Go behind the scenes of the super stylish comic book film on Blu-ray Disc with star Samuel L. Jackson and director Frank Miller.
Adapted from the legendary comic strip created by prolific writer Will Eisner and directed by Frank Miller of Sin City, 300 and The Dark Knight Returns fame, The Spirit is a classic action adventure film featuring an all-star cast line-up including Samuel L.. Jackson and Gabriel Macht.
When rookie cop, Denny Colt (Macht), mysteriously returns from the beyond as The Spirit he vows to fight crime from the shadows of Central City. But his arch enemy the Octopus (Jackson) has other ideas. Intent on pursuing immortality the Octopus is systematically wiping out The Spirit's beloved city - but can the Spirit stop him?
Film noir
Loaded with action, stark imagery pulled straight from the classic comic book and peppered with writer, director Frank Miller's trademark style, The Spirit is a white-knuckle thriller packed with twists, turns and a slew of femme fatales played by the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes and Jamie King.
For Miller, who has carved a career for himself out as a comic book writer and artist working on a vast number of heralded books over the years, the process of switching to filmmaking wasn't a hard one. "I'm just an insufferably happy guy at both jobs. It's all story-telling. As different as it seems, whilst cartooning is much more solitary, and film is much, much more collaborative, the same rules all apply. A good story is still a good story."
Arriving late in his career to the world of directing Miller, while bringing his own ideas to the table, was also keen to experiment with his actors and the style of filmmaking during the shoot. "My favourite part of directing is working with actors. The whole trick to directing - as I see it - is to surround yourself with people who are much better at their various crafts than you. So, working with talent like Sam and Scarlett I'm going to want to hear what they have to say. The plan is to light the fuse, not plan the explosion."
The nemesis
Super villain, Samuel L. Jackson, agrees the process Miller and his crew applied to bringing The Spirit to the big screen was something arguably more collaborative and experimental for him as an actor too. "Frank is so new at it that it's almost like we were taking advantage of him sometimes. We'd come in, show him what we wanted to do and he'd say ‘That's great, let's shoot it'," says the Pulp Fiction star. "Most directors are so busy composing the frame or staring intently at the monitor, but we could engage with Frank and make him laugh. He's still a fan watching the process happen and he'd ask the director of photography if it was possible to do this, that or the other. He was guileless and open to suggestions".
For Jackson, who had been actively pursuing Miller for some time to work with him even before the director began working on his first feature film Sin City with collaborator Robert Rodriguez, the chance to be a part of Miller's first solo effort as a director was a chance he jumped at immediately. "I've been chasing his work for a while. Even before people knew what Sin City was I was kind of aware of it and was trying to track him down. Then they made Sin City and all those other movies from his work and I was disappointed I wasn't in them," explains the star.
"Out of nowhere I got a call saying ‘Frank's doing The Spirit and he wants to talk to you about it'. I knew the story and I was like ‘Um, he wants me to be The Octopus and in the graphic novel that guy is just a pair of gloves'. I imagined I'd just be doing voiceover but Frank said ‘Hell no, I want to see you on screen' and after that I was like ‘I'm on board'."
Finding The Spirit
While casting Jackson and the film's femme fatales was a fairly simple task, Miller found it much more difficult to find the right actor to portray The Spirit. While some filmmaker may have opted to go with a big name star, Miller believed it best to use an unknown quantity, someone who would forever become synonymous with the character and not for other roles before this.
"It's something I insisted on. I wanted The Spirit to be introduced as ‘The Spirit', not as the latest Tom Cruise vehicle. He was the hardest piece of casting we had. We had dozens of actors read for it, and Gabriel really stood out as the most heroic of the bunch," explains the director. "We worked together really hard, and I watched him day by day fill that trench coat out emotionally. He was very impressive as The Spirit."
With just two films under his belt, Miller is constantly evolving as a director and is quickly moving on to his next project, the sequel to Sin City, his smash hit noir epic set in a world full of bullets, booze and babes. "The script is ready. I'll be doing it with Robert [Rodriguez] and we're just trying to work out how, where and when," says Miller.
As for Jackson, one of the hardest working men in Hollywood, he has no plans to slow down anytime soon despite recently turning 60. "There's always a place for Michael Caine so I assume there'll always be a place for me. I haven't discovered that directing bug yet that would allow me to do what Clint Eastwood does but I'm happy to keep on acting for as long as I can."
The Spirit is available Blu-ray Disc now.
