Ron Howard on telling a true story with ‘Eden’: “We have the evidence to show it and the great actors to bring ’em to the screen” [EXCLUSIVE]
When it comes to directors who have done some iconic films, Ron Howard’s name is often at the top of the list. And he’s no stranger to telling stories that are based in real life events, like his new movie Eden.
Based on the true story of the Galapagos Affair, the film details how Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) and his partner Dora (Vanessa Kirby) moved to survive on the Galapagos islands. There, Margret (Sydney Sweeney) and her husband Heinz (Daniel Brühl) join them with their young family. But when you maroon people on an island without civilization, things can go haywire.
Set in the 1930s, the film is breathtakingly beautiful. Partially because of Ana de Armas’ costumes but also because of the film’s setting. As you’re watching the movie, you find yourself shocked that this is a true story and that is something that Howard loves to do with his work. I was lucky enough to speak with the iconic director for his work, especially what the trick is to telling a historical story and making it interesting.
“It comes down to choosing the story because there are a lot of amazing events, but not all of them have the structure to be built into a movie. And Eden is a little bit unusual in that way, structurally. But you do have to adhere to the reality, especially something like Eden because you can go online and learn so much about these characters and even see more videos about sort of how they really lived on that island in the Galapagos,” Howard said.
He went on to compare another one of his iconic films to how Eden worked out. “So what you look for are big surprises that you might otherwise say, ‘Oh, come on, that’s ridiculous. That couldn’t happen that way.’ Apollo 13, they would never make it back alive, but they did. So you get to dramatize something that’s really unusual and really extreme. And in this case, these characters are bigger than life, except they’re not bigger than life. They did live, and we have the evidence to show it and the great actors to bring them to the screen.”
You can see our full conversation here:
Eden is in theaters now.
(featured image: Vertical)
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