Spotlight: The Crew of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (Bryan Singer, 2014)



THE B. SINGER TEAM: A LOOK AT THE “FUTURE PAST” POSSE

by Bennett Campbell Ferguson

Above: Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy in "Days of"

 

What if Christopher Nolan returned for a fourth “Dark Knight”?  What if Sofia Coppola went back to Tokyo?  What if Abdellatif Kechiche decided to direct “La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 3 Et 4”?  Imagine those speaker-shaking possibilities (one of which happens to be much more than a mere possibility) and you’ll start to understand the immensity of Bryan Singer’s decision to direct “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which opens on May 23^RD. 

On the surface, the jobs seems routine; after all, why shouldn’t a director with three comic book movies under his belt try his hand at a fourth?  But the fact remains that the last film Mr. Singer directed in the “X-Men” franchise was the 2003 apocalyptic masterpiece “X2.”  And because that movie was poetic, tragic, and thrillingly emotional, it remains not only Mr. Singer’s magnum opus, but one of the most bruising and exhilarating cinematic experiences in recent memory.

It’s also one that’s not an easy act to follow.  But Mr. Singer has built his career on surprising and brazenly intuitive choices, from probing his childhood fascination with World War II in “Valkyrie” to turning “Superman Returns” into a $250 million art film.  And in the following months, I’ll be revisiting his continuously astonishing films as we march ever closer to the opening of “Days of Future Past.” 

But first, introductions are in order.  Because like so many auteurs, Mr. Singer doesn’t fulfill himself as a filmmaker on his own—he works with a gifted creative team whose composing, editing, costuming, and filming skills are equally recognizable.  So here is a quick dossier of some of Team Singer’s key players:

 

JOHN OTTMAN At once romantic and discordant, John Ottman’s music has played a crucial role in all of Mr. Singer’s films.  It can be darkly brassy (the grimly majestic fanfare of “X2” suggests “Star Wars” in D minor), but also unbearably tender.  Just listen to the sonic ballet of piano and then choir that accompanies Superman’s melancholy flight from Lois Lane’s riverside house in “Superman Returns”—the music is unbearably sad, yet somehow hopeful in its sweetness.

            Generating that kind of emotion has given Mr. Ottman a strong authorship over Mr. Singer’s films.  Yet what really makes him unique is his added role as editor.  Few directors love juggling huge ensembles and gargantuan battles as much as Mr. Singer and Mr. Ottman is usually the one tasked with pulling the pieces together.  And it’s no exaggeration to say that he does it perfectly—whether stitching together an anguished montage in “X2” or sorting through a flurry of phone calls in “Valkyrie,” he imbues every scene with a coherence that only enhances each film’s exceptional humanity.

 

LOUISE MINGENBACH One of the most intriguing things about Mr. Singer is that even though he always aspires to emotional realism, his films often seem to exist out of time, in a landscape or era of their own making.  And as a costume designer, Ms. Mingenbach has proved particularly important in constructing such worlds—in fact, her surreal attention to the details of everything from sleek flight suits to ordinary pajamas was what made “X-Men” and “X2” feel futuristic, but not otherworldly.

            Still, Ms. Mingenbach’s greatest accomplishment might be “Superman Returns.”  While the film is set in the Twenty-First Century (note the frequent use of cell phones in the picture), the costumes make it look fascinatingly old fashioned—from Clark Kent’s three-piece suits to the white coat worn by Lex Luthor, each outfit helps paint a fascinating tableau of old and new. 

Thus, Ms. Mingenbach creates her own reality, though not in the knowingly absurd manner of Wes Anderson—instead, she generates retro fashion that is markedly strange yet utterly in tune with the film’s portrayal of Superman as a man out of time. 

 

NEWTON THOMAS SIGEL It bears noting that in Hollywood, there’s no such thing as a monogamous creative team (even Christopher Nolan’s collaborators have strayed to work on films like “John Carter” and “Ender’s Game”).  But though Newton Thomas Sigel has lent his prowess in cinematography to everything from “Leap Year” to “Drive,” there can be no doubt that he’s done his finest work with Mr. Singer.

            So what is the shot that truly sells me on Mr. Sigel?  Is it the close up of lamp lit pen and paper in “Valkyrie”?  Or perhaps the vertical take of a gleaming elevator shaft in “The Usual Suspects”?  Or possibly (quite possibly), the image of a lone woman standing firm against a torrent of tidal waves in “X2”?

            Suffice to say, picking a favorite is difficult.  So I’ll just say this—because Mr. Singer prefers pictures to words, he could not tell his stories without the powerfully observant eyes of Mr. Sigel.  Because at the end of the day, the images of their movies are what you remember, and they’re the result of one of the greatest cinematographer-director teams of our time.