Interview (Part 5): Aaron Guzikowski (“Prisoners”)
One of the best movies of 2013 was Prisoners, written by Aaron Guzikowski, directed by Denis Villeneuve, and starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to have an hour-long conversation with Aaron about his background as a writer, his work on Prisoners, his involvement in the new Sundance Channel TV series “The Red Road” and his thoughts on the craft of screenwriting.
Today in Part 5, Aaron shares his feelings about the critical and box office success of <em>Prisoners</em> and his new TV series “The Red Road”:
Scott: That dovetails into my next question. How did you come up with Holly Jones’ worldview, the justification for her actions?
Aaron: I would just think about it and try in one word, what could the logic possibly be for committing these sorts of crimes. However it came about, I’m not really sure. But it’s just this idea that God had betrayed you, because she was very devout. Her and her husband, they did all these things to preach the world of God, but they thought they were doing everything right.
Then their son dies of cancer and they feel betrayed and they feel betrayed by the world in a very significant way. Not that it’s really rational, but for a certain personality one could then say, “Well, if God’s betrayed me then I’m going to do something to hurt God,” which is to make children disappear and turn people into demons, essentially, and seeing everything in this very stark, obviously completely insane way, but there’s still sort of a strange logic to it.
Scott: Mazes play a big role thematically in the movie, and I’m curious about one short sequence that happens, whether you were conscious of this or not, when Loki, he’s driving, desperately weaving through traffic. He’s been wounded, he can barely see, and he’s going through all these cars. It occurred to me that he’s going through his own maze at this point. Was that a conscious choice on your part or was that just me picking up on something unintentional?
Aaron: No. I was never quite conscious of that piece, but obviously all the characters are trying to navigate their own internal mazes, or whatever it might be. The case is sort of maze‑like. But that particular piece, I don’t know if I ever thought of it that way, but I quite like that you saw it that way. That’s a great [laughs] thematic bit of business there.
Scott: The ending has intrigued film critics. In the script I read, it says, “Loki limps through the snow to the Trans Am, dread blossoming in his eyes. He hears the whistle again and picks up the pace. Almost there and then we’re out.” Do you remember when you landed on the ending and said, “That’s it?”
Aaron: It was fairly early on. It was actually before we sold it, and the ending never really changed after that though we did toy with the idea of doing extending ending that would kind of wrap things up a little bit more tidily, but, thankfully we didn’t have to do that so we could just leave it as is. But it was fairly early on.
I think it just felt like it was just a good way to go out. I just liked the idea. I like movies where certain things, even though you can infer what’s going to happen, are left slightly ambiguous. The movie ends and you’re still thinking about what happens next is always something I’ve enjoyed in movies.
Scott: And for me it was so perfect, because it was like the whistle was what started the whole thing.
Aaron: Right. Exactly, yes.
Scott: So it’s like a perfect bookend.
Aaron: Definitely.
Scott: The title Prisoners — did you come up with that title, and why does that work for you thematically?
Aaron: Yes, I did. It was called Prisoners. At the very, very beginning of it I called it, The Prisoners, and eventually it became Prisoners, but it was always some variation of that. Just the idea it obviously has the double meaning of it’s about this guy who takes this captive and holds him prisoner, and obviously people are kidnapped and they’re kept prisoner, but it’s also that these characters are prisoners of their own psyche, their own mental decision making.
Prisoners of their own greed, or whatever it might be. So there’s multiple meanings, and I think even the way Denis shot the film and Roger Deakins, the way certain things are framed and the geography of a lot of these rooms and the claustrophobic feeling of it all play into that idea.
Scott: So as of today, the movie’s grossed over 60 million at the box office and there’s some buzz in terms of some possible Academy consideration.
This is probably a dumb question, Aaron, but as you sit here now and knowing what you know about how, basically, making a movie is like a space shuttle launch ‑ a million things can go wrong ‑ what are you feeling now about the movie and the experience of having seen this thing go from that letter you sent to Adam Kolbrenner to today?
Aaron: It’s hard for me to describe. I just feel at the end of the day, it’s just an amazing thing. I think now least of all I’m just very proud of the finished product, which has always been the goal. It’s like what’s on the screen. I think at the end of the day, the only thing that lasts is the movie itself. It’s so nice that so many talented people were brought together to work on it to make it into what they made it.
I think that’s the part of it that I’m always feeling great about, but it’s just a surreal thing. It’s hard to really even think about it in any kind of a rational way, so I just keep working on other stuff and try not to think about it. It’s almost too much to think about [laughs] .
Scott: Moving onto another project, you are in post with the Sundance Channel series, “The Red Road” which is described this way: “Centers on a local cop struggle and to keep his family together while simultaneously policing two clashing communities ‑ the small town where he grew up and the neighboring mountains where a Native American tribe resides.” Can you talk about how that project came to be?
Aaron: Sure. The executive producer, Sarah Condon, had brought an article to my attention that was written about a tribe called the Ramapough Indians in New Jersey and they live in the Ramapough mountains, or thereabouts, and there’s all this controversy involving their origins.
They want to be federally recognized as an Indian tribe, but they’re unable to gain federal recognition. There’s all these folk tales in terms of the surrounding towns in terms of what goes on in the mountains, and it’s just a really interesting and very real place to set a dramatic thriller.
So I had all these other types of stories I wanted to tell, and I wanted to try television, so it was the perfect way to do that. It became this mix of “Breaking Bad” and “Twin Peaks,” I guess, in terms of two touchstone type things, but it’s very much like a set of thriller.
For a television show, it doesn’t really save a lot of story. We just kind of eat through it and just try to, in terms of the economy of storytelling, keep the thing moving as fast and furious as possible and try to make each episode satisfying as a feature film thriller might be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt9dUBKOLHM
Scott: How is that working in TV?
Aaron: It’s great. It’s very different as a writer to work in TV. Obviously, you have a lot more control over the various aspects of production, and casting, and editing, and the whole thing, which was a big reason why I wanted to do it. I wanted to get into directing sooner or later so I thought it’d be a good way to get my feet wet in that regard, and it’s been great.
Beyond that you just get the idea of being able to tell these stories over seasonal story arcs that can go on and on. You can do things that you don’t really have time to do in a feature film so it’s really gratifying. It’s a lot of fun.
Scott: Six episodes, is that right?
Aaron: Yes, six episodes. We got James Gray to direct the first episode, which was great, because I’ve always been a huge fan of his films. We finished shooting almost a month ago, and we’re in the midst of post‑production, and it should be airing in February.
Tomorrow in Part 6, Aaron offers some observations about the craft of screenwriting and breaking into the business.
For Part 1, go here.
Part 2, go here.
Part 3, go here.
Part 4, go here.
Aaron is repped by Verve and Madhouse Entertainment.
[Originally posted February 21, 2014]