Q:. Think your lucky streak will continue at the Academy Awards this weekend? Will the third time be the charm for "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King?"
A: I've really been racking my brain about it. I've lost sleep over it. Adding up figures and making out figures. I've got the compass out and I've got all the tools I could muster to try and come up with the answer of who's going to win. A crystal ball, everything else. I know this may be reaching, it may be a crazy thing to say, but whoever gets the most votes is going to win. I don't know, is that weird to say that? That's what I think (laughs).
Q: So you're not interested at all?
I'm not into comparing movies or performances. In principle, I think the idea of rewarding a good effort is interesting, but movies are generally different from each other as are performances and the conditions on how the performances are given and how they're edited and so forth. I don't invest a lot of time in even thinking about it. I don't relate it to what I'm doing for a living. I understand it's a whole satellite business that's not directly in my opinion connected to movie-making or art. It's a nice thing I guess and
I certainly wish everyone luck who was nominated on my team. But it certainly doesn't validate or invalidate the "Lord of the Rings" or Peter Jackson if it wins or loses any of the 11 nominations it has. It doesn't really matter to me. Feb 27, 2004
http://sports.espn.go.com/...page=10bqs/mortensenQ: I can’t help thinking that Peter Jackson has been underappreciated for what he’s managed to do with this enterprise. If Stanley Kubrick or Steven Spielberg were making this thing, there’d be an uproar of appreciation and publicity. I mean, he literally made three epics in almost one sitting, put together incredible extended DVDs and somehow managed to stay faithful to the spirit of Tolkien and his massive following.
A: Yeah, as well as you possibly could. You know, he’s not someone who goes out there, like some people, and very obviously chases awards.
He does what we all are not only contractually obligated to do but, most importantly, are happy to do — promote these movies. He’s not an artist who goes around relentlessly chasing Oscars. Some people will take or pursue a particular job so they can put themselves in a position to win an Oscar. I think that can be kind of sad. It doesn’t mean that they’re in any way deficient as artists or they’re not going to do a good job, but
I think someone who has that as their main goal risks missing out on the true satisfaction of teamwork, of being in the moment and enjoying the moviemaking process. You’re not really giving your full attention to the work. I don’t think Peter has anything against being rewarded with trophies, but I don’t think he really cares about it as much as he does about making good movies, about telling good stories. Maybe he hasn’t gotten an Oscar because he doesn’t seem to be kissing enough ass, or the appropriate asses. I don’t know.
[..]
Q: One reason that Tolkien still seems relevant is that he’s trying more than anything to communicate how dangerous and difficult it is to get completely different cultures to come together for the common good.
A: Oh, yeah. I think the movie’s success highlights those complications. We’ve talked about how some people don’t feel the films have gotten their due; to me, that’s something to be vigilant about, because it’s a trap. I mean, how much credit do you need? You find people getting greedy, even over that. It’s one thing to expect to be paid the money or respect you’re owed and have earned.
But ideally that is not really why you’re doing the job in the first place; you’re expecting to be treated fairly, yes, but that is not guaranteed. That is something that either comes to you or it doesn’t, that you will sometimes need to fight for.
If you’re going to get pissed off about not getting your due in terms of special individual attention in popularity contests such as award shows, that’s akin to not being satisfied with working within a group for the common good. What you can control is your attitude and the integrity of your own effort. There’s an interesting parallel in that, with the characters’ individual journeys in this story. Oct 24, 2003
http://www.salon.com/2003/10/24/viggo/
