Twisters | From arthouse cinema to Oklahoma tornadoes

Lee Isaac Chung received an Oscar nomination in the Best Director category for Minarian autobiographical drama about a Korean immigrant family who settles on a farm in Arkansas. Twistersinspired by the 1996 disaster film, is seemingly a surprising choice for the filmmaker. And yet, he assures us of the opposite.

In fact, it wasn’t so much the desire to bring gigantic, devastating spirals to the screen that fired up the 45-year-old American as the desire to make “an Amblin-type adventure film.” “I grew up with those movies and I’ve wanted to make one for a long time,” Lee Isaac Chung says in a telephone interview.

Although Twisters (Tornadoes in French version) is produced by Amblin Entertainment, it does not mention the house founded by Steven Spielberg in 1980 to please his investors. This company is behind a multitude of mainstream blockbusters that have marked generations of moviegoers: AND, The GooniesTHE Back to the Future, HookTHE Jurassic Park And World, Men In Black, Great 8 and many others.

Lee Isaac Chung précise à la maison, car, comme dans Minari, il a passé la majorité de sa jeunesse sur une ferme en Arkansas, dans le sud des États-Unis. L’action de Twisters se déroule dans l’État voisin, l’Oklahoma.

Des amis au destin tragique

Le parcours de Kate Cooper, personnage principal interprété par Daisy Edgar-Jones, est en quelque sorte semblable à celui du cinéaste. « Elle a quitté l’Oklahoma pour New York, mais revient afin de terminer ce qu’elle avait commencé. J’ai aussi vécu dans de grandes villes avant de rentrer chez moi pour faire des films », souligne Lee Isaac Chung. « La scène où elle retourne sur la ferme familiale a été inspirée par mes souvenirs ; la structure des lieux, les conversations, les émotions, les sons. »

Avant d’être analyste météo dans un gratte-ciel new-yorkais, Kate était une dynamique chasseuse de tornades à la recherche d’une façon de les éliminer. Alors qu’elle tentait de prouver une théorie, la jeune scientifique et ses amis ont été pris de court par une perturbation atmosphérique de catégorie EF5. Tous n’ont pas survécu.

Twisters s’ouvre avec cette séquence qui donne le ton. Même si on ne rencontre que brièvement le groupe d’amis, on s’y attache rapidement. Et c’est ce que Lee Isaac Chung souhaitait. « Je voulais qu’on sente leur amitié de longue date. Tous leurs dialogues et leurs gestes vont dans ce sens, indique-t-il. J’ai aussi choisi des acteurs que j’aime vraiment. J’ose croire que mon affection pour eux sera contagieuse. […] It was sad to work with them knowing that they would not be with us for the whole shoot. But we spent a lot of time together, to the point of forgetting their terrible fate. In the end, they were happy, because they were able to do their own stunts.”

The Future of Hollywood

So, five years later, Javi, played by Anthony Ramos, finds Kate in New York to invite her to join his brigade of tornado experts. Thanks to technology from the American army, he believes he can analyze in three dimensions the many factors of the fearsome natural disasters. All he needs is Kate’s flair to predict them far enough in advance to get close to them.

Back in Oklahoma, Javi’s uniform-clad squad will compete with the zany YouTubers led by the cocky Tyler Owens, played by rising star Glen Powell. The competitive spirit and differing goals will create different emotions that will affect the dynamics of both teams.

Lee Isaac Chung calls working with the trio of young actors a “dream come true.”

They are humble, talented and authentic. Who they are in public and on screen represents who they are in life. I believe this authenticity is a trait of the new generation of stars. Working with them and getting to know them made me realize that we are lucky that they are the future of cinema.

Lee Isaac Chung on actors Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos

The director’s main goal was to create a summer action movie. Like the Twister 1996, humor and romance had to be there as well. He relied on his actors to ensure that these elements were well rendered in a story that dealt with serious issues. Without addressing the climate crisis head-on, Lee Isaac Chung depicts the impact of tornadoes on humans. “The very specific tone of the original film helped me find the balance between showing the danger and destruction while preserving the pleasure of seeing the disaster scenes on screen.”

At almost 200 km/h

So, without neglecting the human aspect of the story, Twisters The main purpose of the project was to make the huge whirlwinds credible. Digital and tangible special effects are behind the creation of the tornadoes and their devastating path.

On set, jet engines and “the biggest fans in Hollywood” allowed the actors to incorporate 120 mph (193 km/h) winds into their performance. “It’s the equivalent of an EF1 tornado,” Lee Isaac Chung said. “We were throwing debris at them, hail, and they were giving it their all. They’re the main reason we believe in it.”

Nature is unpredictable. One day of filming was marred by a supercell storm, forcing the production to cut their day short by half. That day was dedicated to the opening scene of the group of friends trying to take shelter under an overpass to escape the approaching EF5. “The sky was amazing,” Lee Isaac Chung recalls. “We had real wind and rain. When we got back, it turned into a tornado! So they were really running away from a powerful weather event.”

Twisters is on display.