Man of mirrors

>> Director Christian Duguay reflects on The Art of War

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

"I needed to make it subtle," says Art of War director Christian Duguay as he munches on a designer salad in his Outremont home. "Maybe I made it too subtle." Duguay can be forgiven for stuffing his face during an interview, and forgiven his crisis of faith, because as we speak he's an hour short of his flight to L.A. and a potentially surly press junket for what is effectively the widest-released Canadian production ever.

He can also be forgiven using the word "subtle" to describe this new Wesley Snipes vehicle, despite the movie's high quotient of hot lead, tough stunts, free-flowing blood and occasionally clichéd dialogue. It's one of those action/intrigue numbers from the Mission: Impossible school, but as active as the action is, the intrigue is just as intriguing.

"I'm happy because I see that people recognize a certain commercial potential in intelligent movie-making. I was afraid that if there would be any resistance to a wide-release for Art of War, it would be because of the intelligence and complexity of the plot. It seems that it contributes instead. It's back to the films that were popular in the '70s, but with all the bells and whistles of today."

No point in detailing the plot, an affair involving the UN, big business, the Chinese mafia and a team of covert operatives headed by Neil Shaw (Snipes). What should be noted, though, is that Snipes' character finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy, manipulated like a rat in a Skinner box. By whom? That would be telling.

Says Duguay: "A lot of people enjoyed the film so much the second time. They know the story, and they're looking for all the clues, and they're all there, and they work. For me, that's the fun. Often when people see a film a second time, they see all the inconsistencies jumping out. With this one, I've been very careful. All the t's have been crossed."

Crossing t's is something Duguay's good at. He's a detail man, obsessively fastidious to the point that he still handles the steady-cam himself, to get those shots just right. "Everything needs to be finessed to the millimetre, each of the sound effects and special effects, all those levels that have to be perfectly adjusted. If not, it's like a bad mix, and suddenly you lose all the nuance and the real point of the scene."

One nuance Duguay revels in throughout the film is the use of mirrors, windows and reflections. "It's based a little on Sun Tzu's Art of War," he explains, referring to the classic Chinese text of military philosophy, to which the film has some tangential

connections. "Make your enemy believe you're behind something when in fact you're somewhere else. The concept of 'which image are you really seeing?' It's the same thing metaphorically--what face of yourself do you offer to the public? Who's manipulating whom?"

All told, it's Duguay manipulating the audience, but he does so competently--subtly, even.

Art of War opens Friday, Aug. 25