. You start a movie as you’ve never done it before, and that’s the best way to think. Of course, it’s easy for me to say because I’ve done enough, so some stuff becomes subconscious. This film, because it’s high fashion 80s and 90s, it’s going to be a little different. I’m still trying to find a look for it. The 80s weren’t a particularly good-looking period. The fashion world or these fashion shows were not that great looking. You look at the big coats and stuff and [go] hmm… So it’s a bit of a kitschy, funny, tragic tragedy––like a high-end soap opera. With a crazy cast as well.” Nodding to The Godfather, Wolski adds with a laugh, “I’ve called [Al Pacino] Michael five times by mistake.”
‘The Last Duel’ is scheduled for an October 15, 2021 release and ‘House of Gucci’ will arrive on November 24, 2021.
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