ROLAND EMMERICH TALKS ABOUT 2012

Roland Emmerich admits that 2012 is his most ambitious movie yet. "Yes, it was more of a challenge than Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow and it was a little more nerve wracking as a result," he says.
It was, however, a challenge that he clearly relished. Emmerich is a master of cinematic spectacle who has delivered blockbuster movies that have been adored by audiences all over the world.
But this time he knew that he would have to surpass his own high standards and trump the eye popping spectacular effects he'd delivered in the past and, at the same time, make a film that will connect with an audience on a personal level. In essence he wanted a very human story that wasn't swamped by the CGI - quite a task, but Emmerich knows that better than anyone.
"2012 has the largest number of effects of any of my films, for sure, there are about 1300," he says. "But honestly, the first things I'm interested in are the characters and the story. It has to be an interesting story because I don't have any visual ideas if I don't have a story to tell.
"It really starts with a story and then the images come into my head. For example, the first image that came into my head for 2012, which also ended up being the teaser for the film because it sums up the movie, is the water coming over the mountains of the Himalayas."
The sequence is an extraordinary piece of cinema - visually stunning and terrifyingly real. And it's one of many in 2012 that will leave audiences reeling as a series of disasters cause havoc on the planet and threaten to wipe out the entire population.
But it's the personal stories, the hopes and fears of a small band who battle for survival against all the odds, that Emmerich, and his writing partner Harald Kloser, believe will lead to audiences to emotionally invest in his film.
"For example, we were working on the story and one day Harald came to me with the idea of an artist who is so self obsessed with his work that he loses his family over it," explains Emmerich. That character would become Jackson Curtis (played by John Cusack) a writer who has poured all of his creative energy into his novel and neglected his family as a result.
"He's so obsessed with his work that he loses his family over it - which Harald and I can really relate to," says the director. "Because we are so into our work and sometimes you can forget the other things in life.
"So there's a lot of personal stuff in there and if you don't have this personal connection, if you don't love the characters you are seeing on the screen, you won't love the visual effects.
"Or you will just lean back and say 'more destruction..' It's not about that. You want to be in the heads of the characters and through them, through their eyes, see what's happening."
The original idea for 2012 was inspired by an ancient story. "The movie needed something beyond disaster, something which really makes it worth doing," he says. "And in this case, it was the modern telling of Noah's Ark because I thought it would be very interesting.
"I said to myself, 'if somebody knows the world is going to end, it would probably be some scientist...' And then government officials would know, and some very high level politicians. And you know what, they would probably keep it a secret…"
That, says Emmerich, poses the ultimate moral dilemma. "It becomes this worldwide conspiracy between governments and it gets bigger and bigger and I was interested in the combination of people who know and who don't know.
"But again, we wanted to keep that personal and early on we have a conversation between one guy, who represents the people who don't know, and another who does know and he doesn't tell him.
"Shortly afterwards the guy in the know gets the news that it's finally starting and he sees this other guy loading his kids into a car and driving away and he says 'they're dead..'
"And he then begins to question what they are doing and ask himself is it morally right. The other view is 'well you have to save the human race...' and what's worth saving. And the movie has a quiet, interesting, intellectual discussion going on while you are seeing normal people trying to save their lives."
Emmerich and Kloser wanted a peg on which to hang their contemporary Noah's Ark fable and came across a book about the Mayan Calendar when they were researching a different project.
The Mayan calendar is set to reach the end of its 13^th cycle on December 21, 2012 and after that, there's nothing. For the filmmakers - and a multitude of conspiracy theorists - it begs the question, 'what happens after that?'
"I had a project - and I still have it - called The Book of Hours, it's about Gonzalo Guerrero, and I did extensive research for that script and since Mel (Gibson) did Apocalypto, it's a little bit on the back burner, because I don't think you can do it right now, but maybe in ten or fifteen years I can do it. 
"Gonzalo Guerrero was the first Spaniard landing in Yucatan before everybody else, and he turned native.  And because of that I got deep into researching the Mayan culture. 
"And I always knew there was a calendar which ends.  And when we were looking for a feasible theory, which explains of the global flood, we went on to the Internet and everyone was talking about 2012. 
"And we kind of said, 'oh wow!' And if you remember, with Independence Day I used the stories about Area 51 and the theories that there is an alien spaceship there and I integrated it into the story. And it just made it more real.
"And because of that, we said 'let's use this prophecy, because it will make it more real, that this really will come about...'  And then we discovered that it's not only the Mayans, every culture, somewhat roughly has the same kind of prediction of the prophecy, and it makes it just more real."
In Emmerich's story the US government is warned by leading scientists - including Adrian Helmsley played by Chiwetel Ejiofor - that the world faces impending disaster which will wipe out billions.
President Thomas Wilson, played by Danny Glover, knows that if the information leaks out to the public it will cause mass hysteria so he decides to keep it a secret, planning, meanwhile, to save a lucky few in giant, purpose built ships - the modern day equivalent of the ark.
Helmsley is determined to help as many people as he can but Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt) is far more pragmatic - he reasons that those who can afford it should be given the opportunity to survive. The president's daughter, Laura (Thandie Newton) is shocked to discover what her father's government has hidden from the world. And one man, radio talk show host, Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson) is the lone voice warning the world that disaster is on the horizon.
When the earth's tectonic plates begin to shift, it's the catalyst for a series of earthquakes and this, in turn, causes devastating floods. Only the lucky few will survive. Curtis Jackson rushes back to his estranged family to try and ensure that they are amongst the fortunate ones.
"The movie asks the question, 'what is worth saving and who is worth saving?'  And it tells of the people who will end up on these arks," says Emmerich.
"With John's character, I was interested in him as a father. No matter what has happened he still wants to do the best that he can for his family because, in the end, that is the most important thing. And even though he has let them down in the past, he will be there for them when it counts."
The director hopes that 2012 will make its audience think about the state of world affairs where warnings of environmental disasters and wars are constantly on the news agenda.
"All my movies have some sort of philosophical aspect and they're always about coming together, fighting some enemy," he says. "I think the human race is on a very dangerous path. I can't believe, for instance, that after all of these years we still have wars. It's kind of amazing when you think about it and terribly sad."
Emmerich was born in Sindelfingen, Germany and studied at film school in Munich.  Before 2012 his most recent film was the prehistoric epic 10,000 BC. His other films include the hits Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, The Patriot and Stargate.

Q and A follows:

Q:  What do you want an audience to get from watching 2012?
A:  Well, it's like a modern retelling of Noah's Ark. And it asks the question, 'what is worth saving and who is worth saving?'  And it tells of the people who might end up on these arks.

Q:  You've created quite some mayhem in movies already, and how did you get fresh ideas for this one and how did you make sure that you didn't repeat yourself?
A:  Well, I was afraid of that, I didn't want to do it at first because of that. The movie needed something beyond disaster - something which really makes it worth doing.  And in this case, it was the modern telling of Noah's Ark, which I thought was interesting. I said to myself, 'if somebody knows the world is going to end, it would probably be some scientist..' And then government officials would know and some very high level politicians. And you know what, they would probably keep it a secret. It becomes this worldwide conspiracy between governments and it gets bigger and bigger and I was interested in the combination of people who know and who don't know. But again, we wanted to keep that personal and early on we have a conversation between one guy, who represents the people who don't know, and another who does know and he doesn't tell him.  Shortly afterwards the guy in the know gets the news that it's finally starting and he sees this other guy loading his kids into a car and driving away and he says 'they're dead..' And he then begins to question what they are doing and ask himself is it morally right. The other view is 'well you have to save the human race..' and what's worth saving. And the movie has a quiet, interesting, intellectual discussion going on while you are seeing normal people trying to save their lives. It's constantly back and forth between that and that's what made me want to make this movie. It's not just about destruction but then I said to myself 'If I do it right, I will get it all out of my system..'

Q:  How did you get involved with the Mayan prophecies and after the movie, did you get more interested in this culture?
A: I had a project - and I still have it - called The Book of Hours, it's about Gonzalo Guerrero, and I did extensive research for that script and since Mel (Gibson) did Apocalypto, it's a little bit on the back burner, because I don't think you can do it right now, but maybe in ten or fifteen years I can do it. Gonzalo Guerrero was the first Spaniard landing in Yucatan before everybody else, and he turned native.  And because of that I got deep into researching the Mayan culture.  And I always knew there was a calendar, which ends.  And when we were looking for a feasible theory, which explains of the global flood, we went on to the Internet and everyone was talking about 2012. And we kind of said, 'oh wow!' And if you remember, with Independence Day I used the stories about Area 51 and the theories that there is an alien spaceship there and I integrated it into the story. And it just made it more real. And because of that, we said 'let's use this prophecy, because it will make it more real, that this really will come about...'  And then we discovered that it's not only the Mayans, every culture, somewhat roughly has the same kind of prediction of the prophecy, and it makes it just more real.

Q:  Did you begin to think, oh my god, I'm not going to book a holiday in 2013?
A:  Well, we read a couple of books and one day Harald (Harald Kloser, the cowriter/producer/composer on the film) called me up and said 'oh my God, you have to read this book..' It's by this guy who is a science writer and he just uses every aspect of all the different theories around and kind of says 'yes, there is something happening here..' That's the only book I read that made me really scared.

Q: Humanity and what makes us human is a constant theme in your films even when they are dealing with big subjects and disasters. Why is that?
A:  Well, it's true, but I hate cruelty, so you will never, ever see anybody tortured or beaten bloody, because I've always said it's something which disgusts me, so that shows how deeply I love humanity. All my movies have some sort of philosophical aspect and they're always about coming together, fighting some enemy," he says. "I think the human race is on a very dangerous path. I can't believe, for instance, that after all of these years we still have wars. It's kind of amazing when you think about it and terribly sad.

Q: You have a black president in the film. Was that clever foresight?
A: Harald and I were on the side of democrats. We asked ourselves, 'should it be a woman president or should it be a black man?'  And at that time, they were still in the race together, and Hilary (Clinton) was still the leader, and he said, 'what would be the coolest?' And I said, 'actually a black president.' You have examples of women leading countries before like Margaret Thatcher in the UK and Angela Merkel in Germany now. But a western nation with a black president would be unique. So we just bet on the most unlikely because we thought even if it didn't happen, it would be cool to make that statement. And then Obama became president! (laughs) It's unbelievable and we were very excited.

Q: Do you think about the special effects when you outline a story or are you concentrating on characters?
A: 2012 has the largest number of effects of any of my films, for sure, there are about 1300. But honestly, the first things I'm interested in are the characters and the story. It has to be an interesting story because I don't have any visual ideas if I don't have a story to tell. It really starts with a story and then the images come into my head. For example, the first image that came into my head for 2012, which also ended up being the teaser for the film because it sums up the movie, is the water coming over the mountains of the Himalayas
And I said 'if this is a global flood, there has to be the Himalayas flooded, and I have to show this' because it shows you what a global flood is.  And then, we had this idea of the people who know and don't know.  And then you ask yourself, what would be a good character to represent the people who know?  And what are good characters for the people who don't know?  And then one day actually, Harald, came to me with the concept of an artist who is so self obsessed with his work that he loses his family over it.  Which Harald and I can really relate to, because we are so in our work, that you sometimes forget that there's like you know, so there's a lot of personal stuff in there and especially from Harald.  He was married, and he has two kids.  So there's a lot of personal stuff in there, and if you don't have this personal connection, if you don't love the characters you're  seeing on screen, you will also not love the visual effects.  Or you like kind of lean back and say, more destruction, more destruction.  It's not about that.  You want to be really in the heads of your characters and then kind of through them, and through their eyes, see what's happening.

Q:  So was it a harder film to make, or an easier film to make?
A: I would say it was a little more ambitious. 2012 was more of a challenge than Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow and it was a little more nerve wracking as a result. Also, we decided at the beginning it was going to be totally digital. And for the first time I didn't rely on models at all. It was a tough decision, I worked again with Volker Engel who was my original effects supervisor through the ages and famously got an Oscar for Independence Day.  And Independence Day mainly relied on models.  So it was quite interesting to do a film all in digital and I'm actually quite happy that I did.  Because digital technology has come a long way, and you can create now pretty much all CGI images and you don't realize it anymore.  And what I like about it, you can tweak it and tweak it and with models you can't. 

Q: 3D seems to be in vogue right now. Would you consider making a 3D film?
A:  And we discussed that too, but I'm not ready yet to buy into the whole 3D experience, because I haven't seen one movie where I thought it was worth doing it, besides some full CG cartoons.  You know, Pixar and DreamWorks did one or two movies where I thought that's cool. But I think there has to be a generation of young people growing up with it, because everything that I have seen in other movies done in 3D, it didn't convince me.  It was a little gimmicky and put me more outside the movie than inside the movie. 

Q: 2012 is about an apocalyptic event and The Day After Tomorrow warned of the dangers of global warming. Would you ever make a documentary about the environment?
A:  Yeah, it would be kind of interesting to do a documentary about a real tragedy, but I'm a filmmaker, I like fictional stories. I admire documentary film makers, trust me, I'm financing on the side a lot of these things. I take a lot of inspiration from documentaries, from real life survivors of disasters, because it's like these famous stories where a woman all of a sudden lifts up a car to save her baby.  I think there's a lot of qualities in us that only come out in the face of disaster. 

Q:  The boat scene in the movie, how many people were on the set?
A:  We estimated that, the biggest boat you could ever build and we built several of them, not all of them got finished in time, but it's 100,000 roughly per ark.   

Q:  How do you think the Catholic Church would react to your film because you show some scenes of the disaster striking the Vatican?
A:  It seems to me that when you turn to religion in these kinds of situations, it's like emergency praying and it doesn't work.  And the idea behind it is that you turn to God in these kind of moments instead of taking your destiny in your own hands and trying to save what you can and go to the highest mountain - that would probably be more smart than to pray in front of a church.  Because that church could fall on your head.

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