Interview: Roberto Bentivegna (2012 Black List) — Part 2

Roberto Bentivegna’s original screenplay “The Eel” landed the writer on the 2012 Black List. Combining elements of noir and dark humor, the script offers an entertaining tale featuring compelling characters in the quirky subculture of a town on the border of Texas and Mexico.

Roberto was kind enough to agree to an interview and we had a wide-ranging hour-long conversation in which we covered a lot of territory related to screenwriting and movies. I will be posting the whole interview over the course of this week.

Today in Part 2, we dig into “The Eel” and how Roberto developed the story world and its characters.

Scott: There’s also another element in the mix. There’s quite a bit of humor in the script. Is that a reflection of also wanting to add that to the mix or more your natural instincts as a storyteller?

Roberto: I just find almost everything funny, especially desperation. I think actually that’s it. Desperation can be hilarious. It goes back to the days of Chaplin. I think generally if humor comes out of character you can get away with anything. I’m not as interested in coming up with a funny line or creating a funny situation just because I’m trying to grab laughs. But if it feels organic to the character and to the plight then I always feel like you should go for it.

Scott: I love movies that explore unique subcultures, and the locale in which your story takes place, Purgatory, Texas, is certainly that. A small town on the Mexican border right on the Rio Grande river. Indeed one of the earliest images of the town is a group of men betting on chickens in a game called “chicken shit bingo.” Is that real or something you made up?

Roberto: It’s actually a real thing. I was reading about different Texan traditions, and this one was definitely the most bizarre. I just thought it was a great scene, a great moment.

Scott: Yes, it’s obviously funny. But because it’s so early in the script, it really sets a tone, communicating to the reader they can expect some oddball sensibilities at work here. Also it introduces the issue of gambling which is one of the main character’s issues, so it services the plot, too, not just a gratuitous thing.

Roberto: Exactly. It does set the tone. That’s something that’s really important to me. I wanted to make sure that the script was a bit “off”. Not just to be weird, but I needed those moments of slightly bizarre, surreal things going on, whether it’s that, or the Mexican clowns, or the eel slithering out of the cooler. Those little specificities are a big thing.

Scott: The name of the town is Purgatory. That’s got to be intentional.

Roberto: Definitely. I’ve noticed some of these Texas towns- the names are so strange. There’s a place called Gun Barrel City. In Texas. If you wrote that in a script people would say “Well, that’s ridiculous. Why would you call it such an obvious name?” I thought, well that’s the Texas tradition to name towns in weird and obvious ways. I thought Purgatory would work. There’s also a place called Hell. But that’s in Michigan.

Scott: Yeah, my mom’s from Texas. She was raised in a little town called Rising Star.

Roberto: Rising Star? See?

Scott: You have four primary characters in the story. The protagonist is Fred Abernathy, a convict who’s managed to escape and made his way to this town. Where did that character come from in your imagination? How did he develop and what was so compelling about him that you thought, “This is a guy’s story I really want to tell”?

Roberto: I think the theme came to me first. The theme of really putting your past behind, running away from your shadow, and not really being able do so because it’s always there. The character came out of that idea. I love bad dudes who have a have a heart of, not necessarily gold, maybe more like aluminum. They have emotion in them, they feel, but they have a façade. There’s something else lurking beneath that. I thought this guy was a really good throwback to the ’70s, to the McQueen, the Eastwood thing.

I actually was thinking of adding a little beat when he beats the preacher up. I was thinking that Fred should kill the preacher and tell the little girl that he’s going to be OK. That to me, it just shows that he does have the potential to go crazy, but he obviously manages not to when he’s around her. It’s that fine line between the good guy and the bad guy. I always thought it was interesting to walk between it a little bit.

Scott: Just hearing that idea, Roberto, I think that’s a great idea, that he kills this guy but then tells her, “Oh, he’s going to be OK.” I think it’s terrific because the audience sees Fred’s violence, but not the girl.

Roberto: Yes, I think I’m going to go with that.

Scott: The other three characters that round out the quartet of main ones, Earl Grey, the local sheriff gone bad who’s desperate because of these gambling debts; Lorna, teenage niece of a local millionaire who Earl Grey wants to kidnap; and then Veronica, a waitress Fred meets. How did all these characters evolve in your process?

Roberto: For Veronica? I love going to diners. I think she just came out of my obsession at looking at waitresses in diners, and that melancholy they carry inside. They’re not all melancholic. But some of them do have that world-weary, weathered look. I was actually looking at…do you know the movie “After Hours”, the Scorsese movie? The Teri Garr role. In fact, I love that character. Then for the other characters you mentioned…

Scott: Earl Grey and Lorna.

Roberto: With Earl Grey you have a really awful human being who uses his authority and his arrogance to manipulate someone into doing something terrible. Usually the bad guy is not a cop or a sheriff. It’s the other way around if anything. I thought switching that up and having it be a mirror would be good. I also love his name. I love Earl Grey. I love drinking the tea, and I always thought it would be a great name for a character, especially in Texas because there are a few Earls down there. I thought it would be fun.

The little girl, I always loved movies with relationships between kids and adults, and what they can teach each other.

Scott: You were talking about how the script evolved and finding some emotion in the story during the writing process. My take on the relationship that Fred had with Veronica, then with Lorna is both of them were connected to his emotional development. Veronica starting out, then almost like handing the baton to Lorna, a progression.

Roberto: You’re right on. It is a progression, they’re growing. He’s communicating more than he probably has in the last five years. The little girl, I think, allowed that opportunity because she’s very mature. She’s very insightful. I think she sees something in him that he doesn’t even realize he possesses.

Scott: After the title page of the script you have a prologue page typed in all caps, “Sometimes you have to swim through the mud to get to the sea.” Then later on Fred is explaining about the tattoo that he has of an eel and why he’s known as the eel. He says about an eel, “It’s got oil in its skin that keeps it moist so it can wriggle its way through mud to reach open water.” I won’t give away the ending, but Fred certainly does his share of swimming through mud, both literal and figurative. Then this idea of purgatory. It’s like this story reflects a process Fred has to go through, like he’s got to go through the mud symbolically speaking to clear out the misdeeds of his past in order to come out on the other end. Does that seem like a fair assessment?

Roberto: It’s a cleansing process, almost like a baptism. It’s a redemption story. I’m Catholic, so inevitably I injected a lot of guilt into Fred’s mind and the idea that he has to repent of his sins. He’s given an opportunity. Ironically the sheriff is like the Judas character in a way. His betrayal really give Fred an opportunity that he wouldn’t otherwise have of doing good and of getting his next chapter in life. I think in the end if he had just gone to Mexico, he probably would have fallen into crime again. He probably would have been one of those American ex‑pats who do their dirty little gigs on the side at a local bar or something.

Whereas here I think he does actually have an arc of growth. I would hang out with Fred after the credits roll. I don’t think I would hang out with Fred at the very beginning of the movie. [laughs]

Scott: How long did it take you to write the script, and how many drafts did you write?

Roberto: It took me about six weeks. Then I developed it with my managers, and that took a few months. The development was really interesting because it was more about exploring different possibilities and opening up a few doors. It’s always nice to try things — as opposed to sticking to something and then wondering what would have been, could have been or whatever.

It was a fairly straightforward process. I outlined it very carefully. I wrote a treatment, a pretty long treatment.

Tomorrow in Part 3, Roberto discusses his working relationship with his agents and managers, and what it meant to make the 2012 Black List.

Please stop by comments to thank Roberto for taking the time for the interview and post any follow-up questions you may have.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

Roberto is repped by CAA and Madhouse Entertainment.

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