From The Vault: Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer

Shadow play

• Stephen Applebaum
• The Australian
• June 12, 2010 12:00AM

WHEN Robert Harris's cracking political thriller The Ghost was published in 2007, nobody doubted that the author's former friend, Tony Blair, was the model for Adam Lang: a former British prime minister who embarked on an illegal war in the Middle East and who faces extradition to The Hague, if he leaves the US, for his complicity in the capture and torture of alleged terrorists. The book wasn't a roman-a-clef exactly but pretty damned close to one.

Three tumultuous years later comes a gripping new film of the novel that, Harris says, seems "more like a documentary than a fantasy".

The Ghost Writer -- co-scripted by Harris and director Roman Polanski -- stars Ewan McGregor as the unnamed ghostwriter hired to rescue Lang's memoir after the mysterious death of the original author. Pierce Brosnan also stars as the beleaguered Lang.

Harris -- whose other books include a speculative novel about Nazi Germany, Fatherland -- had started thinking about The Ghost in the early 1990s, but at the time could not make it work. Then, in 2006, he heard about an attempt to bring a private prosecution against Blair for war crimes and the pieces fell into place.

By this point the writer had lost patience with Blair and New Labour. He had been dismayed by Blair's ruthless treatment of his close friend, former government minister Peter Mandelson -- "No one had been more loyal to Tony than Peter, no one was more casually tossed aside," Harris says -- and angered by Blair's decision to follow the US into Iraq.

Blair was no longer the same man the author had shadowed during the 1997 election as a political reporter for The Sunday Times. Harris liked him back then. "He was very normal," he recalls. "He had young children, he took them to school, he had a working wife, he was a sort of aspirational bloke -- clever but not super rich -- and he was recognisably human." The figure who appeared, in January, before the inquiry into Britain's involvement in Iraq was "was like some creature that had been parachuted in from some neo-con planet orbiting Earth, refusing to apologise or express regret [over the loss of life in Iraq], and talking now about the necessity to take on Iran. I thought he looked and sounded not quite human any more, and I think that's the tragedy of power."

In The Ghost, Lang's former foreign minister blames him personally for taking the country to war. Harris, likewise, holds Blair responsible for Britain's involvement in Iraq and all the problems that have flowed from it. Andrew Rawnsley's book The End of the Party "makes it perfectly clear", he says, "that on several occasions George Bush said to Blair, 'You guys don't need to come in on this', and Blair said, 'I was with you at the beginning, I'm with you all the way along.' It doesn't seem to me that we got one scrap of extra kudos in the US or around the world, rather the contrary. Years have been wasted of a Labour government that could have been doing the things it was elected to do, all because of one man."

Harris's fury over the "abdication of British foreign policy to American interests" is, to a large extent, arguably, what powers The Ghost.

"I feel that, more than any single thing, is what appals me looking back," he spits. "You had what was pretty well an aberration of an American administration, and a British Labour government completely lying on its back to this regime strikes me as utterly amazing."

Why this happened is still somewhat hazy, so Harris comes up with his own satirical explanation, involving the CIA. It is meant to be humorous but, Harris says, laughing, "it makes more sense than what actually happened, to be perfectly honest".

It's not just Blair who looms over the film version of The Ghost, however. Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in September last year on 32-year-old sexual assault charges. He is confined to a house in Gstaad while awaiting possible extradition to the US for sentencing. In what must be a film industry first, Polanski completed The Ghost Writer in jail, where he received DVDs from a cutting room in Paris through his lawyers.

"At the end the governor allowed the film editor to come in and work in the prison," Harris says. "Roman had to go to his cell at 4.30 every afternoon, but the Swiss were good about letting him finish the work."

For Polanski, the predicament is just the latest test in an epic life that has encompassed the Holocaust and the brutal murder of his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, by followers of Charles Manson.

"He always says, 'Worse things have happened to me, as you know,' " says Harris. "He's just a survivor."

Returning to British politics, and speaking before the May election that produced a coalition government, Harris expresses his disillusionment. "They [Britain's governing politicians] are going to be controlled by the White House who in turn are being controlled by something beyond it, and power is just Russian dolls," he says.

Alarmingly, and based on his knowledge of history, he says he believes Britain is in a "pre-revolutionary period". "We're developing a highly educated middle class that's going to be deeply frustrated, unable to get hold of the material benefits that it believes it deserves, and once those people start to lose faith in the system. . ." He pauses suddenly. What does he mean?

"I think the democratic process is broken, it goes far beyond the expenses scandal," he says. "I feel that an era is starting to come to an end and something else is going to come along, simply because the ordinary person has lost control."

Published in The Australian, June 12, 2010

From The Vault: Cannes Returnee Mike Leigh On The "Inescapable" Jewish Spirit In His Work

Mike Leigh may be a staunch anti-Zionist but much of his work is ‘inescapably Jewish’, he claims 

By Stephen Applebaum, November 4, 2010

So much dust was kicked up by Mike Leigh's recent decision to cancel a cultural visit to Jerusalem and the West Bank that it almost obscured the fact that the outspoken veteran of stage and cinema has a new film out this week - and arguably one of his best, at that.

Another Year is like the hangover from Leigh's uncharacteristically upbeat 2008 comedy, Happy-Go-Lucky. Where that film was filled with a youthful joie de vivre, thanks to its positivist singleton protagonist, Poppy (Sally Hawkins), the new film taps a gloomier vein of middle-age angst. Leigh himself regards Another Year as no less "life-affirming", though he admits that "it does deal, in a more obvious way, with what we may call deeper and darker things".

Set over the course of a year, the film follows a group of family and friends revolving around a happily married, late middle-aged couple, Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen). While their lives seem sorted, some of the people in their orbit, in particular Gerri's desperately lonely fifty-something work colleague, Mary (Lesley Manville), are barely coping.

As usual, Leigh, who grew up the son of a doctor in what he calls the "north Manchester Jewish scene" in the '50s, serves up tears and laughter in Another Year - a characteristic of his work which he describes as "inescapably Jewish".

There's always two sides to a thing — in that sense there's a Jewish spirit in my work

"Inescapable" is an interesting choice of word, since Leigh long ago turned his back on Jewish life, in between returning from a trip to Israel with the Zionist youth group Habonim as a teenager, and enrolling at RADA to study acting.

And he is keen to make something clear about that period of his life. While he was in Habonim, "I was never a kibbutznik or anything," he says. "I was just a kid, you know? I went on their very nice, wonderful Israel camp, supported by the Jewish agency, and the idea was to make us go and be kibbutzniks. Indeed some people did, and I still know people at a couple of kibbutzim, that go back all that way. But I walked away from the whole thing because I was sceptical, and have become more so really."

Yet he believes his funny-sad aesthetic proves that the ties to his Jewish roots still bind. "It's not something I do consciously or I think about," he says, "but it is nevertheless a fact. The films are comic and tragic, there's always two sides to a thing, and all of that - in that sense there's a Jewish spirit in my work."

This, perhaps, explains why he makes "films - and sometimes does plays - which are never concerned with general political statements or simplistic analyses or propagandist conclusions. That's not what I'm concerned with," he says. "I'm concerned with humanity and compassion and life as we live it, and all that sort of thing."

His works observe life, and the human condition, from different angles, without telling the viewer what to think. For instance, Tom and Gerri's relationship with Mary raises a number of questions about the limits of friendship, without actually answering any of them. Are the couple helping her or unwittingly preventing her from moving on with her life? Another Year does not tell us, because Leigh probably does not know himself.

Famous for building his films through a protracted process of improvisation with his actors, who only know what their own character knows, the director says: "I embark on a journey, always, and Another Year is no exception, and that journey is a journey of discovery as to what the film is."

In the way that they are made, and the way that they play out on screen, Leigh believes his films embrace the "spirit of Talmudic study". "I'm inviting you, my audience, to sit round the table and for us to say: 'Maybe it's this. Maybe it's that. We don't know'. Which is a Talmudic investigation that doesn't arrive at any conclusions, basically."

Indeed, the central subject of Another Year is ageing and what comes with it; how life, says the 67-year-old director, "becomes at the same time clearer and more complicated. The film is about how we come to terms with life, really, and face ourselves and each other." Leigh offers no answers, of course, and he is uncomfortable with the suggestion that the film focuses on the pursuit of happiness and how, as we get older, we are forced to look for it inside ourselves.

"That may be true and it may not," he grins. "I don't know about it because we are all products of our background and victims of stuff that has happened to us. Yet there's talk in the film that you have to take responsibility. Mary is a victim of bad things - relationships, abuse, etc - but on the other hand, you can plainly say she's only got herself to blame. Then again, if she's an alcoholic, why does she need that? Also, you can see she's a woman that's spent a lifetime saddled with the received notion of being sexy, of being feminine. That comes from what's been fed to her. You see her hanging on to that, but it's desperate."

This understanding of the intimate relationship between past and present, and the need to look at the complete picture, is there, too, when Leigh talks about Israel - and may have had some bearing on his recent decision to cancel his visit. He does not dispute the connection between the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel, but says that he and his "old haverim from way back" often "ruminate about how we never knew Palestinians were evicted from the properties and everything that goes with that. It was denied to us," he claims.

"We were never, ever, really focussed on the fact that they actually were people with roots and a place and they weren't just generic Arabs. You still hear that now: 'It's their fault'. And the fact is now you've actually bred generations of resentful Palestinians. In the end people may say it's an insoluble situation. Well, that's a tragedy."

Leigh had his artistic say on the subject in 2005, in the play Two Thousand Years. He is now about to return to the theatre with a revival of his 1979 play, Ecstasy, at the Hampstead Theatre. He will also put on a new play at the National Theatre. As usual, the project is draped in secrecy. "I can't say anything about it," he smiles, "except that it's extremely unlikely it will be a further investigation into matters of a Zionist nature."

Mike Leigh returns to Cannes next month with Mr Turner

First published in The Jewish Chronicle, November 4, 2010

Cannes Film Festival Coverage: Writer For Hire

I am available for online/print coverage during the Cannes Film Festival. My dates in Cannes are May12-24th. Please drop me a line if interested.

New Cannes Poster

The poster for the 67th Cannes Film Festival has been revealed, and it is a classic

Says the festival:  Hervé Chigioni and his graphic designer Gilles Frappier have based the poster design for the 67th Festival de Cannes on a photogram taken from Federico Fellini’s 8½, which was presented in the Official Selection in 1963.

In Marcello Mastroianni and Federico Fellini, we celebrate a cinema that is free and open to the world, acknowledging once again the artistic importance of Italian and European cinema through one of its most stellar figures. 

“The way he looks at us above his black glasses draws us right in to a promise of global cinematographic happiness,” explains the poster’s designer. “The happiness of experiencing the Festival de Cannes together.”

In his films, Marcello Mastroianni continued to encapsulate everything that was most innovative, nonconformist and poetic about cinema. On seeing the poster for the first time, Chiara Mastroianni, the actor’s daughter, said simply: “I am very proud and touched that Cannes has chosen to pay tribute to my father with this poster. I find it very beautiful and modern, with a sweet irony and a classy sense of detachment. It’s really him through and through!” 

The Festival de Cannes thanks Gaumont, which owns the rights to the film.Add caption

From The Vault: 9/11 WTC Survivor John McLoughlin

As a Port Authority Police Officer, John McLoughlin led a rescue team to find survivors of the WTC attacks on 9/11. He and team-mate William Jimeno became trapped and looked doomed to die. Their story became the subject of Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. Here McLoughlin recounts what happened.

What was your reaction the first time you watched World Trade Center?

"My general reaction was that it was very well done and it was very emotional. Because it was so well done, it was difficult to see."

What were your initial thoughts when the idea was proposed to you about this film being made?

"Well, it was a process that came up before they actually said they were going to be doing a movie. During that process, Will [Jimeno] and I weren't looking to have our story told. It was important for us to tell the story of the men from our team we lost that day - we were the last ones to see them alive - and the heroics of the rescue workers. That was the important part and what we wanted to let the world know happened. So with that in mind we were very much in support of it to get their stories out."

Some people have said that it is too soon for films like this and United 93. It never struck you as being too early?

"No, my observation since it's come out in the United States is that those who maybe said it was too early and have changed their minds about it. We read a lot about that in the press and once they saw it they realised it's not a 9/11 terrorist story; this is a 9/11 story about humanity. Part of what is important to us is that everybody has their own level in dealing with tragedy. Some people will never be able to watch movies about 9/11. I mean I personally witnessed some of that trauma of people that I know. But some people a year later would have been okay to see it. The important thing is that this is part of us not forgetting, that we have to remember the tragedy of that day.

"It is also a historical event and if you want to get the information on a historical event, you'd better get it while the people are still alive and the memories are fresh and the details are still there. It's a shame we had all these soldiers from World War 2 that now are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, and all of a sudden somebody said, ‘Maybe we should find out what they went through.' We should have found out what they went through when they were in their 20s, because suddenly these walking pieces of history are disappearing, and people are realising that. I think that's part of it too. It was an historical event, we were all part of it, and while the story is still fresh in our minds, tell it."

The film is also a love story, between you and your wife, Donna, and between WIll Jimeno and his wife, Allison. How did you react when they said they wanted to do something so personal? What was your reaction when you saw your relationship on screen?

"I think the emotion of the trauma of 9/11 is more difficult to deal with than telling the story of my family and my wife. The story about my family, my wife, is a happy story. It's a good story to tell. So the more difficult part was telling the details of what happened to us and our friends on 9/11. It was nice that people understand how families come together. I hope people get out of the movie how important it is to appreciate your kids, appreciate your loved ones. Life gets too involved and you start taking too many things for granted that maybe we shouldn't in our normal everyday life. People take away from the movie that they should be thankful for what they've got and hang onto it. So that's very good."

What did you draw on to survive?

"It was thinking about my family. I had to get out for my family. I had to try and survive for them."

What was your first thought when you realised what was going on?

"When the planes had hit the towers? At first I thought this was just a very tragic accident. Until I got down on the scene and realised how significant it was. Then I realised this was much more serious. But I didn't think we were facing the end of the world or anything. I thought we were facing a serious condition and a lot of people were in need up in those towers."

Was it a tough moment when you asked for volunteers to go into the towers with you, or was it just part of the job?

"I took it as part of the job. I knew what we had to do. I worked Emergency Services, which is a specialised unit within a police department to deal with these kinds of events, and I worked at the World Trade Centre for 12 years setting up equipment and training and preparing for a major event. Nothing to that significance, though. So as a supervisor it basically was my job. I had to get people in. I didn't order people in because I knew the significance of it. I asked for people that were comfortable with the equipment we were going to need to get up into those towers, and those men stepped forward that were comfortable with it. Then there was no hesitation. I didn't feel bad or I was doing something unusual asking people to come with me up into the tower."

When you were trapped, did you experience any kind of guilt with regards to the people you had led into the building?

"At that time, that day, no, I had no guilt feelings. I knew these officers, I worked with them, I was comfortable and confident that these were the type of men that with direction were going to do the job right. So I was comfortable with the men I was going in with and that we would be able to handle whatever we came across. It was just circumstances turned out beyond any of our control and tragic things ended up happening."

You helped put emergency plans in place after the attack on the World Trade Centre in 1993. Could any preparations for something like this have been put in place, because we have heard subsequently that the government was being warned by the CIA security services that terrorists were planning to hijack planes, and there have been suggestions that they may have had concerns that thy might be used as weapons?

"It wasn't handed down to my level, to street level, that that was a possibility. We had trained and set up contingencies, different types of training scenarios for problems, and that wasn't one of our training scenarios. Let's put it this way: we could have dealt with an accidental accident in a better manner than in the manner it was done, which was a terrorist event with such a large airliner. That was beyond our training and there was nothing in our training scenarios that we had set up."

Were you being kept in the dark to some extent and are you angry?

"[Sighs] Can you be angry over it? No. Sometimes people think this is such a simple process that they assimilate this information, it's black and white, cut and dried, this was going to happen, let's put everybody in fear of going into high-rises and tell them planes may crash into your buildings any day now. I've been in a position on a lower level, I would never want to be second guessed - you know, what we call Monday morning quarterback - on what happened the day before, the day after. I am comfortable that people did what they felt . . . Could I live with people actually knowing what was going to happen and consciously made the decision not to supply it? I don't think that occurred. You'd have to be some kind of horrific human being to consciously allow something like that to happen. I don't think that happened."

How did you feel about being played by Nicolas Cage?

"I was honoured that Nicolas wanted to take this role on. He truly went into it with a very dedicated attitude to get this as close as he could."

Can you tell us about how you worked together with the actors, Nicolas and Maria Bello, who plays your wife, Donna?

 "Well they both came to our home and we sat and talked. Nicolas came to the house, we went out, we had hours of discussions. We went to lunch together, just a couple of guys going out talking. We went out to a couple of places, we were on the set, and I think he understood. He went on patrol with one of our sergeants; all the main characters that play police officers went to the bus terminal [in midtown Manhattan], went on patrols, were assigned to a police officer and went out on patrol with them. Nicolas went out on patrol with one of our sergeants so they could see what it's like to be a street police officer in New York City as opposed to a Hollywood police officer. One of the aspects of the movie that I liked was you saw real cops. You didn't see the Hollywood cop. You saw fear. You saw how they handle themselves in public. They got the feel of the mannerisms of police officers because they went out with them, and they portrayed how a normal police officer goes out in a day in New York City with the Port Authority Police."

How involved were you? Were you on set during the shoot?

"No. We went into the details extensively prior to even the first piece of film being shot. All the details were already down and discussed over and over and over again. Then as they progressed with the film, we were on the set. I was only on the set once in New York. I was out there 10 days in California when they were doing the rescue scenes, and in between that if they had any questions they would call me up at home and asked me what was I wearing, what was I doing, how did I feel, and I'd fill them in. But I wasn't on the set extensively."

How much did you help them with the physical details of the locations?

"The debris-field set, I couldn't even help them with. I never saw the debris field. I was in the inside. There were two separate sets. The one where you see Nicolas and Michael [Pena, playing Will Jimeno] where they were buried, that was inside and they had this set inside for the hole. Then there was an outside set where there was a debris field. So the only thing I could help them with was the hole. They had to talk to all the Port Authority Police officers, New York City Police officers, and New York firemen to help them on the set with what they saw. Mainly the rescue workers on the set came out with us so they helped them out with what they saw and what they did on the debris field. And all those officers and firemen, it was very emotional for them. That's how realistic the set was when they saw that debris field."

Do you and your family talk about 9/11 much today?

"At this point we don't have a lot of discussions about 9/11, especially with family. We've talked about it. Everybody knows and everybody in the family knows what's going on. We don't want that to be a constant part of our life so we go on with life. Sometimes strangers are curious and ask questions. Our friends know most of the details and they don't bring it up."

Often people who have suffered a trauma cannot speak about it for some time. Did you go through a period like that?

"No, I don't think there was any period of time I couldn't talk about it. But there was definitely a period of when I couldn't deal with you as calmly as now. It was extremely emotional to deal with, whereas certain aspects of it now it's a lot easier for me to deal with than years ago. But aspects of it are still very emotional and raw and probably always will be."

Tell me about the moment you were pulled out.

"When I came out on the stretcher I didn't know the towers were down. I thought it was car bombs that went off. When I got trapped I was in my own little world. So not only didn't I know the towers had come down, I had no idea of the magnitude of the event at that time. I only found that out months later. It obviously upset me because it was very personal to me. This wasn't an event where nearly 3000 people died but it had over 30 of my personal friends die. So this wasn't an event or tragedy that I was separated from, plus I lost three men that I had personally brought into that building, so it was very personal."

Copyright Stephen Applebaum, 2014