In the tradition of Blade Runner, and starring Jane Badler (V, V : The Final Battle, Mission: Impossible) and Mike Dupod (X-Men: Days of Future, Mission :Impossible – Ghost Protocol), comes ‘’a classic neo-noir that will make you gasp in wonder’’ (Quote from Nerdly).
The year is 2047. Most of the world's population live inside corporate-controlled virtual worlds and drift further out of touch with reality. Nash, a private investigator/ mercenary is hired to track down a group of hackers who are disrupting and terrorizing the virtual space in a bid to free human beings from their online prisons.
Guy-Roger Duvert’s (Eyeborgs) stunning sci-fi thriller, the recipient of over 40 awards, including Best Film at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards and Best Feature at Dragon Con. Guy-Roger Duvert has done it all – composed for films, trailers, video-games; produced features and short films; now, he’s trying his hand at directing, getting behind-the-camera for 2047 : Virtual Revolution (out soon from Wild Eye Releasing). As the multi-skilled filmmaker explains in this exclusive interview, “we gamble a lot of our lives when making a film” so every time a consumer picks up the movie, it’s also supporting an independent way of making movies.
TMS: Congrats on the movie. Is it exiting or is it daunting to know audiences are about to feast their eyes on it?
GRD: Actually, it is really exciting! The purpose of a film is to be seen, to be watched. That's what all this work was about. So, definitely excited. Also, we got the opportunities to meet with the audiences a lot during the festival season, and the feedbacks were great. So, I guess I was a bit worried for the first screenings, but now I'm just excited to see the film living its full life out there.
TMS: Had many reviews yet?
GRD: The number is increasing, and a very big majority is clearly positive. Before the first reviews, I actually had prepared myself: even the directors I love get trashed sometimes by some reviews, so if they get this treatment, that means no one can avoid it. But at the end, even if we indeed got a few negative reviews, most of them were actually really positive. Even if, at the end, the real objective stays the audience itself, it definitely feels good to see the work done recognized.
TMS: Did you test it for an audience after completion?
GRD: Yes, on small test groups. We actually made some modifications to the editing after these test sessions.
TMS: What do you believe are its strengths?
GRD: Visually, we were very ambitious, and the result is on screen. We of course can't compete with visual effects such as Transformers or Super Hero films, but many reviews were actually surprised the learn the film is independent, as it certainly doesn't look like one. Also, the story is strong: the topic is definitely current, what the movie describes could actually happen to us, and the ending ( that I won't spoil) is one of these endings that make viewers discuss and remember about a film. I'm really happy with the cast too, who did an amazing job on set. I'm actually thinking about working again with several of them on future projects. Finally, there are some pretty fun action scenes (sword fights, bare hands, gunfights) that we really enjoyed creating.
TMS: It’s an entertaining movie, most definitely, but do you think there’s also some messages in there?
GRD: Definitely. Several questions are raised in the film. What will still define us as humans when we spend all of our time online? Is it what we do in real, which will be only sleeping, eating, and going to the toilets, or what we do online, that one could argue isn't real? What can we call real? For instance, a movie is fake. It's an invented story, with actors, built sets... But if you watch a movie and you start crying, your emotion is real! This goes the same way with virtual worlds. The worlds will be fake, but won't what people will live in them be real? What about relationships between players, for instance? This is the main topic of the film, but another one is there: is an unwanted freedom better than a desired slavery? So, the first purpose of the film is just to entertain. But there is definitely room for philosophical debates with it.
TMS: What did you shoot it on?
GRD: Two Sony F55.
TMS: What’s one thing about independent filmmaking that you think audiences aren’t aware of?
GRD: Well, we gamble a lot of our lives when making a film, so buying a DVD or a Blu-ray isn't just spending a nice time in front of a film. It's also supporting an independent way of making different movies. A part of the audiences knows that, but when you see the amount of piracy today, that means that not everyone realizes that. If the movie was playing as one-half of a double feature at a Drive-in theatre what would be the perfect support feature? I'd say Blade Runner would be the most logical choice (the story is totally different, but visually, there are definitely many common points).