Susan Sarandon is one of those actresses with whom it is a pleasure to talk. It seems that the rush is not going with this rebellious and very politically active woman who achieved international recognition with The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1975 and takes her time to answer each question. The American interpreter, owner of a splendid 76 years, has come to Barcelona as a guest of the BCN Film Fest to talk about one of her most iconic films, Thelma
Despite the 32 years that have elapsed since the premiere of this film about the friendship of two women who begin a journey with the air of a liberating weekend, the story continues to be very topical and it goes without saying that it was ahead of the MeToo movement. She is considered an icon of feminist cinema. However, Sarandon points out that this was not the intention when they made the film. “I’m sorry to disappoint, but we never saw it as a feminist film. I was very happy to participate in a script that led me to work with another woman who I didn’t have to automatically hate just because she was a woman, and that was the basis of many scripts of the period. Ridley Scott is a terrific filmmaker and I thought it would be fun to go shoot the Grand Canyon in Colorado with my family in the summer. So we went on set to make a cowboy movie with women and cars in instead of men and horses”, he commented in a talk with a small group of media, including La Vanguardia.
Regarding the reactions to the film, remember that there were many against it. “Nobody thought it was a great feminist film. It only talked about the violence that was there or the need to condemn suicide. While no one referred to that when Two Men and One Fate came out. And they are quite similar! That’s where we realized that we had inadvertently entered this territory dominated by straight white males and that’s where we saw that the film was more feminist because it portrays the love between two women who take care of each other and don’t follow the rules. dictatorships of men; so it can be considered a feminist film”.
And he continues: “I think that the option of violence was something new. At that time, the allusion to rape culture was largely ignored, and now, on the other hand, it is more comfortable if we talk about sexual predators.” But neither does he believe that everything has changed so much in Hollywood. “Not so many films about women’s stories were released later, despite Thelma
Sarandon points out that “if someone does not like me because of my political ideas but I can star in a commercial film there will be no problem and I will work. But they will not do something if they think it is a feminist film. When they made Ocean’s eight with women it was a failure. The thing is that you have to have a good story and that it be commercial. But I think that the movie business doesn’t know very well how to discern what can work or not. And the pandemic has a lot to do with it. Many great movies are no longer relevant, even less importance is given to the director’s vision. Now the bankers are in charge. Horrible things can be said about Louis B. Mayer, I have played Bette Davis and I know that time, but I can only assure you that they loved the movies “.
claims that Thelma
The actress has especially praised the format of the film for which Ridley Scott opted: “It is what makes the film iconic”, and at the end she has highlighted the shot in which the camera remains fixed with the protagonists flying with the car , since instead of appreciating the accident, “they are seen released”.
The film featured the appearance of a young Brad Pitt, a handsome guy who dazzled Davis’s character and whose role made him known worldwide after participating in some television shows. Sarandon refers to him fondly: “He was very handsome and I remember him being very comfortable and funny. Geena actually had the most fun (laughs). And I knew he was someone special when I saw the movie and I watched how he improvised. I thought he was a very interesting guy. And he didn’t need to be because he was so handsome… When you look at the things he’s done as an actor, just like Johnny Depp, they both could have just been cute guys, but they played character characters from the beginning. I respect Brad a lot and I wish I knew him more intimately but I know he is a good man. And this film gave him international visibility”, explains Sarandon, who will be recognized tomorrow with the Honor Award from the 67th edition of the Sant Jordi Cinematography Awards at a gala to be held at the Teatre Lliure in Barcelona.
