Director Ridley Scott has sparked fury in Matla by saying he would “not recommend” holidaying on the island after filming Gladiator 2 there.
Renowned British director Scott, 86, was discussing the attractiveness of Malta as a filming location with fellow director Christopher Nolan this month when he told the audience that he “wouldn’t recommend going there on vacation,” Business Insider reports.
Although he praised Malta, calling it “a treasure trove of architecture” that “rangs from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance,” he still doubled down by saying he “wouldn’t go back there on vacation.”
Johann Grech, Malta’s film commissioner, shared a clip of Scott’s positive comments on Facebook, including the director saying “when it’s good, it’s spectacular”, but omitted the advice against Malta as a holiday destination.
Scott’s comments have angered Maltese politicians after the country’s government paid £48 million in refunds for the film being filmed there.
Julie Zahra, culture spokesperson for the opposition party in Malta’s parliament, said on Facebook that Grech had been “humiliated” by Scott saying he would not recommend going on holiday to Malta and that he should resign from his position.
He also criticized that Grech had only uploaded Scott’s positive comments, saying that Grech had “censored” and “manipulated” what was actually said.
Another member of Malta’s parliament, Adrian Delia, lashed out at Scott, who “mesmerized millions with stories of historical legends come to life” but who appears to have “failed to gain respect.”
Director Ridley Scott, center, working with Paul Mescal on the set of Gladiator 2
Renowned British director Scott (right), 86, was discussing how attractive Malta is as a filming location with fellow director Christopher Nolan (left) this month when he told the audience he “wouldn’t recommend going there on holiday” .
Scott’s comments have angered Maltese politicians after the country’s government paid £48 million in refunds for the film (still pictured above) which was filmed there.
‘To those who warmly welcomed him, shared and lent his history and culture and showered him with millions to credit on his tax bill. How unfortunate,” Delia added.
Malta offers discounts to attract filmmakers, a decision that Malta’s then tourism minister, Clayton Bartolo, defended by saying that films being filmed in the country would provide jobs for locals.
“These people who earn money or improve their skills so they can then work in Malta or abroad, are we going to lose this job to them?” he told the Malta Independent in 2023.
‘Or are we going to say we’re going to continue to invest in this industry to really increase opportunities and upskill our crews?’
this comes later Scott was branded “lazy” by his own cinematographer for his choice of filming methods on the Gladiator sequel.
John Mathieson gave a reflective interview talking about how the director had “changed” and was now “quite impatient” on set and added that this had had a negative impact on the finished product.
Mathieson, 63, worked with Scott on both of his Gladiator films and told a podcast how using multiple cameras instead of just one and paying little attention to “hanging parts of the set” in shots are some of his flaws. .
He said, speaking on the DocFix podcast: ‘It’s really vague. It’s the CG (computer graphics) elements of arranging, leaving things flat, cameras flat, microphones flat, bits of set hanging, shadows from booms. And they just said (in Gladiator II), “Well, clean it up.”
Gladiator II director Sir Ridley Scott (centre), pictured with Irish Gladiator II actor Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington (left), has been branded “lazy”.
This image provided by Paramount Pictures shows Pedro Pascal, from left, director Ridley Scott and Paul Mescal on the set of Gladiator 2.
‘He is quite impatient and likes to get everything he can at once. Not very good for cinematography.
“If you look at his older films, digging into things was very much part of enlightenment. “You can’t do that with a lot of cameras, but he just wants to do it all.”
Mathieson added that having multiple cameras meant “you can only light it from one angle.”
Gladiator II, starring Paul Mescal, was generally less well received by critics than the 2000 film starring Russell Crowe.
It has received criticism for its apparent “historical inaccuracies”, such as the “diversity of accents” and the depiction of characters reading morning newspapers 1,200 years before the invention of the printing press.
However, some critics said it was the “best movie of the year” and a “true epic” and praised Mescal and Denzel Washington for their performances.
The film sees Mescal’s Lucius Verus seek revenge against Rome in a blood-soaked battle with his captor general Marcus Acacio.
Lucius, seeking revenge, is mentored as a Gladiator by Macrinus (Denzel), a former slave plotting to control Rome. The pair use each other to achieve their goals: Macrinus’s invasion of Rome and Lucius’s assassination of the general.
Cinematographer John Mathieson, 63, said the director had “changed”
Lucius, seeking revenge, is mentored as a Gladiator by Macrinus (Denzel), a former slave plotting to control Rome. The pair use each other to achieve their goals: Macrinus’s invasion of Rome and Lucius’s assassination of the general.
Mathieson concluded: “Having a lot of cameras I don’t think has improved the films.”
‘It’s a bit of a hurry, hurry, hurry. That has changed in him. But that’s the way he wants to do it and I don’t like it and I don’t think a lot of people do, but people love his movies and he’s Ridley Scott and he can do whatever he wants.
“People want to shoot with multiple cameras because they get a lot of performances and they put a lot of people there. But they don’t care.
Mathieson compared the Gladiator sequel in 2000, where there were “only 50 effects shots”, noting that the number in Gladiator II would be “in the thousands”.
The British cinematographer, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Gladiator, added: “Now it’s about ‘covering things in general’ rather than me being the cook who prepares you something wonderful in my kitchen. below.
“You just go to the grocery store and buy one of those really big carts, put the arm on the shelf, throw all that stuff away, and we’ll fix it later.”