Cinema Science

While I was trying to find out if I had spelled Jason Schwartzman's name correctly in the last post (I hadn't) I came across this interview with him from a fan site. I'm not sure if the Q & A is from somewhere else or just for the site but the some of it is posted below. To read the rest click here.

Q: You wrote “The Darjeeling Limited” with Wes Anderson and your cousin Roman Coppola. Where did the idea come from?

A: Years ago, Wes said to me, “I’d like to do a movie about brothers on a train,” and he wanted me to be one of the brothers. We ended up living together in Paris when he was promoting “The Life Aquatic” and I was filming “Marie Antoinette,” and the story crystallized. We’d walk around and tell each other stories about our lives, and we’d ask each other what these brothers were doing on the train and where they were going. It felt like a murder mystery that we were trying to figure out.

Q: What was the co-writing process like?

A: Wes was in Paris and I was in Los Angeles with Roman, and we would do these three-to five-hour conference calls every morning where we’d brainstorm ideas and concepts. Wes would type up scenes, and we’d read them over the phone, acting them out and making notes. After about three weeks of doing that, we’d fly to wherever Wes was and we’d all stay together for another three weeks, sitting in a room together and writing.

Q: Were there any challenges to shooting the film on location in India?

A: I wouldn’t call them challenges, but one of the great things about India is the feeling that anything can happen. I think it’s foolish to go into a foreign country with your cameras and expect to control it. I remember Wes saying that if we ask for a red car and tomorrow they show up with a blue truck, we’re going to shoot the blue truck. It was unpredictable, and that’s the beauty of the place.

Q: Did you feel the same spiritual presence that the characters in the movie did?

A: It would be difficult to walk around India and not feel moved or changed. Religion there is not just something that people do once a week. It’s a constant in every minute of their lives. I loved it because we were always hearing people singing religious songs, music playing out of speakers, yelling, horns honking - it’s an audio extravaganza.

Q: It was nice to see you as the cool, brooding ladies’ man instead of your usual nebbish. How much of the character Jack comes from your own personality?

A: Jack and I are different in that I have a tendency to try to make things comfortable if there’s an intense or quiet moment, and I like to ask a lot of questions. Jack is content to just sit there and observe. He’s very quiet and still. But I have two brothers myself and I understand how fortunate it is to have them and to love them, and how hard it can be sometimes. And obviously, the brooding ladies’ man thing comes so easy to me. [laughs]

Q: Why is Jack always barefoot?

A: In the short [test] film we shot, he wasn’t wearing shoes because he was in a hotel room, and we liked the look of him wearing a suit with no shoes. When we got to India, everyone was trying on shoes and Wes said, “How about no shoes for you?” I was nervous at first because I didn’t want to step on a piece of glass or something. Later I was talking to these Jains - it’s a religion over there - and the hard core Jains never wear shoes because they don’t want to step on any animals or bugs. It forces you to consider each step you take.