(The following may contain spoilers)
1. Director + screenwriter Alexander Payne
He has won two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay, The Descendants (Descendants, 2011) and Sideways (Drinking Life, 2004). There are also four nominations, including best director and best picture. His previous screenplays were mainly based on adaptations, but this film was originally created by him and his old Oscar partner screenwriter Jim Taylor.
The original idea came from the topic Jim Taylor and his brothers often discussed about a better life when a person shrinks. Later they connected this topic with solving environmental problems. The director mentioned in the interview that there are many themes he wants to express through this film, not only environmental issues, but also political metaphors, as well as the story of a man who found himself lost in his growth. It is true that the theme is very large, suitable for making a mini TV series, and now it is the golden age of making TV series, but they still insist on making a movie. He prefers the movie format.
The director also mentioned that this movie is a bit like "Black Mirror", reflecting social reality through some rather weird sci-fi settings. But he himself has no interest in science fiction, and wants to make a film of Hal Ashby or Robert Altman, with a multi-line narrative in structure.
Some critics believe that the theme of this film is constantly changing, and it seems that there is no unified theme.
2. Budget
The film was conceived as early as 2009, but the director first produced other projects, including The Descendants and Nebraska (Nebraska, 2013). Because the film has not been able to raise funds. The director said that investors felt that the script was "too smart" and that the investment risk was high. And the budget is also very high because of the large amount of visual effects to be done. This is also the first visual effects film made by the director, and it is also the most expensive film ever made. It cost between 65 million and 90 million US dollars, which is more than the sum of his first three films.
But the director is unwilling to stop. In order to achieve the desired effect, I insisted on setting the budget so high. In the end, Brad Grey of Paramount felt that although the script didn't make sense, it could still be filmed. It is a pity that he died before the film was completed.
After the release, the box office was relatively miserable, less than 9 million US dollars in the first week (the father of the male protagonist Matt Damon died on the day of the release in the United States...). The final global box office was about 38 million U.S. dollars.
3. Cast
luxury. It is said that the male protagonist Ma Da quickly agreed to take over the film. Wiig, the actor of his ex-wife, once starred with him in The Martian (The Martian, 2015). There is also a line from his mother in the film paying tribute to The Mars: "They can all go to Mars, but they can't cure my fibromyalgia."
In addition to the protagonist, there are also many big-name actors in the film. In fact, even Aunt Mei Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon have considered participating in the performance before. Reese Witherspoon was originally going to play the role of the male protagonist's ex-wife, but because he went to the crew of the American drama Big Little Lies (2017), which was very popular last year, there was no time.
In the film, the Vietnamese female actor Hong Chau also starred in "Little Lies". Her performance in this film has received wide acclaim, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Female Supporting Actress. Her experience as a child is very similar to the character in this film. She was originally a Vietnamese refugee born in Thailand, and then her family went to the United States. She grew up in the United States, graduated from Boston University, and has been in the acting industry.
However, the image of Hong Chau in the film has aroused controversy. Some people think that the portrayal is too "stereotype". His words and deeds make people laugh, and they essentially imply racial discrimination.
4. Filming location
There is Canada: the first meeting was filmed at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto; the last villain village was filmed in Kelso Quarry Park, Ontario. And Norway. There is also the director’s hometown in Nebraska (also the hometown of TBBT's Penny). In fact, many of his films were shot in his hometown.
5. Scientific Principles
According to Einstein's mass-energy equation, the energy E is equal to the mass m times the square of the speed of light C. So if you really want to shrink a person from a normal size to the size of an iPhone, you need the energy of hundreds of ten million tons of nuclear bomb explosions, not to mention the batch compression of a group of people in the movie, so much energy is needed! It was originally for the purpose of "energy saving" to shrink human beings...
Moreover, if people become as small as in movies, their voices should be small and shrill, and they cannot talk to ordinary humans normally. There is no way to answer customer service calls like a male protagonist.
In addition, such a small person can easily be blown away by a gust of wind and easily eaten by wild animals. Therefore, the protective net of Lilliputin must be particularly strong.
The filmmakers also admitted that they ignored scientific feasibility.
It is impossible to compress too much, but a little bit is possible. S Matthew Liao, a Chinese bioethicist from New York University, published a related paper in 2012, proposing specific methods that humans can reduce by an average of 15 cm (that is, the height level 100 years ago), including the genetic diagnosis of preimplantation embryos. Choose smaller embryos for birth, or inject excess estrogen into humans. But these behaviors are also morally controversial. But it does reduce the pressure on the environment, and it is conducive to future space travel.
Source: IMDB.com deadline.com ew.com undertheradarmag.com businessinsider.com
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