THE IMMIGRANT_DP_INTER.indd 1 17/05/13 16:45 MARION COTILLARD JOAQUIN PHOENIX JEREMY RENNER THE IMMIGRANT_DP_INTER.indd 2 17/05/13 16:45 WILD BUNCH and WORLDVIEW ENTERTAINMENT Present A KEEP YOUR HEAD/KINGSGATE FILMS Production MARION COTILLARD JOAQUIN PHOENIX JEREMY RENNER Directed By JAMES GRAY Screenplay JAMES GRAY & RICHARD MENELLO USA - FORMAT: SCOPE - SON: 5.1 - DUREE 1H57 - 2013 INTERNATIONAL SALES: INTERNATIONAL PR Phil SYMES : + 33 (0)6 09 65 58 08 Carole BARATON - [email protected] Ronaldo MOURAO : + 33 (0)6 09 56 54 48 Gary FARKAS - [email protected] [email protected] Vincent MARAVAL - [email protected] Silvia SIMONUTTI - [email protected] THE IMMIGRANT_DP_INTER.indd 3 17/05/13 16:45 Modernity in cinema is less about inventing something new - an idea which has obsessed Hollywood for the last few decades - than about returning to the past to build upon cinema’s foundations. The films of James Gray both in their thought and expression reinvent our conception of classicism. They are, therefore, entirely modern. Jean Douchet, film historian THE IMMIGRANT_DP_INTER.indd 4 17/05/13 16:45 Synopsis 1921. In search of a new start and the American dream, Ewa Cybulski and her sister sail to New York from their native Poland. When they reach Ellis Island, doctors discover that Magda is ill, and the two women are separated. Ewa is released onto the mean streets of Manhattan while her sister is quarantined. Alone, with nowhere to turn and desperate to reunite with Magda, Ewa quickly falls prey to Bruno, a charming but wicked man who takes her in and forces her into prostitution. The arrival of Orlando - a dashing stage magician who is also Bruno's cousin - restores her self-belief and hopes for a brighter future, but she has not reckoned with Bruno's jealousy. THE IMMIGRANT_DP_INTER.indd 5 17/05/13 16:45 THE IMMIGRANT_DP_INTER.indd 6 17/05/13 16:45 A NOTE ON THE IMMIGRANT THE Immigrant further explores James Gray’s obsession with social class, in particular the immigrant experience that relates to his Russian Jewish heritage. The idea for the story germinated in part from old family photographs taken by his grandfather, who came to Ellis Island in 1923. The element of personal history also arises from stories told to the director by one of his great-grandfathers, who ran a bar during that era. Gray’s first period feature boasts an exceptionally talented creative team, reuniting him with some of his key collaborators. Its richly textured visual palette comes from Darius Khondji ASC, AFC (TO Rome With Love, Amour, SE7EN). The cinematographer was significantly influenced by Gray’s references to paintings by George Bellows, celebrated for his realist portrayals of New York at the beginning of the 20th century, and Everett Shinn, who depicted the shady world of Manhattan’s variety theaters during the same era. Together with photographs by the Italian architect and designer Carlo Mollino and in particular Robert Bresson’s Diary of A Country Priest, they provided Khondji with a reference source for the lighting and texture that lends the film its religious aspect. Filming took place over 34 days on location in New York and at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens. The shooting schedule included two nights at historic Ellis Island, the symbol of the American immigrant experience. Historical authenticity was very important to Gray, so securing this real location was very important. Over 200 crew, 1,000 extras, cast and equipment were ferried back and forth across the island to recreate the arrival point for thousands of European immigrants in the first half of the century. THE IMMIGRANT_DP_INTER.indd 7 17/05/13 16:45 INTERVIEW WITH JAMES GRAY How personal is THE IMMIGRANT? This movie is very personal and has a lot of links to my own family, but it’s not autobiographical at all. Personal means issues and emotions that are close to you, that you can understand deeply and know how to express, as opposed to autobiographical, which refers to facts of your life. My grandparents came over from Russia or Ukraine depending on what era you’re talking about, from Ostropol, a town not too far from Kiev. My grandmother’s parents were murdered during a pogrom by White Army troops. And in 1923, my grandpa and grandma came to the United States by way of Ellis Island. Of course, I heard many stories about Ellis Island and I became somewhat obsessed with it. The first time I went, in 1988, was before they had restored the island: it was almost as if it was frozen in time. It was haunting, with half-filled immigration forms on the floor... To me it seemed that it was filled with ghosts, the ghosts of my whole family. So I had wanted to make a picture that sprang from that. At the same time, on my mother’s side, my great-grandfather ran Hurwitz’s, a restaurant on the Lower East Side, and knew all kinds of unsavory types. I started reading about that and discovered a character named Max Hochstim who was a local pimp. That’s how I put together the story of Bruno going to Ellis Island to recruit single women who weren’t allowed into the U.S, for his harem. This was an interesting story coupled with the kind of wrenching dislocation that my grandparents felt coming from Eastern Europe to the United States. The immigration process was filled with a lot of longing and angst, and of course a lot of trepidation. The big difference between your Russian Jewish family and Ewa - THE IMMIGRANT - is that she is a Polish catholic. Why did you make that change? I did that for many reasons. First of all, I wanted Ewa to be out of place, even in the Lower East Side, where everyone was a Jewish immigrant. I didn’t want her to fit in, not even in that way. And then there was the fact that the story is about the idea that no one is so low or awful as to be forgotten or hated. No matter how bad, I believe that everybody is worth examining. And that is a very Franciscan idea. I thought of Robert Bresson and Diary of A Country Priest, particularly for the confession scene. I wanted something austere and mythic. But the film was never meant only to be an homage to Bresson. It was also partly inspired by the traditions of opera and melodrama. Through outsized emotions and dramatic situations, there is a greater truth if you will. This is why the film is scored with Puccini, Gounod and Wagner. THE IMMIGRANT_DP_INTER.indd 8 17/05/13 16:45 This is also why - for the first time in your career - you built your story around a female protagonist? I had been very interested by an operetta by Puccini called Suor Angelica. It focuses on a woman who is a nun and it’s pure melodrama, an outsized dramatic situation that has the courage of its emotions. When done right, melodrama is the most beautiful thing because nothing is fake - the artist, when making the work, believed completely in the truth of the emotion. I saw this Puccini operetta in Los Angeles, it was directed by William Friedkin. I was in tears at the end. I really tried to push THE Immigrant in this direction. And having a female protagonist enabled me to explore grand emotions without the macho component that’s part of the male persona in Western culture. Ewa is both in control of her own destiny and a victim. She feels guilty about her own sins, perceived or real. She has a lot of strength. Did you write the part for Marion Cotillard? I did. I had not seen anything that she had been in but met her after Guillaume Canet befriended me. I went to dinner with him and Marion came along. I thought she had an amazing face, she reminded me of Renée Falconetti in Dreyer’s THE Passion of Joan of Arc. I thought: this woman doesn’t have to say anything. She’s so expressive she could be in a silent movie. Of course I ended up giving her a ton of dialogue! A young woman arriving at Ellis Island - the inspiration for Marion Cotillard's character, Ewa Cybulski. THE IMMIGRANT_DP_INTER.indd 9 17/05/13 16:45 But I wrote the movie for her because it’s about an immigrant and I thought she could convey a very non-verbal state of soul. I don’t think I would have made the movie without her. The big challenge obviously was her Polish, which turned out to be fantastic. One day, I asked the actress who plays her aunt what she thought of Marion’s Polish. She said it was excellent but she had a slight German accent. I confronted Marion and she said: "I know, my character is from Silesia, which is between Germany and Poland, I’m doing it on purpose." That’s how precise she is! It knocked me out. What about the enemy cousins, Joaquin Phoenix (Bruno) and Jeremy Renner (Orlando)? I also wrote the part of Bruno for Joaquin. Joaquin and I are very much in sync. He always understands what I’m trying to express. I also think he’s a great actor. He has the ability to convey such inner life in his characters, and the whole plan for the movie was that he would be elusive and mercurial as a manipulator... he’s a pretty horrendous person in the film.