After breaking onto the scene with quiet and intimate dramas like “The Rider” and “Nomadland,” filmmaker Chloe Zhao went full commercial with the Marvel Studios film “Eternals”.
The result at the time was something a little different for a Marvel movie, a mega franchise known mostly for sticking to formula, and the results weren’t well-received.
Reviews for the film from critics and audiences were mixed at best and the lowest of the MCU at the time, though others since have been worse.
Several years on, sentiment towards the film hasn’t hugely changed, though it has softened slightly due to numerous weaker MCU works being pumped out in the last five years. By comparison, “Eternals” isn’t as bad as it seemed initially.
Zhao recently spoke with Vanity Fair about her new film “Hamnet” which deals with the life of Shakespeare and his wife following the unexpected death of their 11-year-old son. Zhao says “Eternals” helped prepare her for the historical drama:
“Eternals prepared me for Hamnet because it’s world-building. Before that, I had only done films that existed in the real world. I also learned what to do and not to do – what’s realistic and what isn’t.”
One difference is budget, with this film not having anywhere near the resources of the Marvel movie:
“Eternals had, like, an unlimited amount of money and resources, and here we have one street corner that we can afford, to [stand in for] Stratford…. Eternals didn’t have a lot of limitations, and that is actually quite dangerous. Because we only have that street corner [in Hamnet], suddenly everything has meaning.”
“Hamnet” will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival ahead of a Thanksgiving weekend release.
