FOR THE BOYS: THE PASCAL VUONG INTERVIEW

The Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, represent arguably the greatest military operation of modern warfare. Despite being documented and studied as one of the most immense and precise invasions ever undertaken, Operation Overlord, or ‘D-Day’ as it is more widely known, still remains an enigmatic event of which much detail has been lost to history’s fading memory. French director Pascal Vuong (pictured, below) aims to rectify that with his epic yet deeply personal IMAX-3D feature, D-Day: Normandy 1944. Ahead of its Australian season, Vuong spoke to SCREEN-SPACE about his long-in-development film and the battle that changed the direction of World War II…

It is a significant departure from your last IMAX project, the 3D hit Sea Rex: Journey to a Prehistoric World, to this much darker material. Where did the inspiration come from?

When I was a kid, I was very taken by the film The Longest Day. It led to a fascination that stayed with me my whole life, though I never imagined that I could ever make my own film version of D-Day. The success of Sea Rex allowed me some time and led to some financing that meant I could make my dream project.

What were your primary aims going into the project, in terms of making the machinations of a military movement of interest to the broad audience?

We made the film with the family audience in mind, especially the children. I know that so many of our children don’t know about World War II and many people consider it so far removed from our social consciousness. So I felt it was important to teach this younger generation the full extent of the battle and of the sacrifice made by so many from past generations.

I was struck by both the familiarity of the tales of heroism but also the bold, fresh means by which the bloody details of the landing were conveyed.

Because of films like The Longest Day and Saving Private Ryan, I had to find a way to forge the D-Day story but in my own way. It led to using techniques such as the sand animation you see in the film (pictured, left). We know the story is a very gory one, and we found that sand animation was able to convey so much of the human horror of the war while still catering for the target audience.

How important was the vast canvas that the IMAX screen provides?

D-Day was a giant event, in its planning and in its execution, and the Imax screen is able to convey the scale of the undertaking. It allowed us to immerse the audience in so many aspects of the D-Day landing, adding both visual scope and emotional impact.

One of the film’s finest achievements is that it conveys the true meaning of the term ‘Allied’ as it applies to the war effort.

Beyond the technical planning of the attack and the military realities of the invasion, there are many human beings that were working for the Allied cause. Not just military minds, but also the hearts of men, woman and even children civilians. Do you know that there were about 3000 Australian men, primarily from your Air Force, that were involved in D-Day? So much of recorded history does not include the Australian and New Zealand contributions, soldiers who came from far away to help liberate Europe. So many nations were involved and it was important to show that not only were American and British forces involved, but that it was a truly Allied exercise.

Were you aware of how significant the role of your narrator Tom Brokaw would become in the telling of the D-Day story? Brokaw (pictured, below; with 93 year-old D-Day survivor Tom Blakey) and his French language colleague, The Intouchables’ star Francois Cluzet, bring a great deal to the work.

These men were crucial to the film. Their voices carry such importance and gravitas. Mr Brokaw, especially, brought so much. His involvement influenced the way I wrote the film. The memory of the young men who fought and the respect that we wanted to convey to the veterans of this conflict, of any war, was conveyed so wonderfully in Mr Brokaw’s voice, who has a profound passion for the period and the sacrifices made. Many people have said to me how moved they are by the film and how the voice of Mr Brokaw contributed so much to the experience.