I love this because I’m living my life through making my films.
You’re drawn to stories set in such extreme conditions.
What do you think that says about you and the audiences you attract?
Well, about me is that, you know, I am a man of nature, you know.
I come from a country that is all about nature.
You know, we live on one big volcano, surrounded by sea.
Where I grew up, the weather is always changing, you know.
I was asked sometimes, ‘How did you prepare for Everest?’
I said, 'By walking to school in a blizzard every morning.’
So, that’s really where I come from.
I want to make movies that are visceral,
and people can physically, kind of,
experience something when they’re watching.
I like it when that happens to me,
not only intellectually but also physically,
like you can be there almost with the cast
and feel like what it is to travel to a place
or experience certain conditions.
So, when I make films about Iceland,
I want you to feel like you have been in Iceland,
and in not only beauty shots but the real, kind of, weather
and, you know, the nature, the harsh element of it, as well.
So, I think if people are interested in those kinds of experiences,
you know, I welcome them to my films.
What does your imagination tell you you’d do
in such extreme circumstances?
It’s kind of hard to judge yourself,
because I think people do surprise themselves.
But when I have been, and I have been in dangerous situations,
riding in the highlands and a girl got lost in the river,
and I was the one who went to get her.
And it’s not, ‘Oh, here’s a heroic moment.’
It’s just that there is a certain element that happens to you,
that everything is focused to one thing in a moment,
and I do believe that people that can save themselves,
there is something like that,
that there’s not an inch of you that doesn’t go into survival,
whether it’s to save someone else or save yourself.
And that’s the closest I’ve come to any explanation,
why some people manage to do this and why others don’t.
I’ve also been on a boat where a guy got stuck under the boat,
because he in trapeze and the boat turned over,
and I couldn’t turn it with him stuck under the boat.
And I had to go down there and dive and get him loose.
And it’s a weird thing,
it’s not like you think, ‘Oh, should I or shouldn’t I?’
You just go.
There’s nothing that stops you.
That’s what I believe in.
But then again, I haven’t been in a boat alone,
1,500 miles away from land, and I don't know what I would do.
And how did you discover your sense of adventure in your life?
Well, my sense of adventure has brought me to make those films,
because I’ve made a choice that I want to experience life,
I just don’t want to be a voyeur.
What I mean by that is I’m not looking for projects
that I can shoot in the most, like, best of conditions,
like in a studio or something that’s easy for me.
I’d rather go and live my life,
I got to go to Everest in one movie, I was in Fiji, doing this movie.
I love this, because I’m living my life through making my films,
and if that’s possible, then that’s what I choose to do.
Why do you think films like this are especially good for the big screen?
Well, the way this film is made
is that, on one hand, it’s very visceral and real and close to you,
but it also goes into sweeping, big, cinematic shots,
and I got one of the best DPs in the world to shoot this,
Bob Richardson,
and I think the experience both of the storm and the beauty of nature,
the strongest feeling you get of that is in the cinema.