導演奧立佛史東談 "亞歷山大帝" Stone says Alexander is too complex for 'conventional minds' Staff and agencies Friday December 10, 2004 Oliver Stone has defended his latest film, Alexander, saying its themes and approaches are too complex for Hollywood tastes. The movie has had disappointing box office in the US. The director told attendees at a film festival in Marrakech that the bold themes were too risqué for filmgoers with "conventional minds". The three-hour epic starring Colin Farrell as Alexander the Great was filmed in Morocco, India and London and was backed largely by European funds. It has been a flop in the US, taking roughly $29m in its first two weeks, having cost $150m to make. Many reviewers in the US laid into the film, some taking issue with depictions of Alexander and his male confidant and lover Hephaistion. Quite naturally, the Oscar winning director of Platoon, Wall Street and JFK has been unflagging in his defence of the film. According to Screendaily.com he told an audience at the Moroccan event: "The script was just too ambiguous, too questioning about an action-hero who was masculine/feminine. "These are tough qualities in Hollywood. "It's just too big a life. It doesn't fit in into the Hollywood formula." Stone speculated that Hollywood producers and studios would have transformed the story into a revenge saga as Alexander pursued the men who killed his father. "Revenge movies are the western ethos," he said "One of the problems with the movie for the conventional mind is there is no villain." Stone also denied rumours circulating in the press that he was preparing to direct a biopic of Margaret Thatcher.