‘Twisters’ Director Lee Isaac Chung Highlights Nature’s Importance in The Film
One prevailing word comes to mind when beholding the eponymous forces of nature in ‘Twisters’: fear. This term, in the biblical sense, connotes awe and respect for a greater, not entirely knowable power that puts humanity in its proper place. That’s the impression that director Lee Isaac Chung, the Oscar-nominated writer-director of ‘Minari,’ wanted to evoke within audiences of his action thriller.
“I feel that we are losing our understanding of where we are in our relationship with nature,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I would love to see more stories in which our identity is defined about the Earth, and I felt like this film was a chance to do that.”
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In the original ‘Twister,’ the protagonists’ quest was to gather data from inside a tornado to learn how to anticipate them. This film, which grossed nearly $500 million worldwide, set a high bar. The follow-up from Universal, Warner Bros., and Amblin advances the premise with a new crew testing a hypothesis on how to “tame” cyclones when they strike.
Although this theory is still more science fiction than reality, Chung hopes his summer blockbuster will inspire people to regard climate scientists as real superheroes.
A four-quadrant summer tentpole may seem an unlikely vehicle for environmental evangelism, but Chung aims to woo viewers while entertaining them. “Anytime Hollywood is doing anything with climate change, I think we have to stay positive and let people have fun,” he says. “As a production, we want to inspire people to embrace the natural world. That can go quite a long way toward influencing people to make good choices in their relationship with nature, to study what’s happening on this Earth, and to figure out how we can become better caretakers of the planet.”
Chung emphasises the importance of understanding our place within nature. He stated, “I would love to see more stories to show how small we are in comparison to the nature around us.” Growing up in Oklahoma’s tornado belt, he has a personal connection to the awe-inspiring power of nature and its impact on human life.
The new ‘Twisters’ movie offers an opportunity to reflect on our relationship with the natural world. By weaving environmental themes into a thrilling cinematic experience, Chung hopes to spark a broader conversation about climate change and our role in it. He believes that through storytelling, we can cultivate a deeper respect for the planet and inspire positive action.
-Sushmita Sarkar
