MovieChat Forums > V for Vendetta (2006) Discussion > How much of a hand did the Wachowski's a...

How much of a hand did the Wachowski's actually have in directing?

posted 10 years ago by Chrispy_G
3 replies | jump to latest

I know "officially" McTiegue directed the film.

But it is certainly a fact that has been mentioned numerous times that they did "uncredicted 2nd unit directing" that included things like V's battle with Creedy's men in the climax.

I'm wondering just how much of an impact they had on the directing side of things. The climactic battle of the film doesn't seem like something that would go to a 2nd unit.

I remember reading an article that mentioned that while doing 2nd unit work on the film, they noticed Natalie Portman was reading Cloud Atlas, and that is how they were introduced to the book.

Typically '2nd unit' stuff isn't shot with the leads...it is things like crowd shots, big establishing shots, action shots...things like that.

So it seems like their 'un-credited 2nd unit directing' was actually a heck of a lot more significant than anyone likes to admit. McTiegue was making his directorial debut, and is a collaborator of theirs.

So I imagine that if things started to go a little south with the film, or things got unwieldy, that the Wachowskis would have gladly stepped up to handle any number of scenes/sequences without taking any kind of credit for it.

I'm also curious, were they on set every day? Potentially pitching in and giving input on the direction of the film?

I'm just curious if "unofficially" the level of work they did was much more worthy of a co-director credit than it was of being acknowledged as un-credited 2nd unit directing.

Thoughts?

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[–] Definition00 10 years ago

I'm quite sure they've said Natalie Portman showed the the book one day (could have been a meeting any time, not on the set while shooting).

I've never heard that they could have ghost directed the film and don't think there's anything out there to substantiate it other than testimony from cast and crew involved and so far, zilch.

Though obviously the film is shot heavily in their style, I just figured Mctiegue had become an expert at emulating their work having been their 1st assistant director for so long.

[–] Chrispy_G 10 years ago

And they were producers on the film, as well as doing 'uncredited 2nd unit directing' where they pretty much crafted the climactic encounter.

But during one director commentary I listened to for a film, the director stated that a producer ultimately shares the duties of the director sort of '50/50' outside of being on set every day during filming.

So I don't think a heavy influence on the film as a whole can be denied.

[–] Cognoscente (2648) 4 years ago

It's like Spielberg running the show on the set of Poltergeist.