Just like the tornadoes that give the film its name, “Twisters ” is a film that goes through a lot in its 122-minute running time. A summer blockbuster with a surprising amount of intelligence to match the Glen Powell’s strength features subplots that are reflections of the times—disaster capitalists; the Faustian pact between scientists and financiers—and a flood of images depicting lives and livelihoods threatened by the awesome power of nature. But two words you will not hear none of your characters are “climate change “.
“I just wanted to make sure that with the film, we didn’t feel like it was sending a message,” director Lee Isaac Chung explained in an interview with CNN. “I just don’t feel like films should be content-driven.”
To their credit, there is also some scientific justification for the omission. In general, researchers are less certain about the connection between tornadoes and climate change, since it’s unclear how warmer temperatures are altering the storms or the outbreaks themselves.
However, evidence is growing about the potential impact of planet-warming pollution. Recent studies have shown that rotating supercell thunderstorms that produce tornadoes are becoming more frequent in parts of the United States outside of so-called “Tornado Alley,” including the Southeast and Midwest. They are also becoming more common in seasons that are not traditionally severe thunderstorms, and recent outbreaks in December have been particularly deadly.
“We’ve never seen tornadoes like this before,” Javi, the enterprising storm chaser played by Anthony Ramos, says in one scene. He goes on to convince old friend Kate, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones, to join his research team, promising, “We can save lives.”
In the film, increasingly destructive tornadoes devastate increasingly urbanized areas of Oklahoma.
“I think what we are doing is showing the reality of what is happening on the ground. […] “We don’t shy away from saying that things are changing,” Lee added. He mentioned Maura Tierney’s character, Cathy, Kate’s mother, as a voice for all of this. The woman is a local farmer who complains that storms and floods are becoming more frequent and the price of wheat is higher, without explicitly mentioning climate change.
“I wanted to make sure that we never created the feeling that we were preaching a message, because that’s certainly not what I think cinema should be,” Lee said. “I think it should be a reflection of the world.”
If the point of cinema is to show, not tell, then Lee has the prerogative to show us what he wants — like a tornado ripping through a power station, sucking up the resulting fire and setting the sky ablaze. But for a film populated by scientists and informed citizens to fail to mention climate change is a bit like the tornadoes themselves: There’s a void at the center.
Still, this was a personal and heartfelt undertaking for the director, who developed a script by Mark L. Smith (“The Revenant”) and a story by Joseph Kosinski (“Top Gun: Maverick”).
Lee was raised on a farm in western Arkansas, near the Oklahoma border. His upbringing (which he explored in 2020’s “Minari”) included an early encounter with a tornado when he had to seek shelter in a car because his family didn’t have a storm shelter. “When you have encounters with extreme weather as a child, anything that seems larger than life and dangerous… […] leaves a very big mark,” he said.
“That sense of awe and wonder was something I really wanted to preserve in this film — that it’s not just a summer blockbuster about running from tornadoes and hiding,” he added. “I wanted to make sure that we’re also revering and honoring the beauty of that power.”
“Everybody wants the cow”
For Lee, a self-proclaimed fan of the original “Twister” (1996), entering that world was a dream come true. “That film made research and science seem like an adventure in many ways. That’s what I wanted to do with this film,” he explained.
But while he makes some loving homages to Jan de Bont’s blockbuster in his own production, he stops short of one: the flying cow. “Everybody wants the cow,” Lee said. “They think they want the cow. But I promise you, you’d be disappointed if there was one.”
“Whenever I talk to anyone about that original ‘Twister,’ they say, ‘Oh yeah, the big flying cow movie.’ I felt like I would hate to make a feature film, update it, and then hear, ‘Oh yeah, you did the new flying cow thing.’ So that was it — that was the decision.”
The production got more than it bargained for while filming on location during the spring 2023 tornado season.
“Being in Oklahoma, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Ramos said. “There were days when the sun was shining, the sky was blue, clear, and then boom. The clouds would just come down on you, and then the wind starts blowing, and you’re like, what’s happening now?!”
“To make a movie ‘Twisters’ in Tornado Alley during storm season, tornado season, is kind of perfect. It really influenced this movie a lot,” Powell said.
“It’s a very specific place in the world,” he added. “Everyone who lives there has a certain pride in the weather. Everyone talks like a meteorologist, everyone is strangely very knowledgeable about what’s going on and how it’s going on.”
Powell plays Tyler Owens, the charming con man with a heart of gold who chases tornadoes for social media clicks and related revenue. Some of the extras in the film were actual storm chasers, leading to some real-life connections. “We’re in some chat groups with a lot of storm chasers, which is a delight,” Powell said. “Sometimes we get texts from our friends in Oklahoma. They’re like, ‘We’ve got something brewing here! Come and help us chase!’”
Still, Lee would rather discourage any other enthusiasts from hitting the road.
“I certainly don’t want this movie to inspire a bunch of people to just get in their cars and trucks and go chase a tornado, because that would lead to a lot of dangerous activities,” he said. “I’m hoping … if anyone is interested in chasing a tornado, they just watch ‘Twisters’ again.”
*With information from Angela Fritz, from CNN
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
