The Great Wall: Matt Damon has regrets about the film – CinéSéries

An exceptional co-production between the United States and China in 2016, “The Great Wall” did not receive the critical response it had hoped for. Star of the feature film, Matt Damon himself admitted that the film was not free from all faults.

The great wall : a crazy bet

Released in 2016, The great wall is not just a blockbuster with a huge budget of 150 million dollars. It is above all the ambition of a Chinese industry which chooses to collaborate with Hollywood to paradoxically compete with it. Indeed, to start the blockbuster, Legendary Pictures is joining forces with the Chinese studio Vision Pictures, well helped by the China Film Group Corporation (the country’s main production company which holds a huge monopoly on the distribution of foreign films within of the territory).

Ironically, it was during this same year that the Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda made a historic majority acquisition of the American studio. All the elements were there for the film restores the image of Chinese culture throughout the world. Especially since the production recruits the expert in the field of blockbusters that show how much China has a fantastic history: Zhang Yimou (Hero, The Secret of the Flying Daggers, The Forbidden City…)

Especially since the location of the film is a key element of this Chinese “soft power”. In effect, The great wall takes place in a re-imagined Medieval China. We find the western mercenary William Garin who finds himself alongside the brave warriors of the Nameless Order. This mysterious group is humanity’s last bulwark against the Taotie, monstrous creatures adept at human flesh. Posted on the Great Wall of China, this organization, helped by Garin, intends to deliver the biggest battle of his life.

The Great Wall ©Legendary East

When Matt Damon’s daughter makes fun of him

Whether The great wall achieves a decent score at the box office (330 million dollars in revenue), it is well below the objectives that the American and Chinese executives wanted to achieve. Above all, the film, which is supposed to promote Chinese culture, has a white star named Matt Damon as its headliner. It does not take more for the film to be accused of racism and whitewashing, as was at one time The last Samourai with Tom Cruise (and directed by Edward Zwick who almost directed The great wall).

Guest in the podcast WTFMatt Damon returned to The great wall and the rampage of poor reviews the film suffered. And he has a hard time defending the feature film, especially when his daughter taunts him by reminding him that he played in it:

She talks to me about this film, which she calls “the wall”. I tell him it’s still called “The great wall” and she answers me: “Dad, there is nothing great in this film”.

In the rest of the interview, Matt Damon himself acknowledges that the film deserves some criticism. Moreover, he had anticipated his failure:

I love Zhang Yimou’s work and it was an honor for me to shoot for him (…) But he was trying to make a Hollywood film. I tried to tell him to make his film but it was too late. I figured that’s exactly how disasters happen. The film does not work despite the excellent heads of post and the ingredients gathered to make a blockbuster (…)

We would like to thank the author of this article for this incredible web content

The Great Wall: Matt Damon has regrets about the film – CinéSéries