TED | 宝莱坞导演卡普尔：我们都只是讲给自己的故事
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我们都只是讲给自己的故事
| 讲师
Shekhar Kapur
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社会 心理 经历 TED 演讲
| 简介
创意灵感从何而来?在TEDIndia，好莱坞/宝莱坞导演谢卡·卡普尔(《伊丽莎白》、《印度先生》的导演)准确地指出了他的创造力来源:纯粹的、完全的恐慌。他分享了一个强大的方法来释放你内心的故事讲述者。
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00:12
其实，我当时只打算拍《伊丽莎白》。 所以我们全都在谈论着这位伟大的英国人物， “她是个了不起的女人。她无所不能。 可是，她该怎样出场？” 公司、制片人、编剧谈了又谈， 然后他们来找我：“谢加，你有什么想法？”
00:26
“我想她会跳舞。”
00:29
于是在场所有人都看着我， “宝来坞。”有人说。
00:34
还有人说：“这家伙花了我们多少钱？”
00:36
或是：“我们真该换个导演。”
00:39
当时我想，我可能确实需要些改变。 于是我们又讨论了很久伊丽莎白的出场。 我说：“可能我确实太过宝来坞。 可是，伊丽莎白，这位伟大的人物，的确也跳舞？“ ”你在说什么？！“ 于是我不得不再次从头开始。 最后，我们终于达成共识。 电影中，这位伟大的英国女人，伊丽莎白， 是这样出场的：
01:03
雷彻思特：”可以和您跳舞吗，我尊贵的夫人？“
01:15
伊丽莎白：”非常乐意，先生。“ (音乐)
02:02
”所以，最后，她就是跳着舞出场。“ 看过电影，观众们可以感觉 ”嘿，这是个恋爱中的女人。“ 她是完完全全纯真的， 趁着年轻，享受人生的快乐。 你们应该看到， 这就是通过图像来讲故事的力量。 也是音乐和舞蹈的力量。 是”无知“的力量。
02:26
导演电影时， 我们总是想得太多，准备得太多。 我们的知识成为负担，使我们失去智慧。 在经验增长的同时， 我们却丢失了简单的语言。 于是我问自己： ”今天你要做什么？“我不打算再按计划行事， 我让自己处于绝对的惊恐焦虑中。 这就是我逃离”理智“的方法。 它总是说：”嘿， 你知道你在做什么。当了这么多年导演之后， 你完完全全掌控着一切。“ 摆脱这个声音后， 我感到的是彻底的惊恐焦虑。 我撕掉剧本， 陷入惊恐中。我感到害怕。 正如我现在做的这样。你们可以看出来，我很紧张。 不知道说什么，不知道做什么，我害怕这样。
03:11
当我这样时，助理导演说： ”先生，您知道自己在做什么。“我回答：“当然。”
03:17
片场的人们会说： “嘿，看谢加。一看就知已经做足准备。” 其实我刚刚还在听Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan， 只因为他的歌一片混乱。 我就是要自己进入混乱无章的状态。 因为只有在混乱之中，我们才能期待真理的到来。 所谓准备其实也就只是准备。 我甚至不知道它是不是真的存在， 是不是值得信任。 真理只在瞬间降临。 如果在你的电影里，在你的故事里， 你能够有五个这样的瞬间， 可以创作出了不起的东西， 你的观众会感觉到。 当时我就是在寻找这样的瞬间。于是我站在这里，说： “我不知道该说什么。”
03:53
于是所有人都盯着你， 早晨7点，200人盯着你。 他们15分钟前就到了。你是七点到的。 所有人都在问： “嘿！先做什么？这里发生了什么？” 而你只是把自己陷入到惊恐焦虑中。 那里，你什么都不知道。 正因为你什么都不知道， 你开始向宇宙祈求， 你开始试着与宇宙连接， 就是用爱因斯坦当年用的方法。 他就是用这方法连接了宇宙，看到了他的方程。 于是，我正在向同一个源泉祈求。 因为所有的创造力都来源于那一个地方。 你必须在你自己本身之外， 宇宙之外去探求、去冥想。 你期待有一样东西会降临，会打动你。 而且除非那样东西降临，你都决不会开机。 现在，你该做什么？
04:35
凯特问：“谢卡，你想让我做什么？”
04:37
我回答：“凯特，你想要做什么？ 你是个了不起的演员。我想让你自己发挥。 所以，你为什么不给我看看你想怎么演。” （笑） 我在做什么？ 我只是努力争取时间。
04:51
所以，关于讲故事，我学到的第一点， 并且一直坚持的，就是惊恐焦虑。 那是创造力的伟大源泉 因为只有这样我才能摆脱“理智”。 摆脱“理智”吧。 逃离它，忘掉它。 去向宇宙祈求， 因为那里的一些东西 要比你的”理智“更加可信， 比你自己的”宇宙“要更加可信。 您昨天说过。我只是重复， 因为那就是我一直所做的。 去寻找”空“。 只有在”空“里，才能寻求到创意的瞬间。 那就是我一直做的。
05:24
当我还是个8岁的孩子时， 你知道那时候的印度，没有污染。 那时我们住在德里，我们当时叫它Khota。Khota现在变成一个不好的词了，意思是“他们的地盘” 晚上我们会睡在外面。 我刚开始在学校学习物理， 我学到 如果一样东西存在， 它就是可测量的。 如果一样东西不可测量， 它就不存在。 晚上我就在德里当时纯净的夜空下躺着， 我还是个孩子， 我看着整个宇宙，说： ”宇宙将存在多久？“
06:03
我的父亲是个医生。 我会问：”爸爸，宇宙将存在多久？“
06:08
他回答：”永无止境。“
06:11
”那你告诉我怎么度量永久啊！ 学校的老师说 如果某东西你不能测量，它就不存在。 不存在我的参照系里。” 所以，什么是永恒？ 永远是什么意思？ 那些晚上，我躺着哭泣， 因为我的想象力不能触及到创造力。
06:32
我该怎么做？ 于是在那时，在七岁那年， 我编了个故事。 不知为什么， 到现在我还记得那个故事。 有一个伐木工 拿起他的斧子准备砍一块木头。 他的斧子很大。整个宇宙不过是其中一粒原子。 当他的斧子击打到那片木头， 万事万物都消亡。 大爆炸将再次发生。 在我们的宇宙之前，只有一个伐木工。 然后我会跳出这个故事， 去想象那个伐木工的宇宙。 它只是另一个伐木工斧子的一个原子。 所以每次，我都可以不断的讲述我的故事， 以为解决了我的问题。 所以我就这样解决了困惑。
07:18
可我是怎么做到的？讲故事。 那么，什么是故事？ 故事就是一切，是我们所有人。 我们都只是我们讲给自己的故事。 在这个宇宙里，在这种存在里， 我们过着双重的生活 我们究竟存在与否？ 我们究竟是谁？ 故事，我们讲给自己的故事 决定了 我们存在的可能性。 我们只是我们告诉自己的故事。 宇宙万物也只和我们的故事一样宽广。 你是谁，你能成为谁， 和我们这个无穷的宇宙的关系， 就在我们的故事里。 那就是我们的神话。
08:04
我们讲故事。 没有故事的人是不存在的。 爱因斯坦讲了个故事。 在故事里他提出了他的理论， 在理论里提出了他的方程。 亚历山大的母亲告诉他一个故事， 他于是征服了世界。 我们所有人，每一个人，都跟随着他的故事。 我们给自己讲故事。 更进一步，我说 我讲故事，所以我存在。 因为那些故事，所以我存在此处。 如果没有故事，那么我们都将消失。 我们的故事决定了我们的存在。 如果我们停止讲故事， 我们可能会疯掉。 我不知道。但我一直就是这么做的。
08:49
现在我们讲讲电影。 电影讲故事。 我常常想，我在拍一部佛的电影， 我会想：如果佛拥有和导演一样的 那些器材。 他有音乐，他有特效，他有摄影机， 我们会不会有更好的佛教？ 但这个成为了我的某种负担。 我必须以一种更加明确的方式 来讲述这个故事。 但我看到了那种可能性。 那就是“言外之意”。 在我刚到好莱坞时，人们和我说—— 我当时和人们谈论“言外之意”，于是我的代理人对我说， “请不要再谈论‘言外之意’了。”” 我问：“为什么？”他说：“因为如果你再谈论它， 没有人会给你片约。 试着只去谈论情节， 谈谈你将会把电影拍得多么精彩， 或者谈谈会有什么样的视觉效果。”
09:37
所以当我们看一部电影， 这些就是我们寻求的， 我们在情节得层面上看那个故事， 在心理得层面上， 看那个故事， 之后我们在政治的层面上看那个故事， 在传说的层面上 看那个故事。 我在这所有层面上寻找故事。 现在的状况是， 这些故事不必彼此契合。 在许多时候，故事之间相互矛盾， 这正是精彩之处。 在我和伟大的音乐家Rahman合作时， 我常常和他说，“不要拘泥于剧本， 找到剧本之外的东西。 自己寻找真相。 当你找到它时， 它就会出现在你的音乐中。它有可能会和情节不符， 但是不用担心。“
10:26
所以，在《伊丽莎白》的续集《黄金时代》里， 故事情节大概如此 编剧是这样写的。 一个受到菲利普二世 威胁的女人 去到战场， 当她到了那里，她和雷利爵士坠入爱河。 因为这段爱情， 她打算放弃皇位。 但那位爵士 却爱上她的侍女。 于是，她不得不做出选择，她是一个作战的女王， 或者她只是想要爱情。
10:57
这一切这样出现在我的电影中。 天界诸神面前， 站立两个人， 菲利普二世，希望死后进入天界 因为在世时他总是不断祈祷。 还有伊丽莎白，也想成为神， 但却不可以。虽然她自以为注定会成为神， 但她的体内流淌着的并不是永生的血液。 可是，那位将成为神的却并不是一位正直的人， 于是诸神说道： “好吧。让我们这么干 让我们帮助那位正直的人。” 于是他们开始帮助她。 而他们所做的事就是让雷利爵士来到人间 去把她不朽的精神 和无法达到永生的肉体分离开来。 那个不能永生“她” 就是派到雷利爵士那里的那位女侍， 渐渐的，他将她“抽离” 于是她可以成为神了。 然后菲利普和伊丽莎白相互斗争， 众神站在伊丽莎白那边。
11:50
当然，电影放映时，英国的媒体都疯了。 后来有人说：“我们赢得了无敌舰队之战。”
11:57
而我说：“是风暴帮助你们赢得了战争。 而风暴是诸神派遣的。“
12:01
我在干什么？ 我只是找一个传奇的理由 来制作一部影片。 后来我问凯特布兰彻特：”这部电影讲的是什么？“ 她说：”它讲的是 一个女人的成长故事。” 心理层面。 而编剧说它是关于历史、情节。 我说它是关于神话传说。 众神的故事。
12:24
我不妨现在播放电影 ——只是一些片段—— 还有镜头是如何运转—— 这就是当时的场景，我心中的场面， 她正处在死亡的深渊。 她发现了死亡的含义， 一旦她处在死亡的深渊， 那么死亡真的可能降临。 当时的她已经看到了死亡的威胁 正因为如此她想要永生。 请记住，在电影中，对于我来说， 她和她的侍女一样 都只是一个人的两面 一个是会死的自我 一个是不朽的精神。
12:59
那么，我们可能拥有后者么？
13:01
（音乐）
13:03
伊丽莎白：Bess？Bess？Bess Throckmorton?
13:17
贝斯：我在这里，我的女王。
13:19
伊丽莎白：请告诉我，那是真的吗？ 你怀孕了吗？ 你是不是已经怀上了爵士的孩子？
13:27
贝斯：是的，我的女王。
13:29
伊丽莎白：你背叛了我。 你竟敢瞒着我？ 你必须有我的允许才能生存， 必须有我的允许才能呼吸。 你这个荡妇竟还敢待在我身边。 你在听吗？你在听我说话吗？
13:43
Walsingham：陛下。请息怒。请显示你的仁慈吧。
13:46
伊丽莎白：这并不是仁慈的时候，Walsingham。 你去找你那位叛徒兄弟，让我自己决定。 孩子是不是他的？ 告诉我！说！孩子是他的吗？
13:57
贝斯：是的。 我的女王。 这是我丈夫的孩子。 （哭泣声）
14:09
雷利：陛下。 这并不是我热爱并且侍奉的女王。
14:19
伊丽莎白：这个男人引诱了女王的侍女， 结婚时甚至都没有取得皇家的许可。 这些行为是违法的！抓住他！ 去！ 你不再受到女王的保护。
14:40
贝斯：如你所愿，陛下。
14:43
伊丽莎白：出去！出去！ 全都给我出去！
14:52
（音乐）
15:13
谢加·凯普尔: 好了，我在试图说明什么？ 伊丽莎白意识到 并且决定和她的嫉妒心 和她自己腐朽的一面 进行面对面的斗争。 我是怎样处理那些建筑的？ 它们也在讲一个故事。 建筑们在讲一个故事 作为世界上当时最有权利的女人 却仍然有一些其他东西要超过她，在她之上， 比如这些建筑。 这些石块要比她更大，因为石头是没有生命的。 这将拯救她。 所以，石头就是她的命运， 不仅如此。为什么摄像头要向下？ 那是因为她正在井里。 在她自我构筑的 绝对的深井里。 就是从那里，她将自己 从死亡的深渊中挣脱出来， 她进入那里，解放了她的精神。 在我心里，在那个瞬间， 伊丽莎白和贝斯仍然是一体的。 但在那个瞬间， 她将贝斯从体内抽离。 因此在那个场景里， 电影正在许多许多层面上同时推进。 我们就是这样讲故事， 视觉效果，音乐，演员， 在每一个层面上，都有一个不同的故事 有时甚至会相互矛盾。 我是如何开始这一切的？ 讲故事的过程是怎样的？
16:39
大约十年前， 我从一个政治家那里听到了一件小事， 他并不是一位广受尊敬的政治家。 他说那些住在城市里的人， 一个人就要用掉 农村里所有人在两天里 都无法得到的水。 这引起我的共鸣。我说：“是这样！” 我到马拉巴山区 去探望一位朋友。 他让我在他住所的第20层 稍等一下。 那个地区确实是孟买的繁华地段。 他花20分钟洗了个澡。 我感到无聊，于是开车离开。 我路过孟买的贫民窟， 就像平常一样， 我看见正午骄阳下一条条由妇女儿童构成的长龙， 他们都拿着水桶， 等着水车 来给他们一些水。 于是我产生一个想法。 这一切是如何成为一个故事的？ 突然间，我意识到，我们正在走向灾难。
17:36
于是，我的下一部电影，叫做《巴尼》 意思是水。 现在，源自神话， 我开始构建一个世界。 我构建了一个什么样的世界？ 它的形象是怎样产生的？ 在我的心里， 未来的人们开始建筑立交桥。 你们知道立交桥？好的。 他们开始建筑立交桥 希望更快的从A到达B。 他们希望高效地从一个相对富裕地区 去到另一个相对富裕地区。 之后他们所做是这样。 他们在立交桥上建筑了一个城市。 有钱人都住到这个上层城市去 把穷人们留在下层。 只有10％到12％的人 可以搬到上层。
18:20
这上下两层的城市是那里来的？ 那来源于印度的一个传说—— 他们是这么说的，我要用印度语说， （印度语） 好了。这是什么意思？ 我说的是，有钱人总是坐在别人的肩上 在穷人的肩上生存。 就是这样，从传说中，产生了上下层城市的点子。 这个设计是有原因的。
18:43
就这样，住在上层的有钱人， 他们把所有的水吸吮上去。 记住我的用词，吸吮。 他们吸吮了所有的水，留在自己身边。 他们只把水滴给下层的人。 如果有革命，他们就索性切断水源。 而且，因为仍然有“民主”， 这就是民主， 你们听话，我们给你们水。
19:05
哦，我的时间到了。 我本打算继续向你们介绍 我是如何发展我的故事的， 还有我们的故事为什么就是我们本身 还有如何把这些原则用于不同的方面。 我的就是电影。 可是，说到底，什么故事？它只是一个矛盾。 万物皆为矛盾。 宇宙是矛盾。 可是我们所有人，自始至终，都在寻找和谐。 当你起床时，看到日与夜的矛盾。 可如果你在凌晨4点起床， 那第一抹蔚蓝，是日与夜正在向彼此 寻求和谐。 莫扎特的曲调并没有给你和谐。 但他音符中的矛盾却在暗示着和谐。 他以矛盾之声表现和谐。 在诗人心中，这就是从矛盾 寻找和谐的方法。 这也是一个讲故事者从矛盾中寻找和谐的方法。 在故事中，那时死亡与不朽的矛盾。 在诗人心中，那是语词的冲突。 在宇宙心中，它是日夜的交替。 在男人与女人之间， 我们总是看到， 男女之间的不和。 但我们也从彼此处寻求和谐。
20:09
这一切都是关于矛盾。 接受矛盾才能讲出故事， 而并不是要去消解这矛盾。 好莱坞的故事的问题， 同时也是许多电影的问题，正如［不清］在他的演讲中所说， 就是我们总是试图解决矛盾。 和谐并不是解答。 和谐是一件 远比解决矛盾更大的多的事。 和谐是一件 包容万物 包容永恒与瞬间的事物。 而解决矛盾却是有限的。 和谐是无限的。 所以，讲故事，就和宇宙中一切矛盾一样， 是在死亡中探求和谐与无穷 解决一方面，放弃另一方面， 放弃一方面，提出一个真正关键的问题。
20:58
谢谢各位。
The End
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00:12
So, I was just asked to go and shoot this film called "Elizabeth." And we're all talking about this great English icon and saying, "She's a fantastic woman, she does everything. How are we going to introduce her?" So we went around the table with the studio and the producers and the writer, and they came to me and said, "Shekhar, what do you think?"
00:26
And I said, "I think she's dancing."
00:29
And I could see everybody looked at me, somebody said, "Bollywood."
00:34
The other said, "How much did we hire him for?"
00:36
And the third said, "Let's find another director."
00:39
I thought I had better change. So we had a lot of discussion on how to introduce Elizabeth, and I said, "OK, maybe I am too Bollywood. Maybe Elizabeth, this great icon, dancing? What are you talking about?" So I rethought the whole thing, and then we all came to a consensus. And here was the introduction of this great British icon called "Elizabeth."
01:03
Leicester: May I join you, my lady?
01:15
Elizabeth: If it please you, sir. (Music)
02:02
Shekhar Kapur: So she was dancing. So how many people who saw the film did not get that here was a woman in love, that she was completely innocent and saw great joy in her life, and she was youthful? And how many of you did not get that? That's the power of visual storytelling, that's the power of dance, that's the power of music: the power of not knowing.
02:26
When I go out to direct a film, every day we prepare too much, we think too much. Knowledge becomes a weight upon wisdom. You know, simple words lost in the quicksand of experience. So I come up, and I say, "What am I going to do today?" I'm not going to do what I planned to do, and I put myself into absolute panic. It's my one way of getting rid of my mind, getting rid of this mind that says, "Hey, you know what you're doing. You know exactly what you're doing. You're a director, you've done it for years." So I've got to get there and be in complete panic. It's a symbolic gesture. I tear up the script, I go and I panic myself, I get scared. I'm doing it right now; you can watch me. I'm getting nervous, I don't know what to say, I don't know what I'm doing, I don't want to go there.
03:11
And as I go there, of course, my A.D. says, "You know what you're going to do, sir." I say, "Of course I do."
03:17
And the studio executives, they would say, "Hey, look at Shekhar. He's so prepared." And inside I've just been listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan because he's chaotic. I'm allowing myself to go into chaos because out of chaos, I'm hoping some moments of truth will come. All preparation is preparation. I don't even know if it's honest. I don't even know if it's truthful. The truth of it all comes on the moment, organically, and if you get five great moments of great, organic stuff in your storytelling, in your film, your film, audiences will get it. So I'm looking for those moments, and I'm standing there and saying, "I don't know what to say."
03:53
So, ultimately, everybody's looking at you, 200 people at seven in the morning who got there at quarter to seven, and you arrived at seven, and everybody's saying, "Hey. What's the first thing? What's going to happen?" And you put yourself into a state of panic where you don't know, and so you don't know. And so, because you don't know, you're praying to the universe because you're praying to the universe that something -- I'm going to try and access the universe the way Einstein -- say a prayer -- accessed his equations, the same source. I'm looking for the same source because creativity comes from absolutely the same source that you meditate somewhere outside yourself, outside the universe. You're looking for something that comes and hits you. Until that hits you, you're not going to do the first shot. So what do you do?
04:35
So Cate says, "Shekhar, what do you want me to do?"
04:37
And I say, "Cate, what do you want to do?" (Laughter) "You're a great actor, and I like to give to my actors -- why don't you show me what you want to do?" (Laughter) What am I doing? I'm trying to buy time. I'm trying to buy time.
04:51
So the first thing about storytelling that I learned, and I follow all the time is: Panic. Panic is the great access of creativity because that's the only way to get rid of your mind. Get rid of your mind. Get out of it, get it out. And let's go to the universe because there's something out there that is more truthful than your mind, that is more truthful than your universe. [unclear], you said that yesterday. I'm just repeating it because that's what I follow constantly to find the shunyata somewhere, the emptiness. Out of the emptiness comes a moment of creativity. So that's what I do.
05:24
When I was a kid -- I was about eight years old. You remember how India was. There was no pollution. In Delhi, we used to live -- we used to call it a chhat or the khota. Khota's now become a bad word. It means their terrace -- and we used to sleep out at night. At school I was being just taught about physics, and I was told that if there is something that exists, then it is measurable. If it is not measurable, it does not exist. And at night I would lie out, looking at the unpolluted sky, as Delhi used to be at that time when I was a kid, and I used to stare at the universe and say, "How far does this universe go?"
06:03
My father was a doctor. And I would think, "Daddy, how far does the universe go?"
06:08
And he said, "Son, it goes on forever."
06:11
So I said, "Please measure forever because in school they're teaching me that if I cannot measure it, it does not exist. It doesn't come into my frame of reference." So, how far does eternity go? What does forever mean? And I would lie there crying at night because my imagination could not touch creativity.
06:32
So what did I do? At that time, at the tender age of seven, I created a story. What was my story? And I don't know why, but I remember the story. There was a woodcutter who's about to take his ax and chop a piece of wood, and the whole galaxy is one atom of that ax. And when that ax hits that piece of wood, that's when everything will destroy and the Big Bang will happen again. But all before that there was a woodcutter. And then when I would run out of that story, I would imagine that woodcutter's universe is one atom in the ax of another woodcutter. So every time, I could tell my story again and again and get over this problem, and so I got over the problem.
07:18
How did I do it? Tell a story. So what is a story? A story is our -- all of us -- we are the stories we tell ourselves. In this universe, and this existence, where we live with this duality of whether we exist or not and who are we, the stories we tell ourselves are the stories that define the potentialities of our existence. We are the stories we tell ourselves. So that's as wide as we look at stories. A story is the relationship that you develop between who you are, or who you potentially are, and the infinite world, and that's our mythology.
08:04
We tell our stories, and a person without a story does not exist. So Einstein told a story and followed his stories and came up with theories and came up with theories and then came up with his equations. Alexander had a story that his mother used to tell him, and he went out to conquer the world. We all, everybody, has a story that they follow. We tell ourselves stories. So, I will go further, and I say, "I tell a story, and therefore I exist." I exist because there are stories, and if there are no stories, we don't exist. We create stories to define our existence. If we do not create the stories, we probably go mad. I don't know; I'm not sure, but that's what I've done all the time.
08:49
Now, a film. A film tells a story. I often wonder when I make a film -- I'm thinking of making a film of the Buddha -- and I often wonder: If Buddha had all the elements that are given to a director -- if he had music, if he had visuals, if he had a video camera -- would we get Buddhism better? But that puts some kind of burden on me. I have to tell a story in a much more elaborate way, but I have the potential. It's called subtext. When I first went to Hollywood, they said -- I used to talk about subtext, and my agent came to me, "Would you kindly not talk about subtext?" And I said, "Why?" He said, "Because nobody is going to give you a film if you talk about subtext. Just talk about plot and say how wonderful you'll shoot the film, what the visuals will be."
09:37
So when I look at a film, here's what we look for: We look for a story on the plot level, then we look for a story on the psychological level, then we look for a story on the political level, then we look at a story on a mythological level. And I look for stories on each level. Now, it is not necessary that these stories agree with each other. What is wonderful is, at many times, the stories will contradict with each other. So when I work with Rahman who's a great musician, I often tell him, "Don't follow what the script already says. Find that which is not. Find the truth for yourself, and when you find the truth for yourself, there will be a truth in it, but it may contradict the plot, but don't worry about it."
10:26
So, the sequel to "Elizabeth," "Golden Age." When I made the sequel to "Elizabeth," here was a story that the writer was telling: A woman who was threatened by Philip II and was going to war, and was going to war, fell in love with Walter Raleigh. Because she fell in love with Walter Raleigh, she was giving up the reasons she was a queen, and then Walter Raleigh fell in love with her lady in waiting, and she had to decide whether she was a queen going to war or she wanted...
10:57
Here's the story I was telling: The gods up there, there were two people. There was Philip II, who was divine because he was always praying, and there was Elizabeth, who was divine, but not quite divine because she thought she was divine, but the blood of being mortal flowed in her. But the divine one was unjust, so the gods said, "OK, what we need to do is help the just one." And so they helped the just one. And what they did was, they sent Walter Raleigh down to physically separate her mortal self from her spirit self. And the mortal self was the girl that Walter Raleigh was sent, and gradually he separated her so she was free to be divine. And the two divine people fought, and the gods were on the side of divinity.
11:50
Of course, all the British press got really upset. They said, "We won the Armada."
11:57
But I said, "But the storm won the Armada. The gods sent the storm."
12:01
So what was I doing? I was trying to find a mythic reason to make the film. Of course, when I asked Cate Blanchett, I said, "What's the film about?" She said, "The film's about a woman coming to terms with growing older." Psychological. The writer said "It's about history, plot." I said "It's about mythology, the gods."
12:24
So let me show you a film -- a piece from that film -- and how a camera also -- so this is a scene, where in my mind, she was at the depths of mortality. She was discovering what mortality actually means, and if she is at the depths of mortality, what really happens. And she's recognizing the dangers of mortality and why she should break away from mortality. Remember, in the film, to me, both her and her lady in waiting were parts of the same body, one the mortal self and one the spirit self.
12:59
So can we have that second?
13:01
(Music)
13:03
Elizabeth: Bess? Bess? Bess Throckmorton?
13:17
Bess: Here, my lady.
13:19
Elizabeth: Tell me, is it true? Are you with child? Are you with child?
13:27
Bess: Yes, my lady.
13:29
Elizabeth: Traitorous. You dare to keep secrets from me? You ask my permission before you rut, before you breed. My bitches wear my collars. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?
13:43
Walsingham: Majesty. Please, dignity. Mercy.
13:46
Elizabeth: This is no time for mercy, Walsingham. You go to your traitor brother and leave me to my business. Is it his? Tell me. Say it. Is the child his? Is it his?
13:57
Bess: Yes. My lady, it is my husband's child. Elizabeth: Bitch! (Cries)
14:09
Raleigh: Majesty. This is not the queen I love and serve.
14:19
Elizabeth: This man has seduced a ward of the queen, and she has married without royal consent. These offenses are punishable by law. Arrest him. Go. You no longer have the queen's protection.
14:40
Bess: As you wish, Majesty.
14:43
Elizabeth: Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out.
14:52
(Music)
15:13
Shekhar Kapur: So, what am I trying to do here? Elizabeth has realized, and she's coming face-to-face with her own sense of jealousy, her own sense of mortality. What am I doing with the architecture? The architecture is telling a story. The architecture is telling a story about how, even though she's the most powerful woman in the world at that time, there is the other, the architecture's bigger. The stone is bigger than her because stone is an organic. It'll survive her. So it's telling you, to me, stone is part of her destiny. Not only that, why is the camera looking down? The camera's looking down at her because she's in the well. She's in the absolute well of her own sense of being mortal. That's where she has to pull herself out from the depths of mortality, come in, release her spirit. And that's the moment where, in my mind, both Elizabeth and Bess are the same person. But that's the moment she's surgically removing herself from that. So the film is operating on many many levels in that scene. And how we tell stories visually, with music, with actors, and at each level it's a different sense and sometimes contradictory to each other. So how do I start all this? What's the process of telling a story?
16:39
About ten years ago, I heard this little thing from a politician, not a politician that was very well respected in India. And he said that these people in the cities, in one flush, expend as much water as you people in the rural areas don't get for your family for two days. That struck a chord, and I said, "That's true." I went to see a friend of mine, and he made me wait in his apartment in Malabar Hill on the twentieth floor, which is a really, really upmarket area in Mumbai. And he was having a shower for 20 minutes. I got bored and left, and as I drove out, I drove past the slums of Bombay, as you always do, and I saw lines and lines in the hot midday sun of women and children with buckets waiting for a tanker to come and give them water. And an idea started to develop. So how does that become a story? I suddenly realized that we are heading towards disaster.
17:36
So my next film is called "Paani" which means water. And now, out of the mythology of that, I'm starting to create a world. What kind of world do I create, and where does the idea, the design of that come? So, in my mind, in the future, they started to build flyovers. You understand flyovers? Yeah? They started to build flyovers to get from A to B faster, but they effectively went from one area of relative wealth to another area of relative wealth. And then what they did was they created a city above the flyovers. And the rich people moved to the upper city and left the poorer people in the lower cities, about 10 to 12 percent of the people have moved to the upper city.
18:20
Now, where does this upper city and lower city come? There's a mythology in India about -- where they say, and I'll say it in Hindi, [Hindi] Right. What does that mean? It says that the rich are always sitting on the shoulders and survive on the shoulders of the poor. So, from that mythology, the upper city and lower city come. So the design has a story.
18:43
And now, what happens is that the people of the upper city, they suck up all the water. Remember the word I said, suck up. They suck up all the water, keep to themselves, and they drip feed the lower city. And if there's any revolution, they cut off the water. And, because democracy still exists, there's a democratic way in which you say "Well, if you give us what [we want], we'll give you water."
19:05
So, okay my time is up. But I can go on about telling you how we evolve stories, and how stories effectively are who we are and how these get translated into the particular discipline that I am in, which is film. But ultimately, what is a story? It's a contradiction. Everything's a contradiction. The universe is a contradiction. And all of us are constantly looking for harmony. When you get up, the night and day is a contradiction. But you get up at 4 a.m. That first blush of blue is where the night and day are trying to find harmony with each other. Harmony is the notes that Mozart didn't give you, but somehow the contradiction of his notes suggest that. All contradictions of his notes suggest the harmony. It's the effect of looking for harmony in the contradiction that exists in a poet's mind, a contradiction that exists in a storyteller's mind. In a storyteller's mind, it's a contradiction of moralities. In a poet's mind, it's a conflict of words, in the universe's mind, between day and night. In the mind of a man and a woman, we're looking constantly at the contradiction between male and female, we're looking for harmony within each other.
20:09
The whole idea of contradiction, but the acceptance of contradiction is the telling of a story, not the resolution. The problem with a lot of the storytelling in Hollywood and many films, and as [unclear] was saying in his, that we try to resolve the contradiction. Harmony is not resolution. Harmony is the suggestion of a thing that is much larger than resolution. Harmony is the suggestion of something that is embracing and universal and of eternity and of the moment. Resolution is something that is far more limited. It is finite; harmony is infinite. So that storytelling, like all other contradictions in the universe, is looking for harmony and infinity in moral resolutions, resolving one, but letting another go, letting another go and creating a question that is really important.
20:58
Thank you very much.
The End
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