whenever i talk antoine fuqua I often remark that he is one of the few directors who has never once disappointed me when behind the cameras, regardless of the always-understandable fluctuations in quality that a filmography can have. did. However, and despite my admiration for titles like ‘Equalizer’ or the stunning remake of ‘The Magnificent Seven’, we have to admit that reached a milestone in 2001 that hasn’t been matched since,
I am of course referring to the feat achieved with the spectacular ‘Training Day’; A cathedral of modern crime thrillers – thanks to David Ayer’s brilliant screenplay – that ultimately dazzles Ethan Hawke’s lead performance and above all, Denzel Washington in a state of grace,
improv day
Washington’s role as the corrupt Alonzo hit the screen and became a popular icon at the time, and it was thanks to some memorable moments in which he sings his legendary “King Kong ain’t shit on me.” !”. But how would you be if I told you the phrase was the result of improvisation,
During a Vanity Fair special in which he compiled 25 of cinema’s most influential scenes, Fuqua reveled, explaining how both the director and the artist were surprised,
“The King Kong moment happened with Denzel. I remember it because we were doing the scene and he started to drift. I remember looking at the cameraman and saying, ‘I hope you got that, because I don’t think we are going to take it again.’ Denzel comes in and he says, ‘Woo, I don’t know where this came from.’ It was exhausting for him, you just watch him go there, in that place… You just set out to make a good film and somehow it becomes cultural”.
Anyone who has worked with actors will know perfectly well that few things are as magical as an actor being able to take themselves away from the drama of a scene and, hopefully, as long as does not reach the moment of enlightenment. Washington, With This Excerpt From ‘Training Day,’ Goes Straight to the Sky,
