CELEBRATING CINEMA'S GREATEST WORLD-BUILDER: RIDLEY SCOTT

Across a 45-year big-screen career, Ridley Scott has proved himself a visualist without equal. With House Of Gucci releasing in cinemas soon, Total Film catches up with a filmmaker who’s seen things you wouldn’t believe.

- JORDAN FARLEY

By the end of November, Ridley Scott will have released his second movie in as many months. This would be an impressive feat for any director - particularly when the films in question are as ambitious, accomplished and visually ravishing as The Last Duel and House Of Gucci. But what pushes this achievement into the realm of the ridiculous is the fact that Scott is currently days away from his 84th birthday.

The filmmaker’s relentless work ethic has been a constant across a big-screen career spanning almost half a century. When Total Film catches up with the peerlessly prolific filmmaker he’s living at the Provence vineyard he’s owned for 27 years, but don’t mistake it for a vacation. “Frankly, working is my holiday. When I’m on holiday, that’s hard work. I mean, sitting on a beach and reading a book – I can’t do that,” says Scott, cracking a reassuringly cheeky smile.

True to his word, Scott has a jam-packed day. Even before his mid-morning Zoom appointment with TF, he has already cast his eyes over the latest treatment for Noah Hawley’s Alien TV series (“It’s kind of interesting,” he muses), and as soon as we say our goodbyes, he’ll be picking up his pencils and getting back to work on the storyboards for Kitbag, his Napoleonic drama starring Joaquin Phoenix and Jodie Comer, which is due in front of cameras early next year.

“I make the film, as it were, on paper before I get there,” says Scott - one of the simple secrets behind his legendary efficiency. “I turn up very prepared. And I’ve found that that is economically really wise, because you walk on the set knowing exactly what you’re going to do.”