For one of the most visionary masters of world cinema, Tim Burton, childhood and adolescence have always been a treasure trove of stories, between dreams and nightmares: they return in Wednesday, his debut in the series, a teen comedy / mystery / fantasy tale "a little horror "says the director, made for Netflix, where it debuts on November 23rd.
The eight episodes (Burton directs the first four and is executive producer on the project) focus on the brilliant, laconic and dangerous firstborn here teenager (plays Jenna Ortega) of the iconic Addams Family.
"I always felt like Wednesday as a teenager, I could very well have been her - explains Burton in a press conference at Lucca Comics & Games, where the first episode is presented in European preview -. I had the same point of view in black and white. And '
Created in the '30s by Charles Addams, in a comic version, The Addams family, as funny as it is dark, has returned to the small and big screen several times: "I grew up watching the series and above all reading comics - explains the director, who had also initiated a later abandoned project of a stop motion film on the subject - the Addams family is the emblem of the strange family, as are, after all, all families. "
Then "most children are embarrassed by their parents ... imagine having Morticia as a mother, she would go mad".
Telling Wednesday also brings Burton back to dealing with issues such as self-acceptance and one's own emotions: "I have had mental health problems for half of my life and I identify with Wednesday."
She is very clear, direct, she says what she feels.
This leads her to get into trouble with others, but on a symbolic level she has a silent and simple strength that is very important to me. "Here we find the protagonist (Ortega) who, after an 'accident' in the previous high school, is enrolled by her parents Morticia (Catherine Zeta Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzmán) at the school they also attended, the Nevermore Academy, which specializes in educating "monsters, freaks and 'outcasts'" (Edgar Allan Poe's famous students of the past) directed by principal Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie). For the laconic teenager, it is an opportunity to have a series of bizarre encounters but also to begin investigating a series of violent and inexplicable murders.
Wednesday "she goes to a school for the outcasts and feels rejected among the outcasts - adds Burton - it's what I have felt all my life, towards the school, the parents, the others. This project corresponds to me".
She is "an iconic character and there would not have been the series without Jenna - he continues -. It was not easy to find who could embody her, she does it a lot through her eyes too. Jenna is a person with a lot of strength of character and reflects the character who is in black and white, but reveals some human side, without betraying his essence ".
Among the aspects that Tim Burton has in common with Wednesday there is also the distrust for the web and social networks: "I'm afraid of the internet - he says with a smile -.
Every time I go looking for something I find myself in some black hole like video with creepy cats ... It is a tool born for good, but it often seems to me that it is often used for evil. " he lived naturally: "It was interesting to work at a different pace, here there is a slower cooking, it was very pleasant.
I gave the general line and the other directors have carried it forward ". However" my first love are films, and I think, I hope - he concludes - that there is still room for cinema ".
it was very enjoyable.
I gave the general line and the other directors have carried it forward ". However" my first love are films, and I think, I hope - he concludes - that there is still room for cinema ".
it was very enjoyable.
I gave the general line and the other directors have carried it forward ". However" my first love are films, and I think, I hope - he concludes - that there is still room for cinema ".