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Hitman Violence
By Fred Topel | Image property of 20th Century Fox.
Hitman
Hitman made news after test screenings when it appeared that 20th Century Fox wanted to tone down the film's violence. Obviously a film about an assassin is going to show him killing lots of people. How tame could it be? Actor Timothy Olyphant could not validate any concerns of a bloodless Hitman.
Olyphant Gets Violent
"I have no information where that supports that at all," said Olyphant. "I’ve have conversations they don’t have to have with me at all, and I’ve been very… 'involved’ might be a strong word but they’ve kept me in the loop here at the studio. There were never any conversations with any of the executives here or the producers in France or with Xavier [Gens] that was about fear of being too violent. The only conversations we’ve had have been creative conversations that have been about the kind of violence and where it hurts or helps the story. There’s no way it’s not a violent film. We’d have a 45-minute film. We shot a very violent film."
Still, there are levels of violence. "If there’s any truth to that rumor at all, there’s always a conversation about what you’re trying to elicit in an audience, the feelings. There’s a difference in the violence in the James Bond films, especially the one that just passed. There’s the violence in a Quentin Tarantino film as opposed to the violence in a horror film or something that’s designed to make you uncomfortable. I think if there was a conversation simply about that, finding the right tone, not about this idea of toning it down or making it less than it already is."
So, the tone of <B>Hitman<B> is… "I thought what we were making was reminiscent of, in terms of specific films, it felt like the old John Woo films, some of the films that have come out. South Korea has a certain elegance to the film, but the violence was there as well. It wasn’t comical. We weren’t making something that felt like, ‘50 guys just died, I hardly noticed.’ It wasn’t that kind of thing. And I think that as the movie changed, Xavier and I had a lot of conversations about the type of violence and how it changes throughout the film as the character changes. Xavier was a very thoughtful guy, a very smart guy. He really is the main reason I was enthusiastic about this project. Xavier, from the moment we met, his enthusiasm for the material and he was aiming high. He wanted to make something he felt was aiming high, and I thought that was impressive."
Among all those violent sequences, Olyphant got to be the action hero. "It was great, I really enjoyed it. It was challenging and it was challenging for a number of reasons. One, it was challenging because it’s a big responsibility and I hadn’t had it before in this kind of film. Then it was sort of amplified that the director was French and the crew was Bulgarian, and so on and so forth. That all adds up to additional challenges. That being said, I really enjoyed it, I really enjoyed it. Xavier was a very smart guy and it was very rewarding to be engaging with him creatively, fighting the fight, if you will, day after day. How can we make this? Is there a way to make this scene smarter? Is there a way to make this scene more? How much of a character film can we make given the source material? Can we get to the heart of something here?"
Hitman is out in theaters now.
For the trailers, poster, stills and more movie info, go to the Hitman
Movie Page.
Fred Topel
Sources: Image property of 20th Century Fox.
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