(March 27, 2017 – Source: AFP)
*Valerian and The City of A Thousand Planets arrives on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on the November 21 in the U.S., with the UK getting it a week later on November 27.
Directed by acclaimed visionary Luc Besson, the vivid, visually arresting Sci-Fi adventure stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as a team of special operatives charged with maintaining order throughout the human territories. Under assignment from the Minister of Defense, the two embark on a mission to the astonishing city of Alpha—an ever-expanding metropolis where species from all over the universe have converged over centuries to share knowledge, intelligence, and cultures with each other. There is a mystery at the center of Alpha, a dark force which threatens the peaceful existence of the City of a Thousand Planets, and Valerian (DeHaan) and Laureline (Delevingne) must race to identify the menace and safeguard the future of the universe.
Clive Owen, Ethan Hawke, John Goodman, Rihanna, and Rutger Hauer co-star in the film, which is based on the best-selling French comic series “Valérian and Laureline” by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières. Besson takes the iconic source material to the next level — co-producing the project with his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla.
Best known for his “spectacles of violence” and “sci-fi extravagance” in film such as 1994’s Léon: The Professional, 1997’s The Fifth Element and 2014’s Lucy, Besson has been involved in the creation of more than 50 films, as writer, director, or producer — and through his own production company, Les Films du Dauphin.
EUR/Electronic Urban Report correspondent Ny MaGee chopped it up with Mr. Besson ahead of the DVD release, check out below what he had to say about this epic saga.
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When you’re working on a project like this, are you thinking about ways to be a pioneer in the future of special effects?
Luc Besson: No. Not at all. In fact, what happens is, I have a vision, which comes from the comic books, so it’s a mix of the two and then I talked with Scott, which is the head of the special effects, and I describe and I show drawings of what I love and then after that, I don’t even want to hear how they are going to do it. It’s their problem. Sometimes they scratch their head and say, “How are we going to do that?” But I don’t want to hear. I love to drive cars and I was a pilot for a while when I was younger. If a car doesn’t work anymore I’m going to leave the car on the road and I’m going to walk. I’m a spoiled brat. I’m interested by the vision, by the meaning, not the (technicality) of it. For example, I’m writing my script by hand since I’m 14-years-old and I don’t have a computer.
What I enjoy most about this film is the wonderful way my emotions are manipulated by aspects of the human condition that are explored through the alien creatures. Talk about the creative process of crafting these fantastical characters.
Luc Besson: It starts like, 5 years ago by going around the world and find designers who were the best. So I find 12 of them. They were coming from China, Russia, France, U.S. Brazil — everywhere. I find these guys and I hired them for a year. And for a year they don’t even have the script. We were just talking about the 29th century; how it’s working, where are they, what kind of alien — liquid, air, solid. And for six months, I let them go without any barriers. I said, “Come back with whatever you have in your mind, without thinking about the film.” And they come with a tremendous amount of work — with a very large spectrum. And when we have the design, we now start talking about how do we feel about them; where they can come from, their sensitivity, how they reproduce. So I had a bunch of young writers and we start to write the life of each alien, and it’s like 5-6 pages per alien; where they come from, what they eat, how they reproduce — everything. And by the way, we even put the address (in) space where they live. If you go on the Google star map, you will find the address. You will know exactly where they are. It’s a true address.
You know what was interesting also about Alpha, the space station? My target was New York. When you watch New York, Manhattan is like an island and on the same island, in the same block, you’re gonna have the golden boy from Wall Street with the Pakistani in the cab and the Chinese guy from Chinatown and the guy from Little Italy and the Jewish people selling gold. You have a bunch of characters who really (don’t) look like each other but in a way, they’re living together. They love each other. They’re working together and what we’re trying to do is we replace the golden boy by an alien. We replace the Pakistani by another alien and we try to recreate the same kind of society.
What was the biggest technical challenge?
Luc Besson: The biggest technical challenge was the time. For example, when a studio makes a sci-fi film, they will probably hire 200 people for 3 months. I did the opposite. I start with 6 people for two years. I took my time. I divide all the problems one by one. Preparation was really key. You can not do this kind of thing in six months. It’s possible. You really have to nurture the project and be patient. So the biggest challenge for me was just to find the strength through all these years to stay focused. You have to find your path, your rhythm, for 3-4 years and that was the biggest for me — not to lose the tempo. And in the middle of 2700 special effects, to be sure that you feel the humanity of every character.
I know this was a passion project for you. So how would you describe your emotions on the first day of filming compared to the last day of filming?
Luc Besson: The first day we are so prepped that it doesn’t make a difference between the end of prep and the beginning of shooting, because we’re already on the set, we’re already in costume, we’re already in rehearsal, so you don’t really feel the first day. The last day is totally different. The last day is like, such a relief. Like, you can’t believe that you went around the world on a tiny boat for seven months without seeing the shore. The last day, everybody was crying. You just finished something you know you will never forget because it was an amazing experience. Cara couldn’t stop crying. She started to cry at the last shot at 5:00 pm and at 9:00 pm she was still crying.
Speaking of Cara, I simply love her work in the fashion world. With everything she does, she certainly captures your attention right away. What did you find so interesting about her?
Luc Besson: I was a little skeptical about Cara because I didn’t know her at all and what I heard was just modeling and being crazy here and there. So I decided to meet her and the first few times we see each other, we don’t talk about the film. I just want to know who she is first and then after, I realize how much she really was a good person that I want to spend 8 months with. And then we started to say, “Okay Cara, let’s do a couple of tests.” And then I take her in a room for five hours and I torture her with every kind of acting exercises and at the end, she was exhausted. And her agent called me after and say, “What happened?” I said, “What do you mean?” “She called me, she’s crying. She said she was bad and she’s crying and crying.” And I said, “No, she got the part.” She had a misinterpretation of the situation. I was pushing her because I just want to know where she can go. I was not surprised but I was very pleased to see that I was right. She was a good person and very dedicated and honestly, she was perfect for the entire shoot. I will shoot with her anytime. I will do whatever she wants.
And working with/directing Rihanna…
Luc Besson: The thing is, what was very sweet from her is that as soon as she (comes) on set, she left all the entourage outside. It was not Rihanna entering the set, it was this actress playing Bubble and honestly, I totally forgot that this is Rihanna.
When you reflect on your body of work, has your style on set, your directing style, has it changed during her career?
Luc Besson: I don’t know really if I have a style. You go with the society. The society today is way faster than 20 years ago. At one time, you don’t have the portable phone, you don’t have the Internet, you have three channels on TV and you take a little more time for dinner and lunch. Now, everything is (speeding) up, and the way you express yourself, you’re sharper, more direct, a little faster. Not just for the purpose of going faster but everything goes faster. And I think I’m living with my time so the way I make film now, I think I’m more precise on what I feel and how I want to express it. 20 years ago, we take 3-4 shots. I can do it in 1 or 2 shots now. I can be more focused and precise and I think that’s better. It’s like a declaration of love to a woman at 17 and a declaration of love of a man at 40-years-old is not the same. So I feel now my declaration of love is more concise and beautiful and more real.
Your chance to cop Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets on DVD/Blu-ray comes Tuesday, Nov. 21. Here are the special features on all formats of the discs:
- “Citizens of Imagination: Creating the Universe of Valerian” Multi-Part Documentary
- Paper, Ink, Flesh, Blood: Origins and Characters
- To Alpha and Beyond: Production and Stunts
- Denizens of the Galaxy: Humans and Aliens
- The Final Element: Visual Effects
- Wrap Up
- Enhancement Pods
- “The Art of Valerian” Photo Gallery
Here’s the Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets opening sequence.
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