F1
With new F1 movie Rush about to be released, the Red Bulletin spoke to its director, Ron Howard.
“Ron's OK. He's a character,” says Niki Lauda. This is high praise indeed by the standards of the Austrian F1 legend. He is talking about Ron Howard, the 59-year-old director of 21 films, including Apollo 13, Frost/Nixon and A Beautiful Mind, for which he won the Oscar for Best Director.
Ron's OK. He's a character.
Niki Lauda
As a director, producer and actor, he has, for more than 50 years, been a central figure in Hollywood, a darling of the dream factory. His latest film, Rush, dramatises the battle for the 1976 F1 World Championship as fought by Lauda and British driver James Hunt.
Howard's office, without a hint of Hollywood hoo-ha, is housed at one of the best addresses in Beverly Hills. Displayed on the walls and shelves are sports memorabilia and family photos, along with entertainment industry trophies plonked casually in between. There is nothing slick, nothing affected about Howard. He is agile, fit and in fine form.
THE RED BULLETIN: Formula One is a rather exotic subject for Hollywood. Can it work?
RON HOWARD: We didn't make a film following the typical Hollywood formula. It became a labour of love for us. It's simply one of those great rivalry stories that one often finds in sports: a clash under extraordinary circumstances.
It's simply one of those great rivalry stories.
Ron Howard
But I also thought that it's been a long time since racing was dealt with in a theatrical movie with the intensity, authenticity and respect it deserves.
'Respect' is a concept that motor racing today might embrace more – in the 1970s it was a lifesaver. There were fewer electronics, more flying aluminium debris and safety zones didn't exist. Drivers who crashed had a 50-50 chance of serious injury, or worse. Today, they fly off the circuit and walk away with only a bad case of frustration.
That's why the '70s provide a better setting for a motor-racing movie, quite apart from the actual story. You don't find a rivalry like the 1976 Lauda-Hunt duel every day, even in the hype of motor racing.
In fact, something like that doesn't happen once in a decade. I believed that with today's film technology, we had a good chance to truly re-create that time as realistically as possible.
How did you mix real filmed action with the computer-generated footage?
Those times required every bit of technical expertise, experience and technology that we could provide. We had Academy Award winners in almost every position behind the camera. We wanted to be authentic.
We used real racing cars – that was tremendous.
Ron Howard
For me, it was a similar challenge to Apollo 13. This time, we didn't have the issue of trying to be weightless, but we still recreated all these races, all the tracks, and we were doing it on a very responsible budget. We used real racing cars. Owners of historic cars actually made the vehicles available to us for filming – that was tremendous.
Check out the rest of this feature in the September 2013 issue of The Red Bulletin, the global monthly magazine. For access to the international issue, download the free app for iOS or Android now.
Rush is released in the UK on September 13 and the USA on September 27.
