THE DIRECTOR: ENTER ANTON

In part, Iain Canning’s inspiration for a project like LIFE came from working on Anton Corbijn’s Control, a biographical film about Joy Division’s Ian Curtis. Their association continued. Anton’s renowned career began in photography with his influential work in rock music, from which he moved into music videos and then feature films. Having set up their production company See-Saw, Iain and Emile worked with Anton on projects with Depeche Mode, U2 and Coldplay. While developing their project on James Dean, they saw a natural connection for Anton.

Iain comments, “I think there’s a lot of common ground between Control and LIFE because they both bring Anton to the core of what he’s known for outside of film.” That common ground is photography and the influence of the photographer on the subject. Anton knew well the personal and creative relationships that can emerge, and in making Control he drew on his history of photographing Ian Curtis and Joy Division. He seemed perfect to direct LIFE, “a story about a photographer who works with either actors or musicians in terms of bringing out their soul and their spirit,” says Iain.

Christina Piovesan had worked with Corbijn in Montreal on a music video for Arcade Fire’s song “Reflektor” and says, “I spent hours in the car with Anton as we were location scouting, and he would tell me these amazing stories about all the people that he’s met and photographed.” Anton is “a worldrenowned photographer who has experienced what the film is about in his own life as a photographer” She thinks the film spoke to to him profoundly. “I remember seeing him talking to Rob in the dark room where he, as Stock, is developing the iconic photo of James Dean in Times Square. Anton was guiding 10 Rob through that scene and he was just so animated and seemed to feel so at home in that dark room. It was exciting to see how he was communicating his passion to Rob.”

Canning notes, “What struck a chord for Anton, was the story of how a photographer can go on a journey with an artist and end up defining the iconography of that artist.” In addition, Dennis Stock’s photo assignment occurred the year of Anton’s birth, 1955, and Canning suggests that Anton felt an attraction to
the idea of the photographer-artist relationship forming at the beginning of his own life. The stars seemed to align.

Luke Davies was thrilled when Anton came onboard. He was a fan of Control, and he recognized that LIFE connected with “Anton’s background and passion” because “he started life as a photographer, so he really understood Dennis’ character.” With Anton’s strong vision for the film, Luke knew his script was “in safe hands.” Dane DeHaan and Robert Pattinson echo admiration for Control and confidence in Anton. Says Dane, “He’s a soft-spoken person, but he’s meticulous about the shot itself, and you leave knowing that the film is going to be shot beautifully.” Dane describes Anton creating a reassuring atmosphere of calm, and Robert comments on the “formal elegance to the way Anton shoots things.” “He knows the movie he wants to make,” says Pattinson.

Anton wasn’t initially interested in doing another biographical project, but he wanted to work on subject matter less dark than his previous films, and Iain brought him the “very well-written script” of LIFE. As well, Anton notes “the fact that Stock was a photographer photographing an interesting person who’s well known and who was in the arts. That’s kind of what I do.” Anton’s own career was forged from the close working relationship he established with Dutch musician Herman Brood, who became Holland’s biggest rock star ever. Anton’s photographs were instrumental in Brood’s fame and he remained friends with the musician, as Dennis Stock might have done with James Dean had he not so suddenly died; however, Anton says, “I related to the story of being a young photographer starting out with someone whose career skyrocketed and left me behind.”

Anton, of course, has achieved his own fame, but he works behind the camera, so he relates to Dennis Stock. (They even share a common inspiration in photographer W. Eugene Smith, one of “the old masters,” says Anton.) He was drawn to the project and committed to it despite a tight schedule—Anton was still working on A Most Wanted Man a month before starting LIFE. “It’s new for me to have films that close to each other, but I think we did very well...it feels like we have something special.” From Anton’s perspective, the strength of the film isn’t merely the James Dean material: “It is really the story 11 of Dennis Stock. We see it mostly through his eyes...and a lot of emphasis is placed on his side of the story and how he experiences this friendship.” The photographer and the actor share the stage in LIFE. Anton observes that “Jimmy and Dennis learn from each other; Dennis gets to look a little bit differently at his relationship to his son, and for James Dean it was quite interesting to have a friend with his own opinion, not a yes man. I don’t think Stock was that kind of guy.” As for the real people portrayed, Anton acknowledges a sense of responsibility for accuracy but also points out that his work is creative: “obviously you want to stay close to the real person and at the same time it’s a film. In a film you always search for some kind of drama, but you don’t try to make a terrible person nice and vice versa. You try to give people depth to their character and motivations.” But it takes great actors to realize a director’s vision.

Via: @Gossipgyal