SAMUEL CLEMENS TALKS THE DROWNED
"Been staring me in the face my entire life"
Daniel John
Not every man staring at paintings ends up creating something from it but that is what happened with ‘The Drowned’?
The way that 'The Drowned' came about was out of necessity. I wanted to make a feature-film, and a window of time opened up when a previous project fell through. I decided to use that time to write and shoot something new. I had the kernel of an idea about a team of thieves pulling off a heist and the fallout that could follow. One of the film's actors, Dominic Vulliamy, mentioned that his family owned part of a house that was quite creepy by the coast. I thought this was fantastic, so I went with my team the next day to look at it. We took photos and videos and I essentially wrote the film specifically for that location. But I still did not know what the item they had stolen would be. I was mulling it over when I realized it should be a painting, or an antiquity. Then, a funny thing happened. I was at my parents' house and in my mum's bathroom, there's a mirror with a mural of the very painting that ended up in the film, 'Hylas and the Nymphs' by John William Waterhouse. I could not believe it, it had been staring me in the face my entire life. In that moment, I knew that was it. The mythological aspect of the painting's story also perfectly aligned with what I was already researching, and the story around Hylas, Heracles and Polyphemus became the backbone of the film.
Your dad was also in film. And both you and your brother followed suit. Was it a given for you that you would also belong to the world of storytelling?
It was very difficult not to be romanticized by this industry. Our father was a very successful writer and producer, and that world was just our normal life, as he was just our dad, who worked as a writer. Actors, directors, and producers were often at my parents dinner parties, and their stories were incredibly glamorous and exciting. I was particularly enthralled by the stuntmen, like our family friend Raymond Austin, who had these incredible tales of being stuck in a tank, on fire, not able to breathe, or being crushed by an anaconda. It felt like a career in film was possible because we were surrounded by such people who were incredibly successful in their fields and doing it. I was not particularly academic, and leaned more toward the arts. Ironically, I initially wanted to stay away from writing because my father did it so successfully. Instead, I decided to act because I loved films and I wanted to be a part of the storytelling directly. We had an unwitting education in film history, my dad would show us everything from the classics of the twenties and thirties to seventies cinema. And beyond. My school didn't push the arts as much as the other subjects, but I gravitated to drama and I started acting in school plays and I eventually got into the prestigious Drama Centre London. My brother, who is very different from me, a real tech–nerd who loves gaming, went to university to study film and fell into editing. Now we work together, he was a producer and the editor on 'The Drowned', and we do most of our film work together.
Did you get to visit any of the many iconic film sets that your father worked on?
Sadly, I didn't get to go to many sets, as most of my dad's successful series and films, 'The Avengers', 'The Professionals', 'The Persuaders', 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad', and the Hammer horrors, were made before I was born. The one set I did visit was for a reboot of 'The Professionals' called 'CI5: The New Professionals'. I went around with the location manager, which was eye-opening, and then visited the built set, met the actors, and saw them filming. It was incredibly thrilling and cemented my desire to be in this industry. The only other time was a wrap party for the series 'Bugs', for which my dad was a writer and a story-consultant. It felt very glamorous at the time, but apart from those instances, I never got to visit any more.
With some outsider prejudice, the stage of drama often appears highbrow and class-bound, not least in the UK. Did you ever experience any friction stepping into that world, working in London-theatre and also following in the footsteps of the man whose equally soaring and fun imagination gave us ‘Highlander 2’?
I must say I didn't experience any prejudice stepping into the industry. I am privileged, I went to a private school, and my drama school fees were at a standard university rate. However, my dad came from a working-class background, he was a boy who "done good." There were no airs and graces about him. His attitude of working hard for what you want was very inspiring. Seeing someone not only follow but achieve and succeed in their dreams, while also being a kind and loving father created an incredible tapestry to follow. I am sure I will always be stepping in his shadow, but I don't mind because he left incredible shoes to walk in and live by. That said, I strongly believe the industry needs more representation for working-class actors, producers, and crew. It comes down to access to drama schools, funding, and finance. We need Arts Council funding, grants, and bursaries. We need those who have found success to send the ladder back down and help the next generation get a foot on the rung.
What was different making this film from the things you had worked on before it?
Firstly, it was a feature film, which is completely different from a short-film. There are many more plates to spin and roles to understand. I learned that the film does not just finish when you make it and get it into festivals, this is really the beginning of its life. The world of sales, distribution, promotion, and marketing has been incredibly eye-opening. I am also lucky to direct audio drama and theater, and film is a combination of both. Theater is about blocking in a three-dimensional space and finding the logical intention of a scene. Audio drama is about telling the story through voice, sound design, and music. Film is everything. Together. The most difficult part is choosing your shots, as every frame is scrutinized, the angle, the color, the camera movement, all of it tells the audience about the characters' psychology and the story, it is a much more complex process both in shooting and in post-production, where you marry image and sound to create a specific mood.
‘The Drowned’ is placing us in an art heist that quickly becomes a tense game of trust. But it doesn’t stop there. I’d describe it as a slow burning, ‘The Shining’-esque ‘Knives Out’ with a ‘Sinners’ twist. Beyond the painting, what influence did you have for the different elements hijacking this story, whether in its undercurrents or in the less suggestive parts of it?
I was heavily influenced by films like 'The Shining', 'Evil Dead', 'Reservoir Dogs', 'Rififi', 'The Ring', and 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. I wanted to create something that starts in one genre and changes into another. Making it a straightforward, linear, horror felt like it could make it forgettable, so I decided to make it more lyrical, ambiguous, and poetic. I hope it leaves the audience with questions and a conversation to have afterward, perhaps even warranting a second viewing. I like giving characters problems they have to overcome. In this film, although it has a slow burn beginning, the pace racks up quickly because we keep piling on more problems. They never quite overcome them, which keeps the suspense and tension high and puts the audience in the position of wondering what they would do. Stanley Kubrick was a major influence in creating a tense atmosphere. He holds shots to allow the viewer to be drawn in and make up their own mind. I'm not comparing myself to him, but his approach inspired me to try and create a mood and imagery that stays with you.
Finally, my love for Greek mythology, which began when I studied Classical Civilization, being enthralled by Homer, Euripides and Sophocles, and watching films like 'Clash of the Titans', were a key influence. I felt these myths have not been done that well recently, and I thought a modern spin would be an interesting way to start my directing career.
Any more ideas in the works, paintings you’ve been observing, that might have sparked films you'll do next?
My next project is not inspired by a painting, but is an adaptation of one of my father's plays, entitled 'Strictly Murder'. I directed it on a number-one UK tour and I felt it deserved to be a film. I have spent the last few years adapting it into a screenplay now called 'On the Edge of Darkness'. We are scheduled to start shooting next year. It is a Hitchcockian-style thriller set in March 1939 on the eve of war. It's about an English couple living an idyllic life in Provence who discover they are each hiding a secret, the man might be a fugitive wanted for murder? And when Scotland Yard comes calling, all hell breaks loose.
