Director Ridley Scott and his two lead actors, Joel Edgerton and Christian Bale, were in Paris this week to discuss how they went about making EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS and just what goes into adapting the story of Moses for the big screen.
Though many directors might feel too much pressure to make a film of this scope, Scott remained calm and unaffected. ‘At this point in my career,‘ he began, ‘it wasn’t daunting at all, otherwise I wouldn’t have tried it.‘ He added: ‘I take great care . . . I treated the entire story with the greatest respect . . . It’s a very tricky tiptoe through the tulips deciding what you’re going to do without actually impeding what I want to do. It’s a tricky sort of dance.‘ So what sort of influence do these people actually have over his film-making? None at all, it seems. ‘I have to make the movie I want to make, that’s it.‘
Scott did his research (though he didn’t read the Old Testament a few times like he said Bale did!) and was surprised by just how much he didn’t know about Moses. ‘When I read the whole story, I had no idea of the length and breadth and width of who this character was and how important he was historically, and religiously!‘ Scott went on to explain: ‘You can’t tell the whole story. If you told the whole story you’d have a fifteen hour movie. In fact, we could do a sequel to this, if it does well.‘
‘It’s a wonderful, human story. And he’s a very, very human prophet.’ – Christian Bale on portraying Moses
The film had plenty of impressive CGI and green screen work involved but both actors didn’t see it as a challenge. ‘You could always ask Ridley what was beyond what we were looking at,‘ Edgerton explained. ‘He could draw a little picture for you and say “this is what you’re seeing, this is the perspective”. You never really felt lost.‘ Echoing his sentiments, Bale added: ‘When I think back on this film, I think of the incredible locations. I don’t think of any green screens whatsoever.‘
Inevitable comparisons were made, but few that surprised the panel. Bale said that he did watch THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. However, he went on to say that that wasn’t his first port of call. ‘After Ridley came to me with the insane idea of this idiot here playing Moses,’ he said, ‘I first went to [Monty Python’s] LIFE OF BRIAN.‘
Bale went on, in a rather light-hearted manner, to say that ‘Moses is such an intense character, and relentless, that you had to have a little bit of a break from him, mentally, otherwise it would have just been exhausting. So I was just always singing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” and thinking “He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy!”. It just helped me.‘
Taking on Moses was evidently a challenge Bale was only too keen to take on. ‘His story resonates,‘ Bale said. ‘It’s a wonderful, human story. And he’s a very, very human prophet. If you read the Torah from beginning to end, it’s fascinating. The guy is so complex; there’s such a wonderful character there.‘
‘I have to make the movie I want to make, that’s it.’ – Ridley Scott on not succumbing to pressure from outside influences
Though there was perhaps a moment when Ridley Scott seriously doubted his casting choice. Bale explained that he went to meet with Ridley when he’d just made AMERICAN HUSTLE and gave the director quite a fright. ‘I looked the opposite of everything Moses should be,‘ Bale said. ‘He should be gaunt and hairy and I was fat with no hair.’
Edgerton took a slightly different approach to preparing to take on Rhamses. Unlike Bale, he opted not to remind himself of the films which have come before. ‘My fear is that I will watch Yul Brynner and feel very insecure,‘ he said, ‘or try and lean it to replicate something that I don’t need to replicate. In my case, I really enjoy the collaborative process of making a film and I think it’s really important . . . When you’re working with Ridley, [there’s a] motley crew of excellent practitioners that line up to work with him – and will continue to work with him time and time again because he’s a great general and a great collaborator. You feel very supported and, particularly, I needed to feel very supported . . . in my skirts [laughs].‘
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS is released in UK cinemas on Boxing Day.
