Harrison Ford was shown this Friday in Cannes very excited to present the film Indiana Jones and the dial of fate (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), with which he says goodbye to Indiana Jones. “I adore this character, what he has given me in life,” he said.
At 80 years old and with a successful career, he has no problem with his age and answered amused when asked why this is the best time to leave Indy. “Isn’t it obvious?” He responded, pointing to himself amidst the laughter of the journalists who did not leave a single seat free in the press conference room, according to a report by Alicia García de Francisco and Nerea González for the agency efe.
? C’est dans la boîte! – It’s a wrap!
Harrison Ford a reçu her une Palme d’or d’honneur surprise en hommage à l’ensemble de sa carrière.
Yesterday Harrison Ford received a surprise Honorary Palme d’Or in tribute to his entire career. #Cannes2023 pic.twitter.com/kVP6W79ASt
— Cannes Film Festival (@Festival_Cannes) May 19, 2023
Harrison Ford was clearly pleased with a film directed by James Mangold, replacing Steven Spielberg, who dealt with the previous four, and which is a compendium of everything Indiana Jones is.
“I wanted it to be a good movie, a movie that summed up the four precedents, that would allow anyone to remember that vigor of youth, but I wanted the character to live through all phases of his life,” Ford explained.
the saga
41 years have passed since that 1981 in which it premiered in search of the lost ark (The Raiders of the Lost Ark), the first installment of this saga born from the imagination of George Lucas.
This fifth and last? feature film is the perfect closure to the adventures of the popular archaeologist but, although Ford assured that it will be the last, one of his co-stars, Mads Mikkelse, questioned it.
Because what was made clear at the press conference is that Ford wants to continue working and “telling good stories”, including this Indiana Jones who has had good actors and a passionate director.
“Everything was in place to support me at my advanced age,” joked the actor, star of another of the most popular movie sagas: Star Wars.
“I have been very lucky,” admitted Ford, who assured that there are many talented people who never achieve success. “In my case I had to wait for luck and the opportunity, but in that period I had the opportunity to learn, like a craftsman.”
In his opinion, his main luck “was working with highly talented people”, as well as finding his place “among these geniuses” and not despairing “when he was not up to the task and did not do things” as he would have liked.
the dial of fate
The new installment of Indiana takes place in 1969, with the archaeologist about to retire from his teaching position, when suddenly his goddaughter Helen Shaw (Sophie Waller-Bridge) appears and with her a character from the past, Jurgen Voller (Mads). Mikkelsen).
It includes a scene from that past in which Ford and Mikkelsen have been rejuvenated by new technologies that in this case have been used well, but for the actor “it’s like a trick, it’s not honest from a certain point of view because It’s not real”.
A technology that led him to reflect on the possibility of being young again. “I wouldn’t want to be back the way I was before, I’m really happy at the age I am, I don’t look back.”
And he joked by adding that it was great to be young but life is phases. “Now I might not be here and I’m still working. Everything is going well,” she added.
He also does not feel nostalgic for objects related to his characters, although he does keep one of Indy’s hats. “What counts are the lived experiences, the objects do not matter, what matters is what you feel”.
Along with him, Mangold, who, in Ford’s words, “has completely filled the shoe size left by Steven Spielberg, has made a wonderful film for me.”
“Obviously it was a big responsibility because there was a huge expectation,” Mangold explained of the moment he was offered to take over the film.
But, he noted, “you can’t live up to the expectations you set up for more than a certain point.” And the crew that was going to make the film was the best possible, so he accepted the assignment once he realized that he wasn’t there just to replace Spielberg.
Both Mangold and Waller-Bridge and Mikkelsen claimed to have been excited to enter a universe they had known since they were young and they all praised the good atmosphere that was created on set and Harrison Ford’s closeness to everyone. “He wanted to be Indiana Jones even before he wanted to be an actor,” recalled Mikkelsen, who plays the film’s bad guy who, of course, is a Nazi.
Harrison Ford also received an honorary Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival, a few hours after Michael Douglas was awarded the Honorary Palme d’Or, in homage to his 55-year career. “It’s extraordinary to see your whole life in an instant,” Ford said.
