The new Prime Video science fiction series the peripherals has been acclaimed by fans of hard, intellectual sci-fi for its deep themes, bleak yet visionary view of the future, and masterful imagery. However, most fans and critics only emphasize one part of its artistic success: writer Scott B. Smith and Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, creators of the equally daring sci-fi show. west world. For example, the guard writes in their review, “west world new sci-fi from the creators is brilliant”, but they don’t mention it Vincenzo Natalicthe director who owns the rights to the peripherals novel by William Gibson.
The filmmaker behind philosophical masterpieces like Cube, Nothing, and encryption previously worked with Joy and Nolan when he directed episodes of west world. Now he directs four episodes of the peripherals, including the ambitious pilot, which introduces the aesthetic and tone of the entire series. Natali, who is also the show’s executive producer, spoke to MovieWeb about his love for Gibson and why he wanted to adapt the novel.
Vincenzo Natali on Adapting William Gibson for Prime Video
the peripherals is a high-concept science fiction series about virtual reality and the impoverished future, and a woman named Flynne (Chloë Grace Moretz) finds herself embroiled in a struggle not only for her family, but also for humanity. “I was trying to introduce them to William Gibson,” Natali said, and it may be that simple. “I so wanted the texture of his writing to be realized on screen. I feel like there have been William Gibson adaptations in the past, but none of them really captured that successfully. I just love his I think it’s a quality that feels so structured, and layered, and complicated, and therefore so real.”
Natali’s love for Gibson led him and his production partner Steven Hoban to pursue the peripherals. “Shortly after Steve and I chose the book, I happened to direct my first episode of” west worldNatalie said. “And I was like, maybe I’ll send the book to them. And within 24 hours they came back to me and said, ‘Yeah, we totally want to make this our next thing.’ I didn’t expect it, and it was so amazing. They’ve been really brave. I’m sure this would never have happened without them […] because the book itself is a bit impenetrable.” Natali continued to praise Gibson, Joy and Nolan:
Gibson’s thing is, he brings you into this world as a tourist with no guide or map and you. The reader has to find his way, just as if the book was not written about the future, but written as if it were from the future, which gives it a tremendous sense of authenticity, but does not make it easy to read […] So I have to thank them 100% for their foresight and ability to make it happen, and support to bring that vision to the screen. I think they really wanted to see Gibson well adapted.
The long process of making the peripherals
Believe it or not, Natali’s journey to get the peripherals to the screen began before the first episode of the visually stunning west world even aired on HBO. “It was a long process,” Natali admitted. “From the time my production partner and I chose the book to this point, it’s been about seven years. So there was a lot of time, in a good way, to simulate it a bit and think about the design and approach .”
“So with the help and support of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy and Scott Smith, who wrote the adaptation, we really tried to give it a sense of lived reality, both in the near future Flynne lives in and the distant future of London.” To achieve that sense of an organic, naturally evolved world, Natali and the crew as the director took a few key approaches. He explained:
Shoot on location as much as possible and do a minimum of digital effects. And don’t be overly baroque in our future world construction, and if possible be a little subtractive in creating these environments, and let London play London. London is a fascinating place and let Clanton [North Carolina] play Clanton, as it is also a fascinating place, and find the parallels between these two worlds that are so incredibly different from each other, yet are somehow a strange, twisted mirror of each other.
It may have been a long journey, but the destination is totally worth it; the result is a grand, unique epic with a more realistic and class-conscious look to the future than we often see, and is one of the best Prime Video series of this year. Produced by Kilter Films, Amazon Studios and Warner Bros. television, the peripherals will be available on Prime Video October 21.