Don’t miss the first part of my hour-long 1-on-1 with action director Isaac Florentine here, in which we discuss the beginning of his career, his involvement in both cinema and martial arts, as well as his professional relationship with the legendary Menahem Golan. Below you’ll read more about Florentine’s incredible partnership with action star Scott Adkins and the big screen magic these two are able to create on a small budget. Read on!
Ed Travis: So, you mentioned the beginning of your collaboration with Scott Adkins. Did you meet on the set of Special Forces?
Isaac Florentine: I’ll tell you how we met! It is an interesting story. Around 1998 I opened with a Canadian friend, Don Warner, who is a mover and shaker in the martial arts world… we opened together, a company, that on the side was doing martial arts instruction. For me the company offered an opportunity to meet all the top martial artists in the world. I soaked up their techniques like a sponge! And around that time people used to send me a lot of VHS tapes from people who wanted to get into the movies. So I used to see mainly martial artists who could not act, or martial artists who just didn’t understand the difference between real martial arts and screen martial arts. There’s a huge difference. Or actors that couldn’t do martial arts. I got tired of those tapes after a certain point and said I could not watch them anymore. But one day I got to the office and Don tells me, “Isaac, you better take a look at this VHS from an English guy”. I told him, “Look, Don, I’m tired of seeing those tapes. I don’t think so.” Then at the end of the day, Don, the polite Canadian that he is, says “I think you should take a look at it” and I say fine. So I’m looking at the tape, and here come images of Scott. Okay, he is good looking. Now, can he move? Then here comes his martial arts techniques. So okay, he is a good martial artist. But can he do all the big screen tricks? Is he a trickster? Does he get screen fighting? Then a section comes up on the tape called “screen fighting” and I’m going “whoa, whoa, whoa, the guy is incredible.” So then… can he act?! So I’m waiting to see if there will be acting scenes. And then came scenes from a BBC drama. Can there be more solid acting than from BBC dramas? Wow! So I found myself picking up the phone and saying, “Look, I don’t know you but I want to work with you and I’ll try to find you an opportunity.” So I go to Boaz Davidson, who I call my sensei in the movie industry, my mentor. And by the way he also grew up working with Menahem Golan. So I put in the tape for Boaz and he reacts the same way as me through all the parts of the tape. Boaz had studied cinema in England and sees his acting skills and says “We should get this guy a role in our next movie, Special Forces.” So we tailored a special role for Scott in the film to see what will happen. But this is only part of the story, I don’t know if you have time to talk about it?
ET: I sure do!
IF: You do? Okay, well we have a small role for Scott and we try to get him. But his manager thinks we will work him 24 hours a day and doesn’t believe us that we’ll take care of Scott. We’re trying to make a deal with Scott’s manager and they cannot get it done. My producer tells me “Isaac, I’m not supposed to know this, but get on the phone and call the manager, maybe you can soften him up.” So I tell the manager that he doesn’t know me but I’m a stand up guy. I won’t work Scott to death. We’re in Vilnius, Lithuania, we are low budget, but we won’t work Scott to death. And he tells me he believes me. So he talks to Scott, and calls me back. He’s telling me Scott likes me, likes my movies… and I’m waiting for the “but”. And then he tells me no, there is no “but”, he is coming! Scott comes and he says “Guys, I’m here to work, don’t worry about working me too hard.” And the whole thing was a wonderful experience.
ET: I think what you guys are doing is incredible. I can’t believe the quality of action you are able to capture. And I know it is lower budgets and tighter schedules and I’m curious what strategies you guys use to be able to capture what you are able to capture on camera. It seems crazy! It seems like you are shooting for the moon with what you are trying to capture and the amount of time you have to get it. For instance, the single-take dojo fight in Ninja 2 is mind-blowing and I imagine a scene like that would take SO much time and I don’t know how you are able to capture that.
IF: It’s all about organization. Let me explain. When I did Power Rangers, the producers there told me “Hey, you are directing every day. You have carte blanche. Go experiment. If it doesn’t work, shoot it again tomorrow.” So I had the opportunity to say “I’ll do this in one shot, I’ll do this in split screen.” Pure cinema. For movie lovers! So I experimented. Then I did a series that was ahead of its time called WMAC Masters. So they wanted their fights to look real. And this is 1994/1995. I said the only way to make it look real is not to cut. Otherwise it looks fake. That show was a kids show but I got to experiment. And I think it was 8 years ahead of its time. Again, it is all about the preparation. So, I’ll go see the work the choreographers are doing. Because I’m a martial artist I could see what they were doing and suggest things. Very technical stuff but I understand it, they understand it. Then we are able to divide it into sections.
Secondly you have the team you are working with. On Undisputed II I worked with Ross Clarkson, the DP. Ross is a very good DP. He is totally underused. If not for Ross… I don’t know. I’m trying to say Ross is the best camera operator in the world. We took our time to gel. On the first day of Undisputed II I was with JJ Perry and Ross and Ross didn’t seem to get it yet. JJ and I were talking and saying, “We might have to be patient with him.” And then, by the second fight… he nailed it! He nailed it. Now after 8 movies with him he knows my style more than I do. He can take the camera, weave in and out. Do you know how many times he’s gotten hit? Sometimes he wears a helmet! Especially with sword fights. Again, he is amazing.
So the talent you work with makes it. You have Ross on camera, a great choreographer, and then in front of the camera you have Scott, or Marko Zaror, or Kane Kosugi, or Tim Man. It’s obvious that this is a team. We gel. This is how we make what we make.
ET: I’ve always paid attention to the choreographers you’ve worked with, but I hadn’t noticed that you’ve had a consistent DP throughout many of your projects.
IF: Yes, and the same editor too! Irit Raz. She’s amazing. You know why? On the one hand she has a woman’s sensitivity that we primitive men don’t have. She can find subtle moments and create the drama. And she knows to go WITH the style and not go against the style. Many editors think editing is chopping. No. Editing is going with the style of the director and making something with that style. And most importantly, her taste is different than mine and she is very critical. So it is a good combination because of her different sensibilities. And she also has patience. I don’t have that patience. But I’ve done 15 movies with her and we argue all the time. And that is a good thing. Also, my sensei, Boaz Davidson. Boaz is a story teller and he has a keen eye for human nature. He understands story better than anyone I’ve seen. So what I do is about collaboration and you have to throw ego aside. That is basically it.
ET: I feel that the action you guys are able to capture right now is rivaling the big studio, big budget pictures that we are getting in America. So you are at the top of your game. What are some next goals for you? How can you improve on what you are already doing?
IF: It isn’t a matter of improving, the question is how do I get to the bigger stuff? Hollywood is about perception and about meeting people. You are right about the big budget movies. They are very strong when it comes to car chases, explosions, big metallic monsters that are clashing, CGI… But when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, they are not as good!
ET: Agreed!
IF: There is a reason. Mainly the directors step out and let the stunt coordinator take over. Or they aren’t sure of themselves and they cover. Covering is not directing! Covering is documenting the action. Then they don’t have a choice and they cut, cut, cut and chop, chop, chop. Sometimes in order to cover weak choreography. Or not knowing what to do they’ll shake the camera. So then you don’t see the fight. You get the feeling of a fight, but you don’t see a fight. The way I see it is totally different.
Look, watch Singin’ In The Rain. Watch Donald O’Conner singing “Make Them Laugh.” You see everything! And it is divided into segments exactly like a fight. And it is totally coherent. And you see the geography. And you see the movement. And it flows. Fights should be the same thing! Coming from karate, I wanted a technique that would be clean. I want to see the beauty and the cleanness of the technique, I don’t want to chop it.
Also as a filmmaker I want the audience to understand where we are. I don’t want people to think, in the middle of a fight, wait a minute, what is going on here? Because the minute that happens, you lose them. I don’t want to lose them.
I’m kind of old school. To me, when you see Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing, you see long segments because they can do it! The same with Gene Kelly. They can do it! It is the same with fights. Why cut? Orson Welles said “The difference between boys and men is the length of their shot.”
ET: If you had your dream big budget shot, what would you like to do? Would you step down and be an action choreographer for a bigger budget film, or would you say “No I need to direct.” What do you think?
IF: I could do both. Of course, as a director, you want to direct. Here is another thing. As a director, people see the action I’m creating. But I pay attention to everything. To the storytelling, to the drama. Because if there is no emotional content, you don’t care. People like the action because the stories and emotion work. But if you look at my style it is seamless. The same style I use for action is the same style I would use for drama. But because it is drama people don’t see it as much. Again, in big budget movies sometimes you have very different styles between the action scenes and the drama scenes because the director passed it off, or they were doing coverage. But I keep it seamless. And as a director you serve the script. But because the action is in your face, people see it.
As you can see, Florentine has confidence in his own style and no qualms about calling out Hollywood films for their failures to capture great hand-to-hand combat in recent years. Americans mostly only know Florentine’s work through direct-to-video releases, but the international community has embraced the films Florentine and Adkins have been creating for the last decade. In Part 3 of our interview we’ll discuss the worldwide love for Undisputed II & III‘s lead character Boyka and why America doesn’t seem to be looking for the kinds of action heroes that we loved so much in the 1980s and ’90s. Don’t miss it!
And I’m Out.