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Bum Interviews:
The Brendan Foley Interview | Belfast-born Brendan Foley is a multiple-award-winning international journalist and screenwriter, literary author, and teacher. His adventures in journalism have taken him to fifty-five countries in the past fifteen years. And he still finds time to produce and/or direct films based on his own screenplays. If he said he was one of The Flying Wallendas too, it wouldn't surprise me.
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Brendan's script for JOHNNY WAS went before the cameras in 2005, and this year will see the release of his latest film, THE RIDDLE, which he also directed. I had the pleasure of reviewing both films and was eager to ask some questions about them and other subjects, including the soon-to-be-completed horror flick BOG BODY. Amazingly, he found the time to answer them...
porfle: It's great to have you here at BumsCorner, Brendan. What creative activity are we keeping you away from at this very moment?
Brendan: I was just auditioning for the Flying Wallendas. Cooking dinner, actually. Id like to say it was some spectacular feast that I rustled up in between script bidding wars, but I rarely get past a bacon sandwich and cup of tea at the local cafι in South London. Or a jamba juice in Santa Monica when Im working there.
porfle: You obviously have a burning passion for writing. What sparked it?
Brendan: Growing up in Belfast in the 70s with The Troubles and massive unemployment as a backdrop to everyday life meant that people watched the local news avidly--no skateboarding ducks or tipsy celebrities for us, just good grim fare of everyday murder, mayhem and dastardly deeds. I wrote my first articles for The Belfast Telegraph when I was still at school and the only thing I was ever much good at since I was about five was writing and storytelling of one form or another.
porfle: What were your favorite and most influential movies and books when you were growing up? (After seeing THE RIDDLE, I have a feeling Dickens may be in there somewhere...)
Brendan: I think Dickens came a little later. Even though I remember being blown away by the original STAR WARS as a kid, I now regard it as the start of a less interesting era of movies, driven by special effects or on-the-nose gore rather than character and plot. Since we rarely ventured out to the movies, it was watching the previous generation on TV that really hooked me--THE GREAT ESCAPE, COOL HAND LUKE, BUTCH CASSIDY, THE WILD BUNCH, REDS. Mostly stories with an interesting group dynamic. Roughly 1966-76 was a bit of a high water mark for film storytelling in my view. My favorite book is "Riddley Walker" by Russell Hoban. In more modern times, I think SEXY BEAST was a great film and just about anything involving George Clooney or the Coen Brothers. | |  | |
porfle: I'm a huge fan of the versatile Vinnie Jones, who's starred in all three of your films--JOHNNY WAS, THE RIDDLE, and the upcoming BOG BODY. What can you tell us about the lovable lug that we wouldn't know from reading his IMDb bio?
Brendan: I always enjoy working with Vinnie because Ive always thought he had talent that was not being used to the full. I like the fact that while he is a great movie villain in huge popcorn movies like X-MEN:THE LAST STAND, he fights very hard against the people who would pigeon-hole him as just a stage psycho, or, worse still, "former footballer Vinnie." The guy has been in 30 movies, so he deserves better than that. Im most proud that I think two of his three best performances are in my movies, as a troubled former gunman in JOHNNY WAS and as the dogged sports journalist Mike trying to solve a murder in THE RIDDLE. He works very hard on the set and one legitimate carryover from his footballing days is that he is a great team player with the other cast and the crew.
porfle: JOHNNY WAS features such a variety of characters--Irish terrorists, dope dealers, "Yardies." How much of the story was inspired by real-life people and events you've seen personally?
Brendan: A lot of it came from observation. Obviously the Irish characters were not too much of a stretch, but I then lived for several years in Brixton and was fascinated by the interaction between the West Indian and Irish communities, and the dynamics within each of them. JOHNNY WAS has a lot to do with voices and identity, wrapped up in a low budget action shoot-em-up. There are black Londoners who wish they were Jamaican, Jamaicans who want to be recognised as British, Black Irish people who struggle to be recognised as either Irish or Black by some of their own communities and white Londoners who think they are Irish, plus 101 other subdivisions. Ultimately I think that a shared world view or sense of right and wrong are more powerful than tribal or racial loyalty, but all of them are powerful forces that make for interesting characters.
porfle: It's won Best Feature at, what, seven film festivals so far? It must be exciting to get such positive immediate response to your efforts.
Brendan: I think we're up to seven Best Feature awards, mostly from the US and Canada. It was a very tough movie to make, and myself and the other producers stuck our necks out far too far financially--the usual story. But somehow it worked out. As well as writing and producing, I was very involved in the sound post-production and worked on the soundtrack with the great reggae producer Adrian Sherwood. The 39-track reggae and dance soundtrack is a big part of the movie. Its great to get so much festival recognition for a movie that deliberately crosses genres, but the audience I write for seems to like stuff that has one foot in a genre such as thriller or horror and another in comedy or straight drama. People are more complex and open-minded than some moviemakers and distributors give them credit for. | |  | |
porfle: Patrick Bergin, Eriq La Salle, Samantha Mumba, Lennox Lewis, Roger Daltrey--this film is filled with interesting people. What are some of your brief impressions of them?
Brendan: Patrick Bergin is wonderful, larger than life. I imagine him at the head of a Shakespearian theater troupe crossing the old Wild West giving shows in between gun battles and range wars. Great company.
Eriq La Salle is a gentleman and an actor of great subtlety. I feel he was a bit typecast by "ER", and like Vinnie he has much more range than he usually gets the chance to demonstrate. He relished playing a total villain in JOHNNY WAS.
Lennox is the proverbial gentle giant and a great practical joker. Roger Daltrey gives a really smoldering performance. He was hot off the stage from the Live8 concert. And also on the music front, Samantha Mumba brought real Irish authenticity to her role as a junkie torn between love with Vinnies character or a regular supply of dope from Eriqs gangster Julius. All in all, they were a great bunch.
porfle: On to THE RIDDLE--where did you get the intriguing idea to mix a modern-day crime thriller with Charles Dickens?
Brendan: London is crammed with old pubs where legend says Dickens drank. If they are all true, he must have rarely drawn a sober breath. As a journalist avoiding work in an east London Thames-side pub about ten years ago, I was struck by the idea that if anyone found an unpublished Dickens novel it would be both worth a fortune and a priceless contribution to the creative world. Most of all it would be a great McGuffin.
porfle: Preparing to direct your first film must be a daunting prospect. What's involved in such an undertaking?
Brendan: I felt a bit frustrated on JOHNNY WAS as a writer-producer, and after being involved in the post-production, thought that Id like to try directing. Knowing the material is a big advantage, but many writers do not make good directors, so it was a bit of a gamble. I actually drew more on my time as a journalist than as a screenwriter. Directing is basically about getting great performances from cast and crew and keeping an eye on the big picture while a hundred specialists on both sides of the camera are looking after their own patch of turf. | |  | |
porfle: It must have been wonderful being surrounded by such an incredible cast.
Brendan: A talented cast and an experienced crew are the only way to go for a first time director. The crew skill level meant that I could concentrate on the cast and the story instead of fretting about the more technical side. The DoPs job is to get the directors vision from the page and inside his head to images on celluloid and I was fortunate to have cinematographer Mark Moriarty who has spent his lifetime in every possible camera department role. The directors job is to end up with a story on film that people will want to watch, simple as that.
porfle: How did it feel directing the legendary Vanessa Redgrave your first time out?
Brendan: Vanessa is a lovely person as well as a veteran actor. She had just had a hip operation and stuck with the production despite being in some pain and she turned in a very fine performance. The person playing opposite Vinnie was Sir Derek Jacobi, for my money one of the worlds greatest actors. For a first-time director, to know that Derek respected my opinions as well as the written word made for a magical experience. He plays two characters in THE RIDDLE, a present-day eccentric beach-combing tramp, and the ghost of Charles Dickens, narrating his own long-lost novel. I hope he wins some well deserved awards for his work. After one take a very hardened and experienced crew just stopped what they were doing and burst into applause.
THE RIDDLE is just starting to do the rounds of festivals and film markets, so, fingers crossed, the interesting mix of Vinnie and Derek will raise a few eyebrows.
porfle: Okay--I'm a lifelong dyed-in-the-wool horror fan, so I gotta hear about your upcoming "funny-scary" horror flick BOG BODY. Tell us! Tell us!
Brendan: Im still in post-production on BOG BODY, but delighted by the way it looks. We had a very talented young DoP called Stephen Murphy and between us we managed to capture some of the stunning Irish countryside as well as to crank out a classic horror movie with some tongue-in-cheek humor, rather than just another 2007 splatterfest. "Bog Bodies" are a real phenomenon in Ireland--the naturally preserved or mummified bodies of Bronze Age murder victims. In BOG BODY one is dug up by a greedy building contractor. When dumped in a waste pool it rehydrates and returns to life, looking for a new bog to lie down in. As you can imagine, there are a few casualties along the way. | |  | |
porfle: You've had great luck with casting so far. Who can we look forward to seeing in this one, besides Vinnie?
Brendan: We had an amazing cast for a small movie--as well as Vinnie, we had the lovely and talented Nora-Jane Noone from THE DESCENT, and Jason Barry, best known as "Tommy Ryan", Leo DiCaprios Irish buddy from TITANIC. Our Bog Body was played by the huge and big-hearted Adam Fogerty, best known as "Gorgeous George" in SNATCH. It was a very fast shoot, so we had to get it right first time as often as possible, and either through good luck or such a great cast and crew, we produced a very engrossing little movie.
porfle: What did you learn from directing THE RIDDLE that made the job easier this time around?
Brendan: To employ good people and to let people get on with their jobs. But if I want something to be a particular way, I say so and stick to it. Simplicity and clarity are important, and the ability to listen to 101 voices, but then to decide what works and stay with it.
porfle: How is making a horror movie different from your previous efforts?
Brendan: It is faster and more straightforward, since the genre conventions are so well established it allows a sort of cinematic shorthand, which in turn lets the director and cast concentrate on delivering a memorable story which at times makes the audience laugh and at times leaves them thoughtful or slightly disturbed.
porfle: When can we expect to see it? I'm chomping at the bit, as they say.
Brendan: Im a fan of BumsCorner--it has more thoughtful and detailed reviews than most such sites, so I will give the Bums a sneak preview, hopefully before the end of the year.
porfle: Thanks! You're definitely our kind of guy!
During your career as a journalist you've covered news in dozens of countries over the years. Did you have any really harrowing experiences during that time?
Brendan: People say Im very calm on set, but in comparison to being in a conflict zone, few things that can happen on set are all that scary, though some drama-merchants like to make sets that way.
Most of my journalism work was feature-writing often on business or the environment, but I had a few adventures along the way. Reporting with mercenaries and mine-clearers during the war in Angola, holding a baby otter that had been rescued from the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska and being shot at in a helicopter in the Colombian jungle were my top three memorable moments--but there were fifty forgettable articles to every adventure. Just like in the film world, you have to do your time. I think journalism is a good introduction to both screenwriting and directing. You have to stick to deadlines and cut to the heart of a story as quickly as possible. | |  | |
porfle: You recently co-wrote "Under the Wire", the autobiography of William "Tex" Ash, upon whom the Steve McQueen character "Hilts" in THE GREAT ESCAPE was based. How did this come about and what was it like working with him?
Brendan: I knew Bill through the Writers Guild and Journalists union in the UK. He is quite simply the most remarkable man Ive ever met and writing "Under the Wire" with him is probably the single thing Im most proud of in my working career so far. He is 90 this year--a Texan volunteer Spitfire pilot, he was shot down and tortured by the Nazis but escaped 13 times in the course of the war and maintained an anarchic sense of humor in the face of probable death. He definitely is the real life "Cooler King", though the character depicted in THE GREAT ESCAPE is either fictional or a hybrid. If anything, the real Bill Ash is more remarkable. The book became a paperback bestseller in the UK and is available in hardback in the United States.
porfle: What is the chance of "Under the Wire" becoming a film? And who would you like to cast in the lead role? Besides Ben Affleck, of course.
Brendan: Ben will do nicely. Or Matthew McConaughey. Or Tobey Maguire. I think George Clooney is probably the one closest to his character. I have some UK financial backers who are keen to try to get it going as a major film, but it would need a really hefty budget to do properly, so I might need a bit of a run-up at it.
porfle: What's the status of some of your current spec scripts? I've seen some pretty interesting stuff mentioned on your website.
Brendan: I have two active projects that I hope I will be able to direct in the next 18 months. One is "Freedom Street", set in Louisiana, about a runaway slave who is catapulted into present day post-Katrina New Orleans. It is in the vein of THE GREEN MILE, O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU, and BIG FISH. Im casting at the minute.
The other project is "Island Wedding", a warm, very gentle romantic comedy I hope to shoot in Ireland, about an odd island that only rises to the surface once every few centuries and a romantic battle between a British journalist and an Irish fisherwoman. It is in the vein of WAKING NED and IL POSTINO. | | porfle: Any other glimmers of ideas for future films floating around in your head that you can hint at?
Brendan: I have one quite big gangster thriller script on the boil for Vinnie and two other A-list stars. Fingers crossed.
porfle: Thanks very much for talking with us today! Now that it's over, what's the very next creative thing you're going to do?
Brendan: Back to that bacon sandwich. Thanks very much. |
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Updated Monday, March 19, 2007 Written by porfle |
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