We all wish we could go back in time and see our younger self once more. But it’s never going to be a reality. Or is it?
According to filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, whose famous movie “Forrest Gump” brought Tom Hanks and Robin Wright together for the first time – there is a way to let the audiences of his current film “Here” see those two stars, but as teenagers.
While “Here” is not a sequel, it does bring the stars and the director back together again. The film will not only showcase cutting edge tech in how the characters will age as time passes, but it will film in a style never heard of before.
Robin Wright, left, and Tom Hanks, work on a scene of their new film, “Here.” Photo by Sony
“Here” will be filmed from one single point – the view that is shown never changes. No cutaways, no closeups, no transitions. Simply, this one living room as it was since the dawn of time. From dinosaurs to teen versions of Hanks and Wright, the film’s aim, the stars say, is to show life in all its moments, from the simple to the big ones.
Hanks and Wright play Richard and Margaret, whose lives play out in that one living room. And thanks to a slew of pictures of Hanks and Wright, and the talent of AI, the stars were given a chance to see themselves through all the ages they had already passed through. A visual do-over, in a way.
“It’s literally data they derived from interviews Tom, and I did when we were 18, 19, 21; still photographs; stuff that is online. They deposit it into this machine, and they made us up to look 17,” Wright said. The actors did help some, they said. “We wore the costumes, we had girdles when we had to be young. We were acting physically, raising the octave in our voice, to be a 17-year-old,” Wright said.
But A.I. gave us the innocence in the eyes and the youthful skin. And got rid of the saggy neck.”
The pair spoke about how challenged they felt with the Zemeckis’ filming style, as well as all of the tech challenges. One thing, Wright noted, was that due to the single point shooting, if someone made a mistake, you couldn’t edit that out – the entire scene would have to be done over from the beginning.
Wright and Hanks on the set of “Forrest Gump”.
Some reviews are already pouring in, with intrigued by the filming style, but also concerns have come in about the de-aging of the stars. Wright, 58, had little time for those critics. “It is so simple and beautiful and real and human,” she said. “We all have experienced something in this movie.”
It really is about, why do we remember the moments that we remember?” Wright said.
Even more so, Hanks, 68, said, is the idea of time and the moments we are living in right now. “(We talked about” how you could tell stories about people who lived thousands or hundreds of years ago, or 80 years ago, and they did not realize they were living in the past,” he said.
And in the end, Hanks refuses to let the cynicism of the world get him down. “I remain driven by this never-ending curiosity I have, about how it is true that good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people,” he said.
