Pontypool Bruce McDonald Interview
Hard Core Logo, Queer as Folk Director Discusses New Horror Movie
Feb 23, 2009
In Part #1 of this exclusive interview, Pontypool director Bruce McDonald discussed how he adapted Tony Burgess' novel Pontypool Changes Everything for the screen and how the limitations of the setting inspired his creativity.
Now in Part #2, McDonald talks about the inner workings of the movie, and his place in Canadian cinema.
S101: I’ve seen a lot of people putting Pontypool in the same category as films like 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead. How does Pontypool fit in with those films, and how does it not?
McDonald: “I’m still trying to figure out what to call it! (laughs) Because I loved 28 Days Later and I’ve loved . . . not all zombie movies, but I’ve loved a few that I’ve seen. We know that we’re not really a zombie movie and we’re not really competing on that visceral, action, head-popping level.”
You get the one puking blood scene...
“You get the one thing, that was our nod to the fans! (laughs) We did what we could! I don’t really know: it’s sort of a ghost story, it’s more sci-fi. We’re of that family, we’re inspired by that family tree of movies. I don’t want to mislead people that come to see a rip-roaring zombie movie and go, ‘What the f**k was that?’
“But that reaction’s okay too. Here’s a little something outside the box.”
What do you call the infected characters in the movie?
“As much as we love zombies, we don’t want to mislead people and we don’t wanna follow the logic or the rules of those films, so we called our infected people ‘conversationalists.’ Because their language was f****d up and because, in certain ways, they are quite expressive.
"So we told the people on the set, ‘Okay, you’re not zombies, you’re conversationalists.’ And we shot some scenes that aren’t in the movie of people outside the doors going crazy and stuff, which was pretty hilarious to see. But in the end, we decided to keep to our rules as much as possible and not go outside.”
To keep that claustrophobic atmosphere –
“Yeah.”
How does the disease work?
“Yeah, the rules are sort of there. They’re not as clear as they could be. Basically, you hear an infected word and you understand it – say, like ‘glass.’ Then that word gets lodged in your system and then you begin to repeat this word obsessively. (The character) Dr. Mendes explains that as it's possibly your immune system working overtime to try and save you from the virus by trying to destroy the meaning of that word. This is why you say it over and over.
"Often that doesn’t work and the next stage is you mix up your media: if you want to say ‘Let’s go for a coffee’ it might come out ‘Giraffe five eleven.’
"The third stage is kind of a desire to escape your condition by attacking somebody or chew your way through the mouth of another person. So it goes from repetition to mixing up your words to extreme violence. Or something like that! (laughs)”
What’s next for you?
“Don’t know exactly. I have a small company and I develop scripts with different writers and at any one time there might be 8 or 9 things going. If Pontypool does any business, that might allow us to finish the trilogy.
"There’s a project called Lucky Ho, which is from Vancouver, which is looking very good as a serious thing. It’s a womens’ prison, martial arts thing about a girl named Lucky Ho. She’s a Chinese, teenage girl . . .”
Prostitute?
“No, no. She’s a good girl, gets high grades, goes to Catholic school, but she gets thrown in prison. I can’t explain why, but it’s very funny. It’s a trashy, B-movie comic book movie. It’s a pretty smart script from this girl that I met named Rebecca Russell. She’s actually in Hard Core Logo: she had a band at the time called Lick the Pole. She’s quite a character: smart girl, super-vixen. Now we’re excited about building the ship.”
When people talk about Canadian movies, they’re usually talking Atom Egoyan, sometimes David Cronenberg, but there’s a very specific type of film. Do you feel a part of that, or do you feel you’re trying to buck the trend?
“I grew up loving Planet of the Apes and I consider myself a pretty meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. I’ve made some weird art films, I’ve made some rock n’ roll movies and stuff. I want to see the whole circle of things; you’re making films for an audience. A film like Pontypool or Lucky Ho is sort of bucking the trend: I was talking with some friends of mine and saying, ‘I don’t know anybody who would make a film like that in this country!’ (laughs) This kind of . . .”
Something like Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino would do...
“Yeah, yeah. I’m a big fan of Atom and friends with him and he’s always been a big supporter and he’s interested in what he’s interested in and I do what I do. Ideally, it would be nice to have an eclectic kind of thing: could do a Western, could do an action movie, could do like an Antonioni movie, could try ‘em all!
"I’m a pretty scattered guy and I enjoy weird European art films as well as much as Roger Corman movies. To me they’re both valuable and interesting. So yeah, I would like to buck the trend! (laughs)”
Pontypool opens March 6th.
 |
