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From Action-director John Woo, who
directed such hits as
Mission: Impossible 2 and
Face/Off, comes Windtalkers, a big budget war film in the tradition of
Saving Private Ryan.
On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan. For the next
several years, U.S. forces were fully engaged in battle throughout the Pacific,
taking over islands one by one in a slow progression towards mainland Japan.
During this brutal campaign, the Japanese were continually able to break coded
military transmissions, dramatically slowing U.S. progress.
In 1942, several hundred Navajo Americans were recruited as Marines and trained
to use their language as code. In John Woo's Windtalkers, Marine Joe Enders
(Nicolas Cage) is assigned to protect Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) - a Navajo Code
Talker, the Marines' new secret weapon. Enders' orders are to protect his code
talker, but if Yahzee should fall into enemy hands, he's to "protect the code
at all costs." Against the backdrop of the horrific Battle of Saipan, when
capture is imminent, Enders is forced to make a decision: if he can't protect
his fellow Marine, can he bring himself to kill him to protect the code?
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Interview with Nicolas Cage and Adam Beach by Simon Banner
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Q. Mr. Cage, if I could ask
you, how important is it to you as an actor that there's an authenticity about
this film in terms of its connection with history, and do you feel you owe that
credibility to an audience?
A. Nicolas: Well, one of the
things I knew coming into Windtalkers was that it was going to be very
different from the experience I'd had working with John on Face/Off. John
wanted this to have an almost documentary feel, whereas before it was much more
operatic. Sometimes a stuntman or a coordinator would say, "Well, why don't we
have a somersault here, or have you spin around a bit?" and I would tell them I
didn't think that was what John wanted for this particular film. We eased up on
the acrobatics. So to answer your question, yes, it was important to get the
history right. It was important to us not to distort it and to get the facts
right. I'm not a history buff but I'd hate to lie to those out there who are!
We were very careful in getting things accurate. We had Sgt. Major Jim Devers
on set and codetalker Albert Smith with us all the time, and they helped us
make it as real as we possibly could.
Q Adam, you play a Navajo,
though you're not of Amerindian descent. Did you have a sense of obligation to
the Navajo people to get their story straight?
A. Adam: Absolutely. Having Albert Smith there and the Marine instructors, it
made me want to give my best to the performance. With Nic, I thought I would
see this outgoing character, like something from one of his comedies, but Joe
Enders was there. Nic was very subtle. You could see it in his eyes; it was
like being in that world. I felt that role. It was a feeling that things were
getting dangerous, that I was in trouble. Then the take would end and it was
just Nic, asking me "How's it going, Adam?" Really intense.
Q. Nic, in terms of people
leaving the film, what would you like people to take away from the experience?
A. Nic: The idea of the
importance of friendship, that people can do incredible things under great
pressure if there's friendship there, friendship and spirituality.
Q. Adam, have you had the
opportunity to see the film with any of the surviving windtalkers? What are
their responses?
A. Adam: I have seen the film with some of them. A lot of them are very
emotional about the film, and they're happy that their story is being told in
such a positive light. The idea that the film revolves around friendships and
bonding between the Navajos and the Americans was so important. Most of what
we've seen stems from the 1800's, and it's always just a battle between the
cowboys and the Indians, and I'm glad we can move past that and see the very
real contributions that Amerindians have made to our culture.
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Interview with Christian Slater &
Roger Willie by Simon Banner
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Q. Christian, who do you
portray in "Windtalkers", and what was his role in relation to the people
transmitting code?
A. Christian: I play Pete "Ox" Anderson, sort of the flip side of the coin to
Nic Cage's Joe Enders. Joe's a more war-weary, beaten up kind of soldier. He's
lost faith in what he's doing and simply following orders. I think the reason
he's given the mission is because it provides him with a great deal of
conflict. The code is more important than the man, the mission is to protect
the code at all costs, and if the code falls into enemy hands, it becomes
necessary to hunt the talkers down and kill them.
Q. Roger, why was this story
not told before? Is there any particular reason for this?
A. Roger: From the end of
World War II up to 1968 it was classified Top Secret. That's really the main
reason. During that whole time the code talkers themselves never spoke about
it. Spouses, loved ones, they were all kept in the dark. They'll be the first
ones to tell you, "I never knew my husband was a codetalker."
Q. Christian, how important
was it to you that the history of the film be authentic? As an actor, do you
feel a sense of obligation to the audience that the story be fairly accurate?
A. Christian: I think John Woo
made a very realistic and accurate portrait, and of course, as an actor, that
appealed to me. He went through a lot of effort to make it as realistic as
possible. In the middle of some of the battle scenes, you couldn't help but
feel the fear and chaos all around you. For me, it felt like an incredibly
genuine experience.
Q. Roger, you give a very
powerful and moving experience in the film. I think people will be surprised to
learn that you haven't acted before! Tell us how you came to the part.
A. Roger: I was going to
audition for the role and then decided against it. Oddly enough, my nephews
auditioned for the part as well, and were so persistent with me to go in and do
a read that finally I relented and here we are.
Q. Did you believe you had a
chance?
A. Roger: Not at all! It was
almost like a sort of fantasy, which was one of the reasons I decided against
auditioning in the first place. I felt like, "Why get caught up in something
that won't happen anyhow?" It seemed so unheard of to me, that the film
industry would take the time and interest to come out and say, "We're looking
for an Amerindian to play this role, and you don't have to have experience."
Q. Christian, how did you
feel, being cast alongside an actor who hadn't worked before? Were you at all
nervous? He is sitting next to you, so
A. Christian: Nervous?
Honestly? No. Not at all. I think from the beginning we all had the sense that
we were going to work on this as a team. We went through a sort of boot camp
together, and the realism of that made us feel pretty tightly knit. There was
an enthusiasm to make the film and a real feeling of friendship among the whole
cast.
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2002 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
2003 MGM Home Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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