"They were telling me I have not many syntaxes..."
Wednesday, August 31st, 2005 10:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seraiMan, oh man. Seeing all these posts about the devastation, I hesitated about putting up the rest of my observations from last night. But then I thought, "Maybe everybody needs a break from all the awfulness." And felt better about continuing. :)
So without further ado, here's the next part of EII Night.
After the film had finished screening (to several rounds of enthusiastic applause), the lady from FIND came up to the front of the little theater to introduce Liev and Eugene. (As a fangirl, I had harbored this sneaking little hope that Elijah would be there, since he's been running around so furiously promoting his new films, but that did not happen.) They both came up to stand in front of the screen. Liev looked very clean and pressed and had that typical-for-him look of being just a little uncomfortable. On the other hand, Eugene looked like a big colorful crane wearing a wig and moustache. Heehee, that 'stache! Having just seen him on the screen as Alex, all that wild curly hair and the handlebar looked endearingly comic.
So they got right into the questions from the audience, which consisted mainly of film students and/or indie film professionals (with a fair smattering of fangirls, naturally, but my tribe did manage to control itself and behave, heehee). I took notes, so I'm gonna try and reconstruct what was said, but I can't guarantee absolute accuracy here.
First question was for Liev: How long did it take to bring this film to the screen? He hemmed and hawed for a moment, then murmured, "Great. Fifteen years trying to get rid of stage fright and now this!" He then went on to talk about how his grandfather (also named Alex; the film is dedicated to him) had died in 1993, and that led him into trying to write a story about finding his own past and his own connection to his heritage. Then he was asked to do a reading of a short story called "The Very Rigid Search", and in reading that he realized that JSF had "managed to do in fifteen pages what I couldn't pull off in the hundreds I'd tried to write". He met with Jonathan and they had a great talk, and he optioned the novel Jonathan was crafting out of the short story. Then the book came out to great acclaim, Liev opened the NYTimes Review and there it was on the front page, and he thought, "Oh boy, I guess I have to make a movie now!"
Second question was for Eugene: This film is your first experience as an actor; tell us how that came about.
(OK, first thing you have to know about Eugene is that he sounds exactly like Alex. Really. His style of English is cleaner than Alex's, but that's clearly because he's spent so many years here and has polished up. But you can hear the mangled word usements there still. Heehee!)
So he related how he actually lives just a few blocks from Liev in NY. A friend of his gave him a copy of EII when it came out, telling him his style of speech and manenrism was so much like the lead character. "People would be saying this to me all the time. They are telling me I have not many syntaxes." The book began making waves, and the producers wanted music that was authentic, from the area. So Eugene "went in to make negotiations with the brothers". (Here Liev cracked up laughing.) Eugene told the story about talking with Liev and telling him "I am that guy!" "I was very much this guy when I was younger. You know, breakdancing to metal music." Everyone laughed at that, because there is a wonderfully over-the-top sequence right at the beginning of the film, which dramatizes Alex's bragging about what a Premium Dancer he is, and how the chicks find him very Potent and Carnal. He spoke about how the speech patterns define Alex to the audience, but that Eugene doesn't think it matters whether a person speaks well or not. "He is trying to give a voice to his soul, even without any syntaxes. Dude."
Third question to Eugene: Why'd you shave your moustache for the movie? (This question was shouted from the back by someone who sounded like he had an accent similar to Eugene's.) Eugene laughed, and said that he had to do it, really. He said his grandfather nagged him about it, that "Playing a 22-year-old virgin cannot be done with a wicked Fu-Manchu action like this!"
Fourth question went to Liev: You used many Ukranian actors here. Tell us about the casting. First off, he commented about how Eugene has his own version of how the casting process went. (Laughter all around.) And he said, "Trying to get Eugene to shave off that moustache took about three weeks and is a whole movie in itself." He spoke about how it was essential that the film feel authentic to its time and place, and to get that, Liev felt he had to have actors that came from that very area. He wanted what he called "folkloric credibility", and that casting Eugene was a major step in that direction, and he really lucked out with it, because Eugene really is that guy. "Alex has the soul of a poet, and Eugene, for all his crazy shit, has the soul of a poet." (Ooo, I got tingles with I heard that - shades of Sam!)
Fifth question went to Liev: What was Joanthan Safran Foer's involvement in the making of the film? Jonathan was very gracious about the production, Liev said. He very much wanted to see what this new version of the story would be like. They met and talked for a few hours. JSF read everything, every draft of the script, and was very supportive all the way through.
Sixth question was about Mark Garrity, who I believe is one of the producers. Liev waxed eloquent about what a great guy Mark is, and how he made things come together that seemed impossible. He related the story of the sunflower field (which you've all seen in the trailers). They went from one sunflower farm to another, trying to talk anybody into "letting them cut an enormous swath out of his field and build a house there. Not surprising, nobody wanted to do it. So I thought, OK, she lives in a bog!" But while Liev was busy on the pre-production, Mark (and a woman whose name I do not remember, but she's in production) found a place that would allow them to create the setting. "But one problem is that sunflowers track the sun's light, and they turn with it during the day." Laughs and oh no!s. So (Aforementioned woman) went out there and tracked the sun's trajectory and pinpointed exactly when they could shoot to get what Liev wanted, and when the film crew finally arrived, there it all was. And they knew just when they could film and it all came out perfect. "And now I look at those shots of that great location with this magical sunflower field, with all the flowers facing out and everything, and I think, 'CGI!'" That got a big laugh from the audience.
Seventh question went to Liev again: Why did you choose to film in the Czech Republich and Prague and Odessa? Why didn't you film more in the Ukraine. "Because the mob shit in the Ukraine was crazy! And I didn't know Eugene when we were finalizing locations, so I didn't have anyone to steer us through that."
Eighth question to Liev: What is your personal history with this subject, and what do you feel you have in common with JSF? Liev talked about how his grandfather was also a Jewish immigrant from the Ukraine. That he discovered in reading the book that "a past lovingly imagined is as valid as a past accurately remembered". (Damn, I love that!) "Many older people who survived World War II and the Holocaust don't like to remember any of that, and you often have to fill in the spaces." So making the film was a way of creating that past that he doesn't have.
Ninth question was also about the production: How long from writing the script to post-production? Liev talked about how getting deals for the film wasn't that hard. He was lucky. The first time he got a deal he got impatient about how long it was taking to pull it together, and he went off and did Henry V (bzuh? I hadn't heard about that; must be stage) and Manchurian Candidate. Then he came back and made another deal for EII, and that one was also quick and easy. Seems the popularity of the book really helped there. As to the budget, they started with $7M. (Knowing laughter from the audience - that is a pathetic amount of money for a film like this.) Liev told us that Dustin Hoffman asked him how much the film cost, and he answered "More than my house, but less than yours!"
Tenth and last question went to Eugene: We can see on the screen the height difference between you and Elijah Wood. You're not the tallest guy in the world, so is Elijah Wood really tiny? Haha. Eugene put on this huffy expression and said, "What? I am big strong guy here!" Everyone laughed, and there was some joking about Was it CGI?? Great capper to the session, that.
That was it for the questions. They thanked everyone for coming and that was the end of the screening. The Q&A took about a half-hour, and was very pleasant. Definitely a great bonus!
No, Elijah wasn't there. But hey, next week FIND is screening Hoolies, so maybe he'll show up then!
So without further ado, here's the next part of EII Night.
After the film had finished screening (to several rounds of enthusiastic applause), the lady from FIND came up to the front of the little theater to introduce Liev and Eugene. (As a fangirl, I had harbored this sneaking little hope that Elijah would be there, since he's been running around so furiously promoting his new films, but that did not happen.) They both came up to stand in front of the screen. Liev looked very clean and pressed and had that typical-for-him look of being just a little uncomfortable. On the other hand, Eugene looked like a big colorful crane wearing a wig and moustache. Heehee, that 'stache! Having just seen him on the screen as Alex, all that wild curly hair and the handlebar looked endearingly comic.
So they got right into the questions from the audience, which consisted mainly of film students and/or indie film professionals (with a fair smattering of fangirls, naturally, but my tribe did manage to control itself and behave, heehee). I took notes, so I'm gonna try and reconstruct what was said, but I can't guarantee absolute accuracy here.
First question was for Liev: How long did it take to bring this film to the screen? He hemmed and hawed for a moment, then murmured, "Great. Fifteen years trying to get rid of stage fright and now this!" He then went on to talk about how his grandfather (also named Alex; the film is dedicated to him) had died in 1993, and that led him into trying to write a story about finding his own past and his own connection to his heritage. Then he was asked to do a reading of a short story called "The Very Rigid Search", and in reading that he realized that JSF had "managed to do in fifteen pages what I couldn't pull off in the hundreds I'd tried to write". He met with Jonathan and they had a great talk, and he optioned the novel Jonathan was crafting out of the short story. Then the book came out to great acclaim, Liev opened the NYTimes Review and there it was on the front page, and he thought, "Oh boy, I guess I have to make a movie now!"
Second question was for Eugene: This film is your first experience as an actor; tell us how that came about.
(OK, first thing you have to know about Eugene is that he sounds exactly like Alex. Really. His style of English is cleaner than Alex's, but that's clearly because he's spent so many years here and has polished up. But you can hear the mangled word usements there still. Heehee!)
So he related how he actually lives just a few blocks from Liev in NY. A friend of his gave him a copy of EII when it came out, telling him his style of speech and manenrism was so much like the lead character. "People would be saying this to me all the time. They are telling me I have not many syntaxes." The book began making waves, and the producers wanted music that was authentic, from the area. So Eugene "went in to make negotiations with the brothers". (Here Liev cracked up laughing.) Eugene told the story about talking with Liev and telling him "I am that guy!" "I was very much this guy when I was younger. You know, breakdancing to metal music." Everyone laughed at that, because there is a wonderfully over-the-top sequence right at the beginning of the film, which dramatizes Alex's bragging about what a Premium Dancer he is, and how the chicks find him very Potent and Carnal. He spoke about how the speech patterns define Alex to the audience, but that Eugene doesn't think it matters whether a person speaks well or not. "He is trying to give a voice to his soul, even without any syntaxes. Dude."
Third question to Eugene: Why'd you shave your moustache for the movie? (This question was shouted from the back by someone who sounded like he had an accent similar to Eugene's.) Eugene laughed, and said that he had to do it, really. He said his grandfather nagged him about it, that "Playing a 22-year-old virgin cannot be done with a wicked Fu-Manchu action like this!"
Fourth question went to Liev: You used many Ukranian actors here. Tell us about the casting. First off, he commented about how Eugene has his own version of how the casting process went. (Laughter all around.) And he said, "Trying to get Eugene to shave off that moustache took about three weeks and is a whole movie in itself." He spoke about how it was essential that the film feel authentic to its time and place, and to get that, Liev felt he had to have actors that came from that very area. He wanted what he called "folkloric credibility", and that casting Eugene was a major step in that direction, and he really lucked out with it, because Eugene really is that guy. "Alex has the soul of a poet, and Eugene, for all his crazy shit, has the soul of a poet." (Ooo, I got tingles with I heard that - shades of Sam!)
Fifth question went to Liev: What was Joanthan Safran Foer's involvement in the making of the film? Jonathan was very gracious about the production, Liev said. He very much wanted to see what this new version of the story would be like. They met and talked for a few hours. JSF read everything, every draft of the script, and was very supportive all the way through.
Sixth question was about Mark Garrity, who I believe is one of the producers. Liev waxed eloquent about what a great guy Mark is, and how he made things come together that seemed impossible. He related the story of the sunflower field (which you've all seen in the trailers). They went from one sunflower farm to another, trying to talk anybody into "letting them cut an enormous swath out of his field and build a house there. Not surprising, nobody wanted to do it. So I thought, OK, she lives in a bog!" But while Liev was busy on the pre-production, Mark (and a woman whose name I do not remember, but she's in production) found a place that would allow them to create the setting. "But one problem is that sunflowers track the sun's light, and they turn with it during the day." Laughs and oh no!s. So (Aforementioned woman) went out there and tracked the sun's trajectory and pinpointed exactly when they could shoot to get what Liev wanted, and when the film crew finally arrived, there it all was. And they knew just when they could film and it all came out perfect. "And now I look at those shots of that great location with this magical sunflower field, with all the flowers facing out and everything, and I think, 'CGI!'" That got a big laugh from the audience.
Seventh question went to Liev again: Why did you choose to film in the Czech Republich and Prague and Odessa? Why didn't you film more in the Ukraine. "Because the mob shit in the Ukraine was crazy! And I didn't know Eugene when we were finalizing locations, so I didn't have anyone to steer us through that."
Eighth question to Liev: What is your personal history with this subject, and what do you feel you have in common with JSF? Liev talked about how his grandfather was also a Jewish immigrant from the Ukraine. That he discovered in reading the book that "a past lovingly imagined is as valid as a past accurately remembered". (Damn, I love that!) "Many older people who survived World War II and the Holocaust don't like to remember any of that, and you often have to fill in the spaces." So making the film was a way of creating that past that he doesn't have.
Ninth question was also about the production: How long from writing the script to post-production? Liev talked about how getting deals for the film wasn't that hard. He was lucky. The first time he got a deal he got impatient about how long it was taking to pull it together, and he went off and did Henry V (bzuh? I hadn't heard about that; must be stage) and Manchurian Candidate. Then he came back and made another deal for EII, and that one was also quick and easy. Seems the popularity of the book really helped there. As to the budget, they started with $7M. (Knowing laughter from the audience - that is a pathetic amount of money for a film like this.) Liev told us that Dustin Hoffman asked him how much the film cost, and he answered "More than my house, but less than yours!"
Tenth and last question went to Eugene: We can see on the screen the height difference between you and Elijah Wood. You're not the tallest guy in the world, so is Elijah Wood really tiny? Haha. Eugene put on this huffy expression and said, "What? I am big strong guy here!" Everyone laughed, and there was some joking about Was it CGI?? Great capper to the session, that.
That was it for the questions. They thanked everyone for coming and that was the end of the screening. The Q&A took about a half-hour, and was very pleasant. Definitely a great bonus!
No, Elijah wasn't there. But hey, next week FIND is screening Hoolies, so maybe he'll show up then!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: Wednesday, August 31st, 2005 06:52 pm (UTC)So eager to see this. Loved the book (chose it for my book club - need movie to illuminate it!)
no subject
Date: Wednesday, August 31st, 2005 09:26 pm (UTC)It's a lovely film. You will not be disappointed.
no subject
Date: Wednesday, August 31st, 2005 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, August 31st, 2005 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Thursday, September 1st, 2005 06:26 am (UTC)BTW, you wouldn't happen to know who does the song in the trailer? It wasn't in the movie, and I really like it.
no subject
Date: Thursday, September 1st, 2005 07:33 am (UTC)The song in the trailer is by Devotchka. It is beautiful.
no subject
Date: Friday, September 2nd, 2005 06:29 pm (UTC)Yeah, looks like Lij won't be at anything in our part of the world for a while. Looks like he's gonna be in NYC for most of next week.
Well, we're so lucky to have him here so often, so we can't complain too much.
And, I don't know how I ended up in your LJ, really. I was looking at someone else's and saw your name and decided to take a look. : )