ADVENTURE IN THE FAST TRAIN
87North’s
$90 million budget Bullet Train,
presented by Columbia Pictures; It
is based on the book "Maria
Beetle" from the Assassins trilogy by Kôtarô Isaka, one of Japan's best-known authors, who has won such
achievements as the Shincho Mystery Club Award, Japan's Mystery Writers Award,
the Japan Booksellers Award, and the Yamamoto Shugoro Award. Directed by David Leitch, who directed productions
such as John Wick, Deadpool 2, Atomic
Blonde and Fast & Furious
Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, the film brings together 7 characters with
interrelated but also conflicting goals and offers an adventure-thriller with
comedy elements. Yuma Terada and Ryosuke Saegusa, one of the founders
and executive producers of the CTB Company,
which aims to bring contemporary Japanese storytelling to Hollywood, first came
up with the idea of bringing the killer characters from all over the world to
life in a stylized Japanese background and gave their full support to the
director. The music is by British film and television composer Dominic Lewis, who made a name for
himself with The Man in the High Castle
and The King's Man. One of the
points that should be underlined is the importance of humor components in the
production. We see that the action-loaded suspense scenes of the movie are
combined with humor and irony, and the effect is softened. Here we see that the concept of "Viennese Philosophy" in
Freud's period, that is, the fact of making it lighter than it is (the split
between the real and the symbolic).
TOPIC OF FILM
A hit man
named Ladybug (Brad Pitt) is determined to finish his next job without any
problems after a series of bad jobs. But in this last job on the world's fastest train, he must
come face-to-face with his deadly rivals and their interconnected plans.
Stars; Brad Pitt,
Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki
Sanada, Michael Shannon, Benito A Martínez Ocasio, Ryan Reynolds, Channing
Tatum, Zazie Beetz and Sandra Bullock.
ALTERNATIVE REALITY
While
crafting the adventure, Leitch's design team created an alternate reality both
inside and outside the train, and to create Japan seen through the train's
windows, the production first shot the area between Tokyo and Kyoto in high
resolution. Then, the
team built each wagon in separate studios, and projected the images of Japan
they had taken before on the LED
screens they laid outside the wagons. “Normally you do this with computer
graphics, use the blue screen technique and add the flowing landscapes
afterwards,” says director Leitch. “Here we covered the 100-meter train with LED screens, so we were able to take direct
shots of the inside of the train. This approach reflected positively on the
performances of the actors.”
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Scene 26 at Sony Studios was converted into 5 different train stations by the
production team, in addition to hosting the 2 wagons made for the movie.
Los Angeles Convention Center building was again turned into Tokyo
Station for the movie. An alley in the city has been turned into a typical Tokyo street with illuminated signs,
food stalls and crowds. The
landscapes of Japan, which will flow
through the windows of the train at a speed of 400KM per hour, were displayed
on the walls from the LED screens surrounding the entire train. Because filming
isn't allowed on real bullet trains and at stations, the team recorded footage
of the Japanese countryside at a slower speed on the highways, then sped up the
footage. Designing the
individual wagons was handled by production designer David Scheunemann and cinematographer Jonathan Sela. “The secret to designing a good scene is to add
every possible lighting element to the scene from the beginning.” says
Scheunemann. Starting with the designer's plans, the production team built two
train cars that could be replaced and converted into different cars. At this stage they occupied the most
with the family-oriented Momomon-themed wagon, as the entire wagon had to be
decked out with warm, pink skins inside and out. While Scheunemann designed the entire Momomon family, American Horror Story and Netflix's 2020 mini-series Hollywood's famous costume designer Sarah Evelyn created Momomon costumes
for full-size figures to greet passengers.
AN ANGEL OF DEATH 'PRINCE'
American actress
Joey King, who portrayed the role of
Prince, spent three hours a day perfecting his British accent. From the action
movie The Princess (2022), in which
she plays a martial artist princess published on the Hulu platform, to the role of the Prince in the Bullet Train, the
actress has added great depth to her character, according to director Leitch. “When
Joey did his first readings, we encountered an unexpected emotionality and
irony.” says the director. Knowing that others will evaluate him according to
his appearance, this character is careful to draw images that will mislead
everyone. “She knows
what she wants and she gets it with her sweet looks and warm talk,” says King.
“Essentially, she is hungry for love and respect, but she covers these needs
with a sense of cruelty.” In the movie, we see that the Prince character, who
has problems with her father, is reading the book Shibumi. A novel about a Russian-Japanese assassin who killed his
father, this book was penned in 1979 by American bestselling popular author Rodney William Whitaker, who goes by
the pseudonym Trevanian.
DAVID LEITCH AND BRAD PITT
The friendship between director David Leitch and the movie's lead actor
Brad Pitt goes back to the past. Director
David Leitch, Fight Club, Troy and Mr.& Mrs. Smith had appeared in his
films as Brad Pitt's stunt double and gained his trust. When he sat in the director's chair, he was
very happy to continue working with Pitt. “We
always had a close and strong cooperation. Although fate sometimes separates
us, we are glad that it finally brought us together again.” Director Leitch's
long history of stunts makes him star as he directs the action sequences. “As a
matter of fact, every fight is a little story in itself.” says the director.
“There is the beginning, the development and
the conclusion, there are the characters. That's how I became interested in
directing when I was doing stunts for fight scenes." Leitch, who carried
his stunting experience to his firm 87North,
collaborated extensively with assistant director Greg Rementer, who supported him in the film. The small, indoor
scenes of the movie prevented the actors from using stunts. Everyone in the
action sequences had to act themselves, especially Brad.” says Rementer.
In addition, Rementer goes without saying that
Pitt has successfully met this challenge and set an example for other actors:
“Brad already has an action movie background, and there's also the comfort of
working with his former stunt double, David. Since her physique is also
suitable, she plays the character of Ladybug wonderfully. It is very enjoyable
to watch.” Jackie Chan, Buster Keaton and Harold
Lloyd are the names that inspired Leitch while developing Ladybug's fighting style. On the other hand, Ladybug's abstaining
attitude, which is afraid of her bad luck especially in the first clashes, does
not go unnoticed. “Each fight has its own story, style and flow, we took care
to rethink these concepts for each character.” he says.
BULLET TRAIN
Over time, David Leitch started to direct and choreograph the stunts; he has
successfully reflected his own style in films such as Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs &
Shaw and John Wick as a result
of great devotion and effort. According to the director, there is much more
that can be done in action movies. “There is action in comedy, horror and
thriller. My whole life has been with action movies, now it's ingrained in my DNA. The idea of being able to
implement bold and different ideas without leaving the action axis attracts
me.” Filming locations; It took place in Tokyo-Japan, Los Angeles-California (USA)
and Sony Pictures Studios located on
West Washington Avenue in California. This production, which
combines action, comedy and adventure genres, is an entertaining box office
movie where excitement and thriller never decrease until the last scene.
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