The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Filmmaker Ryan Coogler reflects on tsunami that is ‘Black Panther’
CANNES, France — At the Cannes Film Festival, filmmaker Ryan Coogler reflected on the historic sensation of “Black Panther” and changes he hopes it might effect on the movie business.
Noting that Hollywood theories can’t be challenged “if you don’t have anything that disproves it,” Coogler said in a conversation on stage that he hopes “Black Panther” is the groundbreaking force many say it is, disproving the old myths that black films “don’t travel overseas.”
“I just hope that changes. It’s got to change,” said Coogler. “I hope that me and you can leave the business in a better place than where we found it.”
Coogler brought 60 film students, many of them African, to the event because Cannes had a significant influence on him when he came to the festival in 2013 with “Fruitvale Station.”
“It really did something to me as a filmmaker,” he said, adding that in his festival experience “sometimes it can be challenging when you’re in a talk and you don’t see faces that look like yours.”
In preparing the film, Coogler said he realized that the story of “Black Panther” — about a young man ascending to a family throne — bore many similarities to “The Godfather.” He studied Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece and even screened an early cut of “Black Panther” with Coppola.
But Coogler didn’t want that to divulge that inspiration before the movie came out because he said he was worried that people would think he was “aiming too high” for a comic book film.
“Black Panther” became one of the year’s most acclaimed films and grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide. About half of ticket sales were overseas. The movie was screened on the Cannes beach last week.
The first time he screened the film for an audience, Coogler said, was for a group including a few dozen family members, Ava DuVernay, Kendrick Lamar (who produced the soundtrack), Issa Rae and George Lucas.
Coogler also cited the likes of Lamar, DuVernay and Donald Glover’s “Atlanta” for pushing him, indirectly, on “Black Panther.”
“My mind is being stretched by what we as people can do,” he said.
“Black Panther” has been hailed for its empowered and pivotal female characters. An interviewer also noted Coogler had on his three films always worked with female cinematographers and editors.
The women of Wakanda, the imaginary land featured in the film, reminded Coogler of home.
“In a macro sense, that’s the black community,” he said. “You find these incredibly layered women (who are) smart, heads of household. That’s the world I come from. The women in my life are amazing and I want to make films that capture that.”