| Casting Out Spirits with Director/Writer Scott Derrickson & Writer Paul Boardman. |
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| Monday, 05 September 2005 | |
Reported by Joseph B. Mauceri.
 {FERASmag} - Scott Derrickson: Graduated Biola University, a degree in Humanities, a degree in Communications, a minor in Theology. He graduated USC with a Masters in Film Production. Paul Boardman: Graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of the South with degrees in English and Psychology. He received a special diploma for summer studios at St. Johnís College, Oxford. He received a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from John Hopkins University. He attended the USC Scholl of Cinema-Television, where he received the Jeffrey Jones Scholarship in Screenwriting. This cinematic duo penned the screenplay for ìUrban Legends: Final Cutî for Phoenix Pictures and recently adapted the book Beware the Night for producer Jerry Bruckheimer. For Dimension, they wrote ìHellraiser: Inferno,î which Derrickson directed. Together they have penned screenplayís for Disneyís spiritual thriller ìMystic,î ìGhostingî for Dimension,î a re-write for Sonyís ìScarecrow,î and a science fiction epic for director Martin Scorsese. In THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, the duo tackles a modern tale of an exorcism that deals more with questions of spirituality and belief that culpability under the law. What do they believe is the truth behind the events? Read on and decide for yourself! FEARS: So I states on the poster ìbased on a true story.î How true is this movie, especially since there is the information at the end about the gravesite and the lawyerís case being turned over to study? Does it follow the actual court case? Scott Derrickson: Iíll try to give you the most frank answer, because we always get asked that question. The true story is basically this; there was a girl who was officially recognized by the Catholic Church as being possessed. They authorized her exorcism. After a series of exorcisms, the priests that were involved were arrested and put on trial for negligent homicide. The verdict in that real trial is the verdict we have in the movie, which I donít want to give it away. Other than that, everything in the movie should really be considered fictionalized. Other than the basic backbone of the story we just wanted to create the most compelling characters that we could and the most dramatically interesting scenarios that we could, to tell the best story that we could. FEARS: Did you go to any real-life exorcisms? Scott Derrickson: NotÖ actually I donít think that would be possible. Everybody who I talked to who has been involved with them, theyíre very organized, and disciplined, and rigorous about howÖ the idea of having a bystander there to observeÖ anybody who would let you do that is probably looking for attention. But what we did do, is we met a guy, doing research for this movie whoÖ actually we were doing research for a Jerry Bruckheimer movie when we met this guy, but he had a number of video tapes of actual exorcisms that he had participated in, that he had never shown anyone before. He kept them for researchers andÖ they werenít for television or anything like that. They were pretty harrowingÖ
FEARS: Did they scare you, those videotapes? Scott Derrickson: Yeah! Paul Boardman: Sure! Scott Derrickson: Theyíre really disturbingÖ FEARS: But would any of these exorcisms really be considered PG-13? Scott Derrickson: Theyíre PG-13 in the wayÖ Well no, some of them would not have been PG-13, actually now that Iím remembering some of the stranger profanity, which is not something we did in this movie. They were really bothersome and they really had a bigÖ those actual research materials, audio tapes of real exorcisms, video tapes of real exorcisms, and I read about two-dozen books about exorcismÖ all that material had a big influence on the film in that we were trying to portray this in a way that was very indicative of the real events that go on out there in the world. We wanted it to feel real. Paul: And I think part hearing and seeing that stuff is in part is what made usÖ we had already researched this sort of thing out of our own interest in other things we worked on, but it kind of showed us how scary the real exorcism can be, and we wanted to get away from what people had gotten us to in some of the Hollywood versions of it. Weíre all informed by watching those films. We wanted to go back to, whatís the subjective experience of people who have actually gone through exorcisms, and that was terrifying. We knew that we could build a movie on that in terms of how our supernatural sequences would play. FEARS: Did you contact the Vatican at all, even to ask for permission? Scott Derrickson: No, all the research we did was actually book research. But the true story you knowÖ the Catholic Church sanctioned the exorcism and the Catholic PriestÖ FEARS: But the film is based on a court case that did take place in Germany? Scott Derrickson: Ö that was part of what we wanted to preserve and I think another one of the reasons why the Catholicism of it... I also want to say this about the Catholic thing, is that in the process of doing research there is a difference, I thinkÖ Iím Protestant, but there is a difference between the Catholic approach to the subject matter and the Protestant. The Protestants donít even call it exorcism they call it deliverance. There seems to me a little bit more rigor in the Catholic approach to the subject matter in that they have very defined standards of how they recognize possession and very specific ways of going about dealing with it and the just seemed to be also better material for a drama. FEARS: And the actual case though was in Germany? Scott Derrickson: AhÖ the actualÖ the actual caseÖ Hereís theÖ I canít talk about anything of the actual case more than anything other than the trueÖ Everything other than the true story that I described for you is fictional. Thatís why this movie has no location. We donít know where it is. That was very deliberate. Paul Boardman: Again, The biggest thing that was great about the inspiration was when we found out that there was a court trial. The idea of a true story was that it gave us such a great framework for the kind of story we wanted to tell and the debate that would be central to this movie. The idea is almost likeÖ ìRashomonî could be as big of an inspiration in a way too if you just think about it as a story where get something told from different points of view, through the presentation of evidence. Itís just a great way to frame thisÖ FEARS: Did you ask the family for any rights? Scott Derrickson: ... I will say this though; the stuff at the end of the film is about Emily Rose. Thatís part of our story. Paul Boardman: Itís all part of the fiction. Scott Derrickson: Itís closure for the characters in the story. FEARS: You realize audiences will see that and think itís true. Scott Derrickson: For the record, we didnít make the poster! FEARS: Considering the genesis of this film, this man, the tapes, everything that came to you, do you think the film is going to beÖ interpreted asÖ being religiously financed possibly pro-religion film with an agenda behind it? Paul Boardman: We would hope not, and Iíll let Scott address this too, our goal in this was to be very even handed with the story, from the screenplay stage all the way through making the film, to not have the story tip its hand in terms of trying to have nay kind of agenda to be didactic about what that this is or what you should believe. The whole idea is to tell the story in a way that makes people raise these questions and think about it, and than walk out and have their own decisions and their own discussions about it. I think the way the film ends up and tells its story is meant to provoke that, itís not meant to tell you what you should believe. Scott Derrickson: I think anybody who would even say that would only say that because they think that we think that any movie that takes religiously spiritually subject matters seriously has an agenda, whichÖ My intention on this movie all along was to avoid that as much as possible. Paul and I have very different opinions about this kind of stuff. Iím very much a believer, I believe in possession, and I think itís a real phenomenon. Paul doesnít. Itís one of the reasons why, I think, a fair and balanced approach to the subject matter is in the film. As the director, it wasÖ probably one of the primary goals I had during the making of the movie to not try to propagate my point of view and to not to create a film that was an attempt to persuade people to think the way I do. It was a big concern for Lara Linney. Lara needed to hear me say that before she would do the movie. This is not a movie thatís intended to provide any metaphysical answers, but it is definitely intended to provoke significant spiritual questions. FEARS: Why did you go to Lara Linney? Scott Derrickson: I knew that the role required somebody who could bring intelligence and credibility to the movie. I knew thatÖ First of all, she is as good an actress as you could ever want in your movie. That was really the primary reasons, and secondarily I just felt that if she was in the film, it was going to cause the movie to move in a certain direction. It was going to become thoughtful, it was going to stay interesting and artistic, and I knew that we would get better actors with her. She just seemed like she had the kind of intelligence and gravity to pull off a role like that, and to do it well. Paul Boardman: She brings a lot of intellectual credibility to that kind of character, as well as someone who is empathetic and someone who brings emotional credibility to the role. FEARS: What was your opinion when she brought up Jennifer Carpenter? Scott Derrickson: Weíd met at the Ch‚teau Marmot in Hollywood for the first time, she read the script, and was very interested, but at that point I think she was still quite aways from saying yes to the role. She had a lot of hard questions and wanted to understand the kind of movie that I was going to make. At the end, one of the last things she said to me was that I had to read this girl Jennifer Carpenter. Iíll never forget it, she sat forward and said, ìSheís the best young actress Iíve ever seen.î When Lara Linney says that to you itís kind of shocking. It was unfortunate for another actress, because there was a girl who I had settled on casting at that point. I hadnít offered her the role yet, but I was pretty sure I was going to cast this girl. She was better than anyone else I had read and she was very good, but after meeting and talking with Lara I had audition Jennifer. We flew her up to Vancouver for a callback audition. At that audition not only did I decideÖ in the middle of her audition I decided that not only would I cast her, but also I really reconceived how to do the movie. What she did was so frightening and surreal and strange that I realized I could withhold a lot of the visual and makeup effects that we had written into the script because she was scary all by herself. Paul Boardman: Thatís part of what Lara had said; she said that Jennifer had been in ìThe Crucible,î in a role that really requires thatÖ Scott Derrickson: They did that together.
FEARS: Like freezing her body, and her musclesÖ Scott Derrickson: You know, the best way that I can describe it is thatÖ she was contorting and these incredible sounds were coming out of her mouth, but specifically like the way her face would move and contort, andÖ The way Iíve been able to describe it is that it felt counter intuitive to me and it didnít feel human. It felt wrong. AndÖ andÖ it genuinely filled me with a feeling of fear. I was in a florescent lit room with a bunch of producers, sitting around on these little chairs, and I realized, ìMy gosh, if she makes me fee this way in this environment, in the film she could really pull this off.î Paul Boardman: It feels likeÖ she has this intelligence as an actress but also there is something about her that does not makes her the obvious choice. It just seems like the place she would goÖ Scott Derrickson: And we rehearsed her scenes together, just her and I, in great detail, working out the specific beats. We only had 40 days to shoot the movie so I knew we werenít going to have time to do that on the setÖ how she would move, where she would go, the blocking and all that. But I think the greatest moments she has in the movie where the things she did very intuitively and very spontaneously when the camera was on. FEARS: The Film has been accepted into the Venice Film Festival, what does having your movie in a festival do for it? Scott Derrickson: I have no idea, but it does mean I get to go to Venice! Paul Boardman: Exactly! I assume the idea is that it will give the movie some attention, and the kind of people who follow what movies are at those festivals will help balance out all the advertising that gets all the young people to go to the movie. Scott Derrickson: And I know for me, the only thing I can say, I donít know the marketing strategies or the kind of impact they have, I was very happy when I heard it got into the Venice Film Festival because I thought it lends a certain credibility to the film and it certainly said that this is not a typical horror movie. There is something to this that meritsÖ Paul Boardman: It speaks to the kind of movie that we were trying to make. So itís like people are looking to try and get it on the radar of people as not just a typical horror film, thatís just another way to do it. FEARS: It also seems very Catholic and Venice is in a very Catholic country. Do you think people who are Catholic have a better understanding of whatís going on in this movie because of the ritual, the priestÖ Paul Boardman: Let me speak to the second thing first. When we did test screenings and got feedback on the film, one thing that was very striking to us was that there was a high interest in Catholics, obviously, but we also got really strong responses from people who identified themselves with everything from Agnostics to Evangelical Christians, to self-proclaimed atheists in some cases. I remember there was one self-proclaimed Wiccan who said she really like the film. So it was like a huge range of people, which again goes to that idea we were talking about of trying to make a movie that is not didactic and not reflecting a particular world or religious view. Neither of us were raised Catholic, but we found this subject matter compelling. I think a lot of people do because it raises questions of faith that are more about spirituality and the essence of what it means to be a person, but a pretty universal to anybody who wants to think about these things can go ahead. FEARS: You get that balance with Campbell Scottís character. You have Laraís character, and than Scottís gets up and gives this rationalÖ
FEARS: I thought that the actors drinking at the beginning were going to have some kind of impact, some way in it. It was prominent, her ordering the Martini. Was that something the actors brought to the characters or was it specified in the script? Scott Derrickson: It was specified in the script and we thought it was an interesting, realistic thing to have in there, but we didnít want to make too much of it. We didnítÖ we didnít want it to turnÖ into the staple of theÖ If she has personal demons, it was much more interesting the have them rooted in the fact that she had defended somebody who ended up killing somebody. FEARS: At what point in your discussion did you decide you were going to bring in the trial and spend so much of the film there? Paul Boardman: That as in the very originalÖ Scott Derrickson: That wasÖ the true storyÖ that was where the true story really was, just in and of itself, one of the things that made us want to do the movie. It involved possession, an exorcism, and a courtroom trial. Paul Boardman: That was the jumping off point. Scott Derrickson: Weíd never seen a courtroom horror film before. It was hybrid that seemed like it might go together quit well. It could come together in an interesting way and feel fresh, original. And because it was two known genres we thought we might actually be able to get it made. Itís so funny because I always tellÖ when I go to film schools and stuff to talk to cinema students, I always tell students, there are two reasons why your film wonít get made. One, the studios will say, ìOh, weíve seen it before.î And number two, they say, ìWeíve never seen that before.î Somehow you have to make it something they completely understand and have seen before, and yet something theyíve never seen before. Paul Boardman: Keep it fresh! FEARS: In working together to create the exorcism scenes, of course you are always going to have the original ìThe Exorcistî looming over your heads, you did all this research so what were you looking to bring into these scenes that audiences had not seen before. What were you adding to that in order to tell your story? Paul Boardman: As Scott was kind of saying before, we didnít want to out exorcist ìThe Exorcist,î first of all. That does loom over any story like this. We both really admire that film; we think itís a great film. And that has that whole section where they try to treat her by medical means and that is some of the most harrowing stuff in the movie. The exorcism scenes themselves in ìThe Exorcistî are a lot of what people remember, like the pea soup, the spinning head, and all that stuff. They were the state of the art special effects for that time. We didnít even want to do the same approach in a sense. We didnít say, ìWhatís the current state of the arts special effects now.î There have been a whole series a films since ìThe Exorcistî that have been heading more in that direction, with the bigger, more demon/devil is here to destroy the earth kind of thing. We wanted to take it back to a more personal, subjective experience of these people, the way they say they really go through exorcisms, which is very psychological, subjective and personal, and thatís always been interrupted, as is it a psychological problem or is it a spiritual problem. If you get into huge special effects and things youíre not really thinking about those same kinds of issues in the same way. FEARS: What you did in that barn was wonderful with the horse and stuff. You get that sense somethingÖ Paul Boardman: And itís still organic tooÖ FEARS: That has always been in the credo of the possession that the animals can see somethingÖ Paul Boardman: and itís all-organic to Emilyís world. Sheís on the farm, this is where she lives and these are the things that are familiar to her. They organically grow out of her life, but itís still her real experience. FEARS: Back when Val Luten made ìThe Cat People,î he complained about the fact that the studio made him put the panther in the film because people wanted to see the cat. They wanted the monsterÖ Scott Derrickson: The same thing happened to Jacques Tourneur in ìCurse of the Demonî where they made him build the papier-m‚chÈ monster to show at the end of the movie, which ruins it. FEARS: I wondered if there was anything like that you had to do in this film, like the scene in the window where there is a demon face. Scott Derrickson: Itís interesting, every place in the movie where there are these more extreme things, the faces etc, those are subjective experiences. Those are things the prosecution in the trial would not argue that she didnít see. She saw them, but she was hallucinating. She saw them because she was psychotic. She heard voices because she was psychotic. I think that the studio understood the movie that we were trying to make. In fact, after Jenniferís performance, when I decided that I wanted to get rid of a lot more of the extreme things that we had written, they didnít bat an eye. They were like, ìGreat!î I think they understood that the scariness of the movie could not depend upon those things. If we could pull off a scary movie without stuff like that it would be classier and could potentially be even scarier.
Scott Derrickson: They didnít even say that. I think they trusted that we understood how to make this movie work. Paul Boardman: And again, they had bought a script that wasnít load with that sort of thing anyway. I think we had written into the script and discussed the possibility of having a somewhat stronger intensity of special effects or going further with them in these subjective sequences. Again, the rule would be only in these sequences where it was her subjective point of view. We did that almost as insurance in our minds to wait and see whom we could get and see how we would have to go and how scary it will be without that. As Scott said, as soon as we saw Jennifer it allowed us to make the movie we would have wanted to make ideally from the beginning. And the studio, from the beginning, was behind letting us make the movie we wanted to make. FEARS: A lot of guys who begin by working in direct-to-video/low budget movies call it the ìlow budget ghetto.î What is it that got you guys out of that? Paul Boardman: Perseverance! Weíd actually been working on writing a screenplays for the major studios quite a while. I just think that if youíre talking about the ìHellraiser: Infernoî film that we did, that was just a great opportunity for us to earn our stripes just a little bit, but also just make a film for not much money, to make it under the radar, and get to do it the way we wanted to. This is just the first time weíve been able to make the film the way we wanted to at this level, the studio level, after building a certain momentum as writers. Thatís not an unusual path to do. FEARS: Do you know if someone like William Peter Blatty has seen the film? Scott Derrickson: I donít know if anyone other than Variety has seen the film. Iím a big fan and I hope he sees the film. FEARS: Whatís next? Scott Derrickson: We donít have anything set. Weíre doing a rewrite on a screenplay for Universal and then after that, you knowÖ FEARS: Whatís that? Scott Derrickson: Can we talk about that? Paul Boardman: We really donít know if we can talk about that yet. Scott Derrickson: We just signed the contract days ago. Paul Boardman: Itís sort of a supernatural thriller kind of thing. Weíre trying to do hybrids that are a little bit different. Itís an adventure thriller kind of thing with supernatural elements. Whether that will be the next thing we make or not we have no idea. LINK THIS ARTICLE             |
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