For
director Oliver Stone, Any Given Sunday,
by his own admission, kicks off a new creative
chapter in his life: "Natural Born Killers
and U-Turn were my darkest,"
he says. "I did those and reached an artistic
end. This is a very positive film for the
millennium."
According
to Stone, football is basically a metaphor
for life. But after the controversy of his
earlier pictures, people were curious as to
whether he'd be getting back to politics some
time soon. But as Stone pointed out, "My solution
is not to make controversial films. I go where
my heart takes me.
"It's
very hard to make political films in the US,"
he added. "I tried to do the Martin Luther
King film and all the press went, 'here he
goes again, another conspiracy
theory'. But it was about the character."
As
was Any Given Sunday. "It
was about the people behind the game. I
didn't set out to analyse the game. The
film goes to the heart of America. There
is a huge volatility there now, and insecurity.
Football catches that volatility and change.
"There
is an ambivalence to football. But you also
have to admire it. My son played football
and he's so proud to be part of a team.
I did tennis and cross-country running and
that's about competing with yourself.
"Willie
Beamen (Jamie Foxx) is playing for his body
and himself. He is not in synch with his team-mates.
The moment he gets in synch, that's when it
happens. He becomes a leader and it's as if
he can hear the Gods talking."
Stone
starts a new chapter