By Ryan Parsons | Images property of Touchstone Pictures
Q&A Part IV
The fourth part in a series of questions of Q&A
with Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith, the director and producer of The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, have been released.
These questions are a part of a series of questions that were 'randomly'
asked by fans of the film. To see other series- check out Part
II and Part III.
Garth and Nick Answer Even More Hitchhiker's Guide
I thought all of the answers would have ended at Part III, but I guess I
was wrong. As I have mentioned previously, I believe that Touchstone has
realized how golden the Q&A is for Hitchhiker marketing. Even
though I do not think this film needs the extra marketing, considering it
has already received a great early review.
This should be the FINAL segment from Garth and Nick-- so on to The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy questions and answers:
How much does this movie deviate from
Douglas Adams' original ideas and ideals? How much was sacrificed for a
better commercial success?
Garth: Douglas wrote the script that we’ve revised with Karey and it sticks
to the original themes and ideas but has more plot structure and character
arc than previous incarnations.
Nick: From what I have heard Douglas Adams approached each
incarnation of Hitchhikers whether it be the TV show, book or games with
a fresh take depending on the medium. The great thing with Hitchhikers is
that as long as you understand the ethos behind it and where the humour
is coming from, it allows you a lot of leeway within that.
How are you dealing with the overall narrative flow of the film
in terms of traditional 3 act structure? Will the 3rd act be open ended
towards continuing on to "Restaurant..." or will there be some sense of
closure?
Garth: Douglas had already solved most of the narrative
problems by introducing a juicy 2nd act. Karey had helped make it very much
Arthur’s story and create room for all the weirdness to exist in a way that
seems entirely logical and natural. Some of the original plot points have
been given a little ‘zing’ in terms of action, conflict etc. but it’s still
a crazy and unique film and there are still times when the film throws it’s
own narrative structure out the window and runs naked down the mountain
screaming.
When adapting a book to film it’s not so important to capture all
the details, but to capture the heart and spirit of the source material.
What, in your opinion, is the essence of the Hitchhiker’s Guide? What are
the book and the film about?
Garth: You’re quite right. You can’t capture all the detail.
The film would be 10 years long. We’ve had to boil some elements down to
their essence in order to make them work on screen (with some excellent
results too) but I think the themes and ideas in the book are still just
as prevalent in the film. And they are as topical as they were 20 years
ago. Hitchhiker’s always seemed like a surreal spin on life to me. Wherever
you went in the universe you would always find creatures or situations that
reflected the madness of a certain aspect of ordinary life on earth.
Vogons aren’t that different from men you might find asleep in the House of Commons or wearing a judges wig. The President of the Galaxy shares many of our world leaders characteristics, give or take the odd head or extra arm. And the themes that run through the story such as: As a race we take ourselves far too seriously, we’re always worrying about things that don’t matter and not noticing the extraordinary planet we’ve ended up on… They are wonderful themes to carry home from the cinema with you. And it’s all in there. You’ll find it next to the bowl of petunias and the whale coming to terms with it’s existence.
Nick: Wow, that sounds really good, where do I sign up.
What's the one thing from the story that you really wanted to include
in the movie but couldn't?
Garth: We see Zaphod stealing the Heart of Gold but I would
love to have shown him skimming along in his boat on Damogran before hand.
Sam Rockwell would have loved doing that.
We know that there are loads of new ideas for the film, but out
of the scenes that remain from the original radio series, which do they
think will most surprise the fans?
Garth: Most of the fans seem to find everything out way
in advance so it’s hard to keep things a surprise! Slartibartfast and the
planet factory are turning out to be pretty wonderful elements in the film
visually but still very much what you heard in the original series. The
Vogon’s destroying Earth is as you heard it but with added mayhem and madness.
I also think our take on Arthur and Ford in the Vogon airlock is a peach.
I suppose the biggest surprise, judging by the amount of questions that
crop up about him, will be how good Mos Def is at playing Ford and how funny
his entrance into the film is.
Nick: I hope the planet factory will be the biggest surprise
to the fans. I also think the Guide entries will have a big impact. They
were so good and much loved from the TV series, that we had a lot to live
up too. But the team at Shynola have done an amazing job, and it clearly
stands out as something very new within the film.
Q&A Part IV
Add to Heffee!
