The End
The End’sMichael Shannon explores more than just the end of the Earth in Joshua Oppenheimer ’s uniquely desolate take on the movie musical . Set years after ecological events have deliver most life on the surface of the Earth impossible , the movie accompany a family and their personal faculty as they shin to exert a sentience of normality in their dugout deeply beneath the Earth . The paterfamilias of the family , only known as Father in the movie , is an interesting contradiction of a man whose efforts to palliate his guilt as a former industrialist are search throughout the film .
It ’s apowerful film performance by Michael Shannon , with flashes of the intensity that have often defined some of his most famed characters like Zod fromMan of Steelor Nelson Van Alden fromBoardwalk conglomerate . However , there ’s also a abstruse exposure and almost hapless element to the quality that Shannon explores through salvo of introspection and song . During an audience withScreenRantahead ofThe End ’s theatrical debut , Michael Shannon reflected on what he looks for in a role , how Father compares to his former characters like Zod , and the importance of finding surprise in operation .
The End’s Father Is A Character That Is Full Of Contradictions
“I like stories that ask questions and inspire people to examine who they are and how they’re participating in the world.”
Screen claptrap : You ’ve wager so many dissimilar types of roles over the years , ranging from musical theater likeThe Endto action blockbusters , gangster epics , striking fare , slaying mysteries , and unexpected funniness — what do you see as an idealistic role ?
Michael Shannon : I do n’t know if I have an ideal purpose . I intend , I like telling narrative that I think might have some intrinsic economic value in our culture . I like stories that need questions and urge on people to examine who they are and how they ’re participate in the humankind . [ The End ] fall down right into that category .
Michael Shannon talk about some of his most beloved roles , including George Jones in George & Tammy , General Zod in The Flash , and Elvis Presley .
Screen Rant : As you make for him , Father is a very interesting set of contradiction in terms . As the audience , we ’re frustrated with many of his decisions and judge him for his choices , but you also palpate openhearted for the profoundness of his guilt and internal discord . How do you draw close that kind of fiber balance ?
Michael Shannon : Well , it ’s really tricky . I mean , for all of us , tell the tarradiddle was pretty taxing on our vision . It ’s a scenario that ’s tough to project . Being in a bunker like that for 25 year . I used to say during rehearsal , I do n’t know how all these people have n’t completely lose their thinker . peradventure in a way , they have . But I mean even more severely , like just talk gibberish and walking around in dress circle . The fact that they ’re do to moderate on to some semblance of decorousness is astonishing .
It ’s just about time . They ’ve been down there a long time and even though they ’re the fortunate one , in a sense , because they ’re not up on the up on the earth essay to survive , they are experiencing a unlike kind of trauma . No matter how courteous your dugout is , it ’s not nice to survive in a bunker . It ’s not courteous to experience in a dugout . In the end , it ’s still a bunker .
Custom image by Simone Ashmoore
Finding The Humanity In Father (And Zod)
“It’s kind of like Shakespeare. There can be a lot of different Hamelts, there can be a lot of different Zods.”
Screen Rant : Speaking of the Bunker , I did want to speak a petty about the theatrical constituent of the moving picture . It ’s a very tight setting , only a fistful of characters in a couple of rooms . Do the dissimilar scales of product on something likeThe Endcompared to the declamatory configurations likeBoardwalk Empireor the DC Extended Universe affect your approach to performance ?
Michael Shannon : Not so much . I mean , even when I was doingMan of Steel , I did n’t really look at it as a big megahit . I just looked at the story in the position . I did n’t believe I was play some supervillain or something . I just thought of [ Zod ] as an individual who ’s trying to do their occupation . He ’s just trying to protect his mass . When I front back , to a certain extent , I played a lot of characters that are just trying to protect their people . You know , that ’s something that General Zod and Father have in coarse .
Michael Shannon was the second actor to play General Zod in resilient - action , follow Terrance Stamp ’s performance inSuperman II . Shannon appeared as the Kryptonian General inMan of Steel , andreprised the role of Zod inThe Flash . Zod ’s consistency was also used to make Doomsday inBatman v. Superman : Dawn of Justice .
A wealthy family lives in isolation within a luxurious bunker, unaware of the world beyond their walls. When a mysterious girl arrives at their doorstep, her presence threatens to unravel the delicate balance of their secluded existence, leading to a tense exploration of trust, survival, and buried secrets.
I ’ve got to ask , do you have any advice for the next actor who follow in your Kryptonian shoes and dally Zod ?
Michael Shannon : I do n’t get laid . I intend , so much of it is connected to the writing . The script is always going to be different . What Terence Stamp did was very different from what I did . It ’s kind of like Shakespeare . There can be a stack of different Hamelts , there can be a mountain of dissimilar Zods . It ’s not my property . It ’s literally not my dimension . So [ my advice to the next Zod histrion is ] make it your own . That ’s always the best thing to do . No matter what post you ’re in , as an artist , just make it your own .
The Importance Of Surprises & Vulnerability In The End
“I want everything to be a surprise every moment.”
Screen Rant : There ’s an inherent vulnerability that comes with telling , especially in a full musical . What was it like to search that inThe End ?
I in reality really appreciated the chance . It did n’t really make me flighty . That ’s not because of my ego … I was n’t attempt to be beneficial or unfit or anything . I take account singing as I ’m performing , because I feel like it gives you the maximum amount of substantial estate to actually evince yourself . It really can move you away from your mind , which is n’t terribly helpful when you ’re doing this work , and intercept you into a rich source . I quite enjoyed it . I really like singing , and I love euphony . euphony is my favorite affair . I did n’t have any qualms about it .
In every production , there ’s something you unwrap that you were n’t expecting to find . With that in mind , what would you say surprise you the most about Father andThe oddment ?
That ’s interesting . That is such a difficult question . I think , to me , every mean solar day at work is kind of surprise . I do n’t prearrange my performance . I ’m not one of those citizenry who go and check all my facial expressions in the mirror before I get on set . I hear to show up wide open and see what comes . I do n’t want to not be surprised . I require everything to be a surprisal every moment .
It ’s hard to pick one out , but it ’s such a beautiful thing to see . It does n’t intend you do n’t prepare . You prepare a great flock . You put a lot of thought into it . You consider a lot of dissimilar opening . But in the midst of all that preparation , the overriding thing is to go in completely open and be hyper - sensitive to to your plaster cast mate and to the scenario as it unfolds .
More About The End (2024)
Twenty - five years after environmental collapse left the Earth uninhabitable , Mother , Father and Son are confined to their palatial sand trap , where they struggle to keep hope and a sense of normalcy by clinging to the rituals of day-by-day life — until the arrival of a alien , Girl , upends their happy routine . Son , a naïve twenty - something who has never construe the outdoor world , is fascinate by the neophyte , and on the spur of the moment the delicate hamper of unreasoning optimism that have take for this wealthy kin together start to fray . As stress heighten , their seemingly idyllic existence starts to crumble , with long - subdue feeling of remorse and resentment menace to destroy the sept ’s fragile balance . But their reckoning with hard Truth also points to a different fashion forth , one based on acceptance , love life , and a capacity for change .
turn back back before long for our otherThe Endinterview here :
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Cast
A wealthy family lives in isolation within a voluptuous dugout , unaware of the world beyond their walls . When a occult girl come at their doorsill , her presence threaten to launch the touchy balance of their secluded beingness , chair to a tense exploration of trustfulness , survival , and buried secrets .
