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Viggo Mortensen Candidly Reflects On Controversial Oscar-Winning Movie 6 Years Later

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Summary

  • Viggo Mortensen reflects on the
    Green Book
    criticism, calling it ”
    disingenuous
    ” and ”
    unfair
    .”
  • Green Book
    faced backlash for the perceived “white savior” narrative, highlighting the controversy surrounding the film.
  • Mortensen defends the film and addresses criticism, emphasizing the importance of dispelling rumors and inaccuracies.



Viggo Mortensen reflects on Green Book six years after its release. Mortensen starred opposite Mahershala Ali in the 2018 movie, which focused on the story of a Black classical pianist in the 1960s and his relationship with his white chauffeur, who drives him around while he is on tour. Green Book was nominated for copious awards, and ended up winning the coveted Oscar for Best Picture at the 2019 ceremony.


Six years after the movie’s release, Mortensen speaks to Vanity Fair at length about the controversy surrounding Green Book. According to the actor, a lot of statements by he and others involved in the film were taken out of context, and unfairly condemned while the film was receiving criticism. He called some critiques of Green Book “disingenuous criticism.” He also referred to “nasty rumors and inaccuracies” during the promotion of Green Book and other films, that might unfairly mar its response. Despite this, he feels Green Book will become a “small classic.” Mortensen’s full quote is realized below:

It was frustrating to me as part of the filmmaking team to see that the studio was somewhat cowed by the disingenuous criticism of the movie, of it being not historically accurate, so forth, or unfair in some way, being cowed by that kind of rumor-mongering that spread like wildfire because of the way social media is these days, and which rival studios greatly enjoyed and propagated as much as they could. That’s what happened. I thought they should have been bolder about refuting it. They eventually did what we—Peter Farrelly, me, and others—wished they had done early on: put out the recordings that show that this is actually a true story and that this happened.

Anywhere I go, when people show up with pictures or DVDs and things, I see as much Green Book material to this day as I do Lord of the Rings material. People loved that movie. The studio, if they’d been bolder and reacted properly early on, they would’ve made even more money in the box office. It’s a movie that did really well. Social media is a precarious place. I remember being asked about racism generally, and I said, “I think racism will always be there. It doesn’t matter how many laws you put in and how much progress is made, it’s just human nature. The target of racism and the vocabulary used changes from generation to generation, sometimes from year to year, and you always have to be wary. Every new generation of children has to be shown somehow, taught by example, to not fear that which is different.” And even that was taken out of context, and I found that to be really unfortunate. But this movie is going to be—is already and it will be—remembered as a small classic.

Yeah. Yeah, it does. Talking about Green Book, for example, I ended up having to do months of interviews where every interview I had to address that issue. I’m like, “There’s nothing there, you guys. It’s actually based on a real relationship. It’s a true story. It’s a good story. I don’t know why I have to keep answering,” but I did.

You can ask any director I’ve worked with, I’ve always worked just as hard to try to promote the story that I’ve committed to helping tell as actually shooting it. I think it’s important. It’s part of the job, as you’re a professional member of the filmmaking team. That’s just all there is to it, and that’s just what goes with it. You have to take on board the nonsense and the people who are either ill-informed or ignorant as far as what filmmaking is about or the history of movies, or who are ill-intentioned and are doing it for other reasons—to get attention for themselves or in some indirect way working for other interests that are contrary to the interests of the project you’re promoting. You have to do what you can to dispel untruths and nasty rumors and inaccuracies. You can only do it conversation by conversation, and if it works, it works. If it doesn’t, well, you tried and that’s all there’s to it. That’s how I see my job.



Green Book’s Controversy Explained

Viggo Mortensen Neglects Key Details About Green Book’s Controversy

While Mortensen may be accurate in his claim that the Green Book press tour spent a lot of time dwelling on issues external to the film itself, Mortensen devotes a lot of speaking time to ignoring the actual issue at hand when it comes to Green Book‘s controversy. On its release, a number of audience members and critics alike were apt to liken Green Book‘s story to a “white savior” narrative. In that claim, these detractors would suppose that Mortensen’s Tony is a man who comes in to save Ali’s character, and learns the meaning of racism along the way.


Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in Green Book

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Any of these critiques could be seen as distilled versions of Green Book‘s narrative, so it makes sense why Mortensen may get defensive of the film. After all, Green Book‘s plot is based on a true story, and this real-life duo went through some of what Ali and Mortensen’s characters undergo in the film. Its basis in reality, however, does not ignore the fact that Green Book, as a film, very much centers on the white man’s perspective in the story. This is evident by looking at its Oscar nominations alone; Mortensen was nominated for Leading Actor, while Ali was reduced to supporting.


So, while some of Mortensen’s reaction to Green Book‘s fallout may be valid, it does not fully address the concerns that copious people had about Green Book. The truth behind the film may be, as Mortensen would put it, a “true story” and even “a good story,” but that does not mean that its execution was of equally high caliber. Overall, Green Book will likely remain one of the more controversial Best Picture picks in recent Oscar history.

Source: VF



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