25TH HOUR Movie Interview by Kris Griffiths

Spike Lee and Edward Norton briefly discuss their new movie 25TH HOUR. (To Spike) What attracted you to this particular script? Well it was written by David Benioff, a fine young writer, but I didn’t know much about the novel when it was published. Mr Norton here and I have been talking about working together for a while now so the stars just aligned by themselves. (To Spike) This has been the first film to accurately embrace the mood of America after September 11th. What was the thinking behind it? Filmmakers do what’s best for their films but it was never a race to embrace what is now a different world. In America we are very privileged, and I don’t mean the so-called higher standard of living, but the fact that we have not really experienced much terrorism the way the rest of the world has. The effect on New York still reverberates today and we wanted to reflect this different world in the film. (To Edward) With regards to your incendiary speech against the people of New York, which was a startling scene in the film - did it cause any controversy among people who might not have been paying proper attention to it? Well, if people aren’t paying attention then there’s nothing I can do about that. If a journalist starts jotting down a comment before the sequence is over and misses the point where Monty actually blames himself rather than the others, then that’s not my problem either. Fundamentally, I don’t think you could ever do something interesting if you’re always worrying that it might be misconstrued. That said, I don’t think that has happened, that anyone has misinterpreted that sequence of insults. People have said that it lambasts immigrants but it lambasts a lot more than that. (To Edward) What are your views on the morality of your character? I don’t really have a tendency to judge a character that I’m gonna play. There was never any doubt in any of our minds that Monty was going down for what he did and that he wasn’t going to slip the noose. In that sense, to me it was a very strong unequivocal statement about the consequences of not examining the morality of what you’re doing. Monty definitely expresses regret on a number of occasions in the film and ultimately takes responsibility for his actions. I think David Benioff pulled off a very neat trick whereby the story doesn’t start with a couple of kids buying drugs off Monty, but with Monty saving a left-for-dead dog. He is basically a complicated human being with many commendable qualities. Continued on page 2

© 2005 PHASE9 ENTERTAINMENT

Subscribe to the free PHASE9 Entertainment newsletter

PHASE9 ENTERTAINMENT  -  HOME MOVIES  MUSIC  DVD/VIDEO  GAMES  COMPETITIONS  HOT PHOTOS  TV  SCIFI