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Long a whipping boy for fan boys and critics alike, director Uwe Boll may finally be getting some much due respect and praise from the very community who shunned him. With scathing reviews and personal attacks commonplace director’s cinematic interpretations of video games ranging from “House of the Dead” to “Postal”, “Far Cry: and many others, Boll in recent years has done quite well with more personal and independent dramas. I had cited his films “Stoic” and “Rampage” as proof that the director was capable of making solid drama that entertained and made the audience think. I also noted that perhaps that dramas are the genre that is best suited to his talents. While Boll continued to do films of the low brow and game genre such as “Blubberella” and “In the Name of the King: Two Worlds”, he crafted the very good biotech “Max Schmeling” which was a very moving and comprehensive look at the legendary German boxer.
In his new film “Assault on Wall Street”, Boll has shown again that he is capable of telling a solid dramatic story and has crafted a captivating tale of a man’s frustrated response to the economic conditions that have enveloped the world. In doing so, he has also earned some positive reviews and silenced some of his more outspoken critics who used to rate his films poorly site unseen simply based on his reputation.
It had the chance to meet with Boll on few occasions and have interviewed him on many other occasions about his work. I’ve always found them to be very intelligent and refreshingly honest individual who cares deeply for his craft and who cares about improving the quality of cinema. Over the years our conversations have even covered topics ranging from the political situation in the United States to human rights issues such as in Darfur.
For a director who operates outside of the Hollywood system Boll often produces and occasionally writes his own material. Much like the infamous Ed Wood to which he has been unfairly compared Boll also has a tendency to use acting talent that he has worked with in the past which gives them a sense of familiarity and comfort. While his game-based movies may take a critical lambasting from fan boys and critics alike, it is important to note that by the time all revenue streams are added up the do tend to be very profitable and it is the success of these films which allow the director the ability to fund the less commercially appealing yet higher quality dramatic films that show that the director is a multifaceted talent who continues to improve with each subsequent release.
Boll is also actively involved in producing films including upcoming sequels to his film “SEED”, and several other films in the horror genre. One thing is certain that the highly productive filmmaker is starting to win over to his skeptics by producing films of improved quality and continuing to show a diversity of topics which it moved him away from being labeled as a “video game director” to “independent filmmaker”. Boll once told me that is important to note the intended audience for a film and had noted how people expect “Schindler’s List”, when it was a film about zombies. He also had told me about the difficulties of adapting videogames to film as many times all you secure the name of the film, you are severely restricted about the names and content you can use and its similarity to the games which inspired the film.
Despite weathering a storm of extremely negative and I believe unfair criticism that might have made lesser men give it up, Boll has remained defiant and continues to do what he loves and is finely starting to get some of the long-overdue respect that he has sought.
I look forward to seeing if he will be able to build on the momentum of his recent work and what the future holds for this intriguing filmmaker.
