“Amsterdam,” David O. Russell‘s first movie in seven years, hits theaters on Friday, and it’s his third team-up with Christian Bale. And IndieWire reports if things go Bale and Russell’s way, Bale hopes the new film will be one of many more collaborations between actor and director.
Bale went into detail with IndieWire about how he and Russell first conceived the character Bale plays in “Amsterdam,” World War I veteran Burt Berdensen. After “American Hustle” hit theaters in 2013, Russell invited Bale out to a late-night dinner to brainstorm another project to work on together. One dinner became several dinners spanning half a decade while the pair developed Berdensen. Then Russell stumbled upon a little-known piece of 20th-century history that became the cornerstone event of “Amsterdam,” and began work on the film’s script.
“I went away and made “Vice” and “Ford v. Ferrari” while we were doing that. But all the time David was working away on the story and I had Bert kind of bubbling in the back of my brain,” Bale told IndieWire. “Then there was a historical episode that had happened in America that David had learned of that I was unaware of. And he was just amazed. He called me up and said, ‘mate, I gotta tell you all about this.’” The event Bale mentions is the murder of US Senator Bill Meekins in 1930s, the crime Bale’s Berdensen and his two friends, John David Washington‘s Harold Woodsman and Margot Robbie‘s Valerie Voze, get accused of. The trio’s attempt to clear their names incites the rest of “Amsterdam.”
Bale went into detail about his and Russell’s creative process during the film’s pre-production. “We met up, and then we started thinking about creating this triangle of friendship in these characters that Margot and J.D. and myself play. Placing them in the midst of this factual event in American history,” Bale continued. “We were looking at photographs, watching jazz documentaries. And just seeing photos of people, hearing a comment made, jotting all these things down … it came from that. David’s a real circular thinker and I love the way he thinks, the way an idea will come around and come to the front for a bit and then disappear. And gradually, sort of bone by bone, we put Burt together.”
While Bale doesn’t have a writing credit on “Amsterdam,” he was a vital part of the film’s creative process. “I was wonderful to be that baked into the whole process,” said the actor. “By the time we came to actually start filming, Burt was sort of in my bones. I didn’t even have to think about him, because he had been there for years.” And Bale likely wouldn’t have had that much input into the character unless this was his third time working with Russell. But despite the controversies that swirl around the director, Bale would love to continue working him Russell.
“It’s a very unique experience,” Bale said of acting in Russell’s films. “David is unlike any other film director, and that’s what you want. That’s the whole point. A director brings a point of view, and a rhythm and everything, and the great ones are always unique. They’re singular. And David is that. Truly one of the greats.” Not everyone in Hollywood feels the same way as Bale. Russell is notorious for his on-set incidents with the likes of George Clooney, Amy Adams, and Lily Tomlin. And then there’s his 2003 physical altercation with Christopher Nolan at a Hollywood party. And the 2011 allegations involving his then-19-year-old transgender niece. But Bale sounded unfazed by any of that.
How will “Amsterdam” fare with audiences this weekend? Critical reception is mixed, but with the film’s stacked ensemble cast, which includes Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Michael Shannon, Zoe Saldaña, and more, there should be enough star power on-screen entice audiences. We’ll see how the movie does once it hits theaters everywhere on Friday.
