by Oliver Spicer.
TW: Mentions of Violence and Abuse.
Three brothers and their father trudge through a dense forest. Camouflaged in murky greens and armed with long rifles wedged into their shoulders, it is clear their objective is to hunt and to kill. A scope then shows the outline of a deer, one brother lifts up his hunting rifle but stops himself before squeezing the trigger. His dad then berates him for his lack of masculinity, but before he is finished the barrel is turned on him. After a quick fistfight, a shot echoes through the canopies and the father lies dead.
This is not the climax of Rodger Griffiths' new feature
For a man who wrote and directed the most violent of all the films at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Rodger Griffiths was also one of the friendliest directors I had the lucky opportunity to interview - with an openness and relaxed attitude which can be seen throughout our conversation below:
OLIVER
I wanted to start off with the opening of the film, it starts very quickly with the dad getting shot. Was that always the case through production?
RODGER
Well, I can't tell a lie. There was a little bit of dialogue about the start of the hunting expedition. But as we got in to the edit that changed. One thing I think is a really good reference point is like Breaking Bad where each episode starts with confusion and you don't really know what's exactly happening just yet and I think that's probably the best way to start any kind of narrative. Film or TV, where the audience is trying to figure out what exactly is happening. It's okay if they don't know all the information, they get to work it out and be involved in the narrative itself. And that's from listening to a lot of Breaking Bad podcasts with Vince Gilligan. That's where it comes from but everyone else, like producers involved like Claire Mundell who's brilliant at editing, all felt that starting with the murder was the way to go.
OLIVER
And with that confusion, there's also a lot of flashbacks that kind of build the audiences perspective - was that also the case where it was rearranged in the edit?
RODGER
Well when we're writing it,Rob Drummond and I wanted to have these flashbacks almost fuel the narrative as it goes along. And one big film that was referenced was
OLIVER
And there's the kind of overall premise of three brothers killing their father - It's a tiny bit Shakespearian, maybe King Lear, or maybe even a medieval story. I wondered if there's was any literary inspirations?
RODGER
Hmmm... I guess you're right actually. I thought the themes you are trying to explore are quite universal: it's about how in an abusive up-bringing do you become that person or do you break free from it? The two older brothers in the film: Henry and John. They're both kind of different sides of the argument really - where John is trying to stay on his mother side and Henry is sadly becoming more like his father as he progresses in the film. So the themes we wanted to explore, we wanted to resonate with people whilst being an action thriller.
OLIVER
And also about the kind of cycle that goes on - Is it almost a self fulfilling prophecy as they try and get rid of that abuse but it comes back?
RODGER
Yeah, it comes back to haunt them... haha literally. I think maybe that's where you're picking up on the more classical kind of aspect of it. Where it is about that generational trauma, toxic masculinity as well. And how that's handed down from generation to generation like Don himself is like Henry at an older age really. He had a bad upbringing, I think he mentions in the script himself that "You never met my dad, he was a sick bastard". So he's grown up in an abusive upbringing as well and he's just the end of that cycle really.
OLIVER
With the three brothers, when writing the script and also directing, how did you make them have distinct personalities?
RODGER
Well, I think it's down to each actor themselves really as well. But we wanted them to blend as brothers. With siblings you have a real shorthand with each other, there's no niceties. They love each other but they do each other's nut in. That's the kind of relationship we wanted to get with them. We did some improvs of backstory that weren't in the script with the brothers, about them planning the murder and all kind of things. Just so they could live in the character's skin for a wee bit and feel how their relationships.
OLIVER
And also the settings of the forest, what kind of importance was that?
RODGER
Now that you mention literary references, it is an age-old thing about the forest being a place where other worldly things can happen and being lost in the wilderness does have that effect. So those kind of tropes are correct. These are things you're trying to explore in the film, visually as well. And the whole kind of thing being isolated as well kind of helps focus in on the three brothers themselves and their performances.
OLIVER
It's also shot very naturalistically right, what was the motivation behind that decision?
RODGER
A film that we referenced big time was
OLIVER
Parts of it are also very gritty.
RODGER
Yeah yeah, I think it's also the subject of violence. We wanted the violence to feel real and not over stylised in any way, so when violence does happen it is shocking. And I think it has more impact on an audience. Again, I do like big action films with over-the-top violence but sometimes you can kind of switch off and not feel the reality. It helps the film, getting the audience involved and the actors telling the story.
OLIVER
And I was wondering whether you think it is a very Scottish film?
RODGER
Hahahaha. Well, actually I'm from Northern Ireland...
OLIVER
Oh sorry, I assumed because all the actors are Scottish and it's set in the Highlands.
RODGER
Well, we did a proof of concept short shot in Northern Ireland. There were three brothers and a Northern Irish dad which we had to do to show it would work. But I do think the themes in the script are quite universal. It could be in South Korea, it could be in Australia - it's more to do with the isolation. Being the Highlands and all, you can't be more isolated than that really. It's a great place to shoot film, Scotland definitely.
OLIVER
And did anything have to be altered between that proof of concept?
RODGER
Well yeah, you're just showing a slice. Originally, it was just the beginning of the hunting trip and the brothers had to chose the short straw or match on who had to kill the dad. And it had to be all mysterious about why they were doing this until the point where the dad gets killed. But the actors and performances in the short were brilliant, the actors were sensational. Because Creative Scotland were the backers it became a Scottish film really. But would I shoot in Northern Ireland Again? I'd love to shoot in Northern Ireland again. I can go see my mum and dad basically.
OLIVER
So how did it go from that proof of concept short to a fully funded feature?
RODGER
The full script was there before the short and then there was a development period as well - which for independent films is a long time. It's years and years basically. You can work on other scripts in the mean time but you just hoping that one gets over the line - and that's down to our two producers basically: Claire Mundell (Synchronicity Films) Lee Brazier (Mr. B Films). They kind of stuck with me... I don't know why. Haha maybe they took pity on me. But they're the ones who are the main players for getting this film on the screen.
by Oliver Spicer, August 2023.