Another Wrecked Encounter
"Surround yourself with creative people,"
were actor Adrien Brody's words of advice to a group of young film
students, who attended the Wrecked crew's Q&A session at the Abu
Dhabi Theater. Brody recalled his childhood growing up in a
world-class neighborhood, and the difficulties of realizing one's
ambitions as an aspiring actor in such an environment. Were it not
for his mother and her creativity (Sylvia Plachy, sitting among the
audience, is a renowned photographer) which fuelled his own, it
would have been difficult for him to reach such a degree of
success.
Director Michael Greenspan continued, "Tell
yourself that you will make it, that you're going to tell your
story; that you're going to make your film, in your own way."
Greenspan and screenwriter Christopher Dodd discussed at length the
difficulties of bringing to life a screenplay that seemed doomed
from the start: the script revolved around one character, trapped
in a wrecked car, with no recollection of how he wound up there, or
why. As challenging as that was, it was even harder to obtain
funding and generate enough interest to get the project off the
ground. "Things that fall outside the box are scary, but once
Adrien's name was attached to the project, it made it that much
easier to get it up and running."
The main source of inspiration behind Wrecked is Reservoir Dogs. The idea that a film can
revolve entirely around four characters, appealed to Dodd.
"Adrien's character is damaged," Dodd noted, "and the movie is
based on him trying to reassemble himself, to put together the
pieces of his shattered psyche."
Greenspan provided insight regarding the
choice of the vehicle in which Brody wakes at the start of the
film: "I have an affinity for the look of vehicles in certain films
of the 70's and 80's, and I wanted to pay tribute to these old
films. The car we chose, after prolonged and extensive searches,
had to give off that old vibe. Hence the red leather interior, and
the specific look of the dashboard. It also had to appear as if
Adrian was trapped in a coffin."
A member of the audience remarked that
several of Brody's past projects involved him being trapped in some
way, and being confined to extreme situations (The Jacket, The Pianist, Predators). Asked about
how he prepared for his part in Wrecked, Brody spoke
about discipline, and his tendency to embrace the challenges
offered by difficult roles. He spent several days on Vancouver
Island, alone in the cold, with no light, in order to be mentally
and physically prepared for the demands of this particular
character. "Being this vulnerable allows for a greater
understanding of oneself," he added.
Ziad Nawfal