Nimród Antal thought ‘Retribution’ was a “challenge worth accepting.”
The 49-year-old director is at the helm of the English language remake of the 2015 Spanish film ‘El desconocido’ and jumped the chance to be the one to put the “fun concept” into the camera.
He told MovieWeb: “I think that the concept is something that has inspired a few different countries to remake. We weren't the only ones. I think the base concept was just so much fun. I liked the challenge of trying to make something suspenseful within these confined spaces. I always think that's a challenge worth accepting!”
The hostage thriller stars ‘Taken’ actor Liam Neeson as a man who has had his life turned upside down fighting to get it back and Nimrod went on to admit that he very much wanted to work with Liam, who stars alongside ‘Matilda’ actress Embeth Davidtz in the picture.
He added: “The opportunity to work with Liam Neeson was hyper appealing to me. He is a king of his craft. I just thought it would be a really cool experience. I was lucky enough to have that confirmed. I really enjoyed myself on the film, and Beth [Embeth Davidtz], and Matthew Modine in addition. Noma [Dumezweni], an incredible actor, and the kids [Lilly Aspell, Jack Champion], it was really a fun time for me to work with these very talented actors.”
“Liam’s a king of his craft and someone that has worked with some of the biggest filmmakers ever. It's a daunting feeling showing up to present your ideas to him. But with most of the greats, what I've noticed is if they sense that you are arriving with not only preparedness but a passion, then they respond to that very well.
"I'm a big collaborator. I'm someone that really enjoys the process of discovering things with the actors. I come with storyboards. I come with a set of ideas as to how I like to approach it. None of it is set in stone. Often I'll have other ideas, whether it's coming from the actors, the DP [cinematographer], or other team players.”
‘Retribution’ is due for release in cinemas on October 13.
