Italian Magazine Interview

September 1999

RALPH FIENNES

THREE FACES
ONE STORY
by Marco Spagnoli
Translated by Giovanna

As guest of honor at the third edition of the Napoli Film Festival, Ralph Fiennes has faced his stay more with the spirit of the tourist than with that of the actor who has to preside over an international cinematographical review. Not bad if we stop to think this is the first time that the English actor comes invited by a festival as a representative of an "author's movie" (***I'm not sure if that's what you call it in English, sorry!***), capable also of working in some interesting typically hollywood-style "fancies" as the amusing The Avengers, or the fascinating Quiz Show, directed by Robert Redford.

Mr Fiennes, how dou you choose the roles you play?

My career is completely based on instinct, I don't follow any specific method to choose my roles. It often is enough if there is a director or an actor involved whom I would like to work with. The beauty of my role is secondary. It's not enough reading an interesting script. The collaboration with the director and the presence of other actors is fundamental, because I consider it a personal challenge to find new elements and motives of inspiration to give the best of me.

When did you decide to become an actor?

The first time I read Shakespeare, because his language, the meanings of his plays, and the possibilities offered by his characters are infinite. He will always be a contemporary author. His heroes are still alive nowadays. It makes no difference whether we are speaking of the moral dilemma of Hamlet, of Othello's jealousy, or of the political ambition of Richard III. The audience recognizes these masks in the people they know. Also, Shakespeare's language is reach in irony, passion and imagination, extremely natural to the characters. The richness of his word contains deep truths even nowadays, It's true, some expressions are obsolete, but essencially, in the end we know that behind Shakespeare lies a mystery regarding his greatness. His work is, without comparision, superior to most of literature. And theatre is the purest form of public expression that exists.

What is your opinion on the unexpectedly low success of The Avengers?

It's a film I enjoyed, but that didn't particularly thrill me. The British reviews massacred it, and the American audience didn't understand it. The TV show was far too much connected to the 60's, and it had a certain style and vocabulary that was characteristic of that decade. It was a really very amusing experience making a film with Uma Thurman and Sean Connery, but I believe it was a mistake to try to reproduce the style and characteristics of another time. We were far too loyal with the original concept of the 60's, because everybody that worked in this film were great fans of the show starring Patrick McKnee and Diana Rigg. The comparisions with the original show didn't favour us, and the American audience remained disoriented by this very original and very 60's kind of style. There are certain films that altough made with large budgets, can't be considered successful. The original TV show author's, on the other hand, just had to be creative to become famous.

But on the other hand Mike Myers is having an enourmous success with The Spy who Shagged Me, second episode of the retro saga Austin Powers.

Yes, but Mike Myers' case is very different. He does a very extreme and radical kind of comedy. An intelligent approach but very different to that of The Avengers.

What are you currently working on?

In occasion of Pushkin's bicentennary, I presented in St Petersburg my version of the poem Eugheny Oneghin, a drama I first read as an acting student. I have always been in love with Eugheny's ambivalence and cynism , and I have always desired to play this role someday. Some time ago I asked my sister, Martha,-who directs advertisement spots- if she would like to help me making a film full of important psychological details, for the observation of human nature by the author is absolutely precise, and offers the chance of great introspection of the characters. We have worked together for a long time, my sister and I, and fortunately, thanks to the success of The English Patient, it wasn't very difficult to collect the 14 million dollars needed. We filmed in England and Russia, where we returned to presente it to its audience in St Petersburg. The reviews weren't completely possitive, and ours was a daring move, because Pushkin is like the Bible for the Russian people. I am happy to say, though, that many were interested by our project. This is also because of the presence of Liv Tyler in the role of Tatyana, an icon for the Russian girls. It has been a very interesting experience, because there is no former cinematographical version of this theatrical drama. Right now and until the end of summer, I am working in a film with the Hungarian director Istvan Szabo, that tells the story of three generations of a Jewish family in Hungary.

After playing the role in The English Patient, you are for a second time Hungarian.

Yes, but this time I don't need to seem English.

Isn't it a bit strange for an actor whose career is oriented towards Hollywood, participating in a European coproduction?

I haven't really been too familiar with this film's production infrastructure, except with Istvan Szabo. His main concern in making the actors feel comfortable creates the same spirit any actor may have working in a theatrical company.

Will you repeat the experience as a producer?

I have met many great directors, but the real force source of any production is the producer itself, a serene figure capable of emanating serenity and financial support. I don't think I have the calmness and tranquility required to repeat this role again.

Tim Roth and Gary Oldman have recently proven to be successful as directors. If you should -someday- direct a film, what kind of movie would you like it to be?

Probably a drama. I have already thought of directing sometime or other, but I still haven't found a script that particularly interests me. My comprehension of technical timing in comedy isn't outstanding, and if I decided on also directing, I would rather choose something more profound and compromised.

Yet in Oscar and Lucinda you changed your image to fit the profile of a funny and ironic character.

Oscar is a character I fell very close to. In my heart I consider him to be like Miskin, the main character in Dostojevski's The Idiot.

What do you think about Peter Greenaway, who you worked with in The Baby of Macon?

Greenaway is a genius, the images he creates are very stimulating. Working in one of his films means to be inside a perfect painting that is the physical representation of his fantasy. Unfortunately, his characters are just the "guest's position cards" on the table of the great dinner offered by his ideas, and he really isn't interested in an actor's work. And sometimes it's just hard to give live to a simple "guest's position card".

You have recently worked also with Neil Jordan, in a film inspired by a novel by Graham Greene.

The End of the Affair is a story of love and religious faith. Greene was a catholic that in many of his books dedicated several pages to discuss his views of catholicism in a a very subtile and also furious way. And Neil has adapted the story in a very cinematographical way. It's a love triangle between a husband, a wife, and her lover; and by the fist images I've seen of it, it's a very intense movie. The fact that the director is Irish has permitted to smooth down the original text, that on a first reading may appear far too English.