{"id":36160,"date":"2023-05-21T22:46:10","date_gmt":"2023-05-21T18:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=233465"},"modified":"2023-05-22T22:08:13","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T18:08:13","slug":"indiana-jones-cannes-harrison-ford","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/indiana-jones-cannes-harrison-ford\/","title":{"rendered":"Cannes Film Festival 2023: Unexpected Screen Duo Harrison Ford And Phoebe Waller-Bridge Are A Hit In New Indiana Jones Film"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"indiana-jones-cannes\"
CANNES, FRANCE \u2013 MAY 18: Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Harrison Ford depart the \u201cIndiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny\u201d red carpet during the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 18, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CANNES, FRANCE: In a hotel room inside the palatial Carlton along la Croisette, legendary Academy Award-winning actor Harrison Ford is, uncharacteristically, overwhelmed with emotion.<\/p>\n

When asked how he felt about reprising his role as the fedora-slinging adventurer Indiana Jones for a fifth<\/em> time\u2014and at 80 years old\u2014his piercing blue eyes drift off toward the light coming in from the balcony.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to complete the human story of a life,\u201d says Ford, deep in thought. \u201cWe spent years with this guy. I wanted to see him face the challenge of age.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enter Indiana Jones and The Dial Of Destiny<\/em>, a 154-minute, edge-of-your-seat action epic which, after 42 years, completes the five-part story about one of cinema\u2019s greatest heroes. The new film is set in 1969 New York, and the whip-smart professor of archaeology is about to retire to a modest, albeit lonely and sad life. That is until his rogue-ish god-daughter Helena (played by Fleabag<\/em>\u2019<\/a>s Phoebe Waller-Bridge)<\/a> shows up wanting to locate an artefact that her father had entrusted with Indy.<\/p>\n

At first it feels a little odd to listen to John Williams\u2019 acclaimed Indiana Jones adventure score only to see Waller-Bridge on the screen\u2014and without the hot priest. At times in the film, the actress\u2019 comic delivery rattles you\u2014Fleabag, is that you? On a plane with Indiana Jones? The mind boggles. But give it a second and you really will stop waiting for the English actress to break the fourth wall as she so regularly did in the British series that earned her an Emmy.<\/a> It\u2019s also really great to see a female lead on the screen who isn\u2019t the lead\u2019s love interest.<\/p>\n

\"indiana-jones-cannes\"
CANNES, FRANCE \u2013 MAY 18: Phoebe Waller-Bridge departs the \u201cIndiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny\u201d red carpet during the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 18, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"indiana-jones-cannes\"
CANNES, FRANCE \u2013 MAY 18: Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Harrison Ford depart the \u201cIndiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny\u201d red carpet during the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 18, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ford, who as we speak is dressed in a grey suit and has a blue and white polka-dot handkerchief in his pocket, has nothing but wonderful things to say about Waller-Bridge. The first 20 minutes of the film are dedicated to Indy\u2019s rugged, rough-around-the-edges younger days, a move Ford and director James Mangold say is not to incite nostalgia, but to show the simplicities of a life back in the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the world is not black and white anymore, it\u2019s shades of grey,\u201d Ford tells GRAZIA. \u201cMaybe not 50 [laughs] but a least a half a dozen!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s complicated and there\u2019s kids growing up in a world without a moral compass, to a degree,\u201d he continues. \u201cThis character that Phoebe plays is the articulation of that reality. Her process is so critical to the strength of the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationship between Phoebe\u2019s character and my character is one of the deepest relationships the series has created and featured. She\u2019s so accomplished and graceful as a performer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"indiana-jones-cannes\"
CANNES, FRANCE \u2013 MAY 19: Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge attend the \u201cIndiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny\u201d photocall at the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 19, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mansgold, who cast Waller-Bridge, agrees with Ford.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that [Phoebe\u2019s] unlimited,\u201d says the director. \u201cYou know there\u2019s a pretty damn clever Swiss watch operating behind those eyes, and you better be careful. She\u2019s sharp and fast. So, who better to have Harrison jockeying with than someone with all that skill? One of the hopes you have for every movie is that there\u2019s a kind of chemistry, a kind of music between your actors, and Harrison and Phoebe had a great dynamism together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waller-Bridge, 37, is the same age Ford was when he first starred as Indy in Indiana Jones: Raiders Of The Lost Ark.<\/em> The actress has been a standout in Cannes this year, not just on screen but for her sartorial choices. There was the plunging crisp white pant suit by Dolce & Gabbana at the press call, and that <\/em>Schiaparelli black gown at the film\u2019s May 18 premiere.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very nerve-wracking coming into something that is so adored,\u201d says Waller-Bridge, her British accent thick. \u201cIt\u2019s only really now [in this room] that I remember again<\/em> what a huge <\/em>franchise this is. That\u2019s all coming back up for me now!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"phoebe-waller-bridge-cannes\"
CANNES, FRANCE \u2013 MAY 18: Phoebe Waller-Bridge attends \u201cIndiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny\u201d photocall at Carlton Pier on May 18, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Mike Marsland\/Mike Marsland\/WireImage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The actions sequences are some of the best in the franchise. There\u2019s a scene where Ford is racing a horse through the New York Subway tunnels (which was ironically shot in Glasgow). Another where Waller-Bridge is involved in a frenzied tuk tuk chase through the streets of Tangier. The most climactic, it includes Ford, Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round<\/em>) and Boyd Holbrook (Logan<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved the fighting more that I can possibly describe,\u201d jokes Waller-Bridge. \u201cI loved the stunts and the action element. I was surprised at how freeing it can be as an actor to just throw yourself at something, get out of your head and just jump out of a tuk tuk. It could be a very useful exercise for an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of getting older, Ford says he was ambitious for a story that featured a reality in context of the character.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that reality is most specifically the presence of age,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted it to be about that, because that\u2019s what I\u2019m about right now. It moves me, and it generates my stimulus and imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t look back and say I wish I was that guy again, because I don\u2019t,\u201d he adds. \u201cI\u2019m real happy with age, I love being older. It was great to be young\u2026I could be dead! But I\u2019m still working. Go figure.\u201d<\/p>\n

His destiny, indeed.<\/p>\n

Indiana Jones and The Dial Of Destiny<\/em> is in Australian cinemas on June 29.<\/span><\/p>\n