Page 46 - Shahrvand BC No.1236
P. 46
ETTER FROM RAMIN BAHRANI English Section
46
From page 49 with a budget well under $5 million and less than 30 Q. I wrote in a blog: "Quaid's winning smile is famous 1392 تشهبیدرا6 جمعه- 1236 شماره/ سال متسیب
shooting days. I only had two days to rehearse with in the movies, but never has it been used to better
I hope Henry Whipple's haunted soul in the end of "At Dennis and Zac, and the actors' trailers were their cars or effect than here, where it has a slightly forced, even In touch with Iranian diversity
Any Price" might ring an alarm bell from the cornfields, the living room sofa of the wonderful Herrmann family desperate quality. It's as if he's running for office."
warning us about the path we are on as a country. (where we shot large portions of the film). One of your big reasons for casting him? Vol. 20 / No. 1236 - Friday, Apr. 26, 2013
Q: Your feelings about modified or trademarked The only way I managed this tight shooting schedule I have always loved Dennis Quaid, especially in films
crops? was that I shot and edited the entire film on location with like "Breaking Away," "Great Balls of Fire," "The Right
It is a complex and frightening issue. I'm ambivalent a handi-cam, two interns, my cinematographer and my Stuff" and "Far From Heaven." I knew that Henry
if sustainable and local farming methods with natural- assistant director. I blocked the scenes, decided camera Whipple, Quaid's character in "At Any Price," would be
hybrid seeds can produce yields that will meet the set-ups, and then we acted out the roles and filmed each unlikeable and that it would take time for the audience to
current and growing demands for food. However, the scene. At night we edited the footage to see if the ideas empathize with him. I thought Quaid's smile and charm
environmental damage done by modern industrial had worked. If they hadn't, I would return and try again. and his heroic performances in his previous films could
farming is too big to ignore. From chemicals like By the time filming began in earnest with the real cast help bridge that gap with audiences. I was also excited to
Roundup to the sheer volume of fossil fuels and oils and crew, I had already made the film. All the scenes use his smile in a more devilish way, and to complicate
used in large-scale planting, spraying, harvesting and were on my iPhone for reference and the AD had them our perception of him as an actor. It was no different with
shipping, large industrial farming is not sustainable for on an iPad to share with department heads. Zac Efron. He is known as a heartthrob and I cast him
the planet. Additionally, recent studies on the negative That being said, I remained totally open and eager for as a killer. He delivered in a big way. He has a limitless
impacts of GMOs on rats are cause for growing alarm, new ideas to develop during production. I gave the actors future ahead of him.
as GMOs could pose significant health issues for freedom to change anything the wanted, or develop new I should note the actors and I never spoke of such
consumers. ideas if they felt something was not working. We were things. They were focused on their characters only, as
What also frightens me is that Dennis Quaid's character constantly striving for something more real than what they should be. They helped make their characters more
is telling in the truth in my film when he says: "They I had prepared, and we did the best we could with the complex, specific and stronger than I had imagined
[GMO seed company] copyrighted life." An Indian limited time we had. I owe a lot to my cast for pushing alone. Both actors (my entire cast really) elevated my
farmer recently brought Monsanto to the Supreme Court endlessly for something better. script and my imagination of the characters.
over this matter. I don't think this will be the last we hear
of this battle. Q. You've mentioned elements of "The Grapes of Q. I also wrote: "The buried code of many American
Thankfully, on the frozen island of Spitsbergen in Wrath" and "Death of a Salesman," and how it films has become: If I kill you, I have won and you
Norway there is a vault of seeds buried deep under the moves from one to the other. Conscious, or just have lost. The instinctive ethical code of traditional
earth for future generations to uncover. Maybe the sequel worked out that way? Hollywood, the code by which characters like James
to "At Any Price" will be a science-fiction film. I think "The Grapes of Wrath" simmers underneath all Stewart, John Wayne and Henry Fonda lived, has
my previous films and will probably be in all my films to been lost."
Q. Working with a name star like Quaid? Changes in come. With "At Any Price" I was much more consciously
your shooting schedule? alluding to "Death of a Salesman." (spoilers)
In my previous films I had worked predominately with In writing and making the film, I was compelled by the
non-professional actors I found in the streets. I knew idea that father and son (Quaid and Efron) would finally 46
from the writing process this film would involve a bond over something horrific. In the limitless fields of
mainstream and professional cast. I was lucky to land corn, these men create their own code of ethics and make
Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron and a brilliant supporting cast. their own decision about success and family, with only
I didn't fully grasp Quaid's brilliance until I was in the the wind turbines as their witnesses.
editing room. It was only then that I saw how carefully My hope was that the ending would be emotionally
he had calibrated Dennis Quaid playing Henry Whipple, haunting, paradoxical and open-ended. Henry Whipple
playing the salesman Henry Whipple. As the pressure has achieved success. He is the number one GMO seed
mounts, cracks form in the salesman revealing the real salesman, and he has a son to inherit the family farm.
man behind the phony smile and glad-handing bravado. It's everything he wanted. But he is so lost and hollowed
Quaid also brought a physicality that really made the out that he has to beg his neighbors to tell him that he
character — the way he held his shoulders, clenched is "a happy man." Unlike Willy Loman, Henry has to
his fists, rubbed his neck, and walked like a man with continue to live with his horror and his decisions. Adding
broken bones. to Henry's pain is that over the course of the film he has
A real challenge I faced was that I actually had fewer become self-aware. But it is too late. He is now trapped
days to shoot this large-scope film, than I did to make my by his decisions, his father's decisions, and the mantra of
smaller and more intimate previous films. We worked "expand or die" that runs the world.
The Whipple family have gotten away with something
horrible ... but in 20 seconds or 20 years a buried secret
may be revealed that will change their lives again.
In the meantime, Wall Street and corporate America
continue to harvest massive profits while getting away
with destruction on a global scale. With former heads
of Tyson and Monsanto in the FDA, and former heads
of Goldman and Deutsche in the FED and the SEC, no
crime need go unrewarded! Unlike Henry Whipple, I am
not sure they feel remorse.
Q. Your current project?
I've just cast the lead of my new
film about the housing crisis.
Set in sunny Orlando, Florida,
it is about Dennis Nash, a man
evicted from his home with his
mom and son by Mike Carver,
a power-hungry, gun-toting
real estate broker, who works
for the banks, Fannie and
Freddie. In a desperate attempt
to get his home back, Dennis
agrees to work for Mike — a
deal with the devil that leads
him deeper into the heart of the
corrupt housing industry. I will
shoot later this year.
Source:
http://www.rogerebert.com/
interviews/interview-with-
ramin-bahrani
46
From page 49 with a budget well under $5 million and less than 30 Q. I wrote in a blog: "Quaid's winning smile is famous 1392 تشهبیدرا6 جمعه- 1236 شماره/ سال متسیب
shooting days. I only had two days to rehearse with in the movies, but never has it been used to better
I hope Henry Whipple's haunted soul in the end of "At Dennis and Zac, and the actors' trailers were their cars or effect than here, where it has a slightly forced, even In touch with Iranian diversity
Any Price" might ring an alarm bell from the cornfields, the living room sofa of the wonderful Herrmann family desperate quality. It's as if he's running for office."
warning us about the path we are on as a country. (where we shot large portions of the film). One of your big reasons for casting him? Vol. 20 / No. 1236 - Friday, Apr. 26, 2013
Q: Your feelings about modified or trademarked The only way I managed this tight shooting schedule I have always loved Dennis Quaid, especially in films
crops? was that I shot and edited the entire film on location with like "Breaking Away," "Great Balls of Fire," "The Right
It is a complex and frightening issue. I'm ambivalent a handi-cam, two interns, my cinematographer and my Stuff" and "Far From Heaven." I knew that Henry
if sustainable and local farming methods with natural- assistant director. I blocked the scenes, decided camera Whipple, Quaid's character in "At Any Price," would be
hybrid seeds can produce yields that will meet the set-ups, and then we acted out the roles and filmed each unlikeable and that it would take time for the audience to
current and growing demands for food. However, the scene. At night we edited the footage to see if the ideas empathize with him. I thought Quaid's smile and charm
environmental damage done by modern industrial had worked. If they hadn't, I would return and try again. and his heroic performances in his previous films could
farming is too big to ignore. From chemicals like By the time filming began in earnest with the real cast help bridge that gap with audiences. I was also excited to
Roundup to the sheer volume of fossil fuels and oils and crew, I had already made the film. All the scenes use his smile in a more devilish way, and to complicate
used in large-scale planting, spraying, harvesting and were on my iPhone for reference and the AD had them our perception of him as an actor. It was no different with
shipping, large industrial farming is not sustainable for on an iPad to share with department heads. Zac Efron. He is known as a heartthrob and I cast him
the planet. Additionally, recent studies on the negative That being said, I remained totally open and eager for as a killer. He delivered in a big way. He has a limitless
impacts of GMOs on rats are cause for growing alarm, new ideas to develop during production. I gave the actors future ahead of him.
as GMOs could pose significant health issues for freedom to change anything the wanted, or develop new I should note the actors and I never spoke of such
consumers. ideas if they felt something was not working. We were things. They were focused on their characters only, as
What also frightens me is that Dennis Quaid's character constantly striving for something more real than what they should be. They helped make their characters more
is telling in the truth in my film when he says: "They I had prepared, and we did the best we could with the complex, specific and stronger than I had imagined
[GMO seed company] copyrighted life." An Indian limited time we had. I owe a lot to my cast for pushing alone. Both actors (my entire cast really) elevated my
farmer recently brought Monsanto to the Supreme Court endlessly for something better. script and my imagination of the characters.
over this matter. I don't think this will be the last we hear
of this battle. Q. You've mentioned elements of "The Grapes of Q. I also wrote: "The buried code of many American
Thankfully, on the frozen island of Spitsbergen in Wrath" and "Death of a Salesman," and how it films has become: If I kill you, I have won and you
Norway there is a vault of seeds buried deep under the moves from one to the other. Conscious, or just have lost. The instinctive ethical code of traditional
earth for future generations to uncover. Maybe the sequel worked out that way? Hollywood, the code by which characters like James
to "At Any Price" will be a science-fiction film. I think "The Grapes of Wrath" simmers underneath all Stewart, John Wayne and Henry Fonda lived, has
my previous films and will probably be in all my films to been lost."
Q. Working with a name star like Quaid? Changes in come. With "At Any Price" I was much more consciously
your shooting schedule? alluding to "Death of a Salesman." (spoilers)
In my previous films I had worked predominately with In writing and making the film, I was compelled by the
non-professional actors I found in the streets. I knew idea that father and son (Quaid and Efron) would finally 46
from the writing process this film would involve a bond over something horrific. In the limitless fields of
mainstream and professional cast. I was lucky to land corn, these men create their own code of ethics and make
Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron and a brilliant supporting cast. their own decision about success and family, with only
I didn't fully grasp Quaid's brilliance until I was in the the wind turbines as their witnesses.
editing room. It was only then that I saw how carefully My hope was that the ending would be emotionally
he had calibrated Dennis Quaid playing Henry Whipple, haunting, paradoxical and open-ended. Henry Whipple
playing the salesman Henry Whipple. As the pressure has achieved success. He is the number one GMO seed
mounts, cracks form in the salesman revealing the real salesman, and he has a son to inherit the family farm.
man behind the phony smile and glad-handing bravado. It's everything he wanted. But he is so lost and hollowed
Quaid also brought a physicality that really made the out that he has to beg his neighbors to tell him that he
character — the way he held his shoulders, clenched is "a happy man." Unlike Willy Loman, Henry has to
his fists, rubbed his neck, and walked like a man with continue to live with his horror and his decisions. Adding
broken bones. to Henry's pain is that over the course of the film he has
A real challenge I faced was that I actually had fewer become self-aware. But it is too late. He is now trapped
days to shoot this large-scope film, than I did to make my by his decisions, his father's decisions, and the mantra of
smaller and more intimate previous films. We worked "expand or die" that runs the world.
The Whipple family have gotten away with something
horrible ... but in 20 seconds or 20 years a buried secret
may be revealed that will change their lives again.
In the meantime, Wall Street and corporate America
continue to harvest massive profits while getting away
with destruction on a global scale. With former heads
of Tyson and Monsanto in the FDA, and former heads
of Goldman and Deutsche in the FED and the SEC, no
crime need go unrewarded! Unlike Henry Whipple, I am
not sure they feel remorse.
Q. Your current project?
I've just cast the lead of my new
film about the housing crisis.
Set in sunny Orlando, Florida,
it is about Dennis Nash, a man
evicted from his home with his
mom and son by Mike Carver,
a power-hungry, gun-toting
real estate broker, who works
for the banks, Fannie and
Freddie. In a desperate attempt
to get his home back, Dennis
agrees to work for Mike — a
deal with the devil that leads
him deeper into the heart of the
corrupt housing industry. I will
shoot later this year.
Source:
http://www.rogerebert.com/
interviews/interview-with-
ramin-bahrani
