Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, who played one of the most famous couples in cinema in Forrest Gump with Hanks in the lead role and Wright as the controversial Jenny Curranshow a notable rejuvenation thanks to CGI in the first images of “Here”, the film that reunites them with the director of the acclaimed film of the 90s, Robert Zemeckis.
This new film, based on Richard McGuire’s 2014 graphic novel of the same name, was co-written by Zemeckis and Eric Roth, screenwriter of Forrest Gump.
Here takes place over a century in a single location. The camera remains in a fixed position inside a house during the 104 minutes of the film, while viewers witness the stories of those who have lived there. The central couple is played by Hanks and Wright, who reunite 30 years after the release of the 90s classic.
“The single perspective never changes, but everything around it does,” Zemeckis explained to Vanity Fair about this bold narrative concept. “It’s never really been done before. There are similar scenes in early silent films, before the language of montage was invented. But besides that, yes, It was a risky bet”.
Zemeckis continued: “That’s what’s exciting. What’s going on with this view of the universe? I think it’s an interesting way to do a meditation on mortality. “It touches on the universal theme that everything passes.” In the film, Hanks plays Richard, a member of the baby boom generation, while Wright plays Margaret, his teenage girlfriend and eventual wife.
Through traditional makeup effects and notorious digital rejuvenation technology, Hanks appears as both a teenager and an octogenarian during different periods of the film. “For some reason, I’ve always been labeled as this visual effects guy. But those (effects) are always there to serve the character’s arc,” Zemeckis explained.
“I’ve always thought that our job as filmmakers is to show audiences things they don’t see in real life,” the filmmaker added. “It only works because the performances are so good. Both Tom and Robin instantly understood that, ‘Okay, we have to go back and channel how we were 50 years ago or 40 years ago, and we have to bring that energy, that demeanor and even raise our voices,’” Robert remarked.
Over the years spanning Here, other characters appear in the house. Among them, Richard’s parents, Al (Paul Bettany) and Rose (Kelly Reilly), a couple at the beginning of the 20th century (Michelle Dockery and Gwilym Lee) and an inventor and a pin-up model in the 1920s (David Fynn and Ophelia Lovibond).
Digital rejuvenation effects have been a topic of conversation in cinema. Filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee and James Mangold have tried to impress with this technique in films such as the Irish (with Robert De Niro), Gemini Project (with Will Smith) and Indiana Jones and the dial of destiny (with Harrison Ford), but not all viewers have been convinced.
George Miller also questioned the use of CGI in films. In fact, the renowned filmmaker claimed that it was the de-aging effects in “The Irishman” that led him not to de-age actress Charlize Theron for his recent film, Furiosa: A Mad Max Storysince he feels that technology is not yet up to the challenge.
The movie Here will be released in theaters nationwide on November 15 under the distribution of sony. Viewers will be able to enjoy a unique, unchanging perspective as they watch history pass through a century in a single location. This approach proposes a deep reflection on the permanence and flow of time.
