Edward
Malus (Nicolas Cage), is a haunted man, a policeman on leave from his job as he
recovers from a traumatic road accident involving a young girl and her mother.
When he receives a cry for help from an old friend who fears that her own daughter
is in peril, Malus decides to do all he can to help her, and travels to the insular
community on the beautiful private island of Summerisle. But from the moment he
arrives, Malus’s quest is beset with difficulties, as the locals seem reluctant
to help him, even denying all knowledge of the girl’s existence.
This
last week, I caught up with THE WICKER MAN director Neil LaBute who talked about
the movie, DVD release and his new Directors' Cut.
Paul: How would you describe
THE WICKER MAN. It's not a traditional horror film is it?
Neil:
No, not at all. I think that, after reading stuff about the original picture,
Anthony Shaffer himself called the film an anti-horror film. They purposely set
out, he and Robin Hardy, to do something different than what they were seeing
Hammer and the like doing at that time - the late sixties and into the early seventies.
I think that they wanted to do something that was different. It's creepy, as we
hope ours is creepy. We never really give full tilt to the idea that it being
a horror film. There's no monster, there's no killer on the loose.
Paul:
Exactly
Neil:
A movie like Halloween in the States, and then all of the films that came from
that - Friday the 13th - there's dozens of them. Even The Exorcist has the devil.
It is truly a scary film. [With The Wicker Man] there's the notion of investing
in one character, and then wondering what's going to happen to that person as
opposed to [having] loads of people and then cutting and killing indiscriminately
important characters. This movie didn't have any of that. Its more like the psychological
aspect of this clash of a community that believed in one thing, and a man that
so firmly believes in something else. We try to have the equivalency in that [with
the remake]. The religious clash in the original is [replaced] by a battle between
men and women, a gender clash.
Paul:
Is that what made you decide to remake it? That idea?
Neil:
Well, the factors were me being approached, and not just being flattered, but
knowing the film and thinking that there is something I can do with that. I held
it [the original movie] dear in the sense that it was a cult film to me, I knew
that it was a one off. It was strange, there were no films like it and not that
many people knew about it and I think that that was what was charming about the
whole thing. I like how it was written and the way it looked. I loved the ending
and to be honest it probably already went through my head to remake it. I knew
things were difficult. I knew that that it had a troubled production, and history
and even more so, distribution history. So, it wasn't really until somebody came
to me, which was Nic Cage's company and then another producer, Joanne Seller,
who is actually from England. Both of them had worked on securing the rights,
so at that point I don;t think that they wanted to just remake the movie, they
wanted to take it in some new direction. So I said 'I have an idea' - a way that
we can get to the same place in the end, but I want to take you on a very different
journey.
Paul:
So Nicolas Cage was already involved?
The
rights were at Universal at the time and Nic and the other producers had found
a way to get those rights and so from there we were all able to go on and create
a script.
Paul:
What was he like to work with, in both respects as both an actor and producer?
Neil:
Really, really good. That was the third time that I had worked with an actor who
was also a producer as well. I had had three good turns with that. One was Rachel
Weisz, and the other was Jason Patric. So, Nic is very accomplished as a producer.
He produces films that he is not in, and ones that he has directed and ones that
he is only an actor in. He likes the idea of creating and developing films. It's
nice to have someone who both can concentrate on the specifics of creating a character
- that's the job of the actor, but who then also sees the bigger picture - who's
worried about how the production is going to work. So, it was a double pleasure.
He's an actor who comes really well prepared and gives you what you want very
quickly. He can give you what you want. He can give you several levels of that.
I could have literally created a different character with what else I shot with
him. And it's nice that you have that kind of material to work with.
Paul:
There are obviously a lot of people out there that may be a little skeptical of
going and seeing this movie, or renting the DVD or buying the DVD, because of
the greatness and cult status of the original. What would you say to those people?
{SPOILERS BELOW}
Neil:
Well, you know, you wish people would give something a chance. I understand that
completely. I understand that more now than before. The capacity that people have
for something that they think of as a cult film, they don't want you to even think
about touching it. I still stand by the idea that you can take something and tell
it many times. Part of that for me comes from having worked in theatre. I'm used
to the idea of various productions of plays of mine. I mean, there have been how
many productions of Hamlet? Some of them were crap, but many of them are good,
very different productions. I know the status that this film has. You have to
go into something like this and think that this is something that I really want
to make. It takes too long. You can't just think, 'oh I'll just throw this on
the screen.' How ever people ultimately feel about the picture, you go into it
wide eyed, hoping that you going to make something that is equally interesting.
All I can say is give it a try. If anything I was worried about the marketing.
People tried to market it as a straight horror film, and I think that was a dangerous
thing. You go after a first weekend crowd of whom who is supportive of that kind
of movie, but you're not really fulfilling their appetite. Then it gets misrepresented.
It is a movie that has many different tones in it, in some ways similar to a movie
that I did a few years ago named Nurse Betty. It jumps back and forth. It was
weird to read reviews that commented on the unintentional humour in the movie.
If we weren't aware that Nic Cage was funny running around in a bear suit - we
probably shouldn't have been on set. Of course we know. No matter how you feel
about that, you know that the guy is going to burn for real, and not escape in
a matter of minutes - so laugh all you want. I kinda like that balance of scare,
and funny, and exciting and some people who who want a horror movie, just want
it straight. Nothing but scares, and that's it. It ends up being a matter of taste,
and taste is a tricky thing.
Paul:
was there any pressure to alter the ending in any way?
Neil:
Oh sure. There exists, even on the DVD there's the ending that we added, which
was trying to be a compromise. There was talk early on about trying to keep that
character from dying and that was something that, neither Cage or myself wanted
to happen. He had to put his foot down, and say I'm not doing it, and I won't
promote this movie [if the ending was changed]. Me being more diplomatic, or i.e.
a wuss said 'Let me think about this', and came up with an ending that kept him
dead, but found a way to have a more audience friendly ending. We show that the
story cycles on again. What's preferred to me is the ending where he's burning
in the wicker man and the head falls off and covers the screen and that's it.
Paul:
And that's what we have on the DVD in the director's cut.
Neil:
That's right. There's also come of the material that we had to cut out. The breaking
of his legs, the helmet of bees - a few things that we wanted in the picture.
Those things ended up being cut for the MPAA.
Paul:
So it was a rating issue?
Neil:
Yeah. We had agreed to a certain rating, and we were at the mercy of whether they
passed it or not.
Paul:
I've just watched it, and it's almost a different experience to what people may
have seen in cinemas. So, maybe they should give it a chance on DVD.
Neil:
It would be nice yes. It's probably not as powerful, but they can certainly hover
on certain moments.
Paul:
One last question. What's next for you?
Neil:
That's a good question. I don't know. I've bounced back between theatre and film.
I just did a lay in the fall in New York, and I'm working on a possible series
for the BBC. I'm circling on a couple of film projects, but I haven't said yes
to anything. I like working and I'm always on the lookout for something, but I
don't go out to work for the sake of working. You spend too long doing it and
it costs you too much in terms of emotion and family and all of that. You do it
hopefully because it's worth doing.
Paul:
Well, thanks for taking time out to speak to us. We look forward to anything that
you do.
Neil:
Thank you.
THE WICKER
MAN: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT is released on DVD (region 2) from January 22nd, 2007.
