THE EAST written by Brit Marling and Zal Batmangli and directed by Batmangli takes on real and topical issues, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. Clearly Brit and Zej picked up on the tension before writing the script making this movie and its release perfectly timed. In the time of The Arab Spring, the occupy movement and the oil spill scandal which happened only a few years ago. Zal Batmangji has gone from indie writer and director to the rising star behind this years must see movie THE EAST. We sit down with Zal to talk about his writing process, the Skarsgård charm and we even sidetracked and ended up discussing the meaning of organic food and processed meat…but let’s focus on THE EAST for now.
THN: I saw the movie yesterday and my initial thought was – it reminded me of West German terrorism. Has anyone pointed that out to you?
ZB: Yeah, people talk about a movie called THE EDUKATORS which I have never see.
THN: That was my initial thought when seeing the trailer for THE EAST, because in THE EDUKATORS it’s a group who break into people’s houses to teach the bad guys a lesson. They just rearrange furniture, so it’s no where near as violent as The East.
ZB: The East is hardly violent.
THN: Was there any organisation out there that you moulded the east around?
I think anything anarchic inspired us. Through Adbusters, I don’t know if you’ve seen that magazine; the anarchist rag – that was hugely inspirational lots of manifestos on the web were inspirational. Anything anarchic, was an inspiration but no there was no specific group that we moulded The East after. The East was all imagined from our mind but the corporate crimes were all 100% real. The pharmaceutical is based on a real pharmaceutical company, the kid’s dying of arsenic in the water that’s based on a real case. All that stuff hasn’t been exaggerated for filming effect”
THN: Do you think a lot of it is very specific to the American market or are these global problems?
ZB: No, that antibiotic that we based it on is an antibiotic which is very commonly prescribed here in the UK.
How do you make a great dramatic film about terrorism and still manage to avoid the preachy political agenda?
Well political agenda we can’t avoid, because I think all movies have a political agenda. I mean SOUNDS OF MUSIC is political. Terminator is political, but preachy? – We have nothing to preach. I don’t have any answers to anything. I don’t think the film posits any answers. It just poses a lot of questions, questions with questions. It’s like one of those kids who keep saying: but why? Because nobody asks why that much about the life we live, because we take it for granted
I was flying back yesterday from Scotland and this kid kept asking his dad: ‘but why?’
THN: And you don’t know where the question ends, because it just keeps going and going.
ZB: It keeps going and going but it also illuminates something, by the end of it – after a while both the dad and me were just like – ‘that’s a good question kid’. Why? And you realize that, the dad at first had very condescending answers but then because no one asks that much about the life we live. We take it for granted because we just believe it’s reality. When someone does ask questions, it’s almost shocking. I was just curious to see what the dad was gonna say to his kid, because I don’t know the answers.
THN: Do you think people are told to just deal with it, and will settle for a ‘it just is’ answer?Is that what you’re criticising?
ZB: I don’t think we’re criticising, What I think is: why don’t we pay a lot more attention to these things? Maybe that’s a form of criticism. But it’s more like why aren’t we, I don’t know being more accountable? I think accountability is a huge part of the film.
THN: Has the movie helped you deal with you accountability?
ZB: No it’s made me feel more confused.
THN: I really enjoyed watching the Izzy (Ellen Page) and Benji (Alexander Skarsgård) together, can you talk about their intense relationship a bit more?
ZB: That’s just Alexander Skarsgård and Ellen Page, they have a lot of chemistry.
THN: Does labeling the relationship matter? Cause he’s also with Sarah so it’s kept a bit ambiguous.
ZB: He’s with Luca too. He’s with everyone, and everyone is in love with him and everyone wants a piece of him. I think they (Benji and Izzy) had it all. They had gone through all of the stages, and at that point they were partners, best friends. But I think they had probably been lovers, but I don’t know. It’s up to them now.
THN: You’ve worked with Brit (Marling) before, and assuming that you’re good friends, what’s that writing process like?
ZB: We’ve known each other for 10 years. It’s a lot like you and me sitting here. We sit and tell each other the story. That’s the main way we craft a screenplay. We spent seven months telling each other the story. If you tell a good part, then that makes me lean in, so you try to tell a part of a story that makes your partner lean in. I think that’s part of the – that’s the goal. If that makes sense.
THN: Will your next project be inspired by questions similar to those posed in THE EAST?
ZB: I think these things are like your kids, these films. They’re with you, you can’t shake them you can’t lose them. They’re just a part of you now.
THN: Do you know what the next project is?
ZB: We have the inclines of it, the beginnings of it yeah.
When I ask my final question on whether he’s working with Marling again for the third time, I get a mysterious but promising nod. We’re very excited to see what Zal’s next project is, and were thrilled to have a few minutes to talk about accountability, freeganism and more. Check out our review of THE EAST here.
THE EAST opens in cinemas on Friday 28th June, 2013.
