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Roadblocks to robbery >> Making John Boorman's The General was no easy task by MATTHEW HAYS
"When Fellini and I met in New York one year while both promoting films, we agreed that we'd waive our fee for making the actual film if we could get paid for granting interviews." The complaint seems a bit unusual when one considers the roadblocks Boorman faced while filming his latest, The General--roadblocks which would seem to make any interview pale in comparison. Since The General is about Martin Cahill, one of Ireland's most famous criminal masterminds, the cast and crew were worried about attacks from members of the Irish mafia. Investors, meanwhile, were intensely worried about Boorman's specifications for filming (including using black and white stock), making finding stable investment tricky, and lawsuits sprung up intermittently from rival Martin Cahill biopic projects. Towards the end of the shoot, Boorman was diagnosed (incorrectly) with heart disease, with the doctor advising him he might have to undergo bypass surgery. And Boorman was still mourning the death of his daughter, who had died of cancer a year earlier. Still, when Boorman embarked on the project several years earlier, he knew things might not pan out easily. He had already been through a couple of feature projects which had fallen through (the live-action version of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, which the studio pulled the plug on, and A Simple Plan, which was eventually handed to Sam Raimi). "Undoubtedly a strange time," Boorman admits. Boorman was fascinated by the Cahill figure, who died in '94, a man who'd actually robbed Boorman's house many years ago. Cahill is one of the most prolific burglars in Irish history, collecting over $60 million in under 20 years. When police would move against him, Cahill would break into the cop shop and rob the files in question. And Boorman knew who he wanted to play Cahill. "I've nothing against well-known stars, but I really didn't want one. I wanted Brendan Gleeson, who I knew for sure would be perfect for the role. I just can't imagine the movie without him." Boorman also cast Jon Voight as the police detective intent on bringing Cahill to justice. It was the first time Boorman and Voight had worked together since Deliverance. "I wouldn't initially have thought of him, but suddenly he was doing all these character roles. It was intimidating for him for sure, because all the other actors were indigenous. But he captured the accent perfectly." How does Boorman, who picked up the Best Director Award at Cannes last summer, respond to those who see his oeuvre as thematically unsteady and uneven, effectively undermining his title as an auteur? "I wrote, directed, produced and cast The General. And borrowed the money. If that's not auteur, I don't know what the standards are for it." The General opens Friday, March 5
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Legendary director John Boorman surprises me when he answers my question about his least favourite part of the filmmaking process: "This," he responds, matter of factly. The director behind such landmark films as Deliverance and Hope and Glory, sitting down to chat at the Toronto International Film Fest last September, doesn't hide his uneasiness about the interview process.