Are you concerned about the comparisons that are going to be made between the two films in the end when it comes out? Do you feel a lot of that stress?
Zwart: Yeah, it's funny. Like I said, I'm from Europe and the movie was a big hit back there. But it wasn't as enormous as it was here. When I went on the project, I didn't know that this was like messing with a national treasure. I didn't know that. And I might have been more nervous going into it then. So I was like okay, let's just make the best movie possible. And then after a while, when people came surfacing saying, what are they doing messing with this, to me it would have been the same thing as somebody trying to make a remake of Star Wars - I'd be like oh, come on. But I think we've succeeded very well in making it different enough that - because we're retelling a story. We're not necessarily remaking a movie. And it's an epic story about a kid who really needs to stand up for himself and he gets helped by a mentor. I always compared - it's as if Spielberg came to me and said, okay I will spend three months teaching only you how to make movies. I think what works in our favor is Jackie Chan, the idea of having Jackie Chan teach you and only you for months after months, is more than what Mr. Miyagi kind of achieved back then, I think. Because everybody knows him as - oh how cool would that be?
Obviously this comes from China being the location, but kung fu being the new form of martial arts that is the focus of the film. Is that something that from the beginning was the plan and was there ever a possibility that it would have just been karate like previously?
Zwart: No, in going to China, it had to be kung fu. And we just had to figure out how to make people understand that we know China is kung fu and karate is Japan. And we decided to keep the title because when you see the movie, you'll understand that it is a stigma. They are teasing him by calling him the karate kid. That's why it made total sense to us. In the movie, also the mom who doesn't really know the difference, she says, 'didn't you like that karate class?' And he goes, 'it's not karate mom.' So we all know it's kung fu. For me the big difference physically, was that in karate, there is a lot of the mechanical, this and that and you can just rehearse things over an over again. Kung fu is a lot more of a ballet. So when we came up with the jacket on, jacket off thing, there are like twelve moves buried in one single swooping move. And that's what I loved about the whole idea, that you can learn one thing and what you discover is that you've actually learned twelve different kung fu moves within that one little thing.
Who did you work with in China for all the kung fu training?
Zwart: We worked with Wu Gang. He's the master, as they call them, and he is one of Jackie Chan's guys and he himself was a champion in kung fu and wushu, as they call it over there. And he was fantastic. I mean the choreography on the end fights are just amazing.
Yeah - that was one of my favorite parts, just watching him learning kung fu, especially for me. Since I don't know it, instead of just seeing a movie where they're just perfect at it, watching the progression of learning how to do it up to that point and then seeing Jackie Chan's skills and everyone else just coming into it. I thought it was just, as you said, beautiful, and the choreography was great in the end.
Zwart: Well, thank you.
What was it like shooting in China? I imagine that was very interesting.
Zwart: Yeah, I mean, having had a commercial career, I pretty much shot all over the world already. I thought I had never come across any challenges that I wasn't going to - I thought I knew most things, very pretentiously of course. But then in China, it was a whole different aspect, because of the language barrier obviously, which we overcame with translators. And there is also a massive amount - the crew was a 550 man crew.
Wow.
Zwart: I wanted to make this a bit like Slumdog Millionaire, where I went into the streets and the corners of Beijing and shot authentic stuff. So I had to just talk to Jackie and Will and say - because they come with… Jackie - it's Beatlemania when Jackie walks up the street in China. So I had to say, let's jump in a van and you guys put on baseball caps and sunglasses and we'll get ready. When the cameras are rolling, you jump out, and Will was standing behind with me on a small monitor. That was the only way we could actually do it, because as soon as Jackie walked through the shot and they saw that he was there, it was pandemonium. And the same thing when we went to the mountains and those temples. To get there, you have to drive for hours into the mountains and then take a bus and then take a gondola that just takes two people and it goes almost vertical. And I said, I'm dependent on the light. If I'm going to wait up there for a 550 man crew… So we just all - let's do this like an indie movie and Will and Jaden jumped on with lens cases on their lap and Jackie schlepped equipment up. And we just shot it all off the shoulder and that's how it got that whole vibe all the way through the movie, which I'm very happy with.
How has the post-production process been? How has it been coming together for you watching it here and scoring and everything you're doing?
Zwart: I mean, that's always my favorite part. We cut the movie together pretty quickly and had an amazing test screening, which just convinced everybody this movie was maybe bigger than we first thought. And then we were so fortunate to get James Horner who came straight off of Avatar and nobody thought we would get him. But we showed him the movie and he loved it. So the last few days we've been in here, in the old Son scoring stages, and we just added the last touch of James Horner which gives the movie an enormous scope.
I'm looking forward to seeing how well it does and just reception. From what I saw watching it, I think it will be received very well. I think it's got potential to live up to the original and really surprise fans with everything you said in that it's a very different story, but with the same beats and different locations. I think it's a really great feel.
Zwart: Thank you.
With your career so far, you've done mainly family films.
Zwart: Yeah.
And is that sort of your forte? Is that what you love doing? Would you love to branch off in different genres and do other kind of films?
Zwart: Yeah. I think that's always a tough question. You always have these discussions with your team, the agents, and what's a good career move. And like I said, I've never really considered myself as very specific genre this or genre that. And commercials have taken me all over the gamut in terms of genres. So if you put the career thinking hat on, you go, oh family movies. That would make a lot of money. But you know, as a filmmaker, I think I've shown, at least with Karate Kid, that the visual side and that there's a much more - I think that goes for any director - that there's a lot more in every filmmaker than what you pigeonholed him to [initially]. But I would definitely love to get into more - I love science fiction. If I could make like a really serious Alien type movie, I would love that.
I also like the Indiana Jones franchise, with adventure but still serious and scary for kids. I wish I could just give you a clear answer, but frankly I really don't know.
Well, I mean it's essentially a hypothetical question, as in like what would you love to do?
Zwart: It's like I said, if the story intrigues you, the genre comes second, I think.
Yeah, interesting. That reminded me about shooting in China on locations and obviously the result in this is so visceral, so unique. But we see so often nowadays the trend of shooting in studio, shooting with green screens. Moving forward in your career, are you going to strive to shoot on location as much as you can? I mean, you said before that you've shot around the world. It seems like you really like doing that?
Zwart: Yeah. I think the authenticity of things… We decided on this movie also - no green screen, no effects, nothing. We want to go there and be on those locations. And it does give the movie a different breath, I think. There are still limitations, I think, in what you can achieve on green screen and the suspension of disbelief is always limited when people smell that they've been manipulated. It, again, depends on the story. But I always try to do as much in camera as I possibly can.
Is there anything else that you are currently attached to or working on besides The Karate Kid?
Zwart: Yeah, I have a few things. They're not announced yet, so I don't think I can speak about them. You'll be the first to know. Yeah, I'm reading a bunch of stuff and the buzz is getting around town. I think people see, oh, is that the same guy who did these movies? So that I'm very happy about.
Yeah, like I said, I'm looking forward to seeing it come out and the progression of your career and whatever you do next, I'm already looking forward to it.
Zwart: Oh, thank you. That's nice of you. Thank you.
Thanks to Harald, Bebe, and Gillian, for putting together this interview. Go see The Karate Kid this summer!