Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollett, and director Justin Kurzel, were among the team at The Order‘s Venice press conference this afternoon where they discussed the crime-drama’s resonance with extremism today.
The Order charts how a series of bank robberies and car heists frightened communities in the Pacific Northwest during the 1980s. It alights on a lone FBI agent (Law) who believes that the crimes were not the work of financially motivated criminals, but rather a group of dangerous domestic terrorists, namely the white supremacist gang known as The Order (led in the film by Hoult). The film explores the ensuing battle between law enforcement and the far-right group.
Hoult told the press how he and Law – adversaries in the film – didn’t speak or interact with each other for the first four weeks of filming in a bid to build distance between them. He was also tasked by director Kurzel to trail Law for a day without his fellow actor knowing.
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The team were asked about the film’s relevance to the the divided political landscape in the U.S. today, to which Law responded: “Sadly, the relevance speaks for itself. It felt like a piece of work that needed to be made now. It’s always interesting finding a piece of work that’s relevant to the present day.”
Kurzel commented: “I think we live at a time now that was reflected in the film, where there is division, and there’s a lot of conversation about the future and about ideologies. The film was about an ideology that’s incredibly dangerous and how it can quickly take seed…in those that feel invisible or unheard…I think that’s a timeless thing, not only in America, but in Australia too [where the filmmaker is from]”.
Actress Jurnee Smollett added: “I think the history of America is very complex. And if you look back throughout history, whether we’re talking about the Jim Crow South or the Tulsa race riots in 1921 or the Oklahoma City bombing, this level of bigotry is not new, and unfortunately, it has existed in our nation since our nation was founded. One of the beautiful things about art is that we get to hold a mirror up to society, we get to reflect society back to it, and we get to explore the very complex sides of humanity, the ugliness, the darkness, in order for us to learn from it, and hopefully to not repeat it. The film could have been made at any moment and it would have been relevant, unfortunately, but that’s the great privilege that we have, as artists, to be able to help the fight for justice and to be able to illuminate some of these ugly sides of our history.”
The crime-thriller, directed by Kurzel and written by Zach Baylin, is based on the 1989 non-fiction book The Silent Brotherhood by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt.
Kurzel said he had been wanting to make an American film “for some time”: “A lot of the films that made me want to be a filmmaker, like the French Connection, All the President’s Men, Mississippi Burning, were those fantastic 70’s dramatic thrillers. Unfortunately it’s becoming harder and harder to make those sort of films. So this was an incredible opportunity after reading Zach’s [writer Zach Baylin] script”.
Acclaimed Australian filmmaker Kurzel is known for hard-hitting movies including Nitram, True History Of The Kelly Gang, Macbeth and Snowtown.
Vertical will release The Order in the U.S. in December, while Amazon Prime Video will distribute in multiple international markets.
The post Nicholas Hoult Says He & Jude Law Didn’t Speak For Four Weeks During Filming For ‘The Order’ As They Got Into Character As Adversaries In The Gritty Crime-Thriller — Venice appeared first on Deadline.
