Filmmaker John Dahl first stabbed his way into our hearts with the film noir throwback Red Rock West. He solidified his position as one of our new auteurs with femme fatale thriller The Last Seduction. Since that film he has done horror Joy Ride, a poker flick Rounders and now the latest genre he has tackled is a war picture with The Great Raid.
Set in the Philippines in 1945, "The Great Raid" tells the true story of the 6th Ranger Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci who undertake a daring rescue mission against all odds. Traveling thirty miles behind enemy lines, the 6th Ranger Battalion aims to liberate over 500 American prisoners-of-war from the notorious Japanese POW camp resulting in the most audacious rescue ever.
Check out the official site for The Great Raid
Daniel Robert Epstein: Youve mentioned in the past about how youve met some film students that have probably never seen a black and white film. I was a film student about ten years ago. Lucky enough I had seen many black and white films. But we watched Red Rock West in our cinematography class actually.
John Dahl: Really? Wow!
DRE: Yeah, that was really cool.
JD: My cinematographer on that, Marc Reshovsky, is really good. A little slow, but very talented. Hes actually done a lot of music videos and commercials.
DRE: As one of the keepers of the film noir flame, whatd you think of Sin City?
JD: I didnt see it.
DRE: Oh, youve got to see it!
JD: Yeah, Ive heard its really good.
DRE: Its amazing.
JD: Unfortunately, I dont have much of an excuse but I do have four kids.
DRE: Thats a good enough excuse.
JD: Its hard to get to the theater as much as Id like to.
DRE: In the past youve also said you seem to do two similar films then move on.
JD: Yes Rounders was one of the things that I was attracted to because the main characters were like brothers. Then I did Joy Ride; I liked the fact that there was these two brothers as the main characters. Also I had met Steve Zahn when I was casting Rounders and I thought he was really interesting then I had heard that he was interested in Joy Ride. So it was a way for me to work with him and to try that similar relationship between these two people, but instead of being just good friends they were brothers.
DRE: I remember the trailer for Joy Ride, it starts out like a comedy, especially once you see Steve Zahn, and then everyone starts getting killed.
JD: Road movies a fun genre.
DRE: So did you generate The Great Raid?
JD: No Miramax came to me. They were the ones who wanted to make the film. So it was kind of unique in that respect.
DRE: Since you did Rounders with them and your father was in the Philippines during the war you didnt have to sell yourself to the Weinsteins.
JD: Right. Actually Harvey had met my Dad so maybe that had something to do with their decision. But I liked the script. There was kind of a competing project at the time because Ghost Soldiers [the book The Great Raid is partially based on] had actually been optioned. Universal had Ghost Soldiers and was developing that and I think Miramax was in kind of a footrace with them to get their movie made first.
Then ABC was going to make it as a miniseries and then the producer pointed out to Miramax, Doesnt Disney own Miramax and ABC? So why are you guys going to make a movie that competes with the feature film? Ultimately, Miramax optioned the whole project.
DRE: Usually when you ask a director how a film is personal for them, theyll come up with an abstract thing. But your father was pretty much there. What was it like learning this stuff not firsthand from him?
JD: I remember when I was 21; my Dad took me out for lunch and said, When I was 21, I was in a foxhole in the Philippines. I realized my father had seen a lot of ugly combat. My brother-in-law, who is a Vietnam veteran, realized that my father had been written up to receive a Bronze Star but never bothered to get it. So he wrote a letter to a congressman and they awarded him his Bronze Star. I always wondered why I never heard these things but over the course of the last 15 years or so, hes been starting to tell a few more stories about the war.
DRE: Did you ever think of doing a film directly based on your fathers experiences?
JD: Theres a great part of my Dads story. They used to have this buddy system in the army so if you were from Montana theyd find another guy from Montana and youd be in the service together. My Dad joined with these two other guys and they went through boot camp and everything and at the end of boot camp they realized my Dad needed eyeglasses. So they sent his two friends off to Europe and his friend was in the Battle of the Bulge for like one day and got captured and spent the rest of the war in a German camp. My Dad went through boot camp again and they put him into a unit with a bunch of guys from South Carolina and the one guy from Montana was a Native American. Some of the South Carolina men liked the Native American and some of them had like very derogatory names for the guy, but he was my Dads friend. They ended up in a foxhole one night in the Philippines and they were being bombed all around and my Dad woke up the next morning and his friend had been hit with a piece of shrapnel and died. In a strange way I was given this unique opportunity to tell the story about the Philippines and the war.
DRE: I remember that Roman Polanski was able to avoid the concentration camp then he makes The Pianist and denies up and down that its anything like his story. But it still is his story. Did you feel that kind of connection?
JD: Well growing up with a father that was a World War II veteran and being immersed in it made this seem like a great opportunity to explore an area and be given the license to expand upon it. I guess I felt privileged to be able to help tell these guys stories.
DRE: When I first saw you I expected you to be a much tougher looking guy. These films youve made over the years, were they your attempts to be tough?
JD: Probably. Im from Montana and I admire those kinds of guys. I like tough guy movies. But Im a wimpy guy that went to art school so how tough can I be? What kind of tough guy truly goes into filmmaking?
DRE: Just Michael Bay.
JD: Is he a tough guy?
DRE: Well, hes a frat guy.
JD: I never joined a frat.
DRE: Are there any tough guys left?
JD: New York is lousy with them.
DRE: Well crazy people are different than tough guys.
JD: No, theres a lot of tough guys in New York. Go to Brooklyn.
DRE: Connie Nielsen mentioned that are you a very soft spoken director. I was surprised that anyone that can direct Linda Fiorentino twice wasnt a hard bitten director.
JD: You have to get people to cooperate with you though. It takes a lot of cooperation to get a movie made so it requires a group effort. I dont think yelling and screaming at people really inspires much confidence.
DRE: Were you as confident directing your early films?
JD: The thing is even if youre scared to death you have to make it seem like you know what youre doing. Actors can be pretty tough. If they smell any sort of insecurity, youre dead. So you have to walk onto the set and at least look like you know what youre doing. Its very important.
DRE: Ive heard that you have to trick each actor into thinking theyre the star of their own movie.
JD: I never heard it put that way, but thats an excellent one. The important thing is to make everybody feel like its their idea. Whatever theyre doing, its their idea.
DRE: But then there are those actors that know that youre tricking them and then you have to think of a new way to trick them.
JD: Thats the main thing. The actor has to know what the part is and then feel as though theyre voice is being heard, theyre being respected and that theyre contributing their part of the process. Creative people dont really like to be told what to do. They like to come up with solutions to problems.
DRE: Your first four films definitely have a John Dahl style. Do you think The Great Raid still keeps that going?
JD: I hope so but I guess Im not really aware of what Im doing. I think it can be a danger to read your own press. I know what I like and I dont like so I try not to lose sight of that.
DRE: Was Unforgettable a film that kind of got out of your hands?
JD: Not really. That was sort of my science fiction doppelganger movie. I like mad scientist movies and I probably intended it to be funnier than it was. Ray Liotta is a very serious guy and whatever subtlety that was in the humor was lost on Ray. Which is ok, I cant really blame Ray, but I imagined it as funnier. Steve Zahn would be right for that movie, but I think that also someone like Nicolas Cage is great because hes got like a sense of humor about himself that I think comes across in film.
DRE: From what you learned on that film, how did you apply that to your next films?
JD: Casting. When I did Rounders, I knew Matt Damon was going to play the part of Mike McDermott but at that point there wasnt much film on him. I saw one scene from Good Will Hunting. Casting is important. I like the cast of Rounders, Joy Ride and now The Great Raid.
DRE: You directed episodes of Tilt because of [Rounders writers] DJ Levien and
Brian Koppelman], do you have TV series you want to do?
JD: Im actually working on one with FX but I dont know if it will ever happen. Its called El Centro and Im working on it with Donal Logue. El Centro is a town right next to the California/Mexico border. Donal grew up in El Centro and he plays a local sheriff in this border town right across from Mexicali. Its kind of a Southern California noir.
DRE: Are you going to be executive producer or co-creator?
JD: Both.
DRE: Have you shot a pilot yet?
JD: No were still writing the script. With television theyll develop tons of pilots, and then theyll shoot the pilots, so its kind of a long way off.
DRE: Do you see it as being really violent?
JD: Yes and thats the great thing about FX. Theres plenty of room for sex and violence. Some of the stuff they do on The Shield is shocking and Nip/Tuck thats a great show.
DRE: Thats a very upsetting show. I cant watch it. My wife was watching House, this new medical drama. They cut open under this guys eyelid and I almost threw up.
JD: Im like you. See, Im a real tough guy. A little blood and Im nauseous.
DRE: Yeah, I can watch your trucker in Joy Ride smash heads in all day, but I just cant handle someone cutting an eye.
JD: Do you remember All That Jazz where they have that open heart surgery? I almost passed out during that. I think women can tolerate that more than men.
DRE: Thats probably because a vagina looks like open heart surgery.
The Great Raid is coming out in August which is the month where they put stuff
JD: Stuff they dont know what to do with.
DRE: You must be aware of that.
JD: I think that Miramax has been kind of conflicted and not really known where to put this film. The movie certainly could be more exciting. I just couldnt see a way for me to sort of detach myself from the historical events. Its unusual in that I felt obligated to the history of the event.
DRE: Did you ever think about not putting the Connie Nielsen storyline in there?
JD: Yeah. At one point I even took out the whole Connie Nielsen story and looked at the movie that way. It didnt work because it wasnt really designed like that. It needed that part of the story. Otherwise you didnt have some of those beats that you needed in other parts. It was very complicated to do. I have a lot of respect for people that successfully make movies that have three different stories in it. It was really hard to do.
DRE: Was this originally going to be Miramaxs Oscar bait movie?
JD: I think the movie was designed to sort of be action movie because its 12 guys on a rescue mission. It probably doesnt fit into an Oscar film and it doesnt fit into an action film. So it ends up being this kind of weird hybrid and I think thats where its kind of a harder sell for them.
DRE: Do you think youll be working with the Weinsteins new company?
JD: I had a deal with them, but this movie took so long to make that my deals lapsed so I dont have to make one.
DRE: Would you want to?
JD: Sure, you never say never.
DRE: Do you know what movie youre doing next?
JD: No, Ive got this one script thats about a bank heist that goes wrong. These guys rob a bank and then end up in Mexico. Also Ive got a Vietnam movie Id like to make, but thats going to probably be a pretty tough sell. Im still developing that script.
DRE: What kind of stuff gets sent to you?
JD: I get a lot of Joy Ride type stuff.
DRE: Well you did one horror movie so now you have to do another one now.
JD: Exactly. If I found a good one Id do it but I just havent found one that I like. Actually Id love to do a comedy; I just think that people dont think of me as doing a comedy.
DRE: The Last Seduction is a big deal to SuicideGirls. Is that the film you maybe get approached about the most?
JD: More people talk to me now about Rounders because poker has become such a big deal.
DRE: What kind of reactions do you get from people about The Last Seduction?
JD: When we were making it I thought people would be really upset with the way that Lindas character was portrayed in the movie. Linda loved playing the part and didnt really care. I think we were both surprised at how well people responded to the movie and liked her character. I remember when I finished reading the script, I thought You know what; Id like to see the car driving away down Broadway, and just get broadsided by a garbage truck and have her die a miserable death.
I was surprised at how many women responded to her as a positive female role model. I thought women would be offended. In fact, I know this one producer who said, I just want to thank you for making a movie that the name Bridget cool.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Set in the Philippines in 1945, "The Great Raid" tells the true story of the 6th Ranger Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci who undertake a daring rescue mission against all odds. Traveling thirty miles behind enemy lines, the 6th Ranger Battalion aims to liberate over 500 American prisoners-of-war from the notorious Japanese POW camp resulting in the most audacious rescue ever.
Check out the official site for The Great Raid
Daniel Robert Epstein: Youve mentioned in the past about how youve met some film students that have probably never seen a black and white film. I was a film student about ten years ago. Lucky enough I had seen many black and white films. But we watched Red Rock West in our cinematography class actually.
John Dahl: Really? Wow!
DRE: Yeah, that was really cool.
JD: My cinematographer on that, Marc Reshovsky, is really good. A little slow, but very talented. Hes actually done a lot of music videos and commercials.
DRE: As one of the keepers of the film noir flame, whatd you think of Sin City?
JD: I didnt see it.
DRE: Oh, youve got to see it!
JD: Yeah, Ive heard its really good.
DRE: Its amazing.
JD: Unfortunately, I dont have much of an excuse but I do have four kids.
DRE: Thats a good enough excuse.
JD: Its hard to get to the theater as much as Id like to.
DRE: In the past youve also said you seem to do two similar films then move on.
JD: Yes Rounders was one of the things that I was attracted to because the main characters were like brothers. Then I did Joy Ride; I liked the fact that there was these two brothers as the main characters. Also I had met Steve Zahn when I was casting Rounders and I thought he was really interesting then I had heard that he was interested in Joy Ride. So it was a way for me to work with him and to try that similar relationship between these two people, but instead of being just good friends they were brothers.
DRE: I remember the trailer for Joy Ride, it starts out like a comedy, especially once you see Steve Zahn, and then everyone starts getting killed.
JD: Road movies a fun genre.
DRE: So did you generate The Great Raid?
JD: No Miramax came to me. They were the ones who wanted to make the film. So it was kind of unique in that respect.
DRE: Since you did Rounders with them and your father was in the Philippines during the war you didnt have to sell yourself to the Weinsteins.
JD: Right. Actually Harvey had met my Dad so maybe that had something to do with their decision. But I liked the script. There was kind of a competing project at the time because Ghost Soldiers [the book The Great Raid is partially based on] had actually been optioned. Universal had Ghost Soldiers and was developing that and I think Miramax was in kind of a footrace with them to get their movie made first.
Then ABC was going to make it as a miniseries and then the producer pointed out to Miramax, Doesnt Disney own Miramax and ABC? So why are you guys going to make a movie that competes with the feature film? Ultimately, Miramax optioned the whole project.
DRE: Usually when you ask a director how a film is personal for them, theyll come up with an abstract thing. But your father was pretty much there. What was it like learning this stuff not firsthand from him?
JD: I remember when I was 21; my Dad took me out for lunch and said, When I was 21, I was in a foxhole in the Philippines. I realized my father had seen a lot of ugly combat. My brother-in-law, who is a Vietnam veteran, realized that my father had been written up to receive a Bronze Star but never bothered to get it. So he wrote a letter to a congressman and they awarded him his Bronze Star. I always wondered why I never heard these things but over the course of the last 15 years or so, hes been starting to tell a few more stories about the war.
DRE: Did you ever think of doing a film directly based on your fathers experiences?
JD: Theres a great part of my Dads story. They used to have this buddy system in the army so if you were from Montana theyd find another guy from Montana and youd be in the service together. My Dad joined with these two other guys and they went through boot camp and everything and at the end of boot camp they realized my Dad needed eyeglasses. So they sent his two friends off to Europe and his friend was in the Battle of the Bulge for like one day and got captured and spent the rest of the war in a German camp. My Dad went through boot camp again and they put him into a unit with a bunch of guys from South Carolina and the one guy from Montana was a Native American. Some of the South Carolina men liked the Native American and some of them had like very derogatory names for the guy, but he was my Dads friend. They ended up in a foxhole one night in the Philippines and they were being bombed all around and my Dad woke up the next morning and his friend had been hit with a piece of shrapnel and died. In a strange way I was given this unique opportunity to tell the story about the Philippines and the war.
DRE: I remember that Roman Polanski was able to avoid the concentration camp then he makes The Pianist and denies up and down that its anything like his story. But it still is his story. Did you feel that kind of connection?
JD: Well growing up with a father that was a World War II veteran and being immersed in it made this seem like a great opportunity to explore an area and be given the license to expand upon it. I guess I felt privileged to be able to help tell these guys stories.
DRE: When I first saw you I expected you to be a much tougher looking guy. These films youve made over the years, were they your attempts to be tough?
JD: Probably. Im from Montana and I admire those kinds of guys. I like tough guy movies. But Im a wimpy guy that went to art school so how tough can I be? What kind of tough guy truly goes into filmmaking?
DRE: Just Michael Bay.
JD: Is he a tough guy?
DRE: Well, hes a frat guy.
JD: I never joined a frat.
DRE: Are there any tough guys left?
JD: New York is lousy with them.
DRE: Well crazy people are different than tough guys.
JD: No, theres a lot of tough guys in New York. Go to Brooklyn.
DRE: Connie Nielsen mentioned that are you a very soft spoken director. I was surprised that anyone that can direct Linda Fiorentino twice wasnt a hard bitten director.
JD: You have to get people to cooperate with you though. It takes a lot of cooperation to get a movie made so it requires a group effort. I dont think yelling and screaming at people really inspires much confidence.
DRE: Were you as confident directing your early films?
JD: The thing is even if youre scared to death you have to make it seem like you know what youre doing. Actors can be pretty tough. If they smell any sort of insecurity, youre dead. So you have to walk onto the set and at least look like you know what youre doing. Its very important.
DRE: Ive heard that you have to trick each actor into thinking theyre the star of their own movie.
JD: I never heard it put that way, but thats an excellent one. The important thing is to make everybody feel like its their idea. Whatever theyre doing, its their idea.
DRE: But then there are those actors that know that youre tricking them and then you have to think of a new way to trick them.
JD: Thats the main thing. The actor has to know what the part is and then feel as though theyre voice is being heard, theyre being respected and that theyre contributing their part of the process. Creative people dont really like to be told what to do. They like to come up with solutions to problems.
DRE: Your first four films definitely have a John Dahl style. Do you think The Great Raid still keeps that going?
JD: I hope so but I guess Im not really aware of what Im doing. I think it can be a danger to read your own press. I know what I like and I dont like so I try not to lose sight of that.
DRE: Was Unforgettable a film that kind of got out of your hands?
JD: Not really. That was sort of my science fiction doppelganger movie. I like mad scientist movies and I probably intended it to be funnier than it was. Ray Liotta is a very serious guy and whatever subtlety that was in the humor was lost on Ray. Which is ok, I cant really blame Ray, but I imagined it as funnier. Steve Zahn would be right for that movie, but I think that also someone like Nicolas Cage is great because hes got like a sense of humor about himself that I think comes across in film.
DRE: From what you learned on that film, how did you apply that to your next films?
JD: Casting. When I did Rounders, I knew Matt Damon was going to play the part of Mike McDermott but at that point there wasnt much film on him. I saw one scene from Good Will Hunting. Casting is important. I like the cast of Rounders, Joy Ride and now The Great Raid.
DRE: You directed episodes of Tilt because of [Rounders writers] DJ Levien and
Brian Koppelman], do you have TV series you want to do?
JD: Im actually working on one with FX but I dont know if it will ever happen. Its called El Centro and Im working on it with Donal Logue. El Centro is a town right next to the California/Mexico border. Donal grew up in El Centro and he plays a local sheriff in this border town right across from Mexicali. Its kind of a Southern California noir.
DRE: Are you going to be executive producer or co-creator?
JD: Both.
DRE: Have you shot a pilot yet?
JD: No were still writing the script. With television theyll develop tons of pilots, and then theyll shoot the pilots, so its kind of a long way off.
DRE: Do you see it as being really violent?
JD: Yes and thats the great thing about FX. Theres plenty of room for sex and violence. Some of the stuff they do on The Shield is shocking and Nip/Tuck thats a great show.
DRE: Thats a very upsetting show. I cant watch it. My wife was watching House, this new medical drama. They cut open under this guys eyelid and I almost threw up.
JD: Im like you. See, Im a real tough guy. A little blood and Im nauseous.
DRE: Yeah, I can watch your trucker in Joy Ride smash heads in all day, but I just cant handle someone cutting an eye.
JD: Do you remember All That Jazz where they have that open heart surgery? I almost passed out during that. I think women can tolerate that more than men.
DRE: Thats probably because a vagina looks like open heart surgery.
The Great Raid is coming out in August which is the month where they put stuff
JD: Stuff they dont know what to do with.
DRE: You must be aware of that.
JD: I think that Miramax has been kind of conflicted and not really known where to put this film. The movie certainly could be more exciting. I just couldnt see a way for me to sort of detach myself from the historical events. Its unusual in that I felt obligated to the history of the event.
DRE: Did you ever think about not putting the Connie Nielsen storyline in there?
JD: Yeah. At one point I even took out the whole Connie Nielsen story and looked at the movie that way. It didnt work because it wasnt really designed like that. It needed that part of the story. Otherwise you didnt have some of those beats that you needed in other parts. It was very complicated to do. I have a lot of respect for people that successfully make movies that have three different stories in it. It was really hard to do.
DRE: Was this originally going to be Miramaxs Oscar bait movie?
JD: I think the movie was designed to sort of be action movie because its 12 guys on a rescue mission. It probably doesnt fit into an Oscar film and it doesnt fit into an action film. So it ends up being this kind of weird hybrid and I think thats where its kind of a harder sell for them.
DRE: Do you think youll be working with the Weinsteins new company?
JD: I had a deal with them, but this movie took so long to make that my deals lapsed so I dont have to make one.
DRE: Would you want to?
JD: Sure, you never say never.
DRE: Do you know what movie youre doing next?
JD: No, Ive got this one script thats about a bank heist that goes wrong. These guys rob a bank and then end up in Mexico. Also Ive got a Vietnam movie Id like to make, but thats going to probably be a pretty tough sell. Im still developing that script.
DRE: What kind of stuff gets sent to you?
JD: I get a lot of Joy Ride type stuff.
DRE: Well you did one horror movie so now you have to do another one now.
JD: Exactly. If I found a good one Id do it but I just havent found one that I like. Actually Id love to do a comedy; I just think that people dont think of me as doing a comedy.
DRE: The Last Seduction is a big deal to SuicideGirls. Is that the film you maybe get approached about the most?
JD: More people talk to me now about Rounders because poker has become such a big deal.
DRE: What kind of reactions do you get from people about The Last Seduction?
JD: When we were making it I thought people would be really upset with the way that Lindas character was portrayed in the movie. Linda loved playing the part and didnt really care. I think we were both surprised at how well people responded to the movie and liked her character. I remember when I finished reading the script, I thought You know what; Id like to see the car driving away down Broadway, and just get broadsided by a garbage truck and have her die a miserable death.
I was surprised at how many women responded to her as a positive female role model. I thought women would be offended. In fact, I know this one producer who said, I just want to thank you for making a movie that the name Bridget cool.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
courtneyriot:
Filmmaker John Dahl first stabbed his way into our hearts with the film noir throwback Red Rock West. He solidified his position as one of our new auteurs with femme fatale thriller The Last Seduction. Since that film he has done horror Joy Ride, a poker flick Rounders and now the latest genre he...