We Dont Live Here Anymore is about Jack Linden [Mark Ruffalo] and Hank Evans [Peter Krause] who are best friends and fellow English professors whose marriages are unraveling. Jack is having an affair with Hank's wife Edith [Naomi Watts], while Hank's roving eye has landed on Jack's wife Terry [Laura Dern].
John Curran is the director of this powerful and moving film. He gets brilliant and Oscar worthy performances out of all his actors. Previously Curran had been working in the Australian movie and advertising industries for more than a decade. So Curran knew Naomi Watts and her participation in the movie helped shore up the financing.
But Curran has brought more to this picture than rising movie stars. He brought a keen eye for nuance and character study which has resulted in a film which will be on critics top ten lists for the rest of the year.
Go to the official website for We Dont Live Here Anymore
Daniel Robert Epstein: Do the last two shots of the film signify anything?
John Curran: I used the sound of the train to reflect on the epiphany that Jack has on the river. A lot of people have asked about the train but its not that heavy. It just signifies a dangerous intersection that all the characters are at. For me the last shot is a time jump. Its green and then its snowing. Early on, Mark and I decided we didnt want him driving around town. We wanted something else like a horse riding off into the sunset. So he has the bicycle. I instantly had the idea that instead of him riding off into the sunset he rides back into the suburbs.
DRE: How is this film personal for you?
JC: Well Im married and I have a kid. Its not reflective of my life except that Ive had really bad times in my marriage and really good times as well. I try to balance my own personal pursuits with being a dad and a partner. It was the first script that really rung true with the difficulties of balancing everything.
DRE: Everyone seems fairly unhappy in this movie. Do you feel like the characters have been unhappy their whole lives?
JC: No, I think were jumping into four people in a crisis. I wasnt interested in the backstory and overstating how happy they once were. Hopefully there are touches of that but I kind of like how muscular the script was. We jump into a crisis and were waiting to see what the follow-up is going to be. The characters are one step beyond their comfort zone and thats what were watching, everyone trying to keep it together but little by little its falling apart.
DRE: The movie is very somber. But in one scene Peter Krause makes a joke and its almost shocking. Did you not want to put much levity into it?
JC: I feel like there is a lot of humor in the film. There is a lot of gallows humor. The reasons I cast these guys is because each one of them has an inherent sense of humor I can draw from at any time. I suppose it depends on your style of humor. In most of the better screenings people are laughing in uncomfortable spots because its familiar. I never intended to make a heavy somber film. I want to inject as much absurdity and humor into it as I could.
DRE: How did you go about getting the four main stars?
JC: Mark was first. I read the script then went to Sydney Australia and bumped into Jane Campion. She had just done a film with Mark [In the Cut with Meg Ryan]. To make a long story short she called and by the time I got back to America he had read it and seen my other film [Praise released in 1998]. He said he wanted to do it which started the momentum that made other actors want to get onboard. At the same time I was trying to convince Naomi to do it. Ive known her for years from Sydney. She was sort of on the fence because she was doing 21 Grams and exhausted. When I met Laura it was instantaneous. Peter was the last one cast and by the time we had settled on that it was only a few weeks before shooting so we didnt have a lot of rehearsal time. We just jumped into it.
Casting is so much of it. Beyond their talent I just got lucky with the fact that as a group of people we all got on really well. There wasnt an ego out of place. Everyone just jumped into it. I cant imagine what it would have been like if some people werent getting along.
DRE: Were you surprised that a script like this came from a writer like Larry Gross [screenwriter of 48 Hrs., Prozac Nation, Crime and Punishment in Suburbia]?
JC: I didnt know Larry but I know his work. Larry was always sheepish that he wrote this script in the 70s where it sat on his shelf. He considers it his best work but its 25 years old.
DRE: I dont think that Walter Hill would want to direct this film.
It didnt seem like the characters ever made love. It seemed more about getting rid of anger. How did you get that out of the actors?
JC: Its a summer where both relationships arent in the best of shape. It sort of relieved us from having to do erotic sex which is really hard to get across on film. All the sex scenes are about disconnect. They are having sex but there is no love or passion there.
DRE: Which of the four actors had the most questions?
JC: All of them want to know what youre thinking and all of them have a different process. Some do a lot of prep work and have many ideas. Mark is very intuitive. He just kind of reacts to the moment. Naomi because of her dialect is a little more prepped and Laura very much goes into a state which is amazing but we could still communicate. All of them enjoy getting to a place where they feel a little off balance and because we didnt have rehearsals I had to rely on their talent and craft to draw ideas from.
DRE: Is Hank the bad guy?
JC: Hopefully the movie is not judgmental towards any of the characters. I dont think its about black and white but gray. It can be good people dealing with dumb things; they know it and are trying to deal with it. I have great affection, pity and understanding for these characters.
We all think of ourselves as fairly good people then you make a few decisions and it can be over.
DRE: Did the two short stories that the screenplay is based on go farther into the future of these characters?
JC: The two short stories are We Dont Live Here Anymore and Adultery. We Dont Live Here Anymore is essentially the text of the film and Adultery picks up Ediths story a year after her affair with Jack. She is still with Hank but now shes having an affair with a dying priest. She reflects back on her affair. Then there is a third story that is about Hank 20 years in the future.
DRE: Did you refer to the stories a lot?
JC: You do for characterization and ideas. It was a valuable resource to have.
DRE: Hank seems to be intrinsically selfish.
JC: I think its more that hes blindsided since hes so self absorbed that he didnt see it coming. I think Jack, Edith and Terry sense something looming which Hank doesnt see. He thinks that hes got everything under control. Even though he is suffering anxiety about his work thats all he cares about anyway.
DRE: In the press notes Larry Gross mentions that he looked at Jean Renoirs Rules of the Game [released in 1939] as a model for the script. Did you look at any films for shooting this film?
JC: Larry is a real cinefile. He looks at everything and Im the opposite. Im an expert in the school of John Curran. I dont like to be on set and think about the way other directors would do something. I try to react to the piece itself and draw from the characters and scene. I try to keep all my instincts in the moment. But you cant help because Im sure there is stuff I ripped off unconsciously from other people. Once I got into this project I stopped reading scripts and tried not to look at films too much. Every idea you need is there in the text you just have to go deep. There is too much self reflective filmmaking in America. It makes everything look like everything else.
DRE: Did you look at this film like you were filming a theatre piece?
JC: That is basically what it was. Like I said there was no rehearsal, we got the camera, the actors and just shooting. I wanted it to have a visceral quality. It means we were blocking scenes really fast and just doing a lot of long master shots. I wanted to do that to make the actors feel free. Its a difficult way to shoot and stay consistent. If they are getting up and running into the corner then it has to match when they do it again.
DRE: This film seems to speak a lot about monogamy. Do you feel that monogamy isnt natural?
JC: I dont really have an opinion on that. Any relationship whether its infidelity, drinking or some other self destructive behavior, suffer something at some point. I dont believe you can condone adultery because any relationship is based on mutual trust. I dont know how two people can go off and have flings. Ive never seen it work. I dont think the film is about infidelity. I think its about marriage and the compromises you make trying to keep it together. Its also a study about the time after youve had kids, the passion is worn out and youre getting a bit older then the choices you make. I think monogamy is as natural as infidelity. There is a duality to it. If you didnt have that pull towards something outside your marriage you wouldnt value what you had as much.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
John Curran is the director of this powerful and moving film. He gets brilliant and Oscar worthy performances out of all his actors. Previously Curran had been working in the Australian movie and advertising industries for more than a decade. So Curran knew Naomi Watts and her participation in the movie helped shore up the financing.
But Curran has brought more to this picture than rising movie stars. He brought a keen eye for nuance and character study which has resulted in a film which will be on critics top ten lists for the rest of the year.
Go to the official website for We Dont Live Here Anymore
Daniel Robert Epstein: Do the last two shots of the film signify anything?
John Curran: I used the sound of the train to reflect on the epiphany that Jack has on the river. A lot of people have asked about the train but its not that heavy. It just signifies a dangerous intersection that all the characters are at. For me the last shot is a time jump. Its green and then its snowing. Early on, Mark and I decided we didnt want him driving around town. We wanted something else like a horse riding off into the sunset. So he has the bicycle. I instantly had the idea that instead of him riding off into the sunset he rides back into the suburbs.
DRE: How is this film personal for you?
JC: Well Im married and I have a kid. Its not reflective of my life except that Ive had really bad times in my marriage and really good times as well. I try to balance my own personal pursuits with being a dad and a partner. It was the first script that really rung true with the difficulties of balancing everything.
DRE: Everyone seems fairly unhappy in this movie. Do you feel like the characters have been unhappy their whole lives?
JC: No, I think were jumping into four people in a crisis. I wasnt interested in the backstory and overstating how happy they once were. Hopefully there are touches of that but I kind of like how muscular the script was. We jump into a crisis and were waiting to see what the follow-up is going to be. The characters are one step beyond their comfort zone and thats what were watching, everyone trying to keep it together but little by little its falling apart.
DRE: The movie is very somber. But in one scene Peter Krause makes a joke and its almost shocking. Did you not want to put much levity into it?
JC: I feel like there is a lot of humor in the film. There is a lot of gallows humor. The reasons I cast these guys is because each one of them has an inherent sense of humor I can draw from at any time. I suppose it depends on your style of humor. In most of the better screenings people are laughing in uncomfortable spots because its familiar. I never intended to make a heavy somber film. I want to inject as much absurdity and humor into it as I could.
DRE: How did you go about getting the four main stars?
JC: Mark was first. I read the script then went to Sydney Australia and bumped into Jane Campion. She had just done a film with Mark [In the Cut with Meg Ryan]. To make a long story short she called and by the time I got back to America he had read it and seen my other film [Praise released in 1998]. He said he wanted to do it which started the momentum that made other actors want to get onboard. At the same time I was trying to convince Naomi to do it. Ive known her for years from Sydney. She was sort of on the fence because she was doing 21 Grams and exhausted. When I met Laura it was instantaneous. Peter was the last one cast and by the time we had settled on that it was only a few weeks before shooting so we didnt have a lot of rehearsal time. We just jumped into it.
Casting is so much of it. Beyond their talent I just got lucky with the fact that as a group of people we all got on really well. There wasnt an ego out of place. Everyone just jumped into it. I cant imagine what it would have been like if some people werent getting along.
DRE: Were you surprised that a script like this came from a writer like Larry Gross [screenwriter of 48 Hrs., Prozac Nation, Crime and Punishment in Suburbia]?
JC: I didnt know Larry but I know his work. Larry was always sheepish that he wrote this script in the 70s where it sat on his shelf. He considers it his best work but its 25 years old.
DRE: I dont think that Walter Hill would want to direct this film.
It didnt seem like the characters ever made love. It seemed more about getting rid of anger. How did you get that out of the actors?
JC: Its a summer where both relationships arent in the best of shape. It sort of relieved us from having to do erotic sex which is really hard to get across on film. All the sex scenes are about disconnect. They are having sex but there is no love or passion there.
DRE: Which of the four actors had the most questions?
JC: All of them want to know what youre thinking and all of them have a different process. Some do a lot of prep work and have many ideas. Mark is very intuitive. He just kind of reacts to the moment. Naomi because of her dialect is a little more prepped and Laura very much goes into a state which is amazing but we could still communicate. All of them enjoy getting to a place where they feel a little off balance and because we didnt have rehearsals I had to rely on their talent and craft to draw ideas from.
DRE: Is Hank the bad guy?
JC: Hopefully the movie is not judgmental towards any of the characters. I dont think its about black and white but gray. It can be good people dealing with dumb things; they know it and are trying to deal with it. I have great affection, pity and understanding for these characters.
We all think of ourselves as fairly good people then you make a few decisions and it can be over.
DRE: Did the two short stories that the screenplay is based on go farther into the future of these characters?
JC: The two short stories are We Dont Live Here Anymore and Adultery. We Dont Live Here Anymore is essentially the text of the film and Adultery picks up Ediths story a year after her affair with Jack. She is still with Hank but now shes having an affair with a dying priest. She reflects back on her affair. Then there is a third story that is about Hank 20 years in the future.
DRE: Did you refer to the stories a lot?
JC: You do for characterization and ideas. It was a valuable resource to have.
DRE: Hank seems to be intrinsically selfish.
JC: I think its more that hes blindsided since hes so self absorbed that he didnt see it coming. I think Jack, Edith and Terry sense something looming which Hank doesnt see. He thinks that hes got everything under control. Even though he is suffering anxiety about his work thats all he cares about anyway.
DRE: In the press notes Larry Gross mentions that he looked at Jean Renoirs Rules of the Game [released in 1939] as a model for the script. Did you look at any films for shooting this film?
JC: Larry is a real cinefile. He looks at everything and Im the opposite. Im an expert in the school of John Curran. I dont like to be on set and think about the way other directors would do something. I try to react to the piece itself and draw from the characters and scene. I try to keep all my instincts in the moment. But you cant help because Im sure there is stuff I ripped off unconsciously from other people. Once I got into this project I stopped reading scripts and tried not to look at films too much. Every idea you need is there in the text you just have to go deep. There is too much self reflective filmmaking in America. It makes everything look like everything else.
DRE: Did you look at this film like you were filming a theatre piece?
JC: That is basically what it was. Like I said there was no rehearsal, we got the camera, the actors and just shooting. I wanted it to have a visceral quality. It means we were blocking scenes really fast and just doing a lot of long master shots. I wanted to do that to make the actors feel free. Its a difficult way to shoot and stay consistent. If they are getting up and running into the corner then it has to match when they do it again.
DRE: This film seems to speak a lot about monogamy. Do you feel that monogamy isnt natural?
JC: I dont really have an opinion on that. Any relationship whether its infidelity, drinking or some other self destructive behavior, suffer something at some point. I dont believe you can condone adultery because any relationship is based on mutual trust. I dont know how two people can go off and have flings. Ive never seen it work. I dont think the film is about infidelity. I think its about marriage and the compromises you make trying to keep it together. Its also a study about the time after youve had kids, the passion is worn out and youre getting a bit older then the choices you make. I think monogamy is as natural as infidelity. There is a duality to it. If you didnt have that pull towards something outside your marriage you wouldnt value what you had as much.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
missy:
We Dont Live Here Anymore is about Jack Linden [Mark Ruffalo] and Hank Evans [Peter Krause] who are best friends and fellow English professors whose marriages are unraveling. Jack is having an affair with Hank's wife Edith [Naomi Watts], while Hank's roving eye has landed on Jack's wife Terry [Laura...