Jean Jacques Annaud Interview 2 Previous JEAN JACQUES ANNAUD So that day we were using our star that was the most peaceful of all tigers. It was a very sunny day, very quiet afternoon. The tiger had double lunch, a larger lunch than usual, and his motor home was on the side of the camera, and two trainers were on the sides of Guy. And we did that scene once, and we were all petrified because you just never know. And of course, you know, when you see the boy interacting on screen with a tiger, what I did instead of shooting it together, I shot it one after the other. I shot first the tiger listening to his trainer. Then when I was done, when the tiger did his perfectly beautiful scene, I put him back in his trailer, and then, put the boy in the position of the tamer, and then combined it later in post production. Now on the reverse, when I'm facing the boy, instead of using that trick, I used an animatronic doll.  Therefore what the boy is kissing is a doll. You don't see it because it's animated, it's animatronic, and it's out of focus, and your attention is on the boy. But you see, would never allowed something like that. Although, as you possibly know, a lot of kids in those days had little tigers and panthers. Yesterday, here in Los AngelesLos Angeles, I was talking to Sarakin, my PR in England, and she said, you know that is my life.  I was born in Malaysia. I had tigers. I was sleeping with them. Yeah. And, and I have a lot of pictures of that. Of course it is very mad. It's very dangerous, because they grow very quickly, and even when they're small, they've got terrifying claws that are as sharp as razors, and for fun, they go to eyes, because it's moving, it's funny, and you lose one in a second. So you know, of course, one has to be very, very careful. Those are very dangerous animals. This is why they are fascinating, because I was often thinking, when I was looking so thrilled behind my bars, looking at my actors, my tigers coming in front of the camera, I can tell you that I was mesmerized. But I also said to myself, I know why I have so much respect for their majesty, and their dignity. I look up to them. They look down on me. I am just a small, two legged person. They are magnificent, agile, powerful creatures. And this is why we all instinctively have so much respect for tigers, because we're frightened, and I know that I could not have the same respect, and relationship with a guinea pig or a rabbit, although I may love a rabbit or a guinea pig. INTERVIEWER How important is it to get a message out there that we have to learn to live with these creatures? JEAN JACQUES ANNAUD Well, there are two levels why it's important. First of all, we need nature to (laugh), to feed us. We need nature to breathe. And by doing what we're doing, putting tarmac, and concrete everywhere there was a forest in trouble. A lot of bacteria, and cockroaches are very happy with what we're doing. But we are not very happy for our future. Now there is another reason. There is in a way a more immediate, a lot of people feel very much in trouble with themself, because they don't understand where their emotions are coming from, where their passion are coming from. They think it's very devilish that they have to go to see the analyst.  Well, I suggest they just look at their dog. They have a lot to learn. But what they have to learn is to say I am not so different. I am not a man, or a woman, you know. No, if you say, well I'm just a slightly different mammal. Maybe it's a very irritating idea, this. But it's also a very quieting idea that makes your feel, after all more humble, not so special, that all those weird emotion of sometimes-even killing, you want, you hear people saying, I want to kill him. They don't do it, but they have this feeling. It's disturbing. Well, if you understand that every animal has to kill to survive, it explains to you what went on. And I know each time I'm in the forest, I have the chance to travel, because I know that all my system is made for that environment. And of course, we're talking lost in a city. It's not made for we make a, we make it. But there are a lot of missing elements. We are fruit pickers, you know. Our fingers are even the way we see. Why is it that we see more green? Well, you see, we see green and red because we have to know what is a ripe fruit or not. People don't realize that. We're just predators as well, but you know, predators as much for the forest. And what I'm saying is, it's important to, to be happier, to understand where we belong. And once again, we had such a great experience, identifying with tigers, and all of us, you know, are now back in our streets, in our houses, and we miss those moments, those magical moments where we were in the forest with the tigers. INTERVIEWER Even when there is no dialogue, I'm understanding what they're saying. Did you have that in mind? JEAN JACQUES ANNAUD No, but you know, the tigers, to my great surprise, have many more facial expression than I anticipated. Like 10 times more than I anticipated, and in terms of language, it's incredible. They have at least 40 different sounds that I could identify, and probably many more. And now that I have learned about that, there is a reason. Tigers, because they have to hunt alone have to have vast territories. They have to communicate with sounds, to say hey, I'm here. Hey, this is Joe. I would love to spend a moment with you. You remember? I love you. And even when, there is a short distance, like, three, four yards, in that vegetation, they don't see much. They still have to talk. And, and a lot of animals do not need such a large vocabulary, and they do. You know for instance, for my sound crew, we had a little dictionary, because I would say, well, this is a moan, or this is a yap, or this is the famous, arum. The arum is a long distant call very typical to tigers. Or you have this very incredible thing called the prusten. Prusten is, well they don't purr.  They go make this noise that means I love you. You're my friend. You are, I'm happy to see you again. And for instance, that was a very happy moment when, after a scene, I would do the same with my legged actors, my two legged actors, always go to see them for a scene, especially after, you know, an intense scene. And it was always a gratification when the tiger would look at me with those beautiful eyes, and would go make that noise. But you know, people may think that I'm cuckoo, but of course I had spent a year of my life with those animals. Therefore, I had a very different experience than people who drive their car and park it underground. Next		Home Interviews Antoine Fuqua Interview King Arthur Interview Arv Grewal Interview Asia Argento Interview Behind the Scenes of "War of the Worlds" Bernie Goldmann Interview Clive Owen Interview Dakota Fanning Interview Dennis Hopper Interview George A Romero Interview Greg Nicotero Interview The Hulk Press Conference Ang Lee Press Conference Ioan Gruffudd Interview John Leguizamo Interview Kathleen Kennedy Interview Keira Knightley Interview