History with his anti war film dust boat before heading to hollywood to direct blockbusters Like Air Force one outbreak or the perfect storm pearson is a master of big budget action but his movies always wrestle with the real issues of our top. Gun pitocin started his career directing crime thrillers he focused on topics such as hit and run accidents blackmail and rate more than twenty five Million Viewers watched his one nine hundred seventy seven t. V. Movie heifetz likeness about a sexual relationship between a teacher and pupil. Four years later came the feature film that attracted the attention of hollywood just bought it was nominated for six oscars and although it didnt win any it did open plenty of doors for painters and. The german director began working with some of us cinemas biggest stars he made the action film air force one starring harrison ford. The perfect storm with George Clooney and the historical epic troy with brad pitt. But then his disaster movie poseidon ran aground at the box office capsizing petersons career. It took ten years for the director now seventy five years old to make another film and this time hes returned to germany revisiting his own comedy fear gagandeep bank from one nine hundred seventy six to twenty sixteen remake features some of the countrys biggest stars the plot involves four men taking revenge on a. Thank manager who has swindled them out of their savings. Just. As friends ask. Ok that you trust. Yes im here now with Wolfgang Petersen thank you for coming to kino. Ive interviewed a number of directors and it often is the case that directors seem to have a very key film that they saw me when they were a child that huge influence on them and changed somehow the way they look at movies in the way they look at life i wonder if you have that experience i mean it was a film maybe in your childhood that a particular influence on you yes it was there was one first of all i went when i was a child like ten twelve years old in the early fiftys in germany when all these American Films came to germany after the war right and i was a mess more eyes by American Films i saw so many and my specialty was western of course and my guy in my film was Gary Cooper Gary Cooper and. I know. A terrorist stricken left in the face or i was impressed as a little boy to see that a man. Who is afraid. And is about to walk away when these three guys come out of jail to go and go after him and kill him that he turns around and does it anyway. Always i saw the little sweat on his forehead when he was walking alone through the streets and i was impressed by that i thought that as a true hero a man who is afraid but he does it anyway what is it about that that type of hero that fascinates you. Yeah well i like its he i think i like about its human its not like a cartoon hero its a human being and thats tells us human beings like you and me or a twelve year old boy can some learn something about you you can be very harrowing and good if you overcome your fear and in films like in the line of fire for example with Clint Eastwood you see it very clearly is what is is you know similarly kind of nervous and sort of afraid of this markovitch guy and what might happen to him but he does it anyway he goes after him. I was there is bigger moral imperative behind was one of questions that you like well yeah i mean. It has very much to do with the situation in germany after the war we learnt at school for example we didnt really learn about the past about that nazi time and so they always avoided my parents our parents they never really talked about that it was always this kind of dont look back in germany around the time it was all come clear not explained not that there was no moral there there was no no understanding why and things happen in these films there was a clarity about it especially in westerns about what is good and what is bad and what do you have to fight very clear moral compasses you can take out of these films you mentioned please weve also worked with you a whole list of the biggest stars in hollywood George Clooney brad pitt arison ford who surprised you the most of the of the very stars you work with did you find something about them that was most surprising ive was very surprised about the insecurity of Dustin Hoffman what i was surprised about is that he is very much more like coming more like like you know like a stage actor he had always problems with very simple things like turning around and having a special look over your shoulder and you know the typical movie star movements and he had he he was very insecure about it so you know with dustin of the big dust that off i very often had to really take years a little dust and look i do it for you and i couldnt believe that here i am. Acting thing for death and half and to show him how to do it it was kind of embarrassed to do it but but but he like that when you look back of your quite lustrous hollywood career what are you most proud of and what are you most i dont know embarrassed or disappointed by or theres not so much disappointing things i mean i am very proud of that i did a movie that i could do and i could do it on a big scale that was perfect storm there was a concept that was very very tough to get through the movie too it was a studio system because it was expensive because it was the biggest storm ever shown in the story i mean six guys on the andrea gail board who at the end as we all know die and you know we got a lot of calls from people was saying was drunk dont be crazy im in this cannot work this is a summer movie this is a big one hundred fifty Million Dollars movie and they all died in the knots so i said well thats the story its a true story and we either do it or we do it the way and what we can to change them and im proud of that because it it worked we were right people went to come to see it and it was good the other thing what i would say is what i should probably not of dharma is poseidon the from poseidon. I was dead time in a honest on a on a roll you cannot believe it was amazing in the line of Fire Outbreak air force one perfect storm troy all these films in a row of lets say in ten years. Were very successful as you know and one was more successful than the one before so they say welfare can do anything i mean one of us lets do this lets. Given all the money thats will be fine again or it didnt it wasnt i should not have done that i think because it just doesnt work like that at some point you know if you fall and. So now you know. Youre the first to know everybody. Well i mean your new film is four against against the bank its your first film shot here in germany in thirty years the first film in germany in thirty years how did that happen had to happen that you came back here to do a film i always wanted to do a comedy writer my wife for example always said you have to do a comedy often because she thought i had a sense of humor right my wife said you know what about for against the bank the t. V. Film that you did in one nine hundred seventy six was very successful wouldnt that be a great movie and i said wow thats a good idea. But. I think it makes so much fun if its sort of the its the comedy is something where everybody can relate to everybody has some kind of quarrel and problem and some. Issues with banks. And i. Want to have some good. Stories when you ask why cant you go before talking about. The movie that made you made you famous do you think it still is your most important porton film that youve made or your family i mean. Definitely so many directors have their one film where when they know where they know its the one its the one that changed everything for you and the people will talk for ever about it so im lucky enough that a film what was that about this book do you think. Many reasons first of all i think for the world to be forced to relate to all or even with nazis in the submarine in the beginning when the film was screened first in los angeles and it says on the very beginning it says forty from forty thousand german submarines thirty thousand times was a big supply big applause and we offer all my god this is not going well at the end. Of the film after two and a half hours. They all clapped and there was a standing ovation there for ever so the film turned this hostile audience around and that and that is i think a quality of the film to show that war is war everywhere its the same young people die horrible things. And and then specially i think the focus you you will then brought on these characters inside the captain and all these people brought them into close together the friendship that they would die for each other its a good lesson even in the worst most horrible situations something beautiful human can happen i think that touches people when they see the film and that goes way beyond being germans americans english whatever thats what i guess thats whats sort of what cinema can really do. And thank you so much for take the time to talk to us later that was our special with Wolfgang Petersen for more on his new film and his entire body of work you can check out our website thats all for me will be back next week until that. Will see. You. Every journey begins with the first step and every language but the first word and look beneath. Is in germany to learn german why not learn this simple online on your mobile and free to south. Learning course nico speak german made easy. 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