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Posted: 25 Aug 2011 03:08 AM PDT

Dain Iskandar Said's film Bunohan will be going to the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

SOME believe everything in life happens for a reason. For Bunohan director Dain Iskandar Said and producer Nandita Solomon, there has been a great blessing in disguise in what should have been bad news for their film. Bunohan was scheduled to be completed in May this year, but circumstances dictated that they could only finish earlier this month.

"Sometimes things happen for the right reasons, and you can't fight it," said Dain when met at his production office, Apparat, in Kuala Lumpur. "So there was a delay, but because of that, we made certain calls and decisions that actually were to our advantage."

That advantage sees Bunohan going to the 36th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) next month. The film will be screened as part of the Discovery section which highlights first- and second-time directors. And not only that, Bunohan has also been picked up by Universal Pictures for distribution in Britain, France, Germany, New Zealand and Australia. This double portion of good fortune came only recently and had both Dain and Nandita in high spirits.

"We're very excited because of the market opportunities that will be there (in Toronto)," said Nandita.

And even though the TIFF is a non-competitive festival, Dain is still excited to be going there. "Festivals are great, no doubt about that," he said. "They put your film in a certain place, put it on the map. And also the buyers and market are there and that's our main concern right now. We want to be able to sell the film."

Bunohan, an action-drama, tells the fatalistic story of three men – a tomoi fighter, an assassin and a businessman – whose lives and fates intertwine in a violent way. The film is set in the badlands at the border between Thailand and Malaysia. Filmed during the east coast monsoon, the film features darkly beautiful images of the land (courtesy of Thai cinematographer Charin Pengpanich) and edgy tomoi (South-East Asian martial art) fight sequences.

Dain and Nandita first met TIFF's Asian cinema programmer, Giovanna Fulvi, in Hong Kong in March. In April, Fulvi came to Malaysia and they showed her the film which she then took back with her to Toronto.

"She saw the film and really liked it," said Dain.

Bunohan will not be the lone film from South-East Asia at the TIFF this year. Indonesian actioner The Raid, by Gareth Evans who also directed the silat movie Merantau, will also be showcased, as well as Headshot, a new film by Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang.

Nandita believes Bunohan will be a different kind of experience for foreign audiences. "Dain had his own unique vision of how he wanted to tell the story. And all his influences – he loves European cinema, Wim Wenders and stuff like that, and also American cinema such as Terrence Malick and Michael Mann. Those influences do show in the film. It's also a kind of ode to the western as well. However, Dain's style is still very much rooted in Malaysian culture, and that comes across too. So for outside audiences, we'll have to see how they respond to it."

Making Bunohan has been a rollercoaster ride for both Dain and Nandita, a whirlwind experience of highs and lows.

"The thing about filmmaking, it has been such a journey for me and Nandita," said Dain. "It's our first film under our own steam, finding the funding and carrying out the production. And we have some wonderful supporters."

Added Nandita: "We definitely can't do it on our own. We've worked with some really wonderful people."

She cited co-producer Tim Kwok as one of those who have helped the film a lot. Kwok is a Malaysian producer based in Los Angeles, California, who recently worked with Japanese director Shunji Iwai on his English-language debut, Vampire, which went to the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, among others.

"It's been up and down," said Dain. "One minute you might get the worst news, but on the same day, suddenly you get good news. It's like a yo-yo, in the course of 24 hours sometimes."

But things are definitely looking up now. With the film out there now, a lot of the work will be shouldered by Nandita as the producer. Dain, meanwhile, is already working towards his next film. He has a couple of things going on – a "gangsters with heart" film and another fight film. In the meantime he is also working on a documentary in Indonesia. Next month he will be heading to the TIFF which will hold three public screenings of Bunohan and two market screenings. (The film will be released locally sometime next year.)

"Things happen for a reason and I believe that there's always a right time for everything," said Nandita. "We got invited to a festival and that kind of gives us artistic credibility. And then landing a sale like Universal Pictures gives us a certain amount of commercial credibility."

An animated journey

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 03:06 AM PDT

As Pixar turns 25, we take a look at the philosophy that drives their success.

Most movies start their life off as an idea.

At Pixar Animation Studios, however, it is not the idea that starts off the movie-making process.

Says president and co-founder Dr Ed Catmull: "We start off by picking the person to direct the film; it's not picking an idea.

"We pick the person, and then, they come up with the idea for the film. They usually come up with two or three ideas. And of those, we then pick the one that seems like it's the best, and they've got the passion behind it."

Passion is, of course, a critical element to any endeavour, particularly creative ones.

The people at Pixar believe in this so strongly that even though there may be sound commercial reasons for making a sequel, for example, it is left up to the director (of the original movie) to make the final decision.

Giving the example of The Incredibles, Dr Catmull says: "With (The) Incredibles, I think people did want it (a sequel). But since (director) Brad (Bird) wanted to do some other things first, we deferred, since our belief is we want to be director-driven on that.

"And we just want to be careful about that, because if you lose that passion of the directors, then it has these long-term ramifications."

So, in case, you were wondering, the reason why the only sequels to have come out from Pixar so far are from Toy Story and Cars, is because director John Lasseter still had stories to tell about the characters from those movies.

Lasseter explains: "A lot of filmmakers create a film and then move on; and they're not really interested in going back and revisiting that.

"For me, I directed the first two Toy Story movies and the first Cars. When I get done making a film, these characters are like friends of mine. And I love the worlds we've created.

"And I always feel like, in both the Toy world and definitely Cars' characters, there are so many more stories that you can tell."

Movies for all

Both Dr Catmull and Lasseter were speaking to the international press in Los Angeles, in conjunction with the release of Cars 2, and Pixar's 25th anniversary.

Cars 2 is the 12th full-length animated film release in Pixar's stable of highly successful animated movies.

Starting with Toy Story in 1995, Pixar movies have come to set the standards that other animated films are measured by.

One of the reasons for that is because their movies appeal to both kids and adults alike.

When asked if Cars 2, which has a more complex storyline than the original, was aimed for an older tween crowd, Dr Catmull says: "They (the filmmakers) actually don't have discussions about who it's aimed for. It just isn't part of the consciousness, because it distorts the way people think about filmmaking when they do it. And in particular, we don't aim them towards kids. The only thing we do is we're clearly trying not to put in things that you wouldn't want for kids at all. But other than that, the film is what the film is."

He adds that Pixar's philosophy is that children live in an adult world, which they do not always understand, and asking questions is a normal occurrence.

So, if they do not understand some parts of a movie, and ask questions about it, that is just part of their normal learning process.

For Lasseter, who is also Pixar and Walt Disney chief creative officer, the secret of Pixar's success lies in being 100% focused on the story and characters of each movie.

"We keep telling an intelligent story that plays for adults, as well as kids. And they're original. They're not based on anything. And I believe you have to do that every single time," he says.

He adds that Pixar has one of the strongest brand names in the world of cinema simply because every movie they have made "truly, deeply entertained audiences".

"And I'm devoted to have every single movie coming out from Pixar be really good, and every single movie that comes out from Pixar be very different from the one that came out before.

"And I think that goes to the next movie, Brave, which is totally different than anything we've done," he says.

A long road

Lasseter describes making movies at Pixar as a "long journey".

"Creating the stories at Pixar, you don't just write a script and then make the movie.

"It took three years to make this movie, and we were working on the story all the way up to the end.

"So, we were really constantly developing, and it's just kind of evolution. You try things, and some stuff sticks and works, and some stuff doesn't. But you learn from it, and you go on from there, and it inspires something else.

"So, it's this interesting journey that goes on, and every Pixar film is like that, this included."

Part of the journey includes eight screenings throughout the movie-making process for Pixar staff to offer their input.

Cars 2 producer and Up associate producer Denise Ream shares that for each screening, they fill up the screening room, which can fit 235 people, with all the Pixar directors and film crew.

"After the screening, we go into extensive note sessions with typically, our editor, head of story, producer, director, all of the Pixar directors, people from development.

"A lot of times, we'll have the entire story department in these note sessions, and we just hear what everyone has to say.

"We then encourage everyone who has watched the movie – all the crew members – to send us their notes."

The notes are all compiled, and the director then goes through all of them and decides what he wants to include from all the suggestions.

Ream says: "It was incredible to me that anyone and everyone at the studio was encouraged to give notes, and to give their opinions about how to make films better.

"Like, I remember just a small example from when I was watching Up; there's a book that Ellie put together for Carl that he finally pulls out at the end of the movie. And she's written a letter to him, and she just signed it 'Ellie'.

"And I said to (director and screenwriter) Pete (Docter), she would have said at least 'Love, Ellie'. You don't write a letter like that without putting some sort of endearment, and sure enough, they changed it.

"So that's a small example, but everyone is really encouraged to do it at Pixar."

Making it right

According to Ream, not being afraid to admit failure is a key element to Pixar's success.

Dr Catmull shares that once Pixar's driving goal of making their first full-length animated film – Toy Story in 1995 – was achieved nine years after the company was founded, he started asking himself, what's next?

"Somehow, it felt like just doing another film was like repeating the same goal.

"So, it took me a while to get my head around it," he says.

It took him about a year, but then he realised that there was a pattern happening in companies similar to Pixar.

"A group of bright, creative people would come together. They did good marketing, they did good financing, and they produced a product. They'd go public. The CEO would get on the cover of Fortune Magazine. And then the company would do something incredibly stupid.

"And I don't mean, looking back at it incredibly stupid. I mean, right at the time, it was incredibly stupid. And it was clear to me that there were some forces going on inside each of these companies that they were blind to, and it was derailing them. And the question is, if we were ever successful, would we do the same thing?"

To him, the real issue was not whether Pixar could make another film, but whether they could make a sustainable culture so that this unforeseeable "incredibly stupid thing" did not happen to them, and derail the company.

"Your only hope is to continue to look for the things that are going wrong. So, as a company, we just have been aware throughout that there are things that are going wrong that we can't see. So we need mechanisms to try to figure out what they are. And the truth is, with all of our films, we have some serious problems. Some of them very serious, just derailing near the end or remaking them. But at any stage, whether it's early or late, we will fix the problem. So, somehow, we end up here, 25 years later and 12 films under our belt. And with the realisation that we still haven't figured out how to make these films."

The turning point for him was Pixar's third film, Toy Story 2.

"It was very late in the game, actually within eight months of having to deliver the film, when we realised it wasn't working, and we basically threw it away and started all over again," he says.

Although it was a very difficult decision, Dr Catmull shares that all those involved in the movie believed that making the hard decision for the right reasons is the right thing to do.

"So, our standards about films were set by that film.

"For me, it was our defining moment. It wasn't just a matter of being successful. We were challenged, and then we rose to it.

"And so later, when we had other challenges – and we have had major challenges since then – the crew expects us to do the right thing.

"So if it means throwing things away and starting over again, then that's what we should do."

He adds: "It would be offensive to release a film that's wrong. And so, that's the culture – it needs to be right. It needs to be a good film."

■ Cars 2 opens in cinemas nationwide today.

Pacino, 'Scarface' cast celebrate film's legacy

Posted: 24 Aug 2011 03:01 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES (AP): Al Pacino says he got burned while making "Scarface."

Literally, he grabbed the hot barrel of a gun that had just shot 30 rounds during one of Tony Montana's violent scenes.

"My hand stuck to that sucker," the 71-year-old actor recalled. He couldn't work for two weeks.

Pacino relayed the experience during a discussion with "Scarface" co-stars Steven Bauer, Robert Loggia and F. Murray Abraham and producer Martin Bregman at a party in Los Angeles Tuesday heralding the film's Blu-ray release.

Part of the charm of the film, Pacino said, is that it wasn't initially a hit.

"It's one of my favorites because of its whole evolution," he said. "It (was) sort of eviscerated after it opened by the press. ... Nobody was fond of it, except it had good audience participation."

He said "it's almost a miracle" audiences continue to discover and appreciate the film.

He wanted to make it after being inspired by Paul Muni's performance in the 1932 original. Sidney Lumet suggested he make the main character Cuban instead of Italian.

Pacino's "Scarface" is set in 1980s Miami, and Tony Montana is an ambitious immigrant who runs a growing drug empire until he eventually collapses under greed and addiction. Pacino's performance as the gun-wielding, coke-snorting Montana is among his most memorable.

He said that during the nine months he was shooting the film, his character practically inhabited him. When a friend's yappy little dog lunged at him, Pacino said he cocked back his fist instinctively, as if threatening a punch.

"So I love Tony Montana, man, because I couldn't do that!" Pacino said Tuesday.

Bregman called "Scarface" a "perfect, perfect movie."

Its timeless themes of greed, desire and ambition would make it controversial even if it were just released today, Pacino said.

Screenwriter Oliver Stone and director Brian De Palma were both "trying to talk about the avarice of the '80s," Pacino said. "At that time, there was this whole thing about greed, which was Wall Street and everything, and I think that's part of it. A great character, too, Tony Montana - a person who dares to do anything, who flies like a Phoenix, like Icarus, close to the sun."

The Blu-Ray will be released Sept. 6. "Scarface" is also set to play at 475 theaters nationwide on Aug. 31 for a special one-night engagement.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Rabu, 24 Ogos 2011

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

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