Oliver Stone On "W": "It's Not A Political Film"

In the November issue of Maxim (on sale nationwide on Tuesday, October 21), Oliver Stone, the maker of such incendiary dramas as Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, Nixon, and Wall Street, sits down with Pulitzer Prize winning author, Charlie LeDuff, for a candid discussion about his new film W.

The film was shot in six weeks in the hot Louisiana summer and edited over the course of the next two months in Los Angeles so that it can be released just weeks before the presidential election. The media, the political right, and the White House have reacted predictably. They say that Stone, the bleeding-heart propagandist, is trying to swing the election to the Obama side with another of the director's historical fantasies. But Stone tells Maxim that this is untrue. "Why release it before the election? Because Bush is still around. I think if the ghost leaves Washington in January, you ought to give him a nice exorcism. He's not going away. Bush is still very young. He's not going away."

Oliver Stone on W: "The movie's not a smear job. I wouldn't want to spend a year of my life making something that is demeaning to somebody, being malicious. That's the wrong approach to art. It's not a political film, but a Shakespearean one. It's a film about George W. rebelling against his father, doing better than his father, believing that he's stronger than his father, and outdoing his father...and it's about the colossal mistakes he made and the lies he told. In a way it's Oedipal. One can say he did kill the father because he did destroy the legacy, the name. It's a big thing with the Bushes."

James Cromwell (who portrays George H.W. Bush) on W: "Sure, it's a political film. It would be horseshit to say it's not. If this is not a political film, then I'm sorry. I'm completely lost. If it's fiction, it doesn't lessen the impact on the cost of war, the waste, the horror. If anyone has the cojones to pull that off, it's Oliver Stone."

Josh Brolin (who portrays George W. Bush) on W: "I was like everybody else--thinking that W. was going to be a heavy-handed, leftist view of our current administration. But what I read in the script was a fair and compelling life story of a man who eventually became president of the United States."

Dana Perino (White House Press Secretary) on Oliver Stone: "Oliver Stone is known for being about as accurate a historian as Gilligan was a navigator."

READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW

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READ THE FIRST "W." REVIEWS

Comments

[Bongborg]

I don't care if Oliver's movie is any good, I don't care if it makes money, I don't care if it wins an Oscar, if it is funny, or whether it will have any political effect. I just hope it pisses Bush 41 & Bush 43 off so bad they start popping small blood vessels in the cancerous masses they refer to as "brains". Maybe that's all Oliver is looking for, too.

[Yermammy]

I'm going to see it, but I like your attitude!

[imsosure]

No it's not a political film, it;s more a biography that plays like a comedy.

[realitycheck7]

oliver stone's career ended in the early 90's

his world trade center movie and this one are just transparent attempts for him to be the first director to document the current political landscape.

This movie will bomb because people are disgusted with what Bush has done to this country and can't stand to watch a whole film based on him. And the 30% who are not disgusted with GWB will brush this off as a partisan hit piece and will have no interest either.

He is lucky that he didn't produce it himself

[Vr6]

As the audience is for Dems, I think it'll make a fortune - being the majority. I hear there is a sub-titled edition for the politically inept ie the rEpublicuns and an over dubbed by fRed Thompson and aNNe coulter and a farm yard of neocons doing ADR potty sounds, should be a hoot.

[SeanOcali]

Love that Dana Perino line. Nothing screams relevance and being in-touch than references to Gilligan's Island.

[utd]

Wrong on the war.

Wrong on the economy.

Wrong on Gilligan and 3 hour cruise history.

[Yermammy]

Now that's a milk through your nose moment! Funny!

[Mozart123]

This White House can’t get anything right. Gilligan was not the navigator, he was the first mate. Dana Perino is stooping pretty low to slam our beloved Bob Denver, may he rest in peace, by blaming him for the fate of the Minnow.

[pakaal]

Fact-checking Perino on her Gilligan's Island references! Hysterical!

[foxfan]

We all know it was the Skipper's fault. he couldn't take his eyes off Ginger and ran the Minnow aground.

[BoardsOfCanada]

Oliver Stone's movies aren't suppose to be taken seriously, which he said himself, but when you deal with historical figures their stories should never be this misleading fictitious realism based on things that are partially true, like in JFK and The Doors, which were bloated and so unbelievable that I never watched any of his movies again until Alexander, which was also dreadful . Promoting conspiracy theories and historical inaccuracies, Oliver Stone is just a little to manipulative for me, and it's sad that many people take his films seriously because he blurs the lines between fact and fiction. I saw the trailer for W, and before it was over I knew that this was an Oliver Stone film. Who the hell would really want to see any type of film about Bush right now, really?

[Yermammy]

I would and I find it hard to exaggerate the crimes this animal has committed. In fact this movie won't cover probably 90% of them. Thanks for you non critical criticism though. That's all the time I have, for now, but if you wait around, I'll come back later to ignore you.

[foxfan]

I can tolerate poetic license when it comes to film making, but Oliver Stone's films routinely devolve into a collection of lies and/or questionable conclusions. Just watch "Born on the Fourth of July" and count the discrepancies.

[imnotyou2]

Shaame. Gilligan DID NOT misteer the minnow! "The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed, if not for the courage of the fearless crew, the minnow would be lost..."

[Yermammy]

Man... I didn't think that many people hated Dana! That's too funny :) (and correct, sir).

[Mattie]

a woman I work with insists this is a comedy, I told her I didn't think so, it's more likely a tragedy simply because he was allowed to destroy America unchallenged.

[klandish]

It's a hybrid called a tragicomedy. And all the players are buffoons.

[gretchenart]

No matter the treatment, it is highly irresponsible to make a movie about Bush that is released before the election, as it provides undue attention to the Bush Administration adding a Hollywood glamor and cache to a man who is likely a war ciminal among other things.

[BarackMan]

Don't you wish they would hold those hearings....

President Obama '08!

[Mattie]

the Dems took it off the table, another reason I can't support them this year.

[anim lvr]

While I totally agree with you about this being highly irresponsible to release this movie right before the election, I disagree with the reason behind the decision. I really don't think it is possible to glamorize George W. Bush regardless of your opinion of him. What I perceived from the trailers that I saw, it is definitely mocking Bush and promoting him as a extremely bad President at the very least. I think they are releasing this film now because they want voters to watch Bush look like a fool Republican, and then assume McCain must be just like him because they are both the same party.. I'm sorry but I don't believe that all Republicans are exactly alike and agree on every issue no more so than all Democrats. I will place my vote for the man himself instead of just which party he is affiliated with. I have been a Republican in the past but I am seriously thinking about voting for Obama. Not because of something Bush has done but I just happen to agree with Obama on most issues. I don't know that it is so common that a voter agrees with their choice of candidate regarding every single issue that will have to be addressed. My deciding factor will be on likability and the most important issue I am personally concerned with. While although I wil probably vote for Obama, I have tremendous respect for McCain and believe that he is a admirable man.

[grayforester]

When the movie opens I expect some discussion of the similarities between the life stories of W and Mac. Just the "revenge of the prodigal son" angle is enough, but also fun would be comparing their college days, or a tally of the cost of each politician's damage to other people's property - companies and fast vehicles each has destroyed through recklessness. I wouldn't be surprised if there were plenty to discuss.

[MossyOak]

Well yes and no. It may serve in part to satisfy our desire for retribution since impeachment was denied us.

[Yermammy]

I still comment on it and work toward it everyday. Some troll deletes my stuff about half the time, but I won't stop until I see justice. Plain and simple.

[kissmygrits]

I wonder who wrote that line for D a n a P e r i n o. It's a bit too sharp to have come from her.

[imnotyou2]

It was probable "W" (he watches Gilligan reruns in the Oval Office)

[klandish]

Well, Cheney acts like the abusive Skipper. So W. probably identifies with Gilligan.

[nammy50]

I respect Oliver Stone's filmmaking abilities but I could not sit through another two hours of GWB, eight years was enough.

[metropixie]

Exactly my sentiments! Maybe I'll catch it years from now when it plays on the History Channel...

[Yermammy]

Hopefully Dick and Smirkey will be watching it too... from prison.

[longislandlol]

I know people who know people who know the family-- and they say the family is like Queen Elizabeth's" Firm" of a Family-- you do what they have in store for you to do when they want you to do it-- so that it was Jebby' the "Firm" had in the forefront to propel out there as Pres.---- when GW propelled ahead of Jebby -unexpectedly-- it caught the "Firm" off-guard

[TotoToo]

"It's a film about George W. rebelling against his father, doing better than his father, believing that he's stronger than his father, and outdoing his father...and it's about the colossal mistakes he made and the lies he told." - Oliver Stone

Whatever good has come from the Bush family name over the years, GW has utterly destroyed.

[bodhibabe]

Far too goodlooking to play W... but who else?