Werner HERZOG, Nicholas CAGE, Eva MENDES
 

regista e attori protagonisti di

BAD LIEUTENANT

PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS

When it was finally announced that Herzog was to present Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans at this year Venice Film Festival, it caused a lot of emotion and interest and Herzog’s press conference, which took place on the 4^th of September, gathered the journalist from all over the world, including the editor in chief of Kinematrix, Gabriele Francioni, and his assistant and film critic, Natalia Holownia.

The first part of the meeting was dedicated to Herzog and Eva Mendes. Obviously, most of the demands were directed to the director, apart of only a few that concerned Mendes, one of which made by the editor in chief of Kinematrix, who pointed out the relation between her latest performance and the previous once, for example in We owe the night (2007).

During the conference, Herzog revealed that his film My son, my son, what have you done was to be screened for the very first time at the Venice Film Festival. Then, though he had already insisted on not relating his latest production with the one of Abel Ferrara’s, he couldn’t avoid some questions about it. He confessed not ever watching Ferrara’s movie and stressed out that “there is no relationship” between these productions, adding that he hope to  talk the whole thing over with Ferrara with a bottle of whisky between them.

It turned out that the location and the leading actor were chosen by the producers. Luckily, their choice satisfied the director what is noticeable in the movie. Nicolas Cage’s performance is unquestionably brilliant and New Orleans, just as it is after the hurricane Katrina, corresponds perfectly with the life and moves of the “bad” lieutenant.

Speaking about him being bad, Herzog pointed out that it’s impossible to judge him and refused to explain Terence’s acts as “you are taking away the mystery of the movie if everything is explained”. What’s more, he said that there is no guilty, no redemption and, definitely, no Christian ideology in this movie. Instead, there is the joy of evil and, actually, evil pays.

Herzog also confessed that he remains Bavarian, even though he has been traveling a lot and lives in the United States. Also he added he could never become a citizen of either America, Russian or Japan as all these countries have the capital punishment.

Natalia Holownia’s question had to do with the convention of the movie, since it mixes elements of film noir, comedy, police and action movie and even drama. But the director refused to classify it saying that the critics should be very cautious while doing it.

While answering another question, Herzog pointed out that all his films contain moments of humor, including Grizzly Man and Aguirre, the Wrath of God, what can be easily seen after a quick reconsideration.

Nicolas Cage’s conference was interesting as well. He talked not only about the movie, but also about the jazz and New Orleans. Actually, Kinematrix managed to held the whole interview for quite a long time, when Mr Cage was asked by Gabriele Francioni as follows:

GABRIELE FRANCIONI Mr. Cage, you've had the chance and the talent to play a couple of similar and at the same times different characters, such as the alcohol addicted in LEAVING LAS VEGAS (1995) and the drug addict lieutenant in Herzog's movie. I'm really longing to know how deep has the relationship been between the characters themselves and the locations, in terms of "alcohol/Vegas" and "addiction/New Orleans", and how it helped  you  develop your work.

NICHOLAS CAGE Well, that's a very good question, actually! At the time of LEAVING LAS VEGAS, I hadn't given up drinking yet, so I felt like I was really deep into the character. Now, I'm completely out of it, of course. Given that, Vegas is so much related to loneliness, being torn apart by events and broken relationships, so alcoholism is pretty much "the" first kind of addiction, which expresses your relationship with the landscape and the artificial space, the environment and its absence of....everything! You sort of tend to relate yourself just to this incredible "emptiness", this vacuum of feeling, this "void" and that brings everything so close to trying to find a way-out in dinking. As I said, New Orleans is something completely different, a place that sort of made me feel like a re-born person, also thanks to the importance of music, and jazz in particular, in my personal life. I've always been deep into Miles Davis, bebop, but also to the roots' sound of New Orleans ragtime and dixieland bands, up to the present.
That means I had the "pace" of the town in me and also Werner wanted me to display that kind of jazzy attitude, full of rhythm, expression, unexpected changes of mood and musical notations. It was amazing and funny to get to build the lieutenant's character connecting my addiction in the movie, which tends to raise your attention to things, and setting up a series of syncopes that affect my "body-language" while playing the part.
There's no connection between my personal life and this chemical addiction, differently from LEAVING LAS VEGAS, but a deep research in terms of trying to express the pace of New Orleans, that eventually could bring someone to cocaine. VEGAS is deep, silent loneliness that brings you to alcohol, while NEW ORLEANS is jazzy feelings and the need to follow the rhythm of the city, using cocaine and that sort of stuff.
 

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During the meeting Nicolas Cage was also modest and frank enough to admit that in a casual, real life he’s not a more interesting man than we all are or even less and that, as he said, “you can really get bored with yourself”.

Finally, it’s important to say that meeting such great artists as both Herzog and Cage are, is always a great and significant experience.

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