Making Of - The Virgin Suicides - Making Of - Virgens Suicidas (1999) - Parte 02

l think it's important that a female writes the script because it's all about five girls.
Sofia has been more intrigued by the girls' story,
than perhaps the male narration, so she's going to bring out different colors.
Mmm, yummy, warm.
- Lux? - Hi.
- Look, it's just meat on bread. - Sick.
Thanks, Mom.
When the book came out, there were certain people who felt it was misogynistic.
l always felt my sympathy was with the girls in the book.
And l felt that Sofia understood that, and l was glad that she did it because of that.
Because she wrote the script, we can ask her about anything we need to.
She knows about each character, and how she wants everything to be.
lf you work with the person that wrote the script,
then you're working with the source of the whole thing.
There's a looseness with the script,
that writer-director's have,
that people who can't write, who just get the scripts from somebody else never have.
lt's almost like they've got a race car and they want you to get in it,
and run this race. They tell you where to go and how to drive it.
But if it breaks down, they don't know how to fix it.
They don't know what the mechanics of that vehicle are at all, that you're in.
You feel more secure when you're around somebody who's written the thing.
Well, the story is basically this...
She took a wonderful novel, that was an acclaimed novel,
that basically no one knew how to adapt.
When she read the book, it impressed her so much,
she said all she wanted to do was to get what the book had.
l asked her, ''Did you see this as a movie right away?''
And she said, ''Yeah, pretty much so.''
lt was just a beautiful book. lt was the first, um...
novel by a contemporary author that l really felt was a classic.
She fell in love with this book...
and asked me to help buy the rights so she could write the screenplay,
and l was unable to.
lt was an important book, a very well reviewed book.
and was owned by important studios.
She, on her own, sat down and wrote the screenplay.
l said to her, ''Sofia, don't break your heart.
''Don't write a script, because you can't do anything with it
''because you don't own the book.''
When in fact she finished the script,
and l got a pile of scripts all the time, and l read it,
and l said, ''This is one of the best scripts l've read in ten years.''
And oddly enough, she took that script...
and we found the people who owned the book, and they agreed.
You guys, for Jo and Hayden...
l've always thought of the family as a circus family,
with Francis out on the high wire, doing his act,
and the rest of us down below holding the ropes.
Now it's Sofia's turn, she's going out on the wire,
and the rest of us have gathered around her to be there for her and support her.
- How old are you? - 27.
- You got a good guider. - l got a good teacher.
lt's just great to have my dad as a mentor and producer...
because he's someone whose opinion l respect.
A project, like anything, has its own life.
And if you deny that life, then you'll have something that's not alive.
Yeah.
And the whole object of art is to find life.
lt was really touching to me to see Francis mentoring Sofia,
and her mature enough to accept it.
He doesn't really bother her, he's just being supportive and he's proud.
He's just here for a few days. He's not going to be here the whole time.
- l'm going goodbye. - Bye, Dad.
Thanks for helping out.
- Goodbye, congratulations. - Goodbye, Dad.
Good luck. Finish it. Bring home the bacon.
My big brother's coming tomorrow to do the second unit.
With my brother, we think so much alike.
He knows exactly what l like.
So, if they have to film stuff and l can't be there,
l know he'll do it exactly how l envisioned because he knows me so well.
That is so funny.
l want to see this. That's so funny.
That's great.
Our family has done a lot of things together,
so this was an opportunity for them to carry that into the professional world.
How wide is your frame going to be?
l think it's on the same track going back this way.
- So it's this whole area. - OK.
So, in this ballroom scene the balloons are falling and you're having the best time.
- We're having a great time. - This is the happiest we've ever seen you.
This has to be the high point of the whole movie.
Let's have everyone dance around, pick up the balloons and throw them around.
The stuff with the balloons coming down.
lt would be nice to end the scene with the balloons.
I'm having the best time.
- All right. - OK, thank you.
Robert Schwarz is my cousin, who plays Paul Baldino -
the, er, kinda smooth-talking, resident ltalian on the street.
l think that's why Sofia liked me.
l look like the character, and l act like the character, so...
l am the character!
At the basement party, he's...
talking up Kathleen Turner, because he knows just what to say,
because he emulates his dad.
- This punch is fantastic. - Can I give you more?
Ah, sure. What's in it?
Juices, some cherry, er, pineapple.
You know, I, er...
I love pineapple.
Really?
He's the man, he's son of Sammy the Shark.
My other cousin Chris Neil, was my partner and...
acting coach, he worked with all the actors.
Some of the kids had never acted before.
You know, he could take them aside, and work on things specifically.
Because there are a lot kids on the film.
They're all over the place, and not into it, so it comes out really robotic instead.
We came up with rehearsals and things to work on the characters.
lt's nice, because you know each other so well...
Lesley, who's in the movie, l've known since she was four.
You know, she's like, almost like a sister.
Lesley, l've known her since she was a little kid.
We made a horror movie. She's my friend's little sister.
l have her as the dough monster, covered in Bisquick.
Who cleaned her up?
- You threw her in the shower? - l don't remember. Who cleaned her up?
l think she started crying at one point.
Hey, dough boy. Now that I got Wheatos, want some Bisquick?
lt's like one big family, working together.
So l feel really comfortable working with everyone.
Our production has been very blessed...
We've had very few ongoing concerns -
financially or otherwise.
The one issue that we have encountered is the inclination to shoot more footage
than what we have allotted for any given day.
We have a maximum of 5,000 ft a day.
You've used it all up for the first 50% of your day, and there's virtually nothing left.
Half of our film for the day has been shot.
We haven't been indulgent, we've just gone through and gotten all our stuff.
She's doing it the right way, she's working off what the actors are doing.
So, one of the things we're contending with is this beast called film stock...
Wanting to get it and have it...
but shooting outside our means for the budget.
The two most challenging weeks, the day after tomorrow, are complete.
Can you believe it?
l think the hardest part for me, watching Sofia do her work,
was seeing her when she was completely exhausted and tired and had to keep going.
l'm so tired.
lt was really painful, for a mom, to watch her go through that...
really strenuous, rigorous work that you have to do to make a film.
l'm eating, Mom.
l still think of her as a kid, and l just...
want to take her home and tell her she can go to bed and rest.
But that's the nature of that work - you just have to keep pushing through.
You have to have your energy up for the crew and the actors.
There were moments when she was dead, dog-tired.
lt was very painful for me to see her have to keep going.
Call, 7270487.
The story is really a reflection of these boys when they're older...
looking back to when they had this infatuation
and this obsession with these ideal girls.
These girls were kind of these magical, beautiful creatures.
There's always moments in life that are magical and perfect, but they never last.
Then you go on, but they've always left something with you.
Good, that's a wrap. Thank you very much.
Thanks for helping get everything l wanted.