David O. Russell wants to welcome you to Amsterdam.
His latest film, in theaters Friday, has two main themes — fascism and friendship — running though this star studded film, featuring Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Taylor Swift, and more. Mike Myers plays a mysterious government agent, and he tells ABC Audio the politics of Amsterdam play second fiddle to the story of Bale, Robbie, and Washington’s character’s friendship.
“This dealt with that in the best possible way, which is three friends who make their own family together, set against this situation. And they’re wrongfully accused of a crime and they have to clear their name,” he explains. “And that’s my favorite delivery system of talking about big important things, is that the plot and the people you’re invested in.”
It’s those big ideas that drew Myers to the role of a mysterious government agent who is fighting fascism in the 1930s, ahead of World War II.
“You know, my parents were in World War Two. My dad was in the Royal Engineers and my mom was in the Royal Air Force,” Myers says. “And when they talked about World War Two, they didn’t talk about fighting the Germans or the Italians. They talked about fighting the fascists.”
Myers’ character also has a knack for cuckoo birds. What do cuckoo birds have to do with fascism?
“The Cuckoo actually co-opts people’s nests, and I thought that was a great metaphor for what happens with fascism,” he shares. “Fascism is neither really a political system, nor is it an economic system. It’s a parasitic system. It’s an aesthetic movement. And generally, fascism will come in, steal somebody else’s nest.”
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