Antonio Banderas on Zen and the single cat
By Michelle Foody
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/14/07 — Once upon a time, there was a cute little kitten with a big swagger and fiercely sexy voice that reminded villagers of Antonio Banderas, only with huge doe-like eyes.
And in this village, a studio took a risk with a big ugly ogre of a film star. And happily ever after, “Shrek” swept the box office. Now, DreamWorks is heralding the return of its box office king, for the third installment, on May 18. Not the first “3rd” movie to hit screens lately (Spider-Man 3 tore things up the last two weekends) and not the last (“Pirates of the Caribbean 3” is chomping at the bit), but in a summer of sequels, Shrek the Third remains ambitious, adding more famous voices along the way with Justin Timberlake and Amy Sedaris lending their pipes. But memorable Puss in Boots, brought to life by Antonio Banderas—and hoards of tireless animators—refuses to get lost in the fairy tale shuffle.
“What I love about Puss in Boots, I love the contrast. He’s very little but has a very strong voice. I love that he’s a solitary kind of guy, which is maybe why he’s drawn to Shrek,” philosophizes Banderas. “He sees Shrek as a whole, as logic, and this puts him in competition with Donkey.”
Spanish-born Banderas knows a thing or two about creating a character based almost complete on a sexy voice, after two Zorro movies, so perhaps animation was always in his future. After making his debut in Shrek 2 as Puss in Boots, the tiny little kitty with a Casanovas meets Napoleon complex, he reprises the feisty feline for the third.
“As adults, we grew up with these traditional stories. And now this film, it’s so counter-cultural.”
Turning the traditional fairy tale on its head, Shrek destroys all expectations of a normal, mindless kid’s movie. Banderas, a father himself—with wife Melanie Griffith—applauds its depth:
“I go to the movies with my kids, and yawn for two hours. But with Shrek, it really does have all these levels”.
And maybe it’s best that children can enjoy the film on an entirely different plane from their parents next to them:
“When I get busted, pulling out a little bag from my boot, children take it a different way from adults, and that’s okay”, the actor insisted.
Shrek is certainly not the garden variety cartoon movie. Aside from its groundbreaking approach to the formulaic fairy tale, the amazing CGI animation made cinematic history. Banderas spoke passionately about the ambitious team of film makers:
“It really is the work of teams of people. They want Shrek to keep breaking new ground, for people to speak about [animated] movies as ‘before’ and ‘after’ Shrek”, explained Banderas. “And never did we hear the word ‘no’ from the director. It was total freedom”.
Perhaps such a liberating film-making experience pushed Banderas into his latest project, both producing and directing the Spanish film “Summer Rain”. Premiering in the United States at Sundance, the film has opened across the world to very mixed reviews, and hasn’t been able to land U.S. distribution.
“It was totally polarized. Half the critics gave it 5 stars, and the other half want to crucify me. I turned my back on the box office, on the critics, on the whole professional world and did something totally free.”
While Banderas’ pet project might be inciting controversy across the world, DreamWorks is surely banking on more critical acclaim for this “Shrek.” Let’s hope it the big green ogre and his rag tag compadres are just as refreshing and irreverent the third time around.
