I can’t believe I enjoyed Salt! It’s 2012 AND The Expendables all over again where I know the film is bad but I’m enjoying it nonetheless.
In fairness, Salt (despite that ridiculous title) is slightly more credible than the other two films mentioned but it’s cut from similar cloth and essentially boils down to Hollywood nonsense that is more fun than it should be. Angelina Jolie plays CIA agent Evelyn Salt, who is forced to go on the run when a Russian defector literally walks in off the street to divulge information about sleeper Russian agents in place in the various American institutions who are about to initiate “Day X” a day when the agents become active and, through a series of devastating terrorist attacks, bring down the entire US. The defector identifies Salt as one such agent and announces, in CIA headquarters, that she is going to kill the Russian president later that day. Salt is forced to go on the run and ends up in a series of escalating action set pieces that require her to leap from roof tops, speeding lorries, infiltrate a massively guarded funeral service and, ultimately, break into The White House itself.
Angelina Jolie seems to be single-handedly making the case for the credibility of female action heroes and she does it exceptionally well. Much has been made of the fact she did most of her own stunts and Jolie is able to sell all the various high jumps and kicks, her patented leaping-against-a-wall-so-as-to-push-herself-off-it-into-a-bad-guy’s-face move being particularly awesome. Actually, I say “bad guys” but most of Salt’s victims are poor policemen or government agents of one kind or another who, one assumes, aren’t bad guys at all, merely getting in the way of what Salt has to do. On top of Jolie's physical prowess, seasoned thriller director Philip Noyce handles all the various set pieces with considerable flair and gives them a sense of reality that, for the most part, works quite well. Being about three steps ahead of any film is crippling, but in a thriller it’s disastrous, so extra kudos to Noyce and Jolie for making Kurt Wimmer’s pretty pedestrian screenplay (complete with ropey Hollywood dialogue, “We’re gonna crash this party”) come alive as well as they do. The film tries to keep Salt’s motivations for what she is doing vague, her guilt or innocence constantly a question. This all leads to a “surprise” ending that won’t be much of a surprise for anyone who has seen a single Hollywood thriller before. In fairness to the script, the Day X notion is a fun conspiracy, even if it is told in flashback. Oh and speaking of flashbacks, the moments where we get to see Jolie's relationship with husband August Diehl are a waste of time. And I wonder if his job as spider specialist is going to become important at any stage... One or two moments, (Jolie going undercover as a man being the worst offender) threaten to derail the film but there is always another fun chase or fight on the horizon to bring you back onside. British actor Chiwetol Ejiofor continues his run of big budget movies as Agent Peabody (Seriously, who the hell came up with these names?!?) the agent charged with bringing her in and Leiv Schrieber is wholly insufficient as her old friend and fellow agent Ted Winter (slightly better but somehow I would imagine someone called Ted Winter as a supply teacher rather than a crack CIA operative). But it’s Jolie’s show and she really delivers and props the film up when it’s losing steam.
I’ve had a run of dodgy action movies of late with Salt, The A Team, Expendables and Knight and Day, which I just realised I never reviewed; (it’s terrible 2.5/10. There you go!) It’s nice to see stand alone old fashioned action thrillers making a return (thank you Jason Bourne for that) and Salt was definitely my favourite. Of course, if it makes enough money we’ll be seeing more Evelyn Salt on our big screens which would be no bad thing in my view. Salt 2: Rock Salt, Salt 3-D: Sodium Free. The possibilities are endless.
7/10
Monday 23 August 2010
The Expendables Review
I can’t believe I enjoyed The Expendables! It’s 2012 all over again where I know the film is bad but I’m enjoying it nonetheless.
In fairness, I wasn’t going with it for the first 20/25 minutes. The opening action sequence, taking down a ship full of Somalian pirates, was somewhat underwhelming, the following scenes of “character development” interminable. But writer/director/actor Sly Stallone knows he can’t get such presumably giant egos together in one movie without giving everyone their moment to shine and the scene that turned things around for me comes when Jason Statham (playing Lee Christmas. Honestly…) confronts his ex girlfriend’s new guy on a basketball court after he discovers the new guy has been beating her. It’s meant to reveal character, but as written by Sly and delivered by the Stath, it’s unintentionally hilarious and the fight is quite cool. I was now onside with the film and remained so right up until the last half hour of brilliantly over the top carnage that takes the last 20 minutes of Rambo and makes it look tame by comparison.
The story, such as it is, sees a team of mercenaries, the eponymous Expendables, try and take down evil CIA agent turned drug baron Eric Roberts and his puppet General played by David Zayas, Dexter’s Detective Angel Bathista. And that’s pretty much it. In truth, the film has been hyped as the greatest collection of action stars ever assembled in the greatest action movie ever made and on that level it’s disappointing. Anyone who has read the press conference will have noticed Sly’s somewhat barbed remark that Segal and Van Damme turned him down because they saw their careers going in “a different direction.” But (and I REALLY never thought I’d ever type the following sentence…) in a film billed as the greatest cast of action stars ever, their presence is missed. And the much trumpeted coming together of Stallone, Bruce Willis and the Guvernator is a blink and you’ll miss it 1 minute scene of cameos that, in truth, is kind of laboured. I don’t follow American wrestling so, despite having heard of Randy Couture and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, really, their presence didn’t resonate with me particularly. Also, you know, they’re wrestlers. But what you DO get is a ludicrous, over-the-top, old fashioned, men-on-a-mission action movie. You never have any sense of danger for the team, despite their being called the Expendables, and even when 64 year old Sly is getting pummelled by a 30-something, brick shithouse professional wrestler, you still don’t feel any danger for him, even if the fight itself is a lot of fun. As I said, everyone is given their moment. Jet Li and Dolph Lungdren square off and, honestly, have you ever seen THAT before? Statham gets several moments of glory and, as he’s demonstrated before, is physically very adept. When Jason Statham is your most credible actor, that should send alarm bells ringing but somehow the whole debacle emerges unscathed from the onslaught of appalling dialogue, ropey acting and posturing by the leads. A fitting metaphor for the whole last half hour of the film in fact. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a good film in any traditional sense but as guilty pleasure movies go, it ends up being a lot of fun.
6.5/10
In fairness, I wasn’t going with it for the first 20/25 minutes. The opening action sequence, taking down a ship full of Somalian pirates, was somewhat underwhelming, the following scenes of “character development” interminable. But writer/director/actor Sly Stallone knows he can’t get such presumably giant egos together in one movie without giving everyone their moment to shine and the scene that turned things around for me comes when Jason Statham (playing Lee Christmas. Honestly…) confronts his ex girlfriend’s new guy on a basketball court after he discovers the new guy has been beating her. It’s meant to reveal character, but as written by Sly and delivered by the Stath, it’s unintentionally hilarious and the fight is quite cool. I was now onside with the film and remained so right up until the last half hour of brilliantly over the top carnage that takes the last 20 minutes of Rambo and makes it look tame by comparison.
The story, such as it is, sees a team of mercenaries, the eponymous Expendables, try and take down evil CIA agent turned drug baron Eric Roberts and his puppet General played by David Zayas, Dexter’s Detective Angel Bathista. And that’s pretty much it. In truth, the film has been hyped as the greatest collection of action stars ever assembled in the greatest action movie ever made and on that level it’s disappointing. Anyone who has read the press conference will have noticed Sly’s somewhat barbed remark that Segal and Van Damme turned him down because they saw their careers going in “a different direction.” But (and I REALLY never thought I’d ever type the following sentence…) in a film billed as the greatest cast of action stars ever, their presence is missed. And the much trumpeted coming together of Stallone, Bruce Willis and the Guvernator is a blink and you’ll miss it 1 minute scene of cameos that, in truth, is kind of laboured. I don’t follow American wrestling so, despite having heard of Randy Couture and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, really, their presence didn’t resonate with me particularly. Also, you know, they’re wrestlers. But what you DO get is a ludicrous, over-the-top, old fashioned, men-on-a-mission action movie. You never have any sense of danger for the team, despite their being called the Expendables, and even when 64 year old Sly is getting pummelled by a 30-something, brick shithouse professional wrestler, you still don’t feel any danger for him, even if the fight itself is a lot of fun. As I said, everyone is given their moment. Jet Li and Dolph Lungdren square off and, honestly, have you ever seen THAT before? Statham gets several moments of glory and, as he’s demonstrated before, is physically very adept. When Jason Statham is your most credible actor, that should send alarm bells ringing but somehow the whole debacle emerges unscathed from the onslaught of appalling dialogue, ropey acting and posturing by the leads. A fitting metaphor for the whole last half hour of the film in fact. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a good film in any traditional sense but as guilty pleasure movies go, it ends up being a lot of fun.
6.5/10
Friday 20 August 2010
The Expendables Press Conference
You know you’re out of place when the gentleman ushering you to the hotel conference room is wearing cufflinks that are more expensive than your entire ensemble. Did he really have to look me up and down with such disdain? Anyway thus began my first visit to The Dorchester Hotel to cover the press conference for The Expendables. The email from Lionsgate said to arrive at 11.15 for an 11.30 start. I got there at 11 and the place was already three quarters full. I ended up sitting near the back beside someone from Nuts magazine. I wanted to tell him that I’m much more of a Zoo Magazine kinda guy but I thought it best to keep that one to myself.
The panel consisted of Stallone, Dolph Lungdren and Jason Statham. The bulk of the questions were directed at Sly and this became a running gag throughout the whole event. Dolph Lungdren barely spoke but he smiled and laughed his way through the whole thing. Stallone was engaging and enthusiastic and had a great rapport with the assembled journalists and the atmosphere of the whole press conference was light and fun. The event was moderated by a woman from Lionsgate, the film’s distributor. We all waved our hands frantically to get her attention so as to ask our questions. Unfortunately, sitting near the back, Eggmag wasn’t able to get their question asked, despite much waving of hands, and, at one point, standing up and waving. So I’m afraid folks we’ll never know Sylvester Stallone’s take on internet hype and marketing of films in the face of a Q&A session he recently did with fans on Ain’t It Cool News. Which would have been a better question than some of the ones that were asked… I’m looking at you Miss How Does Your Faith Influence The Films You Make. I particularly liked Sly’s response to being asked if he feels the need to justify the violence in his films…
The moderator got the ball rolling with the first question. Enjoy…
MODERATOR. At the screening last week there was a massive round of applause before the film even started and as each star’s name appeared (in the credits) there were whoops of joy. To what extent does that level of excitement and expectation bring extra challenges or responsibilities to do something really special with the Expendables?
STALLONE. Well it’s like that around my house every morning, “Hey look it’s Dad, whoo!”
LAUGHTER
STALLONE. It’s A LOT of extra pressure. You know sometimes you have a major turkey and it’s not even Thanksgiving and you know it’s gonna be bad. But this time, this is the other end of the spectrum where there was a great expectancy and we thought, well gee, I wasn’t expecting this when we started making it so we better live up to this idea everyone has. It’s kind of complex, you know?
MODERATOR. And Dolph and Jason, how was it for you? Do you feel the expectation? Is there extra responsibility?
STATHAM. Well it’s all on Sly I’m afraid. So no.
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. Oh just deflect it onto Sly.
STATHAM. Well that’s why you try to work with people who know what they‘re doing.
STALLONE. You better go work with Christopher Nolan pal. I’m guessing my way through this.
LAUGHTER.
At this point they opened it up to the floor.
QUESTION. Sly and Dolph, how would you compare your relationship now to the way it was 25 years ago when you did Rocky 4? Was it the same dynamic as before?
STALLONE. Well I never trained harder for a Rocky movie than I did for Rocky 4. And Dolph is brutal, he’s a world class athlete so we got to know each other pretty well. Then times change, we go through ups and downs, marriages, whatever, and meeting in this time it’s really great because, of all the actors I’ve worked with, Dolph has remained the most grounded, the most humble. Believe me actors can change a lot, it’s rough, it’s very competitive. But…yeah it has changed. I was dying to kick his brains in. He pounded me in that movie! (Rocky 4) I look at him now and I think, what was I thinking?! The guy is a monster! He put me in the hospital for days! So, you don’t think I had a grudge?! That’s why I shot you! (in The Expendables.)
LAUGHTER.
MODERATOR. And Dolph, would you like to comment any further?
LUNGDREN. No.
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. Question for Sly…
STALLONE. Hey look, you gotta talk to these guys too!
QUESTION. What was it like managing all the testosterone on set? Did you have an all female crew to balance it out?
STALLONE. Female what?! No, well it got kinda aggressive. Let’s say Jason had an action beat. And he’s very physical, you’ll see in the documentaries, his hands were on ice, he was leaping onto baking hot ground over and over and he keeps wanting to do it and I had to say, “stop, stop.” So then the next fellow who has to do his stunt, he looks at Jason and says “Jason is really good, I’m going to kill this guy!” So it keeps building in competitiveness, men are just naturally competitive, they want to keep upping the ante. So, I don’t know if there were any women around. They were tough if there were, you had to be tough on this show.
QUESTION. And Jason and Dolph, was there anything you were scared of doing? Anything you won’t do?
STATHAM. I won’t wear a flowery shirt. I’m scared of that.
LAUGHTER.
STATHAM. No it’s all part of the job. The good thing about a film like this getting done and having Sly in control of it is that he shoots a lot of the stunts in the camera. A lot of the action directors of today tend to rely on the visual and it becomes boring because there’s a lot of CGI. When you do an action movie that requires real stunts, real action, it’s a great opportunity and that’s what we’re looking for, we can’t wait to get stuck in and do all that stuff.
QUESTION. Is there anyone you wanted to be involved that couldn’t do it or didn’t want to do it? And how did you get so many names in one film?
STALLONE. Well, at first it was just myself, Jason and Jet Li and it began to develop from that. And I was thinking of different things, you know originally I thought Ben Kingsley as the bad guy and Forest Whittaker, but then I thought that’s not gonna fly, let me just go really old school. So I called Dolph and he accepted immediately, he was very gracious. And then I thought, there aren’t a lot of young guys, bad asses out there today, guys who just want to get it on. Now, I believe the younger generation would like to show their metal, they want to prove themselves but there were just none around. So I went to the MMA and got a 5 time world champion who‘s at the top of his game, Steve Austin an incredibly powerful human being, you know, whatever you think about wrestling these are guys who are 250 pounds of solid muscle and it just kept building from there. I went to Van Damme and Steven Segal but they just had different ideas on their career, so…
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. With a lot of high profile actors starring in flop movies, do you think star actors matter anymore?
STALLONE. Jason, do you want to answer that before you fall asleep?
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. Stars don’t matter that much. Concept matters. The overall originality or reinterpretation of a really classic situation, like the way Star Wars went back to Joseph Campbell, all the variations on that, that’s what matters. Whereas when Dolph and I were starting out, this was a little before your time Jason. You were still… a thought. You were a concept.
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. But with Dolph and I, they put you in a film and surround you with these guys, you were these unresolved characters but you can’t do that today. Rambo was a one man show but you can’t just do that now. But there is a lot more at stake today. Where you had maybe 400 films a year, now you have 250 so the stakes are very high and it’s almost a science now, what they make. So there’s no more “Oh I got a gut feeling. I’m gonna take a chance. I know everyone says no but I’m gonna try it anyway.” That’s gone. It’s all scientific. Every actor is weighed against what they can bring in from different territories. It’s like a math project.
QUESTION. Sly, how has your faith influenced the films you make? And do you feel the need to justify the violence in your films?
STALLONE. Well I’ve made a lot of career mistakes. Personal mistakes too actually. A lot. But I never started out to be an action actor, I was an ensemble actor. Rocky was ensemble, FIST was ensemble and Paradise Alley was ensemble. Then along came First Blood and there was the beginning of something unusual. Once all the dialogue was cut out, it was a very visual film. And I believe that the violence is very justifiable. One thing in my films, I only kill people that need to be killed. The ones that deserve it get it and the ones that go after women really get it. Really get it. If a man is really having his way with a woman, tearing her apart, wrecking her life, I’m not just going to shoot him with a bullet, that’s way too civilised. He’s gonna feel real pain and I think the audience wants that and feels it cathartically. Now, if you do that in every scene then it’s a horror film. But…yeah, I don’t feel guilty about it at all. I can feel guilty if you want me to?
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. Jason, what was it like working with people you grew up watching?
STATHAM. It’s a situation where you get to know the real man behind the camera. It’s not the film maker anymore it’s just a regular guy. And to me that was the best part of working with Sly, getting to know him as a person. There’s no substitute for that.
QUESTION. Did you have to pinch yourself?
STATHAM. You can do that if you want, yeah.
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. What was it like writing and directing and starring in the film? And Jason, what was it like acting with Sly as he’s directing you too?
STALLONE. My method is to learn everybody’s lines. Write the script, learn the entire script, that way I don’t have to think about it anymore, I can concentrate on the actors. Then, when we’re doing a scene, Jason will tell you, he’s always giving different lines on the spur of the moment.
STATHAM. Yeah, that’s the thing with having a guy who’s the writer and director because you have full liberty to change and improvise and you don’t normally get that, you get restrictions. Some guy wrote the script and he doesn’t want anyone to mess with that, the director isn’t allowed to mess with it, so it’s the best situation you can get.
STALLONE. For example, in the scene with the Somalian pirates, it builds up, “You want the money then come and get it.” Then, I go “BZZZ” everyone’s like, what’s that? “Say you’re getting a text.” And Jason is like, “What? I’m not gonna say that.” “Just say it!” “I’m not gonna say that!” And the camera is rolling the whole time. “So I’ll go BZZZ and then you say, I’m getting a text.” Camera is still rolling. So I go “BZZZ” and Jason goes, “I’m getting a text.” So now I look at Terry and I say, “Say it better not be from my wife.” And Terry is like, “What? I’m not saying that!” Oh just say it! So he says it. You have the formula, the blueprint, and once you have it then let’s just go and everyone ad libs. We had a nicely scripted piece but it didn’t have those eccentricities. Like when Dolph is hanging a pirate. It’s crazy but it’s memorable. Crazy is memorable.
MODERATOR. And Dolph, I think we wanted to hear from you on this?
LUNGDREN. Well they’re both right. I agree.
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. Jason, this is your third film with Jet Li, how has working with him shaped your career?
STATHAM. Well none of the films I’ve done with Jet, apart from this one, have been any good.
LAUGHTER.
STATHAM. It’s difficult because my first movie with Jet wasn’t what it was supposed to be. But it gave me the opportunity to work with (fight choreographer) Corey Yuen which was instrumental in me playing in The Transporter films. But it’s coincidental that we’re doing another film together. It’s not that we beat Sly up and held him down, “We want to do a film together.”
STALLONE. But I think it’s a perfect example of how difficult it is to get an action film out there and have it performed and have the proper people involved. It’s great for Jason to see how it was done the old way.
STATHAM. And I’d like to add to that because the films I did with Jet were science fiction based and this harks back to the old school action movies, basically the ones that I am interested in doing.
QUESTION. There is a paternal theme in your films now, it’s the heart of Rocky Balboa and you have it with Julie Benz’s character in Rambo too. It seems that with The Expendables that you have a paternal relationship with Jason Statham’s character. How much of that is intentional?
STALLONE. It’s very intentional. You have to be age appropriate and he would be the protégé. He’s like the guy who will eventually take over but in the meantime I can tease him about his love life, not to take himself too seriously, stuff like that, like a father and son would do, but yeah it’s not by accident. You know, I always try to deal with redemption. I think everyone has regret that at one moment they made the wrong decision and sometimes you never get your life back on course. And that theme, from Rocky to Rambo to this, haunts me. Maybe I’m just mono-minded or limited but to me it’s inextinguishable. The thing with Mickey Rourke when he goes, “We used to be something and now we’re worth nothing because we gave up.” Okay so, redemption. How do I get it back? By doing something “charitable.” So that’s the theme, without overburdening the film and turning it into a talk fest. And you couldn’t understand what I’m saying anyway, so why bother doing that?
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. With Rocky and Rambo there was a sense of closure, of you saying goodbye to your characters but I didn’t get that feeling with this. Are we going to see more action films from you or can we expect films with a bit more mind than muscle?
STALLONE. I don’t know, see, I’ve done my “mind movies” and I don’t think people are that interested in seeing me do that anymore. I’m past my prime in doing dramatic films. I think it becomes almost a pathetic cry out to be recognised as a serious dramaturge. I got my little moment, I’m very proud of the drama in Rocky Balboa, that’s about as deep as I can go, Copland too. I would much rather direct dramas. But The Expendables I would like to see go on. I’d like everyone to go on except him. (points at Dolph Lungdren.)
LUNGDREN. Because I talk too much.
QUESTION. Dolph, you’re in a similar position, you’ve directed five action films. Would you like to be completely behind the camera?
LUNGDREN. No, both are cool. One is easier than the other, behind the camera is more challenging. But I like to do both.
STALLONE. You know, contrary to how he looks, he’s really a very smart guy.
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. Seriously! You know, here’s this beautiful guy, 6.5, Viking kinda guy, 29 inch waist, I’m going, he’s got to be a moron. But here he is, MIT graduate, Fulbright scholar, I’m going, him? Seriously? I mean, can you imagine him in a lab with test tubes going, “I will cure this rat of something.”
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. He went from scientist to savage.
QUESTION. Why do you think audiences fell out of love with the action hero?
LUNGDREN. Well I don’t think people fell out of love, I think it just changed a little bit. And you know, it’ll change again.
STALLONE. That’s completly right. Every generation, including mine, has their own heroes. I mean I didn’t identify with John Wayne, I identified with James Dean. You have to find your own heroes and this generation has defined superheroes as their heroes. That’s why we (The Expendables) are kind of a novelty. That’s just the way it is. Look at music. It’s unrecognisable from what it was 20 years ago. That’s just the way it is. And then maybe it’ll go retro. Really, only Jason is current. Which is really lucky for us.
QUESTION. If you had made this film 20 years ago it would have cost you everything you ever owned…
STALLONE. (Laughing) Yeah!
QUESTION ….How did you get everyone now? Was it favours?
STALLONE. I could never have afforded Bruce and Arnold, that would have been the whole budget of the movie. Jason is a lot of money but he’s well worth it. £100 a week but worth every penny.
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. But you’re right it would have been impossible if everyone had wanted their price. But things have changed, prices are dropping drastically. You’re lucky now just to get work. People that were getting 10 million are now down to 2 and they’re going thank you. But this was all favours. Some people worked for nothing. Mainly me.
And with that the Moderator called an end and the Expendables left the stage. On the way out, I hovered in the foyer, just in case. Jason Statham was ushered away and Dolph Lungdren wasted no time either. But Sly was having transport organised for him, he was heading off to another press engagement and so he hung around for a couple of minutes, signing autographs, answering questions, posing for photos. I managed to get his attention. “It’s a great film, well done.” And I offered my hand. “Oh that’s very nice, thank you.” And he shook my hand. And, despite being somewhat shocked that my 5 feet 8 inch frame was slightly taller than Sly’s, I nonetheless felt a transference of testosterone that made me want to get behind the biggest, jeep-mounted weapon I could find and turn faceless bad guys into red mist.
In the end though, I got on the tube and went home.
I'll get my review of The Expendables up as soon as I can. It opens today and it's ludicrous but good fun.
The panel consisted of Stallone, Dolph Lungdren and Jason Statham. The bulk of the questions were directed at Sly and this became a running gag throughout the whole event. Dolph Lungdren barely spoke but he smiled and laughed his way through the whole thing. Stallone was engaging and enthusiastic and had a great rapport with the assembled journalists and the atmosphere of the whole press conference was light and fun. The event was moderated by a woman from Lionsgate, the film’s distributor. We all waved our hands frantically to get her attention so as to ask our questions. Unfortunately, sitting near the back, Eggmag wasn’t able to get their question asked, despite much waving of hands, and, at one point, standing up and waving. So I’m afraid folks we’ll never know Sylvester Stallone’s take on internet hype and marketing of films in the face of a Q&A session he recently did with fans on Ain’t It Cool News. Which would have been a better question than some of the ones that were asked… I’m looking at you Miss How Does Your Faith Influence The Films You Make. I particularly liked Sly’s response to being asked if he feels the need to justify the violence in his films…
The moderator got the ball rolling with the first question. Enjoy…
MODERATOR. At the screening last week there was a massive round of applause before the film even started and as each star’s name appeared (in the credits) there were whoops of joy. To what extent does that level of excitement and expectation bring extra challenges or responsibilities to do something really special with the Expendables?
STALLONE. Well it’s like that around my house every morning, “Hey look it’s Dad, whoo!”
LAUGHTER
STALLONE. It’s A LOT of extra pressure. You know sometimes you have a major turkey and it’s not even Thanksgiving and you know it’s gonna be bad. But this time, this is the other end of the spectrum where there was a great expectancy and we thought, well gee, I wasn’t expecting this when we started making it so we better live up to this idea everyone has. It’s kind of complex, you know?
MODERATOR. And Dolph and Jason, how was it for you? Do you feel the expectation? Is there extra responsibility?
STATHAM. Well it’s all on Sly I’m afraid. So no.
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. Oh just deflect it onto Sly.
STATHAM. Well that’s why you try to work with people who know what they‘re doing.
STALLONE. You better go work with Christopher Nolan pal. I’m guessing my way through this.
LAUGHTER.
At this point they opened it up to the floor.
QUESTION. Sly and Dolph, how would you compare your relationship now to the way it was 25 years ago when you did Rocky 4? Was it the same dynamic as before?
STALLONE. Well I never trained harder for a Rocky movie than I did for Rocky 4. And Dolph is brutal, he’s a world class athlete so we got to know each other pretty well. Then times change, we go through ups and downs, marriages, whatever, and meeting in this time it’s really great because, of all the actors I’ve worked with, Dolph has remained the most grounded, the most humble. Believe me actors can change a lot, it’s rough, it’s very competitive. But…yeah it has changed. I was dying to kick his brains in. He pounded me in that movie! (Rocky 4) I look at him now and I think, what was I thinking?! The guy is a monster! He put me in the hospital for days! So, you don’t think I had a grudge?! That’s why I shot you! (in The Expendables.)
LAUGHTER.
MODERATOR. And Dolph, would you like to comment any further?
LUNGDREN. No.
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. Question for Sly…
STALLONE. Hey look, you gotta talk to these guys too!
QUESTION. What was it like managing all the testosterone on set? Did you have an all female crew to balance it out?
STALLONE. Female what?! No, well it got kinda aggressive. Let’s say Jason had an action beat. And he’s very physical, you’ll see in the documentaries, his hands were on ice, he was leaping onto baking hot ground over and over and he keeps wanting to do it and I had to say, “stop, stop.” So then the next fellow who has to do his stunt, he looks at Jason and says “Jason is really good, I’m going to kill this guy!” So it keeps building in competitiveness, men are just naturally competitive, they want to keep upping the ante. So, I don’t know if there were any women around. They were tough if there were, you had to be tough on this show.
QUESTION. And Jason and Dolph, was there anything you were scared of doing? Anything you won’t do?
STATHAM. I won’t wear a flowery shirt. I’m scared of that.
LAUGHTER.
STATHAM. No it’s all part of the job. The good thing about a film like this getting done and having Sly in control of it is that he shoots a lot of the stunts in the camera. A lot of the action directors of today tend to rely on the visual and it becomes boring because there’s a lot of CGI. When you do an action movie that requires real stunts, real action, it’s a great opportunity and that’s what we’re looking for, we can’t wait to get stuck in and do all that stuff.
QUESTION. Is there anyone you wanted to be involved that couldn’t do it or didn’t want to do it? And how did you get so many names in one film?
STALLONE. Well, at first it was just myself, Jason and Jet Li and it began to develop from that. And I was thinking of different things, you know originally I thought Ben Kingsley as the bad guy and Forest Whittaker, but then I thought that’s not gonna fly, let me just go really old school. So I called Dolph and he accepted immediately, he was very gracious. And then I thought, there aren’t a lot of young guys, bad asses out there today, guys who just want to get it on. Now, I believe the younger generation would like to show their metal, they want to prove themselves but there were just none around. So I went to the MMA and got a 5 time world champion who‘s at the top of his game, Steve Austin an incredibly powerful human being, you know, whatever you think about wrestling these are guys who are 250 pounds of solid muscle and it just kept building from there. I went to Van Damme and Steven Segal but they just had different ideas on their career, so…
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. With a lot of high profile actors starring in flop movies, do you think star actors matter anymore?
STALLONE. Jason, do you want to answer that before you fall asleep?
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. Stars don’t matter that much. Concept matters. The overall originality or reinterpretation of a really classic situation, like the way Star Wars went back to Joseph Campbell, all the variations on that, that’s what matters. Whereas when Dolph and I were starting out, this was a little before your time Jason. You were still… a thought. You were a concept.
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. But with Dolph and I, they put you in a film and surround you with these guys, you were these unresolved characters but you can’t do that today. Rambo was a one man show but you can’t just do that now. But there is a lot more at stake today. Where you had maybe 400 films a year, now you have 250 so the stakes are very high and it’s almost a science now, what they make. So there’s no more “Oh I got a gut feeling. I’m gonna take a chance. I know everyone says no but I’m gonna try it anyway.” That’s gone. It’s all scientific. Every actor is weighed against what they can bring in from different territories. It’s like a math project.
QUESTION. Sly, how has your faith influenced the films you make? And do you feel the need to justify the violence in your films?
STALLONE. Well I’ve made a lot of career mistakes. Personal mistakes too actually. A lot. But I never started out to be an action actor, I was an ensemble actor. Rocky was ensemble, FIST was ensemble and Paradise Alley was ensemble. Then along came First Blood and there was the beginning of something unusual. Once all the dialogue was cut out, it was a very visual film. And I believe that the violence is very justifiable. One thing in my films, I only kill people that need to be killed. The ones that deserve it get it and the ones that go after women really get it. Really get it. If a man is really having his way with a woman, tearing her apart, wrecking her life, I’m not just going to shoot him with a bullet, that’s way too civilised. He’s gonna feel real pain and I think the audience wants that and feels it cathartically. Now, if you do that in every scene then it’s a horror film. But…yeah, I don’t feel guilty about it at all. I can feel guilty if you want me to?
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. Jason, what was it like working with people you grew up watching?
STATHAM. It’s a situation where you get to know the real man behind the camera. It’s not the film maker anymore it’s just a regular guy. And to me that was the best part of working with Sly, getting to know him as a person. There’s no substitute for that.
QUESTION. Did you have to pinch yourself?
STATHAM. You can do that if you want, yeah.
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. What was it like writing and directing and starring in the film? And Jason, what was it like acting with Sly as he’s directing you too?
STALLONE. My method is to learn everybody’s lines. Write the script, learn the entire script, that way I don’t have to think about it anymore, I can concentrate on the actors. Then, when we’re doing a scene, Jason will tell you, he’s always giving different lines on the spur of the moment.
STATHAM. Yeah, that’s the thing with having a guy who’s the writer and director because you have full liberty to change and improvise and you don’t normally get that, you get restrictions. Some guy wrote the script and he doesn’t want anyone to mess with that, the director isn’t allowed to mess with it, so it’s the best situation you can get.
STALLONE. For example, in the scene with the Somalian pirates, it builds up, “You want the money then come and get it.” Then, I go “BZZZ” everyone’s like, what’s that? “Say you’re getting a text.” And Jason is like, “What? I’m not gonna say that.” “Just say it!” “I’m not gonna say that!” And the camera is rolling the whole time. “So I’ll go BZZZ and then you say, I’m getting a text.” Camera is still rolling. So I go “BZZZ” and Jason goes, “I’m getting a text.” So now I look at Terry and I say, “Say it better not be from my wife.” And Terry is like, “What? I’m not saying that!” Oh just say it! So he says it. You have the formula, the blueprint, and once you have it then let’s just go and everyone ad libs. We had a nicely scripted piece but it didn’t have those eccentricities. Like when Dolph is hanging a pirate. It’s crazy but it’s memorable. Crazy is memorable.
MODERATOR. And Dolph, I think we wanted to hear from you on this?
LUNGDREN. Well they’re both right. I agree.
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. Jason, this is your third film with Jet Li, how has working with him shaped your career?
STATHAM. Well none of the films I’ve done with Jet, apart from this one, have been any good.
LAUGHTER.
STATHAM. It’s difficult because my first movie with Jet wasn’t what it was supposed to be. But it gave me the opportunity to work with (fight choreographer) Corey Yuen which was instrumental in me playing in The Transporter films. But it’s coincidental that we’re doing another film together. It’s not that we beat Sly up and held him down, “We want to do a film together.”
STALLONE. But I think it’s a perfect example of how difficult it is to get an action film out there and have it performed and have the proper people involved. It’s great for Jason to see how it was done the old way.
STATHAM. And I’d like to add to that because the films I did with Jet were science fiction based and this harks back to the old school action movies, basically the ones that I am interested in doing.
QUESTION. There is a paternal theme in your films now, it’s the heart of Rocky Balboa and you have it with Julie Benz’s character in Rambo too. It seems that with The Expendables that you have a paternal relationship with Jason Statham’s character. How much of that is intentional?
STALLONE. It’s very intentional. You have to be age appropriate and he would be the protégé. He’s like the guy who will eventually take over but in the meantime I can tease him about his love life, not to take himself too seriously, stuff like that, like a father and son would do, but yeah it’s not by accident. You know, I always try to deal with redemption. I think everyone has regret that at one moment they made the wrong decision and sometimes you never get your life back on course. And that theme, from Rocky to Rambo to this, haunts me. Maybe I’m just mono-minded or limited but to me it’s inextinguishable. The thing with Mickey Rourke when he goes, “We used to be something and now we’re worth nothing because we gave up.” Okay so, redemption. How do I get it back? By doing something “charitable.” So that’s the theme, without overburdening the film and turning it into a talk fest. And you couldn’t understand what I’m saying anyway, so why bother doing that?
LAUGHTER.
QUESTION. With Rocky and Rambo there was a sense of closure, of you saying goodbye to your characters but I didn’t get that feeling with this. Are we going to see more action films from you or can we expect films with a bit more mind than muscle?
STALLONE. I don’t know, see, I’ve done my “mind movies” and I don’t think people are that interested in seeing me do that anymore. I’m past my prime in doing dramatic films. I think it becomes almost a pathetic cry out to be recognised as a serious dramaturge. I got my little moment, I’m very proud of the drama in Rocky Balboa, that’s about as deep as I can go, Copland too. I would much rather direct dramas. But The Expendables I would like to see go on. I’d like everyone to go on except him. (points at Dolph Lungdren.)
LUNGDREN. Because I talk too much.
QUESTION. Dolph, you’re in a similar position, you’ve directed five action films. Would you like to be completely behind the camera?
LUNGDREN. No, both are cool. One is easier than the other, behind the camera is more challenging. But I like to do both.
STALLONE. You know, contrary to how he looks, he’s really a very smart guy.
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. Seriously! You know, here’s this beautiful guy, 6.5, Viking kinda guy, 29 inch waist, I’m going, he’s got to be a moron. But here he is, MIT graduate, Fulbright scholar, I’m going, him? Seriously? I mean, can you imagine him in a lab with test tubes going, “I will cure this rat of something.”
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. He went from scientist to savage.
QUESTION. Why do you think audiences fell out of love with the action hero?
LUNGDREN. Well I don’t think people fell out of love, I think it just changed a little bit. And you know, it’ll change again.
STALLONE. That’s completly right. Every generation, including mine, has their own heroes. I mean I didn’t identify with John Wayne, I identified with James Dean. You have to find your own heroes and this generation has defined superheroes as their heroes. That’s why we (The Expendables) are kind of a novelty. That’s just the way it is. Look at music. It’s unrecognisable from what it was 20 years ago. That’s just the way it is. And then maybe it’ll go retro. Really, only Jason is current. Which is really lucky for us.
QUESTION. If you had made this film 20 years ago it would have cost you everything you ever owned…
STALLONE. (Laughing) Yeah!
QUESTION ….How did you get everyone now? Was it favours?
STALLONE. I could never have afforded Bruce and Arnold, that would have been the whole budget of the movie. Jason is a lot of money but he’s well worth it. £100 a week but worth every penny.
LAUGHTER.
STALLONE. But you’re right it would have been impossible if everyone had wanted their price. But things have changed, prices are dropping drastically. You’re lucky now just to get work. People that were getting 10 million are now down to 2 and they’re going thank you. But this was all favours. Some people worked for nothing. Mainly me.
And with that the Moderator called an end and the Expendables left the stage. On the way out, I hovered in the foyer, just in case. Jason Statham was ushered away and Dolph Lungdren wasted no time either. But Sly was having transport organised for him, he was heading off to another press engagement and so he hung around for a couple of minutes, signing autographs, answering questions, posing for photos. I managed to get his attention. “It’s a great film, well done.” And I offered my hand. “Oh that’s very nice, thank you.” And he shook my hand. And, despite being somewhat shocked that my 5 feet 8 inch frame was slightly taller than Sly’s, I nonetheless felt a transference of testosterone that made me want to get behind the biggest, jeep-mounted weapon I could find and turn faceless bad guys into red mist.
In the end though, I got on the tube and went home.
I'll get my review of The Expendables up as soon as I can. It opens today and it's ludicrous but good fun.
Friday 13 August 2010
Jez Lewis Interview
A couple of weeks ago I got to speak with Jez Lewis, director of the excellent documentary Shed Your Tears And Walk Away in which he returns to his hometown of Hebdon Bridge to try and root out the causes of the town’s crippling drugs, alcohol and suicide problems. Jez was screening the film and giving a Q&A and I spoke to him for about 40 minutes before he had to go into the screening room for the talk. Jez made for a great interview, passionate, intelligent and very honest.
Check out my review here first as it will help illuminate the people and scenes we end up talking about.
http://eggmagmovies.blogspot.com/2010/06/shed-your-tears-and-walk-away-review.html
This is a slightly longer version than the one on Eggmag's main website. Enjoy!
GARRETH. When you first left Hebdon Bridge when you were young, was there a problem then and were you aware of it?
JEZ. Yeah I’d say there was. Drugs were around, but because I was growing up there and nowhere else, I had a sense that it was unusual but I didn’t know – I couldn’t be sure. I had a year off before uni when I went travelling and got more of a sense that my experience in Hebdon was unusual. But also my next door neighbour had attempted suicide when I was about 16. Another friend committed suicide, I knew of another lad who committed suicide. But I actually became more aware when I got to university and experiences there showed me that actually most people didn’t take drugs – I didn’t take drugs.
GARRETH. That’s interesting because a lot of the time it’s the other way around. You go to university and this world opens up of alcohol and drugs…
JEZ. Well that’s what happened to some of my friends but I’d quit drinking by then, I quit drinking when I was 17.
GARRETH. How come? As a product of growing up in Hebdon?
JEZ. No, I was always terrified of drugs and addiction. I was also heavily involved in karate, I was quite sporty and I just made a twat of myself drinking one night and thought I’m not doing that anymore. A couple of friends had gone on a health kick and I joined in but took it a little further by quitting drinking.
Then, a friend came to me and said, “Can I ask you a personal question?” I said she could and with some trepidation she said, “A mutual friend told me you know someone who tried to commit suicide.” I just laughed and she looked incredibly shocked. I thought it was a wind up but it wasn’t. A friend of hers had attempted suicide and she wanted to talk to someone who had had that experience. So I said I didn’t mean to offend her, it’s just that I know a lot of people who have done that. And I started to get more of an awareness [of the problem] than I had when I was living at home.
GARRETH. You mean, being able to look back and say there is actually something seriously wrong?
JEZ. Yeah. Everyone at university was Southern, middle class and from private education. Whereas I was from a working class comprehensive school so there were differences and I didn’t know how much to attribute to the fact that we were from completely different backgrounds, or how much of it was specifically Hebdon. And then I made trips back to Hebdon and I saw my peers taking crack or whatever. It was gradual, but more people died or committed suicide, and really at the start of the film when Emma [School friend Of Jez] died I still hadn’t moved my perception to the fact that there is definitely something different there. So I did some research and it was then I decided I must make the film.
GARRETH. So then, when you started the film, did you have a particular agenda or did you find what you wanted as you were filming it?
JEZ. I went there to ask some questions in a journalistic way and I was only going to do a 15 or 20 minute film. I was going to say, here’s this beautiful place with a vibrant community but it also has this alternative community killing themselves one after another. I was going to ask questions of all people across the spectrum, but it changed quite quickly from that into what it is.
GARRETH. The main figures in the film; were they people you had been in touch with over the years, or people you got back in touch with specifically for filming?
JEZ. Cass I’d always been tentatively in touch with. The others mostly I hadn’t. I knew of them but they were not old friends.
GARRETH. This is one of things I’m interested in – watching the film you feel that there is probably an awful lot more footage – things you haven’t included, all kinds of people we don’t see…
JEZ. I had around 100 hours of footage!
GARRETH. Wow. So making Cass the focus, did that happen in the edit?
JEZ. No, I kind of knew. Cass was kind of a rock rebel when we were teenagers and I knew he had charisma. He also had looks, which were gone by the time I met him again. But those things were in my mind and I knew he knew everybody.
GARRETH. I must admit, that moment when you’re on the train back to Hebdon and Cass produces that can of special brew, it’s just heartbreaking.
JEZ. Oh yeah, yeah.
GARRETH. One of the things that interests me about documentary film makers is that question of wanting to make the film and watch this stuff happen but also the need possibly to intervene. Is that a difficult line to walk?
JEZ. I think if they hadn’t been my mates historically it might have been more difficult. I don’t know my audience when I’m filming, but my mates are there – they’re in front of me. I’ve done a lot of martial arts and I came across a samurai saying, I know this sounds quite juvenile to be quoting samurai, but the saying is: “You can hear of a danger and run away, but you can’t see it and run away.” I felt like that. When I wasn’t in Hebdon it wasn’t my responsibility but once I was there and filming, I felt almost ashamed to just point a camera at people who needed a hand. And I wouldn’t be able to live with being ashamed if I can do something about it.
GARRETH. Absolutely. One of the things that’s so interesting about the film is how much you feature in it, and, purely from the perspective of just watching the film, there’s a great moment later on when you say, “I have to just walk away. I’m trying to help you, I can’t do anymore.” But this is what you’re saying, you still can’t walk away really because you’re there, you’re watching it and there’s that sense of responsibility.
JEZ. Yeah, for me my responsibility is to the people there but I do have a responsibility to the film too so that’s part of the difficulty of those decisions and I’m more their friend than a film maker but I’m still a film maker. In that last scene when I’m saying I’m going to walk away, if I hadn’t had a camera [in that scene] I’d have walked away a long time before.
GARRETH. That’s very honest.
JEZ. In the end, after that scene, I put him [Cass] in a car and drove him to the house of a person he was with many years ago.
GARRETH. That has to be incredibly frustrating though too – you’re there and trying to help and, okay you’re making a film, but, you’re actually there and trying to help. Was there a part of you that experienced that frustration? Or was it just an overwhelming sense of sadness about the whole thing?
JEZ. It’s an overwhelming sense of urgency more than anything. I mean, I don’t know if you know but, since I stopped filming, five of the people I filmed have died.
GARRETH. I didn’t know that, no.
JEZ. Yeah, died of overdoses. I hate to say this but it’s not going to stay at five. But yeah – of course there’s frustration. To be honest with you, in that scene, it was my fucking chips and mushy peas he ate! You traipse around following people for 15 hours a day – it’s November and you’re cold, you’re hungry, you’re knackered, you have a 30 pound camera on your back, you can’t sit down - and then finally you go and get some chips. And it happened so many times, I’d go get some chips and there’d be somebody totally muntered! Staggering through the streets as if they’re about to die and I use that expression completely seriously, “as if they’re about to die.” And I’d go, “Have a chip. Oh fuck it, have ‘em all.” And it’s a joke in a sense but the frustration in that day was that. I wasn’t even supposed to be there. I only went there to wish Di a Happy Birthday. I always have my camera with me but I had no idea Cass was there. And the truth is all that sadness and frustration and urgency was built up over that day and at that last minute, I was just so annoyed.
GARRETH. At that moment, when you found out Cass was there, what went through your mind?
(The day of the scene in question, Jez thought Cass was in London going through rehab, not back in Hebdon getting pissed.)
JEZ. I didn’t believe it. I genuinely didn’t believe it. That’s why [in the film] the guy who saw Cass tells me the make of his car, because he could see I didn’t believe him. I hoped Cass could come, like he did before, and not drink, but he didn’t. He came and he fucking hammered himself that weekend, you see it in the film…
GARRETH. I was going to say, he’s doing pretty badly at that point!
JEZ. Apparently the next day he got worse. His mate put him on a bus back to London and he got chucked out of his home which is the phone calls you hear in the end credits. He got fucking chucked out. Sorry about all the swearing!
GARRETH. Not at all. Do you know where he is now?
JEZ. Yeah, I speak to him every other week. He phoned me the other day and said, “Jez I think my head is swelling up.” I said to him, “Why Cass? Whats up?” And he said, “I was walking along and I heard someone shout “Cass!” and I turned around and there were two women sitting in a silver BMW. They got out and told me they had seen the film at the ICA and they thought I was right lovely and I’m starting to feel like a superstar!” He is drinking again, but that pattern is fairly normal. It’s quite normal, for people who succeed in getting off alcohol, to take four or five attempts. Just because he’s gone on and off it a few times doesn’t mean he won’t make it.
GARRETH. So when it comes down to it, do you have an explanation as to why this is concentrated in one small place?
JEZ. The people living that life think it’s normal. And I did. It took me until Emma’s death to convince myself that it’s not normal. Since finishing the film I’ve come across it people saying again and again, “I thought it was normal. Isn’t it the same everywhere?” And you have to say, “NO IT’S NOT!” My mate who was too shy to be in the film asked the same. My mate from uni stood up and said, “I don’t know anyone who has died from drugs or alcohol, I’m not sure I know anyone who has died under the age of 40.” My Hebdon mate was shocked because he knew about 30 people who had died. And a few months after that conversation, his own nephew hanged himself.
GARRETH. Oh God…
JEZ. Yeah. In the film when I say I’m afraid of the phone, it’s because [all this] was happening – getting texts or calls in the night. Imagine, you get a text to tell someone that their friend has just died – that’s how commonplace it was. And when it’s normal, it becomes an option, if you see what I mean.
GARRETH. That’s interesting. I mean, if I’m in the park drinking, or doing drugs or whatever – if that’s my lifestyle then I can kind of understand that becoming my normality. And people dying as a result of that, well it‘s sad but that’s what happens. It’s when so many people actively take their own lives… to my mind, I start to think that there’s a degree of awareness in that, that I have to get out and so I kill myself. It seems more active than just sitting in the park slowly drinking yourself to death…
JEZ. Cass says that, around here you either kill yourself or you die anyway. It is that thing, it’s ingrained in their unconscious, and it just seems like it’s par for the course. It’s simply how it is.
GARRETH. And there’s also a very strange disconnect between that life and the people watching it – two different worlds right beside each other. Because it’s very visible – it’s right there for everyone to see.
JEZ. Oh it is. Yards from each other.
GARRETH. And is there any sense then of what the rest of Hebdon feels about what’s going on across the street?
JEZ. They tolerate it. By the way, the film is a sugar coated version of what goes on there.
GARRETH. Really?!
JEZ. There are much worse things going on than you see in the film.
GARRETH. Can I ask…?
Long pause.
JEZ. No, I don’t think so.
GARRETH. Okay, fair enough.
JEZ. But there’s tolerance to a lot of things and they [the people watching] don’t mind if one or two of these people die. They think that we all make our choices and they are living out theirs. I’m not going to judge or criticise them for that. It’s not my way of doing things. It’s normal for these people, for everyone in the town. I have a mate who wouldn’t touch the drugs that the others use, he’s friends with them but he wouldn’t go near them and HE thinks it’s normal. And the suicides, as far as I can tell, aren’t really connected with the drugs. It’s like you said earlier, it’s an active exit strategy rather than a passive one.
Checks his watch…
Oops, I better go now…
GARRETH. Sure. Thanks so much for talking to me, it’s been really interesting.
JEZ. Not at all. Thanks.
A quick ending to a brilliant interview. Check out Shed Your Tears And Walk Away, it‘s a tough but excellent film.
Check out my review here first as it will help illuminate the people and scenes we end up talking about.
http://eggmagmovies.blogspot.com/2010/06/shed-your-tears-and-walk-away-review.html
This is a slightly longer version than the one on Eggmag's main website. Enjoy!
GARRETH. When you first left Hebdon Bridge when you were young, was there a problem then and were you aware of it?
JEZ. Yeah I’d say there was. Drugs were around, but because I was growing up there and nowhere else, I had a sense that it was unusual but I didn’t know – I couldn’t be sure. I had a year off before uni when I went travelling and got more of a sense that my experience in Hebdon was unusual. But also my next door neighbour had attempted suicide when I was about 16. Another friend committed suicide, I knew of another lad who committed suicide. But I actually became more aware when I got to university and experiences there showed me that actually most people didn’t take drugs – I didn’t take drugs.
GARRETH. That’s interesting because a lot of the time it’s the other way around. You go to university and this world opens up of alcohol and drugs…
JEZ. Well that’s what happened to some of my friends but I’d quit drinking by then, I quit drinking when I was 17.
GARRETH. How come? As a product of growing up in Hebdon?
JEZ. No, I was always terrified of drugs and addiction. I was also heavily involved in karate, I was quite sporty and I just made a twat of myself drinking one night and thought I’m not doing that anymore. A couple of friends had gone on a health kick and I joined in but took it a little further by quitting drinking.
Then, a friend came to me and said, “Can I ask you a personal question?” I said she could and with some trepidation she said, “A mutual friend told me you know someone who tried to commit suicide.” I just laughed and she looked incredibly shocked. I thought it was a wind up but it wasn’t. A friend of hers had attempted suicide and she wanted to talk to someone who had had that experience. So I said I didn’t mean to offend her, it’s just that I know a lot of people who have done that. And I started to get more of an awareness [of the problem] than I had when I was living at home.
GARRETH. You mean, being able to look back and say there is actually something seriously wrong?
JEZ. Yeah. Everyone at university was Southern, middle class and from private education. Whereas I was from a working class comprehensive school so there were differences and I didn’t know how much to attribute to the fact that we were from completely different backgrounds, or how much of it was specifically Hebdon. And then I made trips back to Hebdon and I saw my peers taking crack or whatever. It was gradual, but more people died or committed suicide, and really at the start of the film when Emma [School friend Of Jez] died I still hadn’t moved my perception to the fact that there is definitely something different there. So I did some research and it was then I decided I must make the film.
GARRETH. So then, when you started the film, did you have a particular agenda or did you find what you wanted as you were filming it?
JEZ. I went there to ask some questions in a journalistic way and I was only going to do a 15 or 20 minute film. I was going to say, here’s this beautiful place with a vibrant community but it also has this alternative community killing themselves one after another. I was going to ask questions of all people across the spectrum, but it changed quite quickly from that into what it is.
GARRETH. The main figures in the film; were they people you had been in touch with over the years, or people you got back in touch with specifically for filming?
JEZ. Cass I’d always been tentatively in touch with. The others mostly I hadn’t. I knew of them but they were not old friends.
GARRETH. This is one of things I’m interested in – watching the film you feel that there is probably an awful lot more footage – things you haven’t included, all kinds of people we don’t see…
JEZ. I had around 100 hours of footage!
GARRETH. Wow. So making Cass the focus, did that happen in the edit?
JEZ. No, I kind of knew. Cass was kind of a rock rebel when we were teenagers and I knew he had charisma. He also had looks, which were gone by the time I met him again. But those things were in my mind and I knew he knew everybody.
GARRETH. I must admit, that moment when you’re on the train back to Hebdon and Cass produces that can of special brew, it’s just heartbreaking.
JEZ. Oh yeah, yeah.
GARRETH. One of the things that interests me about documentary film makers is that question of wanting to make the film and watch this stuff happen but also the need possibly to intervene. Is that a difficult line to walk?
JEZ. I think if they hadn’t been my mates historically it might have been more difficult. I don’t know my audience when I’m filming, but my mates are there – they’re in front of me. I’ve done a lot of martial arts and I came across a samurai saying, I know this sounds quite juvenile to be quoting samurai, but the saying is: “You can hear of a danger and run away, but you can’t see it and run away.” I felt like that. When I wasn’t in Hebdon it wasn’t my responsibility but once I was there and filming, I felt almost ashamed to just point a camera at people who needed a hand. And I wouldn’t be able to live with being ashamed if I can do something about it.
GARRETH. Absolutely. One of the things that’s so interesting about the film is how much you feature in it, and, purely from the perspective of just watching the film, there’s a great moment later on when you say, “I have to just walk away. I’m trying to help you, I can’t do anymore.” But this is what you’re saying, you still can’t walk away really because you’re there, you’re watching it and there’s that sense of responsibility.
JEZ. Yeah, for me my responsibility is to the people there but I do have a responsibility to the film too so that’s part of the difficulty of those decisions and I’m more their friend than a film maker but I’m still a film maker. In that last scene when I’m saying I’m going to walk away, if I hadn’t had a camera [in that scene] I’d have walked away a long time before.
GARRETH. That’s very honest.
JEZ. In the end, after that scene, I put him [Cass] in a car and drove him to the house of a person he was with many years ago.
GARRETH. That has to be incredibly frustrating though too – you’re there and trying to help and, okay you’re making a film, but, you’re actually there and trying to help. Was there a part of you that experienced that frustration? Or was it just an overwhelming sense of sadness about the whole thing?
JEZ. It’s an overwhelming sense of urgency more than anything. I mean, I don’t know if you know but, since I stopped filming, five of the people I filmed have died.
GARRETH. I didn’t know that, no.
JEZ. Yeah, died of overdoses. I hate to say this but it’s not going to stay at five. But yeah – of course there’s frustration. To be honest with you, in that scene, it was my fucking chips and mushy peas he ate! You traipse around following people for 15 hours a day – it’s November and you’re cold, you’re hungry, you’re knackered, you have a 30 pound camera on your back, you can’t sit down - and then finally you go and get some chips. And it happened so many times, I’d go get some chips and there’d be somebody totally muntered! Staggering through the streets as if they’re about to die and I use that expression completely seriously, “as if they’re about to die.” And I’d go, “Have a chip. Oh fuck it, have ‘em all.” And it’s a joke in a sense but the frustration in that day was that. I wasn’t even supposed to be there. I only went there to wish Di a Happy Birthday. I always have my camera with me but I had no idea Cass was there. And the truth is all that sadness and frustration and urgency was built up over that day and at that last minute, I was just so annoyed.
GARRETH. At that moment, when you found out Cass was there, what went through your mind?
(The day of the scene in question, Jez thought Cass was in London going through rehab, not back in Hebdon getting pissed.)
JEZ. I didn’t believe it. I genuinely didn’t believe it. That’s why [in the film] the guy who saw Cass tells me the make of his car, because he could see I didn’t believe him. I hoped Cass could come, like he did before, and not drink, but he didn’t. He came and he fucking hammered himself that weekend, you see it in the film…
GARRETH. I was going to say, he’s doing pretty badly at that point!
JEZ. Apparently the next day he got worse. His mate put him on a bus back to London and he got chucked out of his home which is the phone calls you hear in the end credits. He got fucking chucked out. Sorry about all the swearing!
GARRETH. Not at all. Do you know where he is now?
JEZ. Yeah, I speak to him every other week. He phoned me the other day and said, “Jez I think my head is swelling up.” I said to him, “Why Cass? Whats up?” And he said, “I was walking along and I heard someone shout “Cass!” and I turned around and there were two women sitting in a silver BMW. They got out and told me they had seen the film at the ICA and they thought I was right lovely and I’m starting to feel like a superstar!” He is drinking again, but that pattern is fairly normal. It’s quite normal, for people who succeed in getting off alcohol, to take four or five attempts. Just because he’s gone on and off it a few times doesn’t mean he won’t make it.
GARRETH. So when it comes down to it, do you have an explanation as to why this is concentrated in one small place?
JEZ. The people living that life think it’s normal. And I did. It took me until Emma’s death to convince myself that it’s not normal. Since finishing the film I’ve come across it people saying again and again, “I thought it was normal. Isn’t it the same everywhere?” And you have to say, “NO IT’S NOT!” My mate who was too shy to be in the film asked the same. My mate from uni stood up and said, “I don’t know anyone who has died from drugs or alcohol, I’m not sure I know anyone who has died under the age of 40.” My Hebdon mate was shocked because he knew about 30 people who had died. And a few months after that conversation, his own nephew hanged himself.
GARRETH. Oh God…
JEZ. Yeah. In the film when I say I’m afraid of the phone, it’s because [all this] was happening – getting texts or calls in the night. Imagine, you get a text to tell someone that their friend has just died – that’s how commonplace it was. And when it’s normal, it becomes an option, if you see what I mean.
GARRETH. That’s interesting. I mean, if I’m in the park drinking, or doing drugs or whatever – if that’s my lifestyle then I can kind of understand that becoming my normality. And people dying as a result of that, well it‘s sad but that’s what happens. It’s when so many people actively take their own lives… to my mind, I start to think that there’s a degree of awareness in that, that I have to get out and so I kill myself. It seems more active than just sitting in the park slowly drinking yourself to death…
JEZ. Cass says that, around here you either kill yourself or you die anyway. It is that thing, it’s ingrained in their unconscious, and it just seems like it’s par for the course. It’s simply how it is.
GARRETH. And there’s also a very strange disconnect between that life and the people watching it – two different worlds right beside each other. Because it’s very visible – it’s right there for everyone to see.
JEZ. Oh it is. Yards from each other.
GARRETH. And is there any sense then of what the rest of Hebdon feels about what’s going on across the street?
JEZ. They tolerate it. By the way, the film is a sugar coated version of what goes on there.
GARRETH. Really?!
JEZ. There are much worse things going on than you see in the film.
GARRETH. Can I ask…?
Long pause.
JEZ. No, I don’t think so.
GARRETH. Okay, fair enough.
JEZ. But there’s tolerance to a lot of things and they [the people watching] don’t mind if one or two of these people die. They think that we all make our choices and they are living out theirs. I’m not going to judge or criticise them for that. It’s not my way of doing things. It’s normal for these people, for everyone in the town. I have a mate who wouldn’t touch the drugs that the others use, he’s friends with them but he wouldn’t go near them and HE thinks it’s normal. And the suicides, as far as I can tell, aren’t really connected with the drugs. It’s like you said earlier, it’s an active exit strategy rather than a passive one.
Checks his watch…
Oops, I better go now…
GARRETH. Sure. Thanks so much for talking to me, it’s been really interesting.
JEZ. Not at all. Thanks.
A quick ending to a brilliant interview. Check out Shed Your Tears And Walk Away, it‘s a tough but excellent film.
Thursday 5 August 2010
A Quick Post On 3-D.
I ended my Toy Story 3 review with a quick little sentence: "Oh, and the 3-D does absolutely nothing." A friend of mine posted a comment, leaving a link to Mark Kermode's blog in which he reads out a letter he received from the "3-D Guy" as Kermode calls him, who oversaw the 3-D conversion on Toy Story 3. The long and the short of it is that Kermode had said that he forgot he was watching a 3-D film while he watched Toy Story 3. He meant that he forgot it because he was so engrossed in the story and characters. The 3-D guy argues that, you don't notice the 3-D in the same way that you don't notice most of the music, the camera's focal length and the million other things that go into the making of a film, all of which operate on your subconscious to create a mood, evoke an emotion or help tell the story. Pixar's goal with 3-D is to have one or two "wow" moments but overall the 3-D should help create a mood, evoke an emotion or help tell the story. It's an interesting idea, particularly to a 3-D sceptic.
My feeling on 3-D is this. Watching a bad film, the 3-D helps because it's a distraction, it's something to take your mind off wretched characters, dreadful stories or whatever else is wrong with the film. Watching a good film in 3-D, the 3-D doesn't really add anything because the experience is satisfying as it is. This viewpoint clearly emphasises story above everything else and if the story is intact and the narrative working as it should, then 3-D is exposed as the sideshow it really is. But is it possible that 3-D can work as subtly as the other technical elements of the film? Several directors have pointed out that the very phrase "3-D" is something of a misnomer because every film you have ever watched has created depth of image in its many frames. Could Citizen Kane for example use depth to any greater degree? Taking this as truth, I don't think I really buy the idea that 3-D in its newest incarnation is another story-telling technique because depth of frame (or indeed lack thereof) has always been a story-telling technique. That Pixar emphasis story and characters is well documented and clearly evident in their films and I have no doubt that their brief with 3-D conversion is exactly as the chap who contacted Mark Kermode described it. I simply can't get over the fact that it is a gimick, a way of selling tickets at higher prices and a way for studios to think they're combating piracy.
I will get around to writing my Inception piece but one of the things that film demonstrates is that a film can enter the zeitgeist, create a conversation AND make a tonne of money without forcing people to put on the glasses and watch it in the third dimension. The fact that films have done that since their creation seems to have been forgotten. Give people a reason to go to the cinema and they will go. Give people a compelling story, a hook, a concept, interesting ideas, on top of a visual experience, and they will go. People want to be part of something and if that something is a sporting event, Live Aid, a demonstration at Trafalgar Square or that film that everyone is talking about, they will do what they have to to be part of it. Sure there will be those who think that downloading is enough, everyone hates the queues, the popcorn crunchers, the mobile phone talkers but films are shared experiences and, even though you don't have much control over who you're sharing it with, people still want that feeling of being in it together, of walking into the daylight chatting with whoever they're with about what they've just seen as everyone around them does likewise. I have no intention of ever sitting through a Twilight film but even these films attract their audiences because people want to see those characters.
This is what cinema at its best is. And it doesn't take the 3-D fad to accomplish it. So sorry Mr 3-D guy. I've nothing but admiration and respect for the work you do and it must be said that the 3-D on Toy Story 3 is very impressive; none of your hastily and shoddily done conversions to make a quick buck here. I think I can say with relative certainty that the reason I forgot about the 3-D was not because it blended in with the rest of the film making process, it's because the story and its characters were working so well. 3-D is here to stay. That much is certain. Equally certain for me is the fact that cinema, like literature, like theatre, like television comedy and drama, tells stories. And it's the stories that make me feel like what I'm watching is real, that what I'm watching matters , that the people I'm watching it happen to are real and that it all has consequences. It's the stories that achieve this. Not the artificiality of making me think the space it's happening in is all around me.
Thanks to Jon for leaving a comment and posting the link to Mr Kermode's blog.
My feeling on 3-D is this. Watching a bad film, the 3-D helps because it's a distraction, it's something to take your mind off wretched characters, dreadful stories or whatever else is wrong with the film. Watching a good film in 3-D, the 3-D doesn't really add anything because the experience is satisfying as it is. This viewpoint clearly emphasises story above everything else and if the story is intact and the narrative working as it should, then 3-D is exposed as the sideshow it really is. But is it possible that 3-D can work as subtly as the other technical elements of the film? Several directors have pointed out that the very phrase "3-D" is something of a misnomer because every film you have ever watched has created depth of image in its many frames. Could Citizen Kane for example use depth to any greater degree? Taking this as truth, I don't think I really buy the idea that 3-D in its newest incarnation is another story-telling technique because depth of frame (or indeed lack thereof) has always been a story-telling technique. That Pixar emphasis story and characters is well documented and clearly evident in their films and I have no doubt that their brief with 3-D conversion is exactly as the chap who contacted Mark Kermode described it. I simply can't get over the fact that it is a gimick, a way of selling tickets at higher prices and a way for studios to think they're combating piracy.
I will get around to writing my Inception piece but one of the things that film demonstrates is that a film can enter the zeitgeist, create a conversation AND make a tonne of money without forcing people to put on the glasses and watch it in the third dimension. The fact that films have done that since their creation seems to have been forgotten. Give people a reason to go to the cinema and they will go. Give people a compelling story, a hook, a concept, interesting ideas, on top of a visual experience, and they will go. People want to be part of something and if that something is a sporting event, Live Aid, a demonstration at Trafalgar Square or that film that everyone is talking about, they will do what they have to to be part of it. Sure there will be those who think that downloading is enough, everyone hates the queues, the popcorn crunchers, the mobile phone talkers but films are shared experiences and, even though you don't have much control over who you're sharing it with, people still want that feeling of being in it together, of walking into the daylight chatting with whoever they're with about what they've just seen as everyone around them does likewise. I have no intention of ever sitting through a Twilight film but even these films attract their audiences because people want to see those characters.
This is what cinema at its best is. And it doesn't take the 3-D fad to accomplish it. So sorry Mr 3-D guy. I've nothing but admiration and respect for the work you do and it must be said that the 3-D on Toy Story 3 is very impressive; none of your hastily and shoddily done conversions to make a quick buck here. I think I can say with relative certainty that the reason I forgot about the 3-D was not because it blended in with the rest of the film making process, it's because the story and its characters were working so well. 3-D is here to stay. That much is certain. Equally certain for me is the fact that cinema, like literature, like theatre, like television comedy and drama, tells stories. And it's the stories that make me feel like what I'm watching is real, that what I'm watching matters , that the people I'm watching it happen to are real and that it all has consequences. It's the stories that achieve this. Not the artificiality of making me think the space it's happening in is all around me.
Thanks to Jon for leaving a comment and posting the link to Mr Kermode's blog.
Wednesday 4 August 2010
The A Team Review
I was about to launch into a full scale review but you know what? I can't be bothered. The film is terrible. I wasn't expecting a classic. For that matter, I wasn't even expecting a good film. I did think that maybe there might be some fun moments, some good action, it might be a laugh. It isn't. At all.
2/10
Friday sees the release of another throwback action movie that IS good fun. I was at a press screening last night but I'm embargoed from talking about it for a few days.
Let's just say that if you'd like to EXPEND some energy and you're ABLE to See a film at the cinema next weekend then you might want to check this film out...
It's like the enigma machine all over again.
2/10
Friday sees the release of another throwback action movie that IS good fun. I was at a press screening last night but I'm embargoed from talking about it for a few days.
Let's just say that if you'd like to EXPEND some energy and you're ABLE to See a film at the cinema next weekend then you might want to check this film out...
It's like the enigma machine all over again.
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