wes Anderson arrived at the Venice Film Festival for a masterclass, the Cartier Glory To The Filmmaker award and the launch of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugarthe first of 4 shorts (37 minutes) taken from the stories of Roald Dahl. On Netflix from 27 September onwards, one per day. In a white suit and light blue shirt with embroidered initials, the quintessentially weird director arrived at the Laguna without a cast (Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Richard Ayoade) but smiling and enthusiastic to tell the project cradled for over 20 years with the heirs of the writer.
The story of Henry Sugar – a wealthy man who discovers a guru who can see without using his eyes and decides to learn the art of gambling cheating – is one of Wes’s favorites. The short seen in preview tells its development with multiple theatrical openings, and tight dialogues almost to the limit of hypnosis. The “Charon” is Dahl himself (Fiennes), portrayed as in the vintage interviews on YouTube, the ones shot at his home: sitting at the work table making superstitious gestures before starting to write.
Wes Anderson in Venice 80: Roald Dahl, the family of actors, the trademark
The characters of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar they are extremely focused (the reading of the cards through the observation of the candles, ed). Can it be said to be the same state you aspire to? After all, your films are based – aesthetically but not only – on this principle of attention to detail.
Making films, preparing it, is something I’m very focused on. But still there are many distractions. Making a film, on the other hand, is more about managing and guiding a process. Focusing through the candle, I have to say, I practiced when I was young, as did other people who have read Henry Sugar. So it can be said that it remains a great interest of mine.
How did you transform Dahl’s story?
I was interested in taking the story and using it to make a film, I love that story and I love how Dahl wrote it. So I wanted to use his words to tell the story through this short format.
In Henry Sugar some actors play multiple roles. How did you arrive at this choice?
I imagined that the actors were playing something from Shakespeare, and therefore that they had multiple parts. There were also economic reasons.
Benedict Cumberbatch. (Netflix)
It’s your first time working with Richard Ayoade, are you a fan of his comic style and his books?
Yes, it was the first time. I have known Richard for a very long time. And I also know his books. I saw it in Submarines and in many other things, all fragments. He also acts in the short Ratcatchersalso taken from Dahl.
Is there any truth to the feeling that you make movies to control the world?
I think when you make a film, you are in control to some extent. But chaos comes anyway, because that’s simply the way things are: the film form is a giant you can never be sure of. Things often happen that force you to accept an unexpected, yet interesting, turn. Like when on the set of The train to Darjeeling some carpenters of the place built some houses copy of others, but in another position. Perfect construction which they then painted with colors and flowers, only that the planned scene was that of a funeral.
Was Benedict Cumberbatch as Henry Sugar your first and only choice?
Yes, as soon as we finished the treatment, I sent it to him. We were in contact, not directly, to do something together for some time.
Wes Anderson at the Venice Film Festival 2023. (Getty Images)
What does it mean to go back to work with the same group of actors?
If you’ve worked with Ralph Fiennes before, well, I’m very happy to be back on set with him. Today I have a group of professionals who are my favorites in the world, and many have become friends, friends I hang out with, too. It’s always a pleasant reunion, as well as with the technicians. I also love meeting and working with new people, mind you.
Do you get calls from actors proposing?
It happened, yes. Willem Dafoe and Jeff Goldblum called me to tell me how much they loved my films and ended up being cast in the next one. Of course it helps if the caller is an actor or actress you’ve loved since childhood.
Where and how are the worlds of your films born?
Movies are an amalgamation of multiple things. The idea behind The train to Darjeeling, for example, was born from the desire to make a film about a train, at the same time, with Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola, I wanted to create a story about three brothers. India came from The river by Jean Renoir, set in that country. This is not always the case but the process is more or less like this.
Benedict Cumberbatch (Henry Sugar) and Ralph Fiennes in “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”. (Netflix)
Also for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar did you make use of loyal collaborators such as Robert D. Yeoman (cinematographer) e Adam Stockhausen (creative director). Why are you so faithful?
With Robert we communicate very quickly we share a whole world of cultural references. With Adam we work a lot via email, they exchange ideas and projects, then we go scouting together. They are not at all premeditated activities, of continuous research.
The response and interest in your films is always incredible, is there a passion for artifice, and is there also a love of truth underneath that artifice? Is that so?
Every film is an artifice, an illusion. I love to use theatrics to show how I accomplished this illusion. I don’t want to distance people with sets and colors, in this sense they have accused me several times of complacency and empty packaging. But I think the emotion in the movies comes in the strangest ways, not just in a realist way.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Wes Anderson’s other Netflix shorts
The SwanSeptember 28, 17 minutes
A talented boy is constantly bullied by two thugs.
Cast: Rupert Friend (narrator), Ralph Fiennes (Roald Dahl), Asa Jennings (Peter Watson).
The Ratcatcher, September 29, 17 minutes
A little-known story about a professional rodent exterminator.
Cast: Richard Ayoade (Editor/Reporter), Ralph Fiennes (Rat Man), Rupert Friend (Claud).
poison, September 30, 17 minutes
A man discovers he has a venomous snake asleep in his bed.
Cast: Dev Patel (Woods), Benedict Cumberbatch (Harry), Ralph Fiennes (Roald Dahl), Ben Kingsley (Dr. Ganderbai).
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