European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                20th Century Fox 20th Century Fox Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock hit the Road in Speed of which a focused Jan de Bont says a audiences done to really care about How pretty your picture  de Bont helps Wake up movie crowd by Bernard Weinraub. The new York times the phone keeps ringing in the cramped office of Jan de Bont the director of Speed the first Sleeper hit of the summer season. A executives at 20th Century Fox which produced the taut thriller keep calling the first time director to read him flattering newspaper and Magazine reviews that leave him amazed. Close friends like the filmmaker Paul Verhoeven who warned de Bont Early on that Speed seemed too technically Dif fic ult and ambitious Call to express Delight that he ignored their advice to forget the project. And a in the sweetest irony of All for the 50-year-old de Bont a top studio executives All Over los Angeles Are calling to offer big budget action projects after telling him As recently As three weeks ago that he was too inexperienced to make such films. A a that a the weird thing about  said de Bont taking a Long sip of Black Coffee. A your life can change in a Day. Your life can change in two hours. People see a movie and two hours later you can be at the top. Or at the  de Bont a dutch born cinematographer whose credits include die hard lethal weapon 3 and the Hunt for red october is now Savouring his sudden arrival at the top of the directors list. Speed opened last weekend As the top Box office attraction and Many Hollywood executives and movie exhibitors Are predicting that it will be in Heaters through most of the summer. The film almost two hours of nonstop action pits Keanu Reeves As a los Angeles policeman on a swat detail against a Sociopath played by Dennis Hopper who has wired a City bus to explode if after reaching Highway Speed it goes less than 50 Miles an hour. Also in the cast Are Sandra Bullock As a pus sneer who ends up driving the bus and Jeff Daniels As Reeve / buddy. The movie was written by Graham Yost with uncredited assistance by Jos Whelan. For 20th Century Fox the film s enthusiastic reception try critics and audiences was i a come after a year of mostly tepid films. Executives acknowledge that Speed caught them by Surprise and the film was initially viewed As Only a Convent to. A action movie for summer audiences. At Best they hoped it would recoup its $30 million Cost. The first hint that Speed might prove lobe an unexpected hit came in april when an Early version was shown at a theater in suburban Pasadena Calif. A they began applauding after the first scene a do Bont recalled �?�1 thought t Don t believe  the studio people had told me it was going to be a Small action movie. They were totally overwhelmed by the nonstop  a second screening was hastily set up in Long Beach South of los Angeles. Quot it went even better Quot said de Bont. Quot it was a dream come True a to make a movie that the audience  at that Point the studio told de Bont to Rush completion of the film and spent More than $1 million on seven Days a week overtime. In advancing the release to june 20th Century Fox sought to beat the Competition of such action films As metro Goldwyn Mayer a blown away starring Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones which opens on july 1 in the United states. Now however Speed May even compete with the studios biggest action film of the year True lies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by James Cameron. That film which May have Cost More than $100 million opens on july 15 and july 29 on the cafes circuit. Like Many successful cinematographers who often feel undervalued and underpaid de Bont had Long sought to turn to directing. A a lot of cinematographers get frustrated Quot he said seated in his office at the 20th Century Fox studios near Century City. Quot the studios often give Young directors an experienced cinematographer in the Hope that he can help the Guy make a Good movie. And let me fell you they do a lot of the work and sometimes take Over the directors Job and Lake control of a Good part of the movie. Quot then they get frustrated because if a movie dues Well or gets great reviews the director gets All the credit and the cinematographer is left out in the cold. Its frustrating it happens  although some cinematographers have become masterly directors among them Ridley Scott and Stanley Kubrick de Bonts Ido Many others have not been As successful. A some of the movies Are very Beautiful to look at but the stories done to go anywhere a said de Bont. A they tend to pay a lot More attention to the visual Side but audiences Don t real in care about How pretty your picture  what audiences care about he said Are Rich emotions action and events and actors they can identify with. The fact that Speed takes place in a City bus with mostly average looking passengers intensifies the films drama. Quot its All i Hope very identifiable Quot said de Bont. A Keanu Reeves looks vulnerable. At one Point he Breaks Down. He does t have Muscles like Stallone. He does t do incredible stunts or shoot up whole buildings. You can identify with  although he was reared in the Netherlands and spent his Early career with his close Friend verhoy Van making mostly Avant Garde films de Bont has lived in los Angeles since 1968, he is married to Trish Reeves a producer of to commercials and has two Young children. Do Bont who made his name As a cinematographer on such films As Flat liners. Ruthless people Black rain and the jewel of the Nile is known As a craftsman whose photographic style although not immediately recognizable is clean straightforward and vivid. He spoke animatedly of his Craft. Quot i love movies like the Hunt for red october because it was about submarines and i made the submarine almost an actor. Like the submarine was the Star of the movie. \ a the same applies to the bus in Speed. Its like a monster that you have to control. And he audience is like a passenger on that  do Bont said that aside from Kubrick he had Learned the most As a filmmaker watching Alfred Hitchcock a movies. Bui he added that directors of action movies and thrillers like Speed Are often undervalued As craftsmen. A it s As if you compared sleepless in Seattle to this movie a he said. A it s 400 percent More work in this kind of film. Its much More complicated on the actors. To keep your focus to keep continuity to make the film credible to add humor to get the action right a look How Many people try and  de Bont said he was considering a thriller As his next project a a in a like to reinvent the spy thriller a he said with typical Candor. A a they be become so Boring Over the last few years so technical. They be become so complicated with so much plot that audiences just say forget  he cited the Russia House which starred Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer and was based on the novel by John be carry. Quot How could you spend All that Money and come up with something so Boring a he said. A i want to make an energetic thriller. Not like All these Boring ones Quot what he wants is to stir audiences. Quot it s so Macri can its so great to have the audiences respond the Way they do to my movie a he said grinning. A a in Europe audiences Are so civil. They clap at tin cud of a movie. Here site a so great. They yell Thuv  Only in the United states it s Fau Tumu june 19, 1994 sunday Page 23