Harrison Ford was already 39 years old when he first put himself in the shoes of Indiana Jones, the character created by George Lucas, in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). The adventures of the intrepid archaeologist conquered the public and critics in a story that was pure action and entertainment directed by Steven Spielberg.
King Midas directed him again in three other installments, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) -with River Phoenix playing the lead in his youth and with Sean Connery acting as a father- who managed to the same success, and 19 years later Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) would arrive, which, despite having Cate Blanchett in the role of the villain, turned out to be the weakest in the franchise.
They have had to wait another 15 years to recover on the big screen one of Ford’s most iconic characters along with his Han Solo from Star Wars and Rick Deckard from Blade Runner. A role in which he takes his emblematic hat, brown leather jacket and whip for the last time in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate, whose world premiere at the Cannes festival has caused great excitement and divided the criticism. The 80-year-old actor received a warm six-minute ovation after last night’s screening and was surprised by an honorary Palme d’Or with which he was overwhelmed with emotion and was on the verge of tears. And it is that a guy apparently as tough as he also has his little heart.
In a crowded press conference this afternoon, he was again almost speechless when remembering it. “It was indescribable. It’s extraordinary; your life passes by, the warmth of this place, the sense of community, the welcome is unimaginable and it makes me feel good”, commented the actor, very elegant in a suit and tie, for the act continued to admit what it has meant to embody Indy for so long. “I adore this character, what he has given me in life.”
Ford maintains that he has no problem with his age and when asked why it is time to leave the famous archaeologist, he has answered with amusement: “Isn’t it obvious?”, pointing to himself to the laughter of the audience. The film takes place in two different settings, the first part is set in Germany in 1945, in which he appears digitally rejuvenated and tries to recover some of the antiquities that the Nazis looted on a train, and then in 1969, in which he comes out living alone in a New York apartment with no shirt and underpants woken up by loud music from some hippy neighbors. He is about to retire and is going through a delicate family situation. A journalist praised his good physical shape and told him that he was very sexy. “I am lucky to have been blessed with this body, thank you for realizing it,” snapped the actor, who also admitted that he knows how to ride a horse, as seen in exciting sequences through the streets of New York and under the city subway, full of people celebrating ‘the day of the Moon’, to honor the feat of the astronauts.
For this fifth installment, James Mangold has taken over, giving the story an air of nostalgia in tune with the good work of Spielberg, who this time has preferred to remain as co-producer. “He wanted to work with Jim and see a good movie that summed up the four previous ones, that would allow anyone to remember that youthful vigor, but he wanted the character to experience all phases of his life.” Although Ford says goodbye to Indiana Jones, he confesses that he wants to “continue working in the cinema and tell good stories.”
The actor, who started out doing small roles on television without much success and was unable to support his family, gave up his desire to earn a living as a full-time performer and became a carpenter. While working on a project for Goldwyn Studios, he met a young George Lucas, who signed him up for American Graffiti and then for Star Wars. The rest is history. “I have been very lucky because there are many talented people who never achieve success. In my case I had to wait for luck and the opportunity, but in that period I had the opportunity to learn, like a craftsman.”
The protagonist of titles such as Armas de mujer or Air Force One has thanked the great cast of the film, which includes an evil Mads Mikkelsen as a Nazi physicist obsessed with obtaining an artifact capable of changing the course of history, an Antonio Banderas in the skin of a faithful friend who lives in Greece and is an expert in scuba diving, and a Phoebe Waller-Bridge who plays his goddaughter, an archaeologist whom he has not seen in 18 years and leads him to look for a relic of the past that has a lot of to do with Archimedes and the control of time.
On how he has looked younger in the film, he thinks that “it’s like a trick, but it’s my face.” And she feels great at her current age. “I wouldn’t want to be back the way I was before, I’m really happy with the age I am, I don’t look back. Life is phases. Now I might not be here and I’m still working. Everything is going well.”
For his part, Mangold has stated that taking the lead was a big responsibility because there was a huge expectation.” But, “you can’t live up to the expectations you raise more than at a certain point. And the team that was going to make the film was the best possible.
Both the director and Waller-Bridge and Mikkelsen assured that they felt excited to enter a universe they had known since they were children and appreciated the good atmosphere that was created on set and Harrison Ford’s closeness to everyone. Spielberg has already blessed the film, which in principle is also a full stop for the saga, to which the all-rounder John Williams puts the emblematic soundtrack again.
However, it is not so clear that such a profitable franchise will close the stop permanently. Be that as it may, Ford will no longer be. And he will be sorely missed. At 80 years old, he continues to be incredible in the action scenes and the outcome is a large dose of emotion and the return of other well-known characters. The Spanish public will be able to discover it from next June 30.