Interview: Buried Director Rodrigo Cortes

One of the most unforgettable films of the year, Buried is released in UK cinemas on 29th September.

For only his second feature, Spanish director Rodrigo Cortes films Ryan Reynolds trapped in a coffin for 94 minutes and produces a movie that's not only heartstoppingly thrilling, but technically astounding. Comparisons with Alfred Hitchcock's ingenuity are more than warranted.

Reynolds takes on the brave role of Paul Conroy, a US contractor taken hostage in Iraq. The entire film takes place in the coffin he wakes up in, and the only actor you see onscreen is Reynolds. Making clever use of light sources and dazzling camera work, Cortes takes Chris Sparlings's screenplay and crafts something extraordinarily bold.

With Rodrigo in the US developing his next film Red Lights ("a paranormal thriller with a very scientific approach that explores how our brain is not a tool you can trust to perceive reality, because it basically lies"), we got him on the phone for a chat.

 

 

I know that Ryan was very keen to work with you after reading your film treatment, so can you tell us what that first meeting was like?

It was very fast and easy. I've met a lot of actors, and they always come with agents, and he came to read alone, just with a helmet on his elbow. He was like a knight! There was a communication beyond words from the very first moment, a strange connection. We both knew it was going to be a two-person dance, and in ten minutes we figured out that we could be very good dance partners. 40 minutes later we were shaking hands. I don't know exactly what happened, but it simply happened!

 

What was it about Ryan that made you want him for the part?

Ryan is simply the best. I saw him about three years ago in a film called The Nines, which about 16 people in the world have seen, because it had awful distribution. I discovered an actor able to be convey emotion with very small things, in a very truthful way. So he never acts, he sees - you cannot catch him lying. He has a perfect sense of timing, perfect. If you intend to make a film like this, with such few elements, you better have a high control of nuance. It has to do with pace and rhythm. This guy is like a musician as an actor, a Stradivarius. He can literally do whatever. He's a killing machine!

Is it true Ryan didn't rehearse?

Yes that's true. He didn't want to. At the beginning I felt uncomfortable - come on Ryan, don't be lazy! But he said he wasn't being lazy at all, it was a very serious thing. It was like, I don't want to be prepared. I want to discover things at the same time my character does. I don't want to get used to the box. I don't want to know what to do, I want to find it out. It really worked, and it was totally right.

Actually, we had to shoot very fast, extremely fast, because we didn't do this film in eight or five weeks, we did it in 17 days, 12 hours a day. That means instead of eight shots a day we had to shoot 30-35 shots a day. One day we did 52. That means it was a factory. From the second day we didn't even rehearse technical takes - simply shot them, and we adjusted from there. But there was a great communication from the very first moment, so we were on the same page. The better actor, the less work you need. You can be very specific.

What were the different sets like?

We had one sound stage, but we designed and built seven different coffins, in order to get the impossible shots we needed. For example, one of them had collapsable walls, so the camera could circle around the actor. One was long, so we could get perspective, one was reinforced so Ryan could push with all his strength - everything we needed. We shot with cranes, with handheld - we did everything that could happen in a high tension thriller, a giant city or a jungle.

Was Chris Sparling's script changed in any way?

The script was so brilliant, but it could've been done in very different ways. One of them shooting the surface - the other side of the line, and the other characters. The only rule I decided for myself was never leave the box. Rule number one. If you're trying to do something like this, inside a box for an hour and a half, you'd better have the perfect script. And he did a brilliant, amazing job. We only did a polish, but 90% of what you see was there on the first script I read. I simply added some things that optimised directing needs. It had to do with lighting - the moments where light should go out or come in. I wanted it so every time it was darkness it was total darkness. I didn't want anything in darkness that couldn't be followed by sound, because I didn't want to use "fake" darkness. I added a couple of gadgets that I needed to tell the story, like the flashlight that doesn't work well. They had to do more with directing, with finding ways to keep visual interest, and to have the right pace always.

We also added humour. [Chris] wasn't happy with that at the beginning. He said, I'm not sure this is going to work, because if people laugh they will be out of the story. I thought those laughs could focus real emotions - from his anger and his frustration. People will feel more commited with him. You cannot keep the rope tight the whole time, because you'll lose the effect of the emotion. This has to be more like a rollercoaster.

 

Were there any technical problems you had to overcome?

When you shoot in a box for an hour and a half, you only have technical problems! You cannot think of them. The first thing you have to do is not use common sense. If you use logic you are dead, because logic is going to tell you this is impossible, and you have to figure it out when it's too late. That's the only way you can do something like this. But it was extremely hard, even for the crew. Many members of the crew needed to leave the set often, in order to remember that they were alive, to take some fresh air. We sent Ryan back to LA with his back bleeding, with his skin totally destroyed because of the friction of the rough wood. He went through a catalogue of human emotions many people don't go through in their entire life. In 94 minutes - primal fear, panic, joy, surrender, hope, anger, acceptance, frustration. He went back totally destroyed.

The superb editing is crucial to how the film works - as editor, could you ever imagine giving your film to someone else to edit?

No, never. I always edit my work. For some reason, I don't see the real difference between directing and editing. They're just different steps of the same process. When I think of a film, I see the final result in my head, so I get the material I need to make the puzzle. Especially in a film like this - if you shoot in just 17 days, such a complex film, you'd better know exactly what you're doing and what you need. You don't have time to get everything from every possible angle, and leave the work for later. So I never thought of any other person to edit it. There are amazing editors out there, but I need to use my own hands to play with my material. It's like painting. You need to hold the brush, and even take advantage of the accidents that happen. It's very organic.

 
http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/film/interview-buried-director-rodrigo-cortes