“Fantasy. Lunacy. All revolutions are, until they happen- then they are historical inevitabilites.”
So said David Mitchell in his wonderful novel Cloud Atlas (of which the film adaptation should be described as a cinematic revolution all of its own)- but the same could be said for some of the biggest and best blockbusters to grace our screens, which were once only a twinkle in a director’s eye.
Nowadays it’s impossible to imagine pop culture without Darth Vader, R2D2 and gold bikinis, but back in the 1970s George Lucas was getting doors slammed in his face- his space opera wasn’t ‘commercially viable’ because sci-fi just wasn’t popular. Once he finally got a backer, the shoot ran over time, and he was given the ultimatum of finishing the film in two weeks, or scrapping it altogether. In the ultimate display of creative resilience, he rose to the challenge, created an epic and changed the face of Hollywood forever. 
One of my favourite filmmakers is Guillermo Del Toro- I have nothing but awe for his creativity and vision, and after reading about the nightmare that was the creation of Pan’s Labyrinth, my respect for him has increased tenfold. Del Toro made staggering sacrifices to bring his film to life- he turned down offers of funding and support because they would have Hollywood-ized his film and compromised his vision.
He instead rented out his house, borrowed money from friends and waived his directors’ fee to he could scrape together a budget. To this day- even after the film’s 22-minute standing ovation at its premiere at Cannes- Del Toro has never made a single cent from Pan’s Labyrinth. What he has instead, however, is a credit to him and an inspiration to everyone else- a masterful piece of cinema, brought to life by his passion and unswerving dedication to his vision. Resilient or revolutionary? Both?
siveycorkery 