Mystery duo illuminates dark 'Matrix'

By Josh Chetwynd, USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES — When Warner Bros. released information on its sci-fi action film The Matrix, which opened Wednesday and was No. 1 at the box office over the weekend, the studio had very little to say about the movie's co-directors and writers, brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski.

The press information reads: "(They) have been working together for 30 years. Their most recent feature film, Bound, which they wrote and directed, stars Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly and Joe Pantoliano. Little else is known about them."

What? Even the editor of the heavily marketed film starring Keanu Reeves gets four paragraphs.

In a suite at the Argyle Hotel on Sunset Strip, it quickly becomes clear why there's such paltry Wachowski publicity: They are in many ways anti- Hollywood directors.

"We don't like the idea of selling ourselves," says Andy, 31, casually dressed in a light sweater, shorts and a baseball cap. "We hate the 'film by' credit at the top of a movie. It is so egotistical."

And unlike most directors, the siblings were determined to get their vision on film — and adhere to The Matrix's $60 million-plus budget.

"Movies are so expensive," says 33-year-old Larry, also in low-key garb (ball cap, plain jacket, T-shirt, pants). "You have to have a responsibility to the people who are paying for the movie."

The filmmakers even delivered intricate special effects for the complex story about a futuristic battle between all-powerful computers and humans — most of whom are unwittingly living in a pretend world created by their electronic adversaries.

"It wasn't like they said, 'Hey diddle dee, we have (more than) $60 million,' " says Pantoliano, who plays a feature role in The Matrix. "They didn't see the light of day for 365 days."

Actually, the Wachowskis, who less than a decade ago were running a small construction business in their native Chicago, spent 5 1/2 years on The Matrix. They wrote 14 screenplay drafts and, in an almost unheard- of move, supervised about a half-dozen artists who drew storyboards (some 500 in all) of every scene to persuade Warner Bros.' top brass to make the film.

"You talk to people and they always ask, 'Why are action movies so dumb?' " Larry says. "We hope people are more interested in a more intelligent approach. We hope they are not just interested in what we call McDonald's movies, the standard you-know-what-you-get" films.

Preparation was key. Along with storyboarding, the Wachowskis insisted the film's principal actors — Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving — take four months of intensive martial arts training.

Larry and Andy also envisioned an innovative style of special effects. The brothers worked on comic books before selling their first screenplay (the Sylvester Stallone-Antonio Banderas bomb Assassins, of which Larry says, "We tried to get our name taken off that film"). They wanted to bring the Japanese style of animation called anime to live action.

The anime perspective would allow a camera to follow an object in motion and shift the view while other objects remain still.

For example, the Wachowskis wanted to show a bullet speeding by a motionless character while moving the audience's viewpoint.

They considered a "rocket camera" that would go 300 mph. But, says Andy, "the insurance people didn't like that."

Eventually, with the help of visual-effects maven John Gaeta, the brothers worked out an intricate system that in some scenes used 150 high-tech cameras and a laser-guided tracking system.

Their determination to get it just right has earned praise from those they work with.

The Wachowskis, says Matrix producer Joel Silver, "are very similar to (writing/directing team) the Coen brothers. They both know what they want, they really do it together, and they know what they have to do to get it done."

The Wachowskis may know what they want on screen, but they are typically anti-Hollywood when asked about the future. Will they even do another movie?

Andy quietly replies: "Only if people go to this one."

Now that The Matrix has had a stellar opening weekend, Hollywood will no doubt do everything in its power to make that answer "ASAP."