'A Big Bold Beautiful Journey' director: Restoring faith in love

Speaking with China.org.cn, director Kogonada said that creating "A Big Bold Beautiful Journey" — a romantic fantasy film starring Hollywood heavy weights Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell— felt like he was "restoring belief in the possibility of love."

A still from "A Big Bold Beautiful Journey." [Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment]

"A Big Bold Beautiful Journey," set for release in China on Oct. 18, tells of two strangers who meet at a mutual friend's wedding, then go on an original, funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together through different magical portals that open to their pasts. There, they have the chance to relive important moments, illuminate the path that led them to the present, and gain the opportunity to change their futures.

Kogonada recalled how he fell in love with the script written by Seth Reiss as soon as he started reading it. He called the script "funny, deeply emotional, imaginative, original and creative," adding that by the time he got to the musical part, he knew he had to direct it. He then met with the writer to discuss ways to make the project more personal to himself, noting it explored different ideas he had been thinking about in a highly creative way.

"Like many movie lovers, I'm hungry for new worlds, new characters and a new way of thinking about the human experience," he said. "But I also want something that feels relatable to my everyday life."

A still from "A Big Bold Beautiful Journey." [Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment]

In the film, doors are utilized as a symbolic motif that serve as portals to the characters' pasts. "I think doors are so much about possibility and so much about the unknown, but also about taking the risk of entering new possibilities," the director said. "I love the symbol of a door. I like that instead of using CGI or VFX, you can have a door and just your imagination, and it can lead us anywhere."

Kogonada's use of magical realism seamlessly blends fantastical elements with practical, everyday settings, creating a grounded yet whimsical experience crafted for the big screen.

"This is a mystic love story," he said. "I think what we were pursuing is how to balance the fantastic in such a way that it expresses the real human emotion both of them are going through. So, we didn't want the fantastic to be a distraction. We really wanted it to add to our understanding of what they had to reexperience in order to see why they had been struggling with the possibility of love."

The film brings together Robbie and Farrell on screen for the first time, following the most acclaimed successes of their respective careers. Robbie starred in and produced the global box-office phenomenon "Barbie," and Farrell was recently nominated for an Emmy for his chilling return as the infamous, twisted eponymous villain in the Max original series "The Penguin."

"They're two actors who are at the very top of their game. They both care deeply about performance," Kogonada said. "They're both really hard workers when it comes to their craft. There's a reason why they're both so celebrated, because they have that intrinsic quality of a deep interior life and a way of connecting with one another."

A still from "A Big Bold Beautiful Journey." [Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment]

The director noted that he was most impressed by how in tune Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell were. He added that the conversations between the actors were often playful — many were improvised, and some included unscripted lines that ultimately became favorites of the crew.

Another highlight of the film is the involvement of Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi — best known for his work on Hayao Miyazaki's classic animated films — who makes his American debut with "A Big Bold Beautiful Journey."

"It was such a surprise," Kogonada recalled. "I couldn't even imagine that he would be open to doing this. We welcomed him with open arms and humility because he's such a legend. His contribution was something I'll never forget."

The director at the time originally showed Hisaishi a very rough cut of the film, and the composer got to work creating the soundscape. "His music was more layered and complex. It wasn't just a single emotion — his music always had multiple emotions within a scene," Kogonada said.

Kogonada and Colin Farrell on the set of "A Big Bold Beautiful Journey." [Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment]

The director emphasized that he wanted audiences to really join in with the experience — since it is the kind of film he would want to watch in a packed theater. "It is like when I was a child and I was watching movies in big theaters," he said."I wanted that ingredient — something that was very moving, but also fun, unpredictable, surprising and had some of that magic."