oh dear. it's always a shame when a truly great artist loses their way. sometimes it's plain ego that causes their downfall, often its the impulse to just make a huge amount of money. every now and then, i suppose, they just run out of creative desire. a recent interview with James Cameron basically says that he is presently suffering from all three.
if you would prefer to remain in blissful ignorance and carry on worshipping James Cameron, or indeed just remember what an excellent film maker he used to be, then you are advised to not click on the link to the interview above. you may also wish to skip the remainder of this post.
if you want to learn of just how far he has fallen from an artistic perspective, read on.
it's quite difficult to tell which is the most depressing part of what James Cameron has to say, really. quite possibly it's his celebration of China, and his comments that their censorship "isn't that bad". one has to wonder how much of this is him, and how much of it is the people who bankroll him, Fox. Fox, in particular their rather interesting head honcho, have made no secret of the fact that they wish to expand and move into the Chinese market, with PR spins not too different from what Cameron has to say.
then there his dismissal of just about all current fellow directors. apparently none of them "blow him away". one can only assume, then, that he has seen nothing made by Christopher Nolan, neither of Duncan Jones' two films today or even the work Neil Marshall has been doing. this just sounds like the egotistical rubbish that a certain M. Night Shyamalan started giving in interviews - "only I, and maybe Steven Spielberg, are capable of telling stories in films" - shortly before disappearing, thankfully, up his own backside.
beyond that, the single most depressing aspect of the interview given is that he has made it clear that he has no interest in making any film that does not have Avatar in the title.
Avatar somehow coined in a large amount of money, despite it being basically Dances With Wolves With Smurfs - In Space!! although not featuring a story or plot half as interesting as that sounds. the smoke and mirrors of some 10 year old CGI effetcs and - in fairness - a proper, sensible use of the "new" variant on 3D technology meant that the whole world was encouraged to see it again and again, encouraged notably by Fox media outlets.
how sad that one of the makers of some of the greatest films ever will not contemplate any other concept but 3 (three!) sequels to a film that barely justified existing in the first place. if he's genuinely interested in the 'Avatar' concept - and the mind boggles at what else he could find to present on the subject - then fair enough, but the logic seems to be "sequels to this will make lots and lots of money, especially in China". what a fall from grace.
one can only hope that the way James Cameron wishes to go backwards as a film maker is some sort of belated April Fool joke, or alternatively that he gets to see sense. failing all of that, there are at least DVDs of his other, proper films available. we shall just have to watch those and wonder why he decided to go wrong instead of what went wrong.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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