Kenneth Branagh Wields Hammer of the Gods, Talks Thor

Writer/director Kenneth Branagh recently sat down for an interview with the LA Times to discuss the production on Thor, potentially to shoot down recently reported rumors that things on the set were running, shall we say, less than smoothly. Branagh and the cast have collectively denied the reports, and while filming continues in relative secrecy, the director talked openly about why he was initially drawn to the project. What at first might seem an unlikely choice for a man who specializes in Shakespeare, Thor held more in common with The Bard than one might think...

"Growing up, my single comic book passion was Thor," says the 49-year-old actor and filmmaker who surprised many industry observers by taking on the director's job on the big-budget adaptation of the Marvel Comics thunder god. "From my time in Belfast as a kid, that's the first time I came across that comic, really, exclusively, I don't know why, but it struck a chord. I was drawn to it. I liked all the dynastic drama."

Regarding the look and feel of the film, Branagh stated:

"Inspired by the comic book world both pictorially and compositionally at once, we've tried to find a way to make a virtue and a celebration of the distinction between the worlds that exist in the film but absolutely make them live in the same world...It's about finding the framing style, the color palette, finding the texture and the amount of camera movement that helps celebrate and express the differences and the distinctions in those worlds. If it succeeds, it will mark this film as different.... The combination of the primitive and the sophisticated, the ancient and the modern, I think that potentially is the exciting fusion, the exciting tension in the film."

And lastly, the director assured fans that the production is in tip-top shape:

"It's going very, very well. We're in New Meixco now where we have a contemporary Earth part of our story. I guess we're two-thirds of the way through the story and at this stage of the game what's surprising and delighting me is the way the cast, the ensemble, has fused together. It's kind of an interesting combination of very young and very experienced people and the double-up of that, it seems to me, is there is a lot of fire in the movie. It doesn't take itself too seriously, it doesn't try to be too solemn."

Be sure to check out the full interview and head on back to UGO for more!