DAVID NOEL BOURKE Goes Global: by Owen Keehnen

Ireland born writer/director David Noel Bourke dropped out of art college in Ireland, studied drama and acting in Australia, and relocated to Denmark with his wife where he is helping to transform the movie scene. It's an interesting journey. His two minimal budget independent films the dark thriller 'Last Exit' (2002) and his newest and much more ambitious feature 'No Right Turn' (2006) have both received some measure of international acclaim and interest and have helped open the door a bit wider on indepdendent Danish film. Fortunately for us Mr. Bourke was kind enough to discuss his films, filmmaking and screenwriting, and horror, as the movie business in Denmark in this exclusive Racks and Razors interview.


 

  Hello David, can you start the readers at Racks and Razors off with a visual and describe the room where you are answering the questions?

Sure, sitting at home, it's a small apartment, which is on the second floor, there is big window behind me, a couple movie props are thrown messily into one corner of the room, one prop is a silver disco ball used in my last movie, must put that somewhere safe, there is a slight chilly draft coming in from the window now, it's a cold December day outside, ok now I'm going to grab my scarf to keep warm!

Something I am very curious about is the independent film scene in Denmark. Is it thriving? A rarity? Can you give me any thoughts or insights as to the film pulse there?

When I came to Denmark in 1999, there was this big dogme movement thing going on, that was interesting but most of those dogme movies were made by directors who had the already made many big movies, and they used major actors and they still cost around 5 to 10 million to produce, which of course is a lot of money if you are trying to self finance a movie... so looking around there didn't seem to be any real grass roots indie or underground filmmaking scene as such - back then. Around this time, made my own indie movie, just to see if it could be done, and learned so much from making that movie ("Last Exit"), which wouldn't have happened if I just sat there and sulked about finding it difficult to get finance etc... To my pleasant surprise, it has been a little underground success and generated a lot of interest and even has been officially released in a couple countries where it sells very well - so I thought there is hope for us indie filmmakers in Denmark!

Over the years, gradually noticed there are more and more upcoming filmmakers who are now making their own small movies, that's fantastic to see and more of that is needed. The indie scene continues now to grow and grow, but its far from easy as regards funding - unfortunately there seems to be a kind of monopoly with the DFI (danish film institute), as regards who gets what funds, they have so much money tied up and don't want to release it, unless you agree to make something very safe and risk free - which kind of kills the purpose of film as an artform. That's why it's so great that indie and underground films are now been produced, some good, some bad - but there is experimentation going on and some of these movies are getting wide distribution because there is a niche audience for these types of movies and some distributors are smart enough to tap into that.

I want to hear about your latest feature, No Right Turn. Can you give us a synopsis or teaser that is going to make it irresistible to our readers?

"No Right Turn" , is in a way my first well produced independent movie (funded by private investors), to differentiate it from my first movie "Last Exit" , which was kind of an no-budget-underground piece. "No Right Turn" is an edge of your seat thriller, set in a surreal universe, think of "Fargo" meets "Napoleon Dynamite" (laughing), it's suspenseful, exciting, funny, dark, strange and unpredictable all at the same time and offers hopefully something fresh to viewers who enjoy well-produced quirky thrillers. Read more details, including some exclusive stills here: http://www.lastexitproductions.dk/NoRightTurn.html

As with your first film, the dark thriller "Last Exit" , you wrote the screenplay for "No Right Turn" as well. Is the motivation for your directing wanting to maintain the integrity of your words?

Not at all, it's just the ways things naturally progressed. It comes from writing scripts for many years, so have build up a database of stories and ideas, so with each movie I try to throw out as many ideas as possible, suppose being closest to those ideas, it makes sense to direct.

How did you move from writing to directing?

As mentioned, it just seemed like a natural step, especially when working from your own material, you know the script better than anyone else, the look, the tone, the mood, so it kinda makes sense.

With titles like that I've gotta ask...do you think we are indeed trapped in a directionless existential hell?

(Laughing) No, they are not really that heavy! Ok, my first movie, has some heavy stuff going on, the main character trapped in his own self created hell, but the movie is laced with black humour, you are not supposed to feel pity for him, you can just sit back and grin to yourself, and say jeese... glad I'm not up shits creek like this sorry loser! And even moreso in "No Right Turn" , the characters are larger than life, it was much more fun to play around with - the movie is not set in any specific time or place, the universe is a weird place from 1970s - 80s, so many opportunities for fun stuff.

In 'Last Exit' there are some immensely gruesome scenes -- eye gouging, nail torture, broken bottles, chainsaws, etc. Was there any specific gore effect that was harder to pull off than the others given your minimal budget?

Well it's not really an out and out gore fest, and it's not meant to be, although those scenes do occur. Was very lucky to work with Kristina Seefeld, who was our special effects guru, she done a wonderful job. All those scenes the gore looks very very real, that was important, not to look fake or campy. Making the false eyeball was probably the hardest, even I was surprised how real it looked, even though the movie doesn't hog the gore, when we do see something horrifying, it's exactly that - horrifying!

If a novice filmmaker came to you for advice before shooting their first feature what would be a couple things you would tell them to be sure and keep in mind?

General things I suppose, expect problems, expect some negativity but deal with things professionally. Always believe in yourself and your project and always surround yourself with great people. It won't be easy, but persevere, be positive and try to enjoy it. Remember to take the bullets as well as the compliments and like in any artform everyone will have an opinion on your movies, and it\rquote s only their opinion... that's what makes the world interesting.

What are you working on currently?

Currently on post production duties, working closely with a composer for 'No Right Turn's' score. This movie will have more score than songs. It's very exciting, the score is sounding amazing so far. On top of that, almost finished writing my next project, it's a combination of a couple ideas and stories I have written before, the script is less pulpy than my other stuff and more psychological of nature, it's gonna be real cool.

Do you recall the first movie to scare the shit out of you?

Vividly remember when the original 'Salem's Lot' (not the remake) was on TV, my parents allowed me to watch it, I was 6 years old, man, that left me in cold sweats especially when I went to bed, lucky I had the protection of my blankets - which was my shield against all those vampires scratching on my window!

What are some films that have heavily influenced your work?

So many films really, love mainstream films as well indie and underground movies. Basically love an interesting story especially something with a verve or edge. Movies from Lynch (Eraserhead, Wild at Heart), Scorsese (Mean Streets), Stone (Natural Born Killers) all to ways to even Spielberg (Jaws). Huge fondness for Asian cinema, Miike etc. Peckinpah (Straw dogs), Leone (The good, the bad, and the ugly), Coens (Blood simple), Raimi (Evil Dead), so many really, when you become a filmmaker you are in love with movies!

Okay, we're pulling the car into the David Noel Bourke Drive In. What three horror flicks are on the triple bill tonight and what goodies are they going to be serving up at the concession stand?

Well ok, to please splatter fans, would present Braindead, to please old school cult horror fans, it would be Dementia/Daughter of horror (1955), and to add European flavour I would show Andrzej Zulawski's Possession . Lots of beer and crisps for everyone! (laughing)

What scares you in real life?

Narrow minded people.

What makes you go psycho in real life?

Ha! I don't go psycho, live a quite normal life, spend most of my free time with my two kids and wife, so leave all the psychos and craziness for my scripts and movies - so they can't harm anyone (laughing).