Better Man is in the true story of the meteoric ascent, the dramatic fall and the remarkable resurgence of the British pop superstar Robbie Williams, one of the greatest artists of all time.
Under the visionary direction of Michael Gracey, the film is told from the point of view of Williams, capturing his signature of firm and his indomitable spirit.
Follow Robbie’s adventure of childhood, the youngest member of Boyband of Graphic, leads this to its unparalleled achievements as a solo record artist, while facing the demanding situations that stratospheric renown and good fortune can bring OH, and Robbie? It is described as a photorealist CG monkey!
“Certified Fresh” in Rotten Tomatoes with 88%, Better Man acclaimed as one of the most productive films of 2024. Last week, we had the privilege of sitting with Gracey (the largest showman) to locate more about how he approached his Ambitious musical and biography.
During our conversation, the filmmaker spoke of resuming the singer’s concerts, the challenge presented through the capture of movement and the work of VFX, the viral series of Better Man (which required 500 dancers), the epic scene of combat of combat of Knebworth and more.
You can the full interview with Gracey On Better Man below.
My wife and I saw Robbie Williams in 2017 for his heavy entertainment exhibition and one of the things that surprised me about this movie is that you capture the feeling of their concerts. How complicated was it?
We were lucky that a giant component of concert photographs will release concerts with Robbie. We would simply control the scene. We did it at the Royal Albert Hall and we took these concerts. There is a genuine power for those crowds. Even with Knebworth, where there were another 125,000 people, which the first 2,000 people are in the camera. For the actors, when they play in front of this type of crowds and the taking that children are at level with a complete stage of other people who applaud and cry, it is not to act to be a young user organization that begins and glory the first time. You have adrenaline that flows from your ears because there are all the other people who cry for you.
The actors had a moment of life when turning those sequences. Rob would be at the level and said: “Listen, we do this for my movie, I need you to get in loop when the boys are here as if I were, old 16”. It would leave the scene, the boys climbed to hydraulics and the crowd will unleash. It is fantastic. Much of what you are talking about to get a genuine audience.
You have this story about an emblematic pop star, but many intellectual ability disorders and dependence came here with it. Having Robbie by hand so that some concepts with you can be perceived, had to be incredibly beneficial.
Yes, having Rob is so favorable for the movie, but also in the things you mention. In fact, he was grateful that he was so open to the percentage with us what are quite raw and unfavorable moments on the screen. It is a wonderful force of the film. You do not feel that you get the disinfected edition of Robbie’s life.
It is nothing more than to say that the monkey captured the hearts of the people, but with respect to the paintings of the capture of movement and the entire VFX of postproduction to make this “robbie”, how complicated is it as a filmmaker?
I had the possibility that my story is in animation and visual effects. It was a facet with which I had confidence. In addition, it combines with Weta. We exchange 3 films through Planet of the Apes that, when you watch them from a technical point of view, become more photorealist and sophisticated in their performance. I think we were lucky to have a team with a delight in the execution of realistic monkeys, then take all this and apply it to our edition of a monkey. We are much more human than the planet of the apes of apes, but we could expand another step and I think that in this evolution and the walking that Weta artists have put on it, it may not be more proud. The paintings that put in this domain are very impressive.
It is amazing. An example of this is the DJ Rock series in Recent Street. I read that you had something like 400 extras –
500. IT 500 dancers.
Wow. What about the shooting that stayed with you? It had to be an intense Aray procedure.
It is an intense procedure because if one of the afternoons, we did not get what we needed, that. It is a shot without stopping, so if we don’t shoot one night, then the total number of anything. It is a much higher voltage outbreak. Unfortunately, we were delayed due to the queen’s death, so when we ended up in Recent Street to film him, he meant that we reduced the delivery of the film. It is a very, very dear musical number due to delays, but every time I look at Ititary . . . he values it. It is an absolute career point in Recent Street in the middle of London with another 500 people in front of you dancing and singing. It is only electric.
The Knebworth Festival scene you argued is also impressive, especially when we see Robbie fight opposite to those other versions of himself. There is much to do a lot in this, but at the same time, it is a great action scene. How did you look at the reference procedure?
It was a lot. I look at the choreography because there is an explanation why it is called fighting choreography. Whether we were delivering a combat number, a dance series or the camera. The chamber choreography plays a massive role in the narrative. I look at other people like Bob Fosse who dominated the art of choreography with respect to the camera’s paintings and a series like that, it is a lot of graphic scripts and a lot of combat choreography and cut it in combination a bit like the sketch, Do you know? It defines it again and again until there is meaning, since it faces what moments.
I talked about that to feel like a single user and there is a wave that crashes about it. The concept that there is an ocean of other people in front of him, jumps to him and fights, but the waves continue to block. There is this feeling and, obviously, the last moment is that he faces that he has this moment when he looks at an edition of himself and, yes, it was a lot of work. We tested the references of other films and fighting sequences, but once we were looking for it again to make it exclusive at this time. And fatigue is anything that the concept was actually well done in a French film, Queen Margot, and sought to make sure that in the end, there was an exhaustion in this battle.
Better Man comes to buy or hire virtual on February 11 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
The film will arrive in a 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray combo as a component of the line that Paramount provides in May thirteen and will also be held on DVD.