Steven Spielberg and Jeremy Irvine at the UK premiere of War Horse Photo: GETTY
On making his first British film
"This [War Horse] could only have been shot in England. After I heard the reaction last night at the Odeon in Leicester Square, I realised that I'd made my first British film with War Horse. Through and through."
On history
"I think my regard for history is more of a European regard for history. Social media has taken over in America to such an extreme that to get my own kids to look back a week in their history is a miracle, let alone 100 years. Europe is closer to history."
On War Horse
"We did a lot of research behind the story of War Horse and the thing that struck me was the vast number of casualties among the horses, not just the men. This was the horse as an instrument of warfare. I hope the film raises awareness of the contribution animals make."
On casting newcomer Jeremy Irvine as Albert
"I looked at hundreds of potential Alberts. What made Jeremy stand out was that ineffable quality that certain people have, they just stand out and rise above the rest. Nobody had the heart or spirit or the communication skills that Jeremy had. Even in silence, even without speaking, every time I saw him and he tested five times, he just got better and better and better.
I’m very used to working with first time actors - you can just look back at E.T. with Drew Barrymore, and Christian Bale from Empire of the Sun, who'd never made a movie before. That's the career that could be in store for Jeremy."
On the War Horse stage play
"It made me cry, I loved it so much. My daughter said, 'You have to make War Horse, and you have to make it for me'."
On Joey the horse
“Joey represents common sense. If more people had the common horse sense of Joey, we wouldn’t be having wars.
On the English countryside
“There is nothing like the landscape of Devon. The location has some of the most natural wonders in all of England. We couldn’t believe it.
“The original script didn’t have the budget to go to Devon but we stretched it to go there and it was worth every penny. This is the first British film I’ve ever made and it could only have been made in your country.
“A question I’m asked quite often is, ‘How did you get the special effects on the sunsets?’ But not a single sky we had in there was through special effects.”
On his career
“The turning point in my career was Jaws. I was a director for hire before Jaws and after Jaws was such a big hit I could do anything I wanted. Hollywood wrote me a cheque. I wanted to do this crazy movie about flying saucers; I kept saying, 'Oh, this mothership comes down at the end, you're going to love it!' And people thought I was crazy and wouldn't give me the time of day.
"The second Jaws was a hit, people said, ‘What about that flying saucers movie you had? You still want to make that?’"
On movie-making in Hollywood
"So much ink is spilt and the media is obsessed with the numbers and the studios. But the film-makers don't feel that way, we just go off and tell our stories. It's the same torture for us and as the torture our forefathers endured making movies in the Golden Era."
On retirement
“I’ve no plans to quit. Clint Eastwood is one of my best friends. I’ve known Clint for 40 years and we have almost a joking relationship about retirement. He’s 81 and I say, ‘Are you thinking about retiring, Clint?’ and he says, ‘No, are you?’ and I say no. I’m waiting for the call when Clint says he’s hanging up his spurs. If it doesn’t happen for Clint, it doesn’t happen for me.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9003454/Steven-Spielberg-on-War-Horse-America-has-less-regard-for-history.html
"We did a lot of research behind the story of War Horse and the thing that struck me was the vast number of casualties among the horses, not just the men. This was the horse as an instrument of warfare. I hope the film raises awareness of the contribution animals make."
On casting newcomer Jeremy Irvine as Albert
"I looked at hundreds of potential Alberts. What made Jeremy stand out was that ineffable quality that certain people have, they just stand out and rise above the rest. Nobody had the heart or spirit or the communication skills that Jeremy had. Even in silence, even without speaking, every time I saw him and he tested five times, he just got better and better and better.
I’m very used to working with first time actors - you can just look back at E.T. with Drew Barrymore, and Christian Bale from Empire of the Sun, who'd never made a movie before. That's the career that could be in store for Jeremy."
On the War Horse stage play
"It made me cry, I loved it so much. My daughter said, 'You have to make War Horse, and you have to make it for me'."
On Joey the horse
“Joey represents common sense. If more people had the common horse sense of Joey, we wouldn’t be having wars.
On the English countryside
“There is nothing like the landscape of Devon. The location has some of the most natural wonders in all of England. We couldn’t believe it.
“The original script didn’t have the budget to go to Devon but we stretched it to go there and it was worth every penny. This is the first British film I’ve ever made and it could only have been made in your country.
“A question I’m asked quite often is, ‘How did you get the special effects on the sunsets?’ But not a single sky we had in there was through special effects.”
On his career
“The turning point in my career was Jaws. I was a director for hire before Jaws and after Jaws was such a big hit I could do anything I wanted. Hollywood wrote me a cheque. I wanted to do this crazy movie about flying saucers; I kept saying, 'Oh, this mothership comes down at the end, you're going to love it!' And people thought I was crazy and wouldn't give me the time of day.
"The second Jaws was a hit, people said, ‘What about that flying saucers movie you had? You still want to make that?’"
On movie-making in Hollywood
"So much ink is spilt and the media is obsessed with the numbers and the studios. But the film-makers don't feel that way, we just go off and tell our stories. It's the same torture for us and as the torture our forefathers endured making movies in the Golden Era."
On retirement
“I’ve no plans to quit. Clint Eastwood is one of my best friends. I’ve known Clint for 40 years and we have almost a joking relationship about retirement. He’s 81 and I say, ‘Are you thinking about retiring, Clint?’ and he says, ‘No, are you?’ and I say no. I’m waiting for the call when Clint says he’s hanging up his spurs. If it doesn’t happen for Clint, it doesn’t happen for me.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9003454/Steven-Spielberg-on-War-Horse-America-has-less-regard-for-history.html
