2023-09-19 09:29:00
Series John Wick : le Continental is broadcast from September 22 on Prime Video.
© Amazon
The universe of John Wick films is preparing to open its horizons and its mythology with the mini-series Le Continentalbroadcast from September 22 on the Prime Video streaming platform.
A three-part program centered on the origins of the franchise’s famous New York hotel, between ego warfare, fighting and good sound. John Wick : le Continental is directed by Albert Hughes and Charlotte Brändström, which The Digitals had the opportunity to interview.
Interview with Albert Hughes and Charlotte Brändström
At the helm of the three episodes, Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli, Menace to Society, From Hell) and Charlotte Brändström (The Rings of Power, The Witcher) had the difficult task of taking over from Chad Stahelski, director of the four films John Wick released at the cinema.
The opportunity to discuss their approach to the universe of the franchise, their influences, or the right way to stage the (many) action sequences of this opus. Encounter.
Director Albert Hughes and director Charlotte Brändström.
© Les Numériques
The world of John Wick, New York in the 70s, the music… The series has several interesting elements. What first attracted you to this project?
Albert Hughes It was an opportunity to not face the reality of the real world, social issues and trauma, as I have done in my career. And I didn’t realize how much fun I was going to have. And you can put anything in the John Wick universe, it takes everything: crazy ideas, original characters, daring wardrobe choices…
Charlotte Brandström I was a fan of the franchise because I think it’s real cinema, it has a style, light, action and Keanu Reeves who I love. And when I learned that it was set in New York in the 70s, I knew it was going to be very visual as well.
Ayomide Adegun plays a young Charon in the series.
© Amazon
“The John Wick films have a sort of techno and disco beat.”
Albert Hughes, director of the John Wick: The Continental series.
How do you approach a universe as massive as that of John Wick? Where do we start?
Albert Hughes You start with your influences, and that’s what Chad Stahelski told me at the beginning. So I thought regarding the 1970s, a time when I grew up, regarding my mother who was white, my father who was black, Pink Floyd, James Brown… and music! I also thought regarding war films and techno. The John Wick films have a sort of techno and disco rhythm. And disco is fun, freedom…
Charlotte Brandström Albert Hughes created a reference book [“style book” ndlr] so that it is faithful to the films and that it feels “cinematic”, with breadth and breath. I also received a long list of songs from the 70s to listen to and pick from, so we might develop the scenes and edit with the music. Once we have all this in hand, we are already very inspired.
Mel Gibson plays Cormac in The Continental.
© Amazon
Chad Stahelski’s direction relies heavily on the sequence shot and a certain choreography of the action. What was your approach to this already existing style? Were you able to impose your vision?
Albert Hughes If you look at my past films, like The Book of Eli, we see that the sequence shot was already a natural thing for me. And Chad and I are both from the same school, that of letting the audience see, letting them absorb the action… So it was quite simple.
Charlotte Brandström For my part, I tried to do as many sequence shots as possible, because it’s something very interesting. At one time I was shooting with a lot of cameras, and today we’re back to shooting with one or two cameras maximum. I have just finished season 2 of Rings of Power […] and there were many more single-camera days, doing sequence shots and different shots.
Jessica Allain and Hubert Point-Du Jour in John Wick : le Continental.
© Amazon
“It looks easy when you look at the plan, but it was the most complicated day of my career!”
What was the biggest challenge of the series? The most difficult scene to shoot?
Albert Hughes New Year’s Eve evening in sequence shot, in the first episode. It was a combination of issues and it wasn’t completely oiled organizationally, and if the whole team isn’t on the same page, it starts to fall apart. You had a horse, a monkey, lots of actors… The monkey had to meet the horse, then the horse freaked out because of falling balloons, the floor was slippery and there was glitter […], then you had a naked woman on the horse… Anyway, it looks easy if you look at the plan, but it was the most complicated day of my career! Then during editing, you tell yourself that it was worth it.
Colin Woodel as young Winston Scott, in the series Le Continental.
© Amazon
The Rings of Power, The Witcher…Charlotte, you had already worked on other big franchises. How were the John Wick series and its universe different?
Charlotte BrandströmThe Witcher et The Rings of Power are fantasy, and it is therefore necessarily more imposing, and technically heavier. It was easier in Le Continental because a lot of real sets were built, and even though it was in the 70s, it was still very modern. Chad Stahelski said in an interview that John Wick is a little The Lord of the Rings modern, and I found it interesting. There is in John Wick a certain mythology, a sort of “augmented” and fanciful world, populated by atypical characters… and even more in Le Continental. It’s a dark series, but I find the characters to be believable, and all have a real emotional arc.
Series John Wick : le Continental is broadcast from September 22 on Amazon Prime Video, at the rate of one episode per week.
Watch the series trailer: Amazon Prime Video
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