By Kayla DeKraker
MELANIA director Brett Ratner recently reflected on the incredible opportunity of creating the successful documentary.
“I mean, the validation was undeniable, but honestly, I felt like I won just when Melania called me and asked me to direct the film,” he told Fox News Digital. “When I saw the President for the first time, and after I was hired, I said to him, ‘that bullet that missed you, I think was a divine intervention.’ He said, ‘Yeah, I think you’re right.’”
An “intimate chronicle,” MELANIA “offers a rare glimpse into the life of Melania Trump, exploring her role as First Lady and her relationship with the President,” IMDB’s synopsis reads.
Ratner called getting asked to lead the project “my divine intervention.”
“So, for me, I got to pinch myself. I mean, the access that they gave me, the opportunity that they gave me was just beyond my wildest imagination. So, I already felt like I won,” he said.
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“And that’s exactly why she wanted to hire me,” Ratner continued. “Because I said, you know, I wasn’t trying to wiggle my way out of the job, but there were many great documentary filmmakers…And she said, ‘But I don’t want a documentary filmmaker. I want a feature filmmaker who makes movies for the big screen.'”
“And that’s why I was so excited about this because she was thinking big,” he explained. “She wasn’t just thinking, ‘OK, we’ll do it for streaming, we’ll do it just for the MAGA audience. We’re gonna do it for everyone.’ I was really excited that Melania had this vision for the movie that was bigger than I even imagined.”
MELANIA made $8 million its opening weekend, securing the title as the best documentary debut in over 10 years.
“What we’re experiencing is people are going and seeing this movie three and four times,” Ratner said. “I’m proud. I’m really, really proud.”
“We’re not telling history. We’re making history,” he emphasized.
Movieguide® rated MELANIA highly, giving it a +2 content score. The review reads, “MELANIA offers rare access to the First Lady. The movie remains intentionally distant. As such, it favors elegance and restraint over intimacy and spectacle. This approach may leave some moviegoers wanting more relatable moments.”
The review addes that “MELANIA is notably free of objectionable content. Instead, it underscores values such as family, dignity, perseverance, modesty, and faith. It also invites thoughtful discussion about character, leadership and integrity under pressure. Ultimately, MELANIA works best as a character study and meditation on public life rather than as a political statement.”
It seems that Americans enjoyed getting a peek into what life is like as the First Lady.
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