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Breath
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| DS_Pallas |
Date: Sunday, 10-Jun-18, 6:03 PM | Message # 871 |
 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 # 872 |
 Rip Snorter
Messages: 315
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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 # 873 |
 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 # 874 |
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 # 875 |
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 # 876 |
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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 # 877 |
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 # 878 |
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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 # 879 |
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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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| tigglewink01 |
Date: Sunday, 17-Jun-18, 3:11 AM | Message # 880 |
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Your lucky I don't think we will be having it here in the UK maybe on DVD when they come out. |
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| DS_Pallas |
Date: Sunday, 17-Jun-18, 11:46 AM | Message # 881 |
Fair Dinkum
Messages: 1979
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Quote KathyF ( ) 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.
So happy you liked it Kathy! I know some reviewers loved it, some others didn't. What do you think are Breath strongest and weakest moments? |
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| KathyF |
Date: Sunday, 17-Jun-18, 4:08 PM | Message # 882 |
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Well, the sex scene with the little plastic bag was a bit superfluous, but I think it had to be incorporated somehow. That part was pretty brief. (Some people walked out after that scene) That said, it didn't take anything away from the rest of the story. I fell in love with those boys! My brother went with me, and Ben Spence(Looney) reminded him of a kid he grew up with here in Texas-who was exactly that crazy! (Reminds me a of a southern expression: what are a redneck's last words? "Hey watch this...... "  This movie will resonate with a lot of humans all over the world, I hope! The ocean was it's own-and by far, the most exciting character in the movie! Completely mesmerizing. I hope you all will be able to see it on a big screen. |
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| tigglewink01 |
Date: Sunday, 17-Jun-18, 4:55 PM | Message # 883 |
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thanks for telling us what you saw and your review of the film I cannot wait to see it. |
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| Deedee |
Date: Sunday, 17-Jun-18, 6:20 PM | Message # 884 |
 Bee's Knees
Messages: 704
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Hi KathyF lovely to hear from you and thanks for your review of Breath. So glad to hear you thought it was wonderful I just know I will feel the same. Some way or another we will hopefully get to see it here in the UK and until that time am happy to hear how much people are loving it. |
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| tigglewink01 |
Date: Sunday, 17-Jun-18, 7:48 PM | Message # 885 |
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Hi Deedee where about do you live in the UK I live in Scunthorpe Lincolnshire |
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