 Peter Chung In 1991, Peter Chung unleashed Aeon Flux, a series for MTV's Liquid Television that combined the far-out futuristic sensibilities of Phillip K. Dick, eye-busting details of Jean "Moebius" Giraud, mutant biotechnology of David Cronenberg, and dangerous sex appeal of Betty Page. So it makes sense that the Wachowski brothers involved him in The Animatrix, a batch of nine original animated shorts set in the world of The Matrix made by anime and anime-influenced directors. Chung's 17-minute "Matriculated" turns The Matrix's plot on its head, exploring what it's like for a robot to be brought into the fold of humans. It's a mind-blowing and meaningful chunk of filmmaking that brings the Los Angeles-based animator back into the spotlight where he belongs. |
GR: How was The Animatrix received at Cannes? PC: It was completely crazy. It was very nice, though. The people in Europe were really complimentary. A lot of them liked The Animatrix more than Reloaded. I think they got turned off by the megahype surrounding Reloaded. GR: When the producers called did you have to think it over before agreeing to be involved? PC: My case was kind of unique. They originally had Japanese directors in mind. I heard about it after a lot of the work had started, and I actually called them. It was something I really wanted to get involved in. GR: Did you feel that your style was particularly suited for the project? PC: Honestly, when I saw the first movie I thought they must have seen Aeon Flux. Several people told me that The Matrix felt like a live-action Aeon Flux movie, too. The Wachowskis and I have definitely been influenced and inspired by a lot of the same things. I was very comfortable working with their style and story concepts. GR: How did your angular, lean style evolve? PC: My favorite artist is an Austrian expressionist painter named Egon Schiele, who drew very much in that style. Apart from that, when I was doing Aeon Flux it was without dialogue. Using the entire body was much more important to me than just concentrating on the face and expressions. I thought of my characters as dancers to emphasize the expressive qualities of their bodies‹the same way dancers are very lean and wear very tight costumes to emphasize their bodies. GR: Are you pretty knowledgeable about modern dance? PC: Well, I went to Cal Arts, which has a renowned dance school. A lot of the students were dancers - like my roommate - so I was exposed to a lot of it. |