Interview: Taking in the Information With ‘The Brothers Bloom’ Director Rian Johnson

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly versionE-mail page to friendE-mail page to friendPDF versionPDF version
No votes yet

CHICAGORian Johnson, the writer/director of the excellent “Brick,” has another slice of dazzling dialogue opening this weekend in the very entertaining “The Brothers Bloom,” an elaborate con game starring Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz, and Rinko Kikuchi. He sat down for an exclusive interview the night before the Opening Night celebration for his film at last year’s Chicago Film Festival.

Rian Johnson, The Brothers Bloom, 2008 Chicago International Film Festival
“The Brothers Bloom” director Rian Johnson is photographed by HollywoodChicago.com on a Chicago red carpet on Oct. 16, 2008 as part of the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival.
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

“The Brothers Bloom” is about a pair of con men siblings (Brody & Ruffalo) who decide to pull one last amazing con on millionaire heiress Penelope (Weisz). The film is a stylish shell game, turning in on itself several times. With gorgeous cinematography, a fantastic turn by Weisz, and another clever script by Johnson, it will find a cult following after probably getting swept under the rug by the summer CGI overload.

The humble Johnson seemed shocked himself that a sophomore filmmaker was given such an amazing slot at one of the biggest film festivals in the country and joked that it doesn’t hurt to get Rachel Weisz to show up. (Come back tomorrow for our interview with the film’s lovely star.)

MARK RUFFALO (far left), Director Rian Johnson (left), RACHEL WEISZ (right) and ADRIEN BRODY (far right) star in the adventure comedy BROTHERS BLOOM, a Summit Entertainment release.
MARK RUFFALO (far left), Director Rian Johnson (left), RACHEL WEISZ (right) and ADRIEN BRODY (far right) star in the adventure comedy BROTHERS BLOOM, a Summit Entertainment release.
Photo credit: Slobodon Pikula

When the film debuted at the Toronto Film Festival, it received largely divisive early buzz with some critics using the old “style over the substance” while others fell for the film’s gorgeous con game.

“I take it as a good thing,” says Johnson. “Coming into Toronto, when we were first showing the movie, you’re holding your breath seeing what the first wave of reactions are going to be. Seeing how similar it was to Brick in terms of the range - there were some people who seemed practically allergic to it while others embraced it - that was really encouraging to me. Not that you’re making movies to piss people off, but to me, and maybe this is just justification, it means that it has a strong personality.

RACHEL WEISZ stars in the adventure comedy BROTHERS BLOOM, a Summit Entertainment release.
RACHEL WEISZ stars in the adventure comedy BROTHERS BLOOM, a Summit Entertainment release.
Photo credit: Slobodon Pikula

“Just like a person with a strong personality, you’re going to go with it or you’re going to be repelled. The style of it; because it definitely does pick its horse and let it run - if the style isn’t something that you click with, I can see being deflected. The style is very candy-coated. I feel like there’s quite a bit underneath but can see that if you absolutely can’t stand the taste of sugar not breaking through. But I don’t want to guess. I’m not going to question anyone as to whether they liked it or didn’t. Part of the fun is hearing other people’s reactions and how they bounce off - good or bad.”

The ties of family - Johnson has two-and-a-half brothers - clearly impacted “The Brothers Bloom” and what its creator calls the “comfortable chaos” of family dynamics.

“For me, it’s just a matter of knowing how deep and how complicated the ties between family can be,” reveals Johnson. “For me, it’s the thing where at the beginning Bloom just wants to get away. You get a yo-yo sense that Bloom just wants to break free but once he does he’s just lost at sea and he’s just waiting for his brother to find him again. Not directly analogous, but I think we all know that thing where if it’s unhealthy it’s called co-dependency but if it’s healthy it’s called a loving bond between family members.”

Developing that family dynamic with Brody and Ruffalo had to come quickly. As Johnson points out, with stars this big and schedules to coordinate, the filmmaker only had about a week before they started shooting. As he says, “You kind of roll the dice and cross your fingers.”

Johnson also dispels a common filmmaking myth about off-screen relationships - “Mark and Adrien got along really well and did bond on-set, but to a certain degree, I felt like a sneaking suspicion that the whole thing about actors having to have a personal bond themselves in order for it to be on the screen is kind of bullsh*t. If they’re great actors, that’s kind of what their job is, no matter what they feel about the person. To bring it on the screen. To a certain extent, you have to lean on that - even if they don’t get along.”

MARK RUFFALO (left) and ADRIEN BRODY (right) star in the adventure comedy BROTHERS BLOOM, a Summit Entertainment release.
MARK RUFFALO (left) and ADRIEN BRODY (right) star in the adventure comedy BROTHERS BLOOM, a Summit Entertainment release.
Photo credit: Slobodon Pikula

“The Brothers Bloom” is about more than just the con. These men are spinning their lives into fairy tales. It’s not unlike what Johnson himself does with language and celluloid. “I think it’s what we all do in life,” says Johnson.

“There’s the connection between them and, obviously, between directors, writers, actors, but, for me, it’s much more interesting - the connection between what they do and what everybody does in their life. Life is a process of taking in the world around you and telling it back to yourself. It’s like what she says with the pinhole camera - part of what makes it beautiful is that the watermelon is like a head and we all take in the information. It’s the particular way we work the image that is the storytelling of our lives.”

Johnson uses an amazing ear for dialogue to express the information he takes in on his way through life. It’s a love of words that came to him early in life.

“I was pretty unskilled socially as a kid, so I did a lot of reading,” says Johnson. “I’ve been a big reader. I always had my nose in a book and that fed that quite a bit. I just love…I take active joy in playing with language. Sometimes, I worry that I may be indulging in it too much but it’s something I take too much joy in that it’s hard not to have fun with.”

Have fun with “The Brothers Bloom,” opening in Chicago tomorrow, May 22nd, 2009.

‘The Brothers Bloom’ stars Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz, Robbie Coltrane, Maximilian Schell, and Rinko Kikuchi. It was written and directed by Rian Johnson. It opens in Chicago on May 22nd, 2009. It is rated PG-13.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

User Login

Free Giveaway Mailing

TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

Advertisement



HollywoodChicago.com on Twitter

archive

HollywoodChicago.com Top Ten Discussions
tracker