I know Fantastic Fest 2016 is officially history, but I wanted to share my incredible chat with director Ana Lily Amirpour (A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT) who was at the festival with her new film THE BAD BATCH. The Jason Momoa and Suki Waterhouse starrer- set in dystopian Texas where cannibals maintain the hierarchy- also features Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey in surprising roles. As I approached Amirpour's booth in the dimly lit Highball (the restaurant/lounge attached to the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar) I tripped over the step up and barely missed knocking all the drinks over. We both had a good laugh about it, and the director offered me a beer as consolation, thus beginning our visit. I hope you enjoy!
Ana Lily Amirpour: Here, have a beer!
Rebecca Elliott: Thank you! I guess that's what a good pratfall will get you.
ALA: Oh, I thought you were turning down my beer at first. I was like, damn!
RE: Ha! Not at all. Cheers! Thank you. So, I saw the movie last night. Congratulations on a such a good reception. Were you a fan of the cannibal genre?
ALA: Is there a cannibal genre? Do you mean like Cannibal Holocaust and those?
RE: Sure. Were you inspired by any of the 80's Italian cannibal films?
ALA: I would say no because I don't think that the thing- meaning the fantastical element- is really what the movie is about. To me when I'm making movies it's like another spice in my dish. Like GIRL WHO WALKS HOME ALONE really isn't a vampire movie. Not really.
RE: It's just the context for the story.
ALA: She's just a fucking lonely girl. Have you heard of KEEP THE RIVER ON YOUR RIGHT, the documentary about the cannibals in South America?
RE: No!
ALA: Oh...it's pretty intense. It's real! I watched that, I watched all the stuff I could find. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, KEEP THE RIVER ON YOUR RIGHT. Eli Roth made one called GREEN INFERNO, which I didn't...
RE: He was going for the homage to the Italian cannibal films and splatter.
ALA: Was it good? It was such a good concept.
RE: I liked it. I've seen many, many Italian splatter films from the 70's and 80's, so I totally got what Eli was going for, but a lot of people were turned off completely by the gratuitous gore.
ALA: I know. And the weird thing about those people is that, we're all right.
RE: Exactly. It's just an opinion.
ALA: We're all right. Fuck yeah.
RE: Was there a lot of pressure to recreate the same success you had with your last film, or did you feel free to tell a completely different kind of story?
ALA: I don't know. Like I think of it more as game playing. Like I've been doing since I was 9 years old- I'm playing a game. The princess is in the castle, the bad guy is here. We've gotta save her. You're the good guy, you're the bad guy, blah, blah, blah. And it's like more people want to play the game now. People are like, "Oh, that's the game. That's cool. We like that game." It kinda of starts to siphon down to people who can creatively collaborate with you and who are interested in you. So the game can get more- now we can do it like this and have explosions! My film making is extremely personal. It fucking takes a lot out of me. It's crazy making films that question the fabric of your existence. I mean, I'm looking forward to making a film about robbing a bank and blowing shit up or something. At some point.
RE: So you're open to exploring all kinds of genres.
ALA: Oh yeah. I know what I'm doing next. I'm currently writing it, and I'm going to do it next Fall. I would love to- like three movies down the line- do a James Bond film. Fucking reboot it, and make it right again. Like really right. I would fuck up James Bond- in a good way!
RE: Do you think there's a lack of that in film today? Throwing caution to the wind and veering from the formula?
ALA: I don't know. I think there are a lot of exciting things happening in film all the time. It depends where you're looking. I love it. I love how much potential energy there always is. And new things. You just never know. And even familiar things, things that you like. Sometimes you just want that comfort food. I love all of it. I love movies.
RE: So, would you do a rom com?
ALA: I love Nancy Meyers so much. My mom keeps asking me that! It's a weird thing. In the actual film making, I think like sex or something. I don't think I do it like I pictured I would do it. And I don't. And I'm pretty aware now of myself and what I need and when I'm really turned on. So instead of turned on, it's like- that's what we're doing then. I might not be in the most common...I'm a little bit of a pervert.
RE: You're a freak!
ALA: Yeah, I am.
RE: So if you did do a rom com it would have a twist.
ALA: It would. I think this (THE BAD BATCH) is a rom com. So, I don't know. I'm like, didn't I do that Mom? But, God I love the Nancy Meyers movies.
RE: You got some really amazing talent for THE BAD BATCH. How did the casting come about?
ALA: With the character of Arlen, I didn't know who I wanted. I saw a lot of actresses on tape. I just don't like the young, 20-something actresses right now. I feel like in the 90's I was really exited by actresses. Like Marisa Tomei, Uma Thurman, Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz- they all looked different and had really distinct personalities.
RE: Right, even with Neve Campbell, Selma Blair, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, that whole crop of actresses doing their thing in the 90's.
ALA: Yeah, even them. I mean, Jennifer Lawrence is fine, and there's a few others. But there's something happening with the young 20-somethings. I think it's like an Instagram... it's like they have a different culture of young femininity that I don't fully understand. Or maybe I understand it, but it just doesn't turn me on. I wanna find a girl who turns me on. She's gonna be Arlen. And that would be cool because then other people can put her in their movie. Momoa- that part was written for him.
RE: Really?
ALA: Miami Man wouldn't actually exist if it weren't for Momoa. I made that character because of him. Literally from the first. We had an all-hands meeting- this big meeting where everyone gets together to talk about "who do you want to play the part." And I'm like, "Miami Man, Jason Momoa." And someone said, "Ok, what if he says no?" And I was like, "He's not going to say no." And they said, "What if he does say no, or his schedule won't allow?" And I said,"I won't do the movie, literally. But he won't say no. It's his destiny to do the movie and I know it!" And it was.
RE: It's meant to be. It's happening.
ALA: Yeah! Jim came later on. I had written The Hermit, and he was very important. But it's a small part if you just quantify it based on screen time. But that's bullshit. It means nothing. It was so important for someone to have a soul in this crazy fucking chaotic world, and he got it and he loved it. His soul is in there. It's honest and soulful.
RE: So how did Keanu become attached? It's so terrific seeing him play this type of character.
ALA: Look, I've loved Keanu Reeves since I was like 10 years old. I told him when I first met him that I used to have his poster on my wall.
RE: Me too! I used to walk to the video store when I was a kid and look him up in the big film catalog index they had. I would rent every single movie he was in. He's always made really good choices with the films he's chosen to do, so it's exciting to see him continue to appear in movies like THE BAD BATCH. Was it a slam dunk or was it a challenge to get him on board?
ALA: Oh, he was The Dream, and I knew he was going to do it. He was the only one because it's a very tricky character. It's so loud and over the top, it could easily become sinister if someone was even remotely too cocky or too much into it. Keanu is good through and through on a cellular level, and he brought that into it. I can't tell you how many...you wouldn't believe how lovely and collaborative he is as an artist.
RE: That's what I've always heard.
ALA: He's so fucking dope!
RE: He's actually been to Fantastic Fest twice with MAN OF TAI CHI and JOHN WICK.
ALA: Yeah! He wanted to be here for this, but he's shooting.
RE: Damn! When he was here he just totally hung out with all the festival goers and fans all night.
ALA: He's fun too. For me- like I said, he's a good guy- so, it's fun to question that. Like, who should be The Dream? I wanted The Dream to have unarguable logic. It was like, who would be the one person who had that logic?
RE: Keanu?
ALA: Right!
RE: Were there any challenges shooting Suki's stuff with- SPOILER ALERT- a missing appendage?
ALA: It was a total pain in the ass. For her, for all of us.
RE: Would you have rewritten it as, I don't know, maybe just a hand or something?
ALA: I did for one second at the beginning consider getting an amputee. I did an interview and they asked me if she is really an amputee?
RE: Wow! It did look really good. I guess that's a testament to the way you chose to shoot it. It looked legit.
ALA: I mix. I don't like CG that's so overwhelming- which is most movies. It becomes chemical-y looking. I just don't like it. It doesn't turn me on. I just like movies from the 90's, anamorphic like DIE HARD...
RE: Practical. Like this really exists in time and space.
ALA: Yeah. I mixed. So we had to have a real nub, and we built it. And then her arm would be behind her, and then we took out her arm in post. Tony Gardner did the VFX. He did DARK MAN. He's a VFX magician.
RE: Well, I think they're telling us to wrap this up! Thank you so much for sitting down with me in the middle of all this madness. I really appreciate it!
ALA: Thank you.
