e are leading our News this week with some exciting offerings featuring Cate and her portrayal of Galadriel in the trilogy of Lord of the Rings. We would imagine as more and more news on this production becomes available, there will be some crossover from our LOTR NEWS page and this online publication.
E! Online spoke to our Cate this week in a major story they titled:
Galadriel Speaks: Cate Blanchett on Magic, Elves and Disco Boots
by John Forde July 1, 2000
Cate Blanchett sits in her trailer, studying her scripts for the day's filming.
She has just 10 days in New Zealand to wrap her scenes as Elf Queen Galadriel--a small but pivotal part in Lord of the Rings (and one of only three major female characters in the trilogy)--and she's cramming hard before the afternoon cameras roll.
It's a familiar scenario for the 31-year-old Australian beauty. Since her Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated performance in 1998's Elizabeth, she has become one of the world's most sought after actresses, stretching from Long Island housewife (Pushing Tin) to WASP heiress (The Talented Mr Ripley) to Elvish royalty.
Of course, Cate's more than just an actress. She's a movie star, with the kind of beauty and flair for fashion (remember the backless butterfly dress at last year's Academy Awards?) that make her a photographer's dream.
For now, though, the Vera Wangs and red carpets are on hold. It's on with the blond wig, pointy silicone Elf ears and flowing gowns to play Galadriel--prophetess, Ring bearer, gift giver and (possible) thief of the Ring.
But since she has some time before shooting resumes, she welcomes a visitor to talk about her character, working with director Peter Jackson and LOTR.
Is it daunting taking on a character from such a well-known story?
Cate: It's a challenge, in the best possible sense of the word.
How do you mean?
Cate: Well, you're dealing with so many millions of people who are connected to these stories, and you have a responsibility. But you also need to find a reason to turn it into a film. If you're simply wanting to give every single detail in the books, then go and buy the tapes of someone reading them, or go and read them yourself. It has to be a filmic experience, which is liberating for an actor.
How did you become involved in the project?
Cate: I heard on the grapevine that Peter [Jackson] and Fran [Walsh, Jackson's writing partner] were going to do it, and I'd long been a fan of their films.
Are you a big Tolkien fan?
Cate: I'd read The Hobbit, but I've only come to the book as an adult--since I've been involved in the project. There are so many people on this project who've known the books since their childhood--it's interwoven in their fantasies. I've come at it from a different way. But I think if anyone can realize the stories, Peter can.
What appeals to you about P.J.'s vision?
Cate: Like any form of magic or war story, the books are incredibly dark. They're primal as well as fantastical, so I think it's important to have a director who has his feet planted in gore and fantasy. Yet when we're doing the scenes, he's constantly saying it has to be real--even though we're playing Elves--and grounded in realism, or else people won't buy it. They have to be emotionally and psychologically, as well as visually, invested in the story.
How has filming been so far?
Cate: I've never done this before--I've come into this project with a group of people at the top of their field who've been going for eight months. It's a city within a city here. It's an industry--like Middle Earth, really! You come in and you're walking past people in Orc costumes, and you go to WETA and you see the extraordinary things they're doing there--they're geniuses! So, in a lot of ways I've taken the lead from them.
Is it intimidating to be one of the few women in this sea of men?
Cate: Not when you're Galadriel! I've got these glam-disco boots, which make me as tall as anyone! [Cate hikes up her costume to reveal a very cool pair of gold platforms.]
And, of course, Galadriel has a little bit of clout, too.
Cate: The spiritual power and the psychic power of the Elves is so intense. Like anyone in a position of power, Galadriel doesn't need to wield it. It's a quiet power. Peter wants to find that sense of Mother Earth and the physical glory that is Galadriel, but he's wanting to also find the darkness and the threat. She is a Ring bearer herself, as well as a queen. As there are so few female figures in the books, it's a bit like women everywhere--you want them to be able to be everything, because there's so few of them!
How are you putting the character together?
Cate: I look at Alan Lee's drawings, and I'm working with makeup artists and costume designers and WETA technicians, who've all grown up with the books. So, it's the perfect environment, really, because you're able to witness the physical expression of people's connection to the book and then mine that. Moment by moment, you're trying to make it as real as you can. Also, there's so much that will be done in postproduction. So far, I've been working with actors, so I haven't had to work with tennis balls....maybe that's still to come!
What appeals to you about Galadriel? What about her is yours?
Cate: I don't really look at characters that way. I don't claim them. They will mutate depending on the circumstances. Peter and I are interested in showing that when the Ring enters Lothlórien, it is a threat. Galadriel is traditionally a vessel of goodness and purity and white light, but she is tempted by the power of the Ring--as are most who come into contact with it.
What I've really connected to about the books is that there's an enormous sadness at the passing of time. Treebeard says the world is changing--he feels it in the water, he feels it in the air. I think that's something Galadriel feels. She's able to sense her position in the changing order of the world. There's a joy in the melancholy of what that means--that she can be released.
There's also a lot of gray area for Galadriel, right?
Cate: What's interesting is these debates about whether Galadriel was forced to stay in Middle Earth or whether she chose to stay. I hope we keep those ambiguities alive. When you're dealing with a figure like her, you don't want to be prescriptive--you want to be evocative. So, if I'm trying to do anything, I hope I can do that.
Galadriel speaks some of her dialogue in Old Elvish. How does speaking another language--especially a fictional one--open you to the character?
Cate: [Dialogue coaches] Roisin [Carty] and Andrew [Jack] have been very helpful to us. They both speak Elvish beautifully, and they're online to [becoming] Old Elvish experts. And that in itself really spins me out! That there's someone who devotes their time to speaking Elvish--it's just astonishing! It's like people speaking Klingon!
How does the language sound?
Cate: It's not like any I've attempted to speak before. It sounds familiar because of the Celtic influences, but it's completely unfamiliar at the same time.
So much of Elvish is very formal and ceremonial. Has that affected the way you move and deliver the lines?
Cate: It's very important that it's not bad Shakespearean, like [in bad Shakespearean voice], "My liege!...A-ha! The long, pointy-eared Elf people have just arrived!" We're trying to avoid that. But it's hard--the language is incredibly formal, as are the relationships and the hierarchy in the Elven community.
Plus, there are elements of Galadriel that keep her apart from other characters.
Cate: Galadriel doesn't really step down to the others. You never truly get to know her--she's an enigma, and that's part of her allure. The closest she gets to knowing anyone really is Frodo--or to Frodo knowing her. I think it's important to keep that sense of mystery.
How do you characterize Galadriel's prophetic powers? There's ambiguity as to whether it's a gift or a curse.
Cate: I think it's a gift. Something I've taken from the texts which really informs Galadriel's whole story is a passage where she says, "I will not counsel you to take..." this course or that course. The only way she can prevail is knowing what may come to pass. She doesn't try to pin down her visions and act upon them.
Why do you think Galadriel resists the power of the Ring?
Cate: I think the bringing of the Ring onto Lothlórien is part of her test. She says in the book, "I've passed my test." She knows Frodo won't leave without offering her the Ring. At one point we toyed with the idea of her trying to take the Ring.
She's rewarded in the end, being able to return to...
Cate: Yeah, but that's the ambiguous thing about whether she came to Middle Earth to set up a dominion of her own, or whether she wasn't allowed to return. I think when she says, "I will diminish," it's bittersweet.
This community is more of a matriarchy, and we follow the change from a matriarchy into the world of men, a patriarchy, where things will be structured differently. So, maybe we're seeing a matriarchy at the point where it's allowing itself to be overtaken by men. I don't know. And I find it interesting not to know!
Then we have this little tidbit from the Sunday Times UK:
Hollywood hobbits upset Tolkien fans
by Maurice Chittenden
Frodo Baggins is ready to flirt. The introduction of glamorous Hollywood stars such as Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett to a new movie version of The Lord of the Rings has upset the family and followers of J R R Tolkien.
Literary fans who are devoted to the purity of Tolkien's Middle Earth ouevre are angry that minor female roles have been expanded to provide a love interest. There are even fears that Tyler, who co-starred opposite Bruce Willis in the space action adventure Armageddon, will turn the role of Lady Arwen into a warrior princess.
Tolkien's fantasy, which was voted the best book of the 20th century in several polls last year, is being filmed in New Zealand as a Star Wars-style trilogy. Each movie, in which Sir Ian McKellen, the Shakespearian actor, plays Gandalf, is expected to cost £100m, making it the most expensive film project after Titanic.
The first film, directed by Peter Jackson and to be released next year, is the second attempt at putting Lord of the Rings on to the big screen. A cartoon version appeared in 1978 but was condemned by critics and Tolkien fans alike.
The release of a trailer for the new film, however, has broken internet records. It was downloaded by 6.6m people in its first week. But its contents have alarmed members of the Tolkien Society, who are to discuss Tyler's role and that of Blanchett, who plays Galadriel, at their annual Oxonmoot, or meeting in Oxford, in September.
Arwen is described by Tolkien as "such loveliness in living thing Frodo had never seen before nor imagined in his mind". Galadriel, though described as an aged queen of elves, is played by Blanchett, the 30-year-old Australian actress who performed the title role in Elizabeth, the award-winning film about the Tudor queen.
Ian Collier, spokesman for the Tolkien Society, said: "We have heard that Arwen is leading an elf army at one point and replacing one of the hobbits in the fellowship. I do hope Liv Tyler is not going to turn it into a sword-and-sorcery type role."
John Tolkien, the author's son, said nobody had approached the family about the changes and the Hollywood stars had no significance.
EDITOR'S NOTE
We wanted to let you know that we have been contacted directly by Ian
Collier, spokesman for the Tolkien Society, in regards to the above
article. Mr. Collier is quite displeased, if not distressed, with the
slant and nature of the piece, and feels he has been misquoted and taken
out of context.
He is in the process of trying to work out a retraction with the Sunday
Times UK. He assures us he holds Cate in the highest regard, and
appears mortified that anyone would gather otherwise based upon this piece.
Specifically he states, "And if Cate does get to read this, I thought your
Elizabeth I was great" and asks, "will you be drawing on that experience
for Galadriel at all?"
We will try and keep you informed on the progression of this matter, and
deeply appreciate Mr. Collier's kind feelings in stating his objections to
the slant, as well as clarifying his respect for Cate's craft and casting
in the part.
And, no sooner did we laugh about the prospect of Cate/Galadriel action figures in our Cate News last week when our buddy Xoanon at theonering.net furnished the following images of the real McCoy, compliments of Toy Vault!!!:
And finally, in a New Zealand Press-Herald story reported by Scott MacLeod:
A one-month probe into claims of movie piracy on the set of the mega-trilogy Lord of the Rings has ended with the arrest of an Auckland crew member.
The 36-year-old has been charged with making a VHS copy of film footage, money-laundering, fraudulently dealing with a film and theft as a servant of two video cassettes.
The company producing the fantasy trilogy says it has boosted its security since the allegations surfaced.
Police spokeswoman Kaye Calder said yesterday that an average of three Wellington police officers worked fulltime for a month before the man was arrested in Auckland on Saturday evening.
She refused to say how much money was alleged to have been laundered, and papers filed in the Auckland District Court yesterday during the man's first appearance gave scant details.
But a source close to the investigation told the Herald there were "obviously considerable sums" to be made from pirated copies of the film, which will have its first instalment released in December next year.
The source said no footage was sent overseas before the man was arrested.
Court papers alleged the man stole video cassettes from an employer called Newline Productions Ltd. But a spokesman for New Line Cinema, Steve Elzer, said from Los Angeles that the man was not a direct employee.
He said New Line had been working closely with the New Zealand police and had taken steps to ensure no footage would be pirated in future.
The best-known person spying on the production, who goes by the name Tehanu, said on a Website that there were growing rumours of props and other items being stolen from the sets in New Zealand.
"It's not a complete surprise that someone working in the production has been arrested."
The man was remanded without plea for two weeks when he appeared in court. He was given interim name suppression.
THE GIFT
n another followup to a question we had last week regarding the exact status of production on The Gift comes this slight clarification via comments made by Keanu Reeves in Popculprit:
Keanu On 'The Gift'
While talking to Popculprit, Reeves commented on The Gift saying, "It's going to be a dark and disturbing film - it is a dark and disturbing film."
Regarding his role in the film of a brutal, wife beater, Reeves says, "Yeah, this isn't something I have done too often, but the script's so riveting, and I wanted to work with Sam."
The film tells the 1950s era story of a psychic (played by Cate) helping in the investigation of a missing young lady (Katie Holmes). Reeves says that the film,"...really harks back to this Southern Gothic type of thing. It's really stylized...I can't think of any script I've read that it reminds me of, but it's really original, as scary as Rosemary's Baby".
Though principal photography was wrapped about a month ago, the site reports that on Wednesday Raimi filmed additional pick up shots.
THE TALENTED MEREDITH LOGUE
We thought we would try and share with you some of the supplemental material which may be found on the DVD release of The Talented Mr. Ripley which came out this past week.
In the cast interviews that were included, Cate had this to say:
CATE: (on co-star Matt Damon) "Matt is very easy. I think he ummm....is quite sure of himself. He doesn't need to flaunt himself. He's very private, and very amicable."
CATE: "What I like about both the women in the film is that they do sense the truth. I think Meredith's a debutante--she's someone who is trying to emerge from her chrysalis. but, she's almost willfully naive, I think...and, she's almost wanting to have her heart broken...to have that sort of Therese Raquin (raises back of hand to forehead)...reclining on the couch and..."
"Something Anthony said to me very early on, which was very helpful to me, was that every day for her was sort of like a journal entry so that she would write, "Today I met the man I'm going to marry...the sun came thru the window...and hit his golden hair just as he touched my shoulder"...none of which may happen, you know. And I think that happens to a lot of people when they fall in love...they don't actually fall in love with the other person, they fall in love with what that person makes them into."
"I mean, the great thing about the way Anthony had structured the character of Meredith is that she came in like a kamikaze, always at the wrong time. And, it's sort of important that the audience thinks, 'Oh no, not her again'."
(Asked to remark on their favorite shots in the film...)
CATE: "One shot I really remember, which, to me, sort of summed up the entire film, was when Ripley was in the apartment, in Dickie's apartment that he had in Rome, and he was shutting the piano lid, and as he did, the shadow of his head actually separated in two. That to me summed up the film".
(On the costuming...)
CATE: Ann Roth and Gary are geniuses in that they created clothes rather than costumes. And I think the girdle is a much maligned (giggling) article of clothing--I think it does fantastic things for a woman's figure."
In Anthony Minghella's audio commentary which accompanies the film, he pays special attention to Cate's portrayal of Meredith Logue, whom he credits, "fleshes out and gives life to a role that doesn't exist in the novel...that otherwise might have been a sypher of a role, a rhyming sort of role, in that I think it betrays my own way of writing that Meredith is the rhyming member of this quartet..."
(During the scene where Meredith runs into Ripley at the American Express office after he has begun impersonating Dickie, and Cate is quite demonstrative in her arm movements, playing Meredith in a very animated style)
A.M.:"I kept thinking about Lucille Ball in that sequence (laughing), the sort of flapping, swanlike commedienne of Cate Blanchett...she so relished finding this girl in the film, and she uses every moment, every piece of costume, every prop to make the character indelible."
(In talking about the post-opera carriage ride back to Meredith's...)
A.M.: "I think the next couple of minutes of Cate Blanchett's performance are such an illustration of creating a whole life with a handful of lines...ummm, I remember talking with Cate about the fact that Meredith was somebody who lived life like a constant journal entry. It's like you feel as if she leaves this scene and runs to her journal and writes everything down in inverted commas, 'I said this, He said that, I did that, I put my head on his shoulder just for a second, but I couldn't keep it there'. You know, I just feel that she was writing this moment herself."
(The carriage arrives and stops...)
A.M.: "The odd thing about movie-making, but, I want to just stop and watch this scene because I think if there's one thing I feel as a writer-director, it's how often actors have dignified my writing...these few lines here, this exchange, so much is going on...Matts' head is racing about making a plan for the next day or other ingenious way of asserting Dickie's reality for Marge...But, just watch Cate here...(Marge says a heartbroken farewell to Tom, and ask's about seeing him tomorrow, 'you know, in the daylight...you should always save pain for daylight'...
A.M.: "...and how proud Meredith is of that line, and you know that's going straight in the jounal. And then , how an actor and a walk, and the physical part of their work, the physical evocation of the character...(Cate turns and walks away) seen in this turn, the shrug, the wave (she holds her hand up without looking back)...I relish that as a filmmaker, I feel just so honoured by that."
The entire audio commentary is just wonderful, and offers a myriad of insights into the entire production, and Minghella handles it effortlessly throughout the duration of the film. Hooray for DVD!
SHEKHAR UPDATE
e have a couple of updates regarding Cate's esteemed director of Elizabeth. This first story is a hybrid that comes via the Guardian UK and Express UK:
THREE thousand fans of the Indian film industry turned up at the Millennium Dome (last) Saturday night for what Bollywood called "a show to match the Oscars".
Some of the biggest stars of the biggest film industry in the world arrived with their minders in limousines, walked on the traditional red carpet past the ranks of assembled cameramen and photographers and blew "I love you, too" kisses to their enraptured fans. The International Indian Film Awards was typically colourful, glamorous, emotional and, at times, chaotic.
The stage, said to have been largest erected in Britain, was suitably spectacular and spacious. After all, India produces 900 full-length feature films a year, compared with Hollywood's 300. An Indian blockbuster, which offers romance, violence, dance, music and invariably the triumph of the hero over hardened criminals all within three hours, is not a blockbuster unless seen by 100 million people.
The awards are expected to become an annual event in London, reflecting the inroads Indian films are making here. They now routinely feature in the British Top Ten, and some mainstream multiplexes have started allocating screens to show Hindi movies on a part-time or full-time basis.
The UK-based Indian director Shekhar Kapur, best known for the Oscar-winning film Elizabeth starring Cate Blanchett and who is currently developing a stage musical about Bollywood with Andrew Lloyd Webber, attributes the rise in popularity of Bollywood to a generation of British-born Asians seeking to discover their cultural identity.
"Before the cinemas offered regular screenings, the only way to see the films was on video, on Asian cable or satellite networks or occasionally on Channel 4 - which is still very much a fringe audience. New audiences at Bollywood films are predominantly young people.
"The first generation were busy establishing themselves, so they had no time for movies, and the second pretty much rejected them. It is the third generation and their non-Asian partners who are going to the cinema again, looking for an identity. I know one day a big Bollywood film will crack the mainstream market."
And to settle matters in an ongoing story we've been following for quite a while, we know now that Cate's Ripley co-star Jude Law will not be starring in Shekhar's update of Four Feathers, the problem being apparently, ultimately, a money issue.
It seems once Jude dropped out, that competition became rather intense for the lead role, but Kapur snagged rising Aussie star Heath Ledger. While Ledger first gained noticed in the States with his engaging portrayal in Ten Things I Hate About You, it is in his role as
Mel Gibson's son Gabriel in The Patriot, that he is stealing both hearts and the film, according to most observers.
This adventurous role may be just the thing to see Heath join Russell Crowe as Oz's biggest cultural export since, well, the divine Miss Cate!
Well, that's a wrap for this issue Blanchetteers. Since Cate is half Texan, we will happily take this opportunity to wish the land of Cate's forefather's a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY come the 4th, and we'll look forward to seeing all of you here next visit, same Cate Time, same Cate Channel. Until then, Happy Independence Day and PLAY A VOLTA!!
