(L-R): John David Washington as Harold, Christian Bale as Burt, and JMargot Robbie as Valerie in 20th Century Studios' AMSTERDAM. Photo by Merie Weismiller. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Courtney Howard // Film Critic
Writer-Director David O. Russell’s AMSTERDAM is centered on three disparate folks – an impulsive doctor (Christian Bale), a lawyer (John David Washington) and a nurse/ spy (Margot Robbie) – who form a friendship during wartime crisis and find a blissful paradise in Amsterdam, experiencing personal and creative freedom. Yet, when they get dragged into a murder case, getting framed for it in the process, they wind up stumbling into a major scheme in world history. Preston Sturges-meets-Coen Brothers in tone and comedic flair, this rom-com-mystery is snappy and sweet.
The project’s genesis began out of Russell’s want to create an original film with characters he’d never written before and that Bale had never played. Speaking to a group of journalists at the film’s recent press conference, Russell explains,
“We started with a doctor, and we started to learn from history the unusual circumstances of this doctor and his two best friends. We wanted to have three best friends who were fixers, who could handle any situation, who went through something together – something epic that would be fun and inspiring to follow, and also shine a light on some history that many people don’t know.”
Russell also was quick to tie the themes from all his movies.
“Whether it’s THE FIGHTER, or SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, or AMERICAN HUSTLE, or JOY, they’re about outsiders who find their way, and find reasons to love life in spite of whatever it is they’re facing. And that’s what the notion of AMSTERDAM is: What do you love about life and each other that you live for?”
Robbie had the advantage of sitting with her artistically quirky character longer than she ever had on any other film.
“Fortunately, I had a long time to prep Valerie. Not only because David was so collaborative that he wanted to speak about Valerie, but then also because we shut down because of COVID.
Maybe a little too long, to be honest. I started making a lot of art. I think at one point, my husband walked in, and I had bits of metal and fake blood, and I had my Super 8 out, and I had a mask on, and I had all this crazy stuff, like, x-rays, and he was like, ‘I think you’re taking this character too far. You need to calm down.’ And I was like, ‘Okay.’ Some of the Super 8 that I shot during lockdown, it’s in the movie.”
It was easy for John David Washington to see the friendship theme demonstrated on set.
“Just from the performance perspective, the bedrock of this set was one of humility and optimism. So it was an easy way in, when we’re starting there with love and respect for one another. That made it easier to let your guard down, to be vulnerable, to try anything, fall on your face, because you know your cast members will pick you up.
Christian Bale was a great leader in that way. The second day on set, he comes into my little quarters and says, ‘Welcome. All right, you made it through your first day. Like, it’s going to get better from here.’ That’s important. He decided to say, ‘now you’re speaking the David language. Fall in. Get muddy.’ In knowing that in your spirit, in your subconscious, that’s going to affect your performance.”
Robert De Niro enjoyed the spontaneity of how Russell works.
“He’s writing as he’s shooting. He stands behind the camera operator with the Steadicam, or the handheld, and tells him where to go and tells the actors sometimes what to say. And sometimes the best dialogue and delivery of dialogue can come out of those moments because they’re so spontaneous, you have no time to think. That’s a lot of fun. That’s how he works: We talk, we talk, he gets his way, we talk, we talk, finally we arrived at where we did with this.”
There were also at least 14 drafts of the script that filled Bale’s cupboards. Russell adds,
“It would make a cool novel, because there were really dope sequences that I didn’t get to do, like, John David’s character, Harold Woodman, or that Valerie had some really cool scenes, that I would like to put in the novel version. There’s a lot of writing that happens, and then you have to pick and choose – and then it continues on to the day of shooting, as Robert said.”
Bale fully committed to the role, Russell states.
“This man wore a glass eye the whole movie. He couldn’t see out of one side. If you were over here, Christian wouldn’t know that you were here – and in addition to the back brace that made him two inches shorter. So when we went back to him being young in the epic story, I’d say, ‘Wow, you’re a lot taller than I remember.’”
Later Bale added,
“Bob stopped my lens from growing onto my eye. We’ve had it on too long. Egg whites are growing around this thing right now.”
Andrea Riseborough, who plays Bale’s estranged wife in the film, says that even though her character was one who misses the romantic days, she herself felt the love of creation happening on set.
“To be in that environment in this production, this many tendril production with these extraordinary creatives, it felt like playing Beatrice in that environment was like lying on a cloud. There were moments of true connection with every single person when we each spoke to one another or caught the glimpse of an eye. And it was so vast that we weren’t always necessarily processing it in conversation. But internally it was really meaningful and a changing experience.”
Rami Malek, who plays Robbie’s brother who lets the trio onto the scandal brewing, says he too felt the pull of this film’s themes.
“We say this and you probably hear this, I hope it’s not a cliché, that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. When you have something as simple as weighing love versus hate and to have that resound throughout your film, when you can deliver that as this great comedic thriller and deliver us this amazing, shocking, untold history but all the while have these themes that just resonate to all of us.
When we’re done with this film, you asked yourself, what is my Amsterdam? What is that moment where I had emotion, but I also had this great connection with human beings that led me to a place where I was able to transcend. It’d be a part of a film that will have audiences feeling that as they walk out is something that will be a sacred thing for me long after this premieres. It’s gonna stand the test of time.”
AMSTERDAM releases in theaters on October 7.
