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Breath
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| tigglewink01 |
Date: Wednesday, 30-May-18, 6:09 PM | Message # 871 |
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Thanks for read and link |
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| DS_Pallas |
Date: Friday, 01-Jun-18, 9:51 AM | Message # 872 |
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SIMON BAKER ON FEAR AND MAKING MOVIES
By Samantha Morris Film, BLANK GOLD COAST - 31/05/2018
http://blankgc.com.au/simon-baker-breath/
‘Breath’ is much more than a coming-of-age tale, and it’s much more than a surf film. Simon Baker’s
directorial debut explores the fear that at times holds us back and others drives us forward. With stunning
cinematography, breathtaking Australian landscapes and genuine surf sequences, the film adaptation of Tim
Winton’s book of the same name is picking up rave reviews wherever it screens.
Samantha Morris spoke to Simon Baker and his two lead actors Samson Coulter and Ben Pence about what
it was like to work together and whether any mishaps occurred along the way.
_ _ _ _
It seems fitting that when I meet with Simon Baker and his proteges Samson Coulter and Ben Pence, we’re in Surfers Paradise
with a view of the ocean. It’s a well-known story now, but neither Samson nor Ben aspired to be on the screen, coming to
Simon’s attention after a year-long search for young surfers who might make that transition. Simon says time and time again
that it’s easier to teach surfers to act than teaching actors to surf. The younger pair are obviously stoked with their experience.
“You just don’t think surfing will lead to something like this,” said Samson Coulter (Pikelet).
The three men became friends pretty quickly through the filming process and while Simon admits there were lots of challenges
in working with people who’d never acted before he says their shared love of the water created a short-hand.
“I already lived, kind of, what these guys were living,” he added, “so there was a shorthand there too, and because of that
we didn’t have to go into airy-fairy actor stuff that a lot of times you have to go into. I pushed that there is no right and
there is no wrong. I tried to create that kind of environment.”
Simon says it’ll be interesting to see what happens if the pair work on another film.
“I can’t wait to hear what their experience of that is, because this was tailor-made to the fact that we were working with
two guys who’d never acted before so all the things that make you nervous and jumpy were pushed back a bit so they could
still be themselves, be kids and find their way,” he said.
“I like to think I learnt a few things in that experience I could take to something else,” Samson told Blank Gold Coast.
“It wasn’t easy work, I think I have a new respect for actors – for a while there I thought they had a good gig.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get to work on a project of a similar nature though,” he said. “I have nothing to compare him [Simon]
to as a director but I think it’s safe to say that he took a different approach and he was easy to be around and kept calm
I guess. I could imagine a lot of people would have been a little bit frustrated.”
That connection around the water and the sea extends way beyond this trio. The surf sequences are noticeably authentic
and Simon is quick to praise the entire team.
“It starts with who you work with as collaborators. It’s why I cast two kids that hadn’t acted but could surf. It’s why I used
Jodie Cooper – she’s an ex-champion surfer who grew up in the area. She was the prop master for the first time. I used
Ric Rifici as a surf cinematographer who had a grounding in drama but understood the water. John Frank as a camera
operator – a celebrated water cameraman who’d never shot drama EVER as our lead camera guy,” he said.
“You’ve gotta put all those things in place ‘cos I know the problem – I’ve seen it a million times and then you just keep
on top of it and you hope for good conditions,” he said.
Of course there were mishaps along the way. “Plenty,” in Simon’s words. Including a boat that was sunk and had to be
towed underwater. They laugh at some of the scenes that caused distress.
“I was driving the boat, Ric was beside me with his housing like this and Samson had his back to me, and we were in
the middle of the ocean pretty much and this wave just loomed up – solid wave – and I was like ‘fuck, what’s this’ and
I fanged the motor, Samson could see the whites of my eyes and it broke just at the top and I let go of the throttle just
as we got over it. Samson went flying through the air and landed on me and we were like ‘woah, what was that’ and
then there was another one coming.”
The retelling of that story, along with several surf tales and the laughter that go with them makes me realise how close
the trio have become during the shooting of Breath. It’s obvious were a lot of fun moments, but Simon is quick to stress
the strong work ethic shared by the team.
“We were working our arses off,” he said. “If it’s not fun, you can’t get good stuff. There’s certain things you have to do
in scenes and moments. You have to go there. But there’s no reason why you can’t have a good time while you’re
doing it,” he said.
And he’s philosophical about any industry expectations that existed around his directorial debut.
“Things are going to flow your way or not.
You can’t choke the life out of something,” he said.
“I am a bit of a perfectionist and a bit of a task master. But I’m definitely that with myself before I am with anyone else.
“These guys saw the good, the bad and the ugly in me but they stuck with me. For a couple of young men their age and lack
of experience, it was incredibly admirable of them and in a weird way it fed me and gave me energy.”
“I can’t help but look at these kids – not so much now, but at the time and see an aspect of myself in them at that age…
that wide-eyed kind of nature, these guys threw themselves into it.”
That wide-eyed fear is a recurring theme through the film. Indeed Simon says one of the film’s key messages is that there’s
fear in all of us and it’s how you live with it that makes you who you area.
“That’s kind of the strength of what fear is. It’s always going to be there in some form,” Simon said.
“You invite fear with you on the journey, just don’t let it drive.”
_ _ _
‘Breath’ had its Australian premiere at the Gold Coast Film Festival and is now screening across the country. |
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| tigglewink01 |
Date: Friday, 01-Jun-18, 4:55 PM | Message # 873 |
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Thanks for the link and the good read he's really getting places now with this film I cannot wait. |
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| DS_Pallas |
Date: Saturday, 02-Jun-18, 1:43 PM | Message # 874 |
Fair Dinkum
Messages: 1979
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Entertainment
How Simon Baker’s Lifetime of Surfing Helped Him
Make ‘Breath’
by Charles Thorp
https://www.mensjournal.com/enterta....-breath
Simon Baker, best known for his work on The Mentalist, has been getting sent scripts for surf movies his entire career.
But for Baker, who grew up riding some of the best waves in the world, none of those projects rang true to his experience.
But then someone sent him Tim Winton’s novel Breath.
The 65 Best Surf Spots in the World
“There were moments and feelings in the book that felt pulled from my own life,” says Baker, who decided to make the
book’s film adaptation his directorial debut. “I couldn’t turn away from the opportunity. I knew that I would rather die
trying than not try at all.”
The story about two young aspiring surfers who are taken under the wing of an aged pro, played by Baker, was even
set on the beaches of his homeland Australia. In order to keep that authenticity he loved on the page, Baker road-tripped
on the country’s western coast for sets, brought on a water cinematographer, and cast surfers who had never acted
before as the leads.
The result: a nuanced coming-of-age drama complete with rides that are stunningly cinematic. Men’s Journal spoke
with Baker about his love for the sport and bringing it to the big screen.
How did you first fall in love with surfing?
The first time I saw those waves and people on them I was mesmerized. I remember just thinking, “What is that?”
At that time we were living in the suburbs outside of Sydney. I was too far from the beach. But then I was fortunate
that my family moved to this town Ballina in New South Wales. My friends and I would go up to Lennox Head to get to
the waves there.
How much was it a part of your life?
It was everything. I was a kid collecting bottles, selling on the street corner to tourists, and doing odd jobs so that I could
raise the money to get a surfboard. Our whole days were spent out there. I lived a block away from the school. My parents
would go to work. I would hear the first bell ring, and that is when I would get out of bed and get my stuff together.
One of my best friends had an old, beat-up Land Rover. I would run inside the school, be there for the beginning of class,
say “Present,” then I would walk through to the other side of school and jump in his car. We would surf until it was time
to go back to school for roll call at the end of the day.
What did being out there teach you?
The sea helped me develop as a person. The ocean is powerful and always changing. It helped me get strong. There is
always the possibility that you are going to find yourself in trouble. When you do, it is just your own instincts and strength
that are going to get you out.
How often do you still get out on the water?
I get out in some way every single day. I live in Sydney now, and I can walk to the water in three minutes. The beaches
around the city are just amazing. I look out at it often. It has this effect on me. If I’m not able to make it out on the waves,
I will jump in for a swim. I miss it when I’m away for too long. I think there is some sort of chemical connection that I have
built up.
Do you take a lot of surfing trips?
I just got back from a surf trip in Fiji that was pretty incredible. I have a property that I bought by where I grew up, so
I will take trips up there to surf on the waves I grew up on. It has changed quite a bit. There are so many girls out there,
which is amazing. That was never the case when I was growing up. Surfing is pretty great these days. The boards and
the gear that they have now is better in my opinion, because for a while, it was all starting to look the same. Now people
are embracing the other ages.
Did you have any surf movies that you liked when you were growing up that you thought of when
making Breath?
Not really. I remember my friends and I had Big Wednesday on VHS that we watched. That is all we had. It was a great
movie, but it took place in Malibu and it was really about the Vietnam War and friendship. It was about an American
experience. It wasn’t really a surf movie that we could relate to easily.
How did you go about making the surf movie that you wanted?
I found actual surfers to play the kids. I cast non-actors. I wanted the viewer to be close to us in the water. I didn’t want
any green screen, so the location was key. The place mentioned in the book is fictitious, though it is set in Western Australia.
So I went along the coastline stopping everywhere along the way, until I found this place, Denmark, this small seaside town
with only one restaurant. It was just perfect.
What made it perfect?
Everything that we needed was there, and the town became a part of the filmmaking process. This awesome VW truck that
we used in the movie was for sale on the side of the road, and the boat that we used, too. We bought the school bus, and
the kids were all locals. The dog in the movie was this search-and-rescue canine that worked in the town. Not to mention
that sea there is beautiful, wild, and untamed.
You made a tremendous surfing movie. How does it feel?
I am really happy with what we did. I think that we have made one of the best surf movies ever with this. Not just because
it is my baby, but I think it is the most authentic look at what we really experience. I made this because there was a version
of being a surfer that I hadn’t seen yet.
Breath opens in theaters June 1. |
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| tigglewink01 |
Date: Saturday, 02-Jun-18, 4:34 PM | Message # 875 |
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Thanks again for the link and nice read |
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| bee |
Date: Saturday, 02-Jun-18, 4:44 PM | Message # 876 |
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Messages: 1525
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We are certainly being spoilt with all these great articles and seem to learn something new about Simon and the movie each time. Thanks DSP. |
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| DS_Pallas |
Date: Sunday, 10-Jun-18, 6:03 PM | Message # 877 |
Fair Dinkum
Messages: 1979
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Simon Baker from ‘Confidential’ to 'Breath'
Stephen Schaefer Sunday, June 10, 2018
http://www.bostonherald.com/enterta...._breath
NEW YORK -- It was Simon Baker’s surfer youth growing up '10 hours north of Sydney'
that inspired his critically praised, feature directing debut BREATH, in which he also stars as a
legendary surfer Sando. Best known as Patrick Jane in THE MENTALIST (2008-2015), during an
interview at Soho’s Crosby Street Hotel I was curious about one of early key roles in Curtis Hansen’s
extraordinary 1997 L.A. CONFIDENTIAL. That and other topics follow a Boston Herald feature that
ran recently; BREATH, based on Tim Winton’s novel and adapted by Gerard Lee, is currently in
theaters nationwide.
Q: I always wonder if when a hit series ends, the star wonders: Is there life after THE MENTALIST?
Simon Baker: I knew going in it was the last season and I’d gotten the rights to make BREATH so I knew when I went into that last
season I was really gearing up to make this. The day I wrapped I took a plane to Sydney and started. It took about a year to get
the financing.
Q: One reality when casting your two leads with kids [Samson Coulter, Ben Spence] who can surf but have never
acted is thatit’s a bit like filming toddlers – whenever you get their shot, that’s it. I guess Elizabeth Debicki [the NIGHT
MANAGER star whoplays Sando’s unhappy wife] understood this?
SB: I was very clear with my actors: It’s not going to be like sets. I’m not going to have marks [spots where they stand for the
camera and lights). I’m going to be yelling out directions in the middle of takes. I’m going to be asking to repeat stuff. It’s about
gathering moments and then putting those moments together in context.
Q: Filming on water is notoriously difficult. The horror stories stretch back to Mel Gibson's or Marlon Brando’s
MUTINY ON THEBOUNTY and WATERWORLD.
SB: We shot for six weeks and the water unit we had for four weeks. That was it. All the principal cast were in those scenes in
the water. We had to drop the main unit for the water [whenever the ocean dictated]. You’re obviously looking at swell, wind,
tides and weather and sky and ocean matching. It was baptism by fire but I kind of knew that going into it. Once you start,
you’re in there. Not just with the ocean but the film. You have to find a way. You can’t just stop. This is what I like, having those
hard parameters and boundaries. They force you to be creative and malleable in your creativity so you can adapt and adjust to
what’s forced upon you. We couldn’t have an extra day to go back and film; we didn’t have the money. It was a little bit of you
get what you get.
Q: I somehow expected the story to be about your character’s mentorship with these teens but it surprisingly
takes a sexual turn.
SB: It’s the same sort of story, it just transfers into that idea of growing up. Things are a lot of fun and then it becomes serious.
The surfing is one of those metaphors in that it’s joy and fun, then it gets more serious, then it’s dangerous and life threatening.
Sex is this excitement and riding his bike out there with boundless energy, shagging like a jackrabbit. And suddenly it gets more
intense when he admits his love for her. Which is heartbreaking. Then you realize there’s a darker side to that, to all these things.
I wanted to show the addictive quality to living on the edge, to danger. That adrenaline level becomes very addictive.
Q: Is that true of acting as well?
SB: Not so much a parallel with acting. When you’re starting your career, it’s risky in a sense but it doesn’t have that
life-threatening edge to it. It can be depressing but you’re not in immediate risk. More the parallel is that moment Sando talks to
of surrender, to be completely in the moment and to let go. For me that relates to the process of acting. You rehearse and you
get it in your skin and your mind -- and then you let it go and trust that it’s there. Letting it go is the most powerful thing -- and
that’s addictive!
Q: I saw L.A. CONFIDENTIAL again recently. What a great film! I’d forgotten that alongside this starry cast, there
you were as a gay actor arrested in a drug raid as the film begins.
SB: That was my first film ever. He was bisexual. At the beginning he’s with a girl and then he got his throat slit, he slept with
a DA or something.
Q: What about the late Curtis Hansen who directed and won the Oscar for best screenplay adaptation?
SB: That was Curtis Hansen’s film and one of the first meetings I had – I had just gotten to Los Angeles. It was with the late
Mali Finn, one of the great casting agents. I went home, read the script and I bought the book and stayed up all night reading that.
Then I went in to meet Curtis. This was not for that role but the Ed Exley role that Guy Pearce played. I met with Curtis and he
said, ‘I’d like to spend a few weeks preparing you for a screentest for Ed Exley.’ I did that and they were really happy with it.
Guy had just had a massive hit with PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT and they went with him. He was fantastic in the role.
Then Curtis said, ‘I’d like you to play this role’ -- as a consolation prize.
Q: How was Curtis? What did you learn from him?
SB: Some directors are teachers because [you learn] of things to avoid. They’re all valuable, just as much the good ones as the
bad ones. You see it [mistakes] happen a couple of times and you know after a while it’s about to happen. Curtis, first of all, casts
very well and surrounded himself with great technicians – Dante Spinotti shot the thing. Everything was spot on. There was an
authenticity about that film that everything rang true. Which is something I love in a film. Working with Ang Lee [on the 1991
Civil War-era RIDE WITH THE DEVIL] I enjoyed his process of storytelling and how he could draw a performance out of people without articulating it. Sometimes it’s as simple as saying, ‘Just look over at him’ -- because he wanted just that moment there.
Q: I love Ang Lee! But I heard he was so blunt with actors. ‘That was terrible! Do it again.’
SB: I like that plain speak in a sense. English was his second language. Once your insecurity would go over being told, ‘Do it again
but different.’ Or ‘Don’t look so old,’ which is rumored to be his famous line to Emma Thompson during SENSE AND SENSIBILITY.
Once on RIDE WITH THE DEVIL, I said to him right before we were going to go, ‘I think I’m going to do this’ and he said, ‘You can
do that but I’m not going to use it in the movie.’ It was so clear: ‘You do whatever you want but it’s not going to be in the movie
and I’m telling you ahead of time.’
Q: How blunt were you with your cast?
SB: With my kids? They hadn’t acted before. I grew up like those kids, so we had a shorthand. We had a language. There’s
an absolute directness. I didn’t want them to feel a set is this fragile place. It was more, ‘Let’s hurry up and get this.’ I just wanted
them to have a good time and be kids and capture those moments.
Q: Did you have an idea and did that change with the water and weather?
SB: You always have an idea and a visual frame of what you think it is. And it shifts and changes thru the whole process.
You’re always shifting and that’s where you need to be flexible. I’ve seen too many first-time directors where they’re in the corner,
tripping over their head, for some reason frozen. They go, ‘When I wrote this it was nothing like this.’ And I say, ‘This is what it is
so let’s make it work for your narrative. What was the intention?’
Q: It looks like you knew exactly what you wanted.
SB: I knew less than what I wanted, I knew what I didn’t want. I wanted authenticity and for it to feel organic. It’s a slight story
with detail and an intricacy to it. With an organic flow to it and the environment is such a main character in the whole story, the
coastline and the landscape. That’s the star of the film, it’s such a potent part of the film. Where we were you just take the lens cap
off and it’s stunning.
Q: What’s next?
SB: Tim Minton’s next book THE SHEPHERD’S HUT. It’s a fantastic book that deals with the intergenerational struggle of toxic
masculinity.
Q: Will you be in it?
SB: Probably not. I’ll just direct.
Q: Could Hugh Jackman who is coming to introduce your New York premiere screening be in it?
SB: It depends. There’s not a lot of roles. It’s pretty condensed and has a survival element. But there is a role of an aging Irish
priest that is being disassociated. There’s a lot of wonderful Irish actors who would seem to fit the bill. |
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| tigglewink01 |
Date: Sunday, 10-Jun-18, 8:13 PM | Message # 878 |
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What a shame that he will not be in his next film and only directing it won't be the same without him. Thanks again DSP for the link I have not heard from you for a bit. |
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| bee |
Date: Tuesday, 12-Jun-18, 8:51 AM | Message # 879 |
Fair Dinkum
Messages: 1525
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Simon seems to prefer the process of directing rather than acting (more control?) so I see more directorial roles for him in the future. |
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| DS_Pallas |
Date: Tuesday, 12-Jun-18, 12:34 PM | Message # 880 |
Fair Dinkum
Messages: 1979
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BREATH in Europe! The film will be screened at the MÜNCHEN FILM FESTIVAL (Münich, Germany) on June 30, and July 4, 2018
https://www.filmfest-muenchen.de/de/programm/filme/film/?id=5772 |
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| Wand6122360 |
Date: Tuesday, 12-Jun-18, 1:59 PM | Message # 881 |
Bee's Knees
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I hope the movie does well in Europe! |
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| tigglewink01 |
Date: Tuesday, 12-Jun-18, 7:30 PM | Message # 882 |
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Do you know if it will be screened in the UK. |
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| DS_Pallas |
Date: Saturday, 16-Jun-18, 1:10 PM | Message # 883 |
Fair Dinkum
Messages: 1979
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Quote Wand6122360 (  ) I hope the movie does well in Europe!
It still hasn't any distribution deal at the moment. But as Simon said on IG, Embankment is working on it (also by getting Breath screenings in European cinema festivals). |
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| tigglewink01 |
Date: Saturday, 16-Jun-18, 4:29 PM | Message # 884 |
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Thanks for telling me that I will just wait I suppose that all we can do. thanks DSP for looking into it for us fans. |
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| KathyF |
Date: Sunday, 17-Jun-18, 2:47 AM | Message # 885 |
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I watched Breath yesterday (Friday) in Dallas,Texas...twice in one day! I'm going again on Monday! I could watch it on a loop all day, every day! Sooooooo beautiful!
I was under its spell immediately! It was well worth the wait. I can't tell you how happy I am. Simon is a visionary. |
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