That the directors, the professional critics and the moviegoers have the common that we love the seventh art is an indisputable fact; despite the fact that some colleagues seem to be lazy at times. So it can’t be hard to believe that Cate shortland claim to have been inspired by one of Joel and Ethan Coen’s most famous films for the making of Black widow (2021), the latest from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in theaters and the platform of streaming from Disney Plus. Not surprisingly, his statements on this matter are consistent with certain distinctive aspects that we find in The movie.
The two American brothers are responsible for movies like Death among the flowers (1990), Barton Fink (1991), winner of three jackpots at the Cannes Film Festival and, perhaps, the best of its authors, Fargo (nineteen ninety six), The big lebowski (1998) or A serious guy (2009).
A villain to the rhythm of Anton Chigurh
But the Australian filmmaker does not refer to any of them. When journalist Sean Keane accurately asked him in an interview for CNet which action-genre feature films inspired her to Black widow, Cate Shortland had this to say: “The movie I watched the most was No country for old men [2007], although it is not an action movie. But it’s so beautiful how the Coen Brothers they create suspense in the stillness and the rhythm of it… ”. And he specifies a little more: “That was really influential for the moment of Taskmaster in which he stops on the bridge and walks toward her, ”Scarlett Johansson’s heroine Natasha Romanoff (Match point).
Perhaps, seeing the clash of the two in the marvelita adventure, the psychopathic character of Anton Chigurh played by Javier Bardem in the Joel and Ethan Coen film; but it is true that there is some his serene relentlessness in the villain of Olga Kurylenko (To the Wonder).
Other sources of inspiration and help for Cate Shortland
“I love it too Christopher McQuarrie’s work, and he was very generous, “says Cate Shortland about the director of films such as Jack Reacher (2012), the last two in the franchise of Mission Impossible (since 1996), Secret nation (2015) and Fallout (2018), and the next one (2022) of the same. There is no doubt that he gets along very well with Tom Cruise, the main actor of the four.
“He talked to me on the phone when I was in pre-production about how to work with second unit choreographers and directors, how to team up and make sure everyone does. the same movie”. If you are faced with the considerable challenge of your first action shoot with Black widow, after only dealing with dramas like Somersault (2004), Lore (2012) and Berlin syndrome (2017), it is not without logic to accept helpful advice from experienced colleagues.
On the other hand, already at a great distance from the Coen Brothers, No country for old men and Anton Chigurh, Cate Shortland has noticed “Some South Korean things”; And he explains it like this: “We made montages of different sequences of action and fighting. Before we started, I cut ten minutes of fights that I liked from the last thirty years so that we could talk to the choreographers about it. ”
However, one fundamental detail was very clear: “What was really important to me was that Natasha [Romanoff] she feels human and fallible, because she’s up against these really formidable fighters. Then, you want to feel the blows. You don’t want to have a cup of tea; This is a fierce fight to the death that you want to see ”. And now we understand the reason that the blows of Black widow they hurt us more than is usual in the adventures of Marvel.