The crossover between Australian film legend George Miller and Japanese video game auteur Hideo Kojima may seem odd to people unfamiliar with the two beyond their main works, but to those who follow more closely, this is a relationship that stretches back more than a decade. And when you consider the careers and creative outputs of both of them, it’s easy to trace a connection that goes well beyond just these two master creators.
Kojima first ‘met’ Miller as a teenager, watching Mad Max (1979) and Mad Max 2 (1981). It might not have been in person, but the act of allowing yourself to be submerged in another person’s creative vision is itself a meeting of sorts. Not just because Miller’s creative vision is on display, but because the viewer, in this case a young Kojima, takes what they’ve seen, and interprets, retells, and reimagines it their way, essentially taking on the role of creator themselves.
In their hour-long (yet all too brief) conversation at this year’s Sydney Film Festival, not only did Kojima and Miller reiterate their mutual admiration, but they mused on the divergent and convergent nature of films and video games, the importance of stories being told and how we go about telling them, the future of Kojima’s upcoming Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and of storytelling mediums of the future – and much more besides!
Here are our key takeaways from this world-exclusive event.
1. Kojima’s choice of Australia as a setting for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is more than just postcard scenery
In Death Stranding (2019), players traversed across the United States. For the sequel, Kojima has chosen Australia. When asked about this decision, Kojima joked it’s because he “loves Miller,” which no doubt is true.
He expanded further and explained that the topographical density and diverse flora and fauna interested him in Australia initially. The uniqueness of our marsupials also became a point of note for Kojima, citing both their unique appearance and their pouches, which he compared to BB from Death Stranding. He even discussed the presence of many of Australia’s iconic animals in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.
2. Both creators frame connection versus isolation as the master-theme of our era
When asked about the focus on the dichotomy of isolation and connection present in Death Stranding, Kojima explained his stick-and-rope ‘schema’. Fans will have heard it described previously, but in essence, it stems from the idea that humans used sticks to fight off evil and ropes to hold closer what they loved.
He expanded this in the context of the initial conception of the idea he had in 2016, comparing it to discussions of Brexit, the election of Donald Trump, and our general over-connectedness through the internet. It is almost poetic that the same dichotomy was only amplified in the pandemic, not long after the initial release of Death Stranding.
Miller recounted a story of a father in the last days with his terminally ill son. In his final days, the young boy chose to play a video game, which he was able to beat, which Miller highlights as an exemplar of the interactive element that video games have and their power to connect us.
3. Video games are expanding upon how films use storytelling
Miller also discussed the nature of video games and how they are becoming more like films in their visuals and production quality, whilst offering a level of agency almost impossible in films. This ability to participate in the story is something that Kojima also places a lot of importance on, specifically the difficulty he has had as a video game creator trying to ensure that his story is told, without completely dictating the choice of the player.
He used a metaphor of a highway to explain this better, explaining that most games that posit the ability for the player to choose their own path are just “highways with designated exits”: players adjust speed and lanes, but rarely destination.
Kojima outlined an ambition to create a structure where the authored story remains intact, yet the approach is far more malleable—something closer to “walk in any direction, and the story will notice.”
4. The two mediums are converging technologically but diverging experientially
Miller points out that cinema and games are both digital mediums, made with the same tools. Yet, at their core, the experience differs: film is passive transport, game is active story building.
The future, they agree, will see increased hybridisation – AI-assisted personal films or games with auteur-level individuality – but the distinction between watching and playing will remain two separate art forms.
5. Storytelling is positioned as humanity’s oldest adaptive strategy, not a decorative art
These two are not at all the first ones to mention how baked into the human psyche storytelling is. Miller rightly points out that Australia is built on the land of the oldest, continuous storytelling people.
When you think about it, films and video games are the two newest ways we have invented to tell our stories. Film is only 125 years old, and video games nare ot much older than 50 years. Video games were an expansion on films, and now are increasingly alike and unique. Both creators acknowledge that Miller’s movies and Kojima’s games are not answers to life’s questions, nor are they special for their technology.
Yet, they are today’s storytellers, following a tradition that has persisted for as long as humans have existed, and will continue onwards, irrespective of technology.
The Sydney Film Festival ran from June 4th to June 15th. Check out our other coverage of the festival HERE.
