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Monday, Nov 9, 2009
The director of "The Tailor of Panama" talks about his movie, James Dickey, John le Carri, J.R.R. Tolkien and brothel etiquette.
Apr 2, 2001 | The 19th century French decadent Octave Mirbeau once wrote that the only thing more mysteriously attractive than beauty was corruption. Were Mirbeau around today, he'd probably smack his lips at British director John Boorman's latest film, "The Tailor of Panama." Based on the bestseller by John le Carri, the picture revels in the seedy, humid orgy of Panama in the late '90s and the various international intrigues surrounding that country's famous canal.
Boorman's playful dip into the tropical fleshpots is greatly assisted by a cast led by Pierce Brosnan as MI6 operative Andy Osnard, a scheming, avaricious scalawag hornier than Brosnan's Bond and lacking 007's redemptive patriotism. British intelligence assigns Osnard to the Panamanian backwater as punishment for his sins. Once there, he enlists expatriate ex-con Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush), a tailor to Panama's political elite, in an effort to destabilize the country and enrich themselves in the process. Along the way, Brosnan's whiskey-swilling Osnard attempts to screw every female in the land, including Harry's wife, Louisa, played by Jamie Lee Curtis.
With generous dollops of black humor and sterling supporting performances from Leonor Varela, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine McCormack and playwright Harold Pinter as Pendel's Uncle Benny, "The Tailor of Panama" serves Boorman's legend well. The 67-year-old creator of such films as "Deliverance," "Excalibur," "The General" and "Hope and Glory," is a mercurial, entertaining personality who recently sat down to discuss the glories of Panama's whorehouses, J.R.R. Tolkien and one psychotic's contribution to the Oxford English Dictionary, among other things.
Spoiler alert: Boorman also discusses the ending of "The Tailor of Panama" at length in response to the sixth and seventh questions, which are on Page 2.
How close is the Panama you filmed in to the Panama of le Carri's novel?
You know, the book was translated into Spanish and widely read there. So I encountered quite a bit of hostility from the Panamanians because they were wounded by this description of them. More so because it was closer to the truth than they would like. But what I found there is what's in the film. Which is: Panama City is a money-laundering, drug-running place with all these banks that's totally corrupt. And their canal is this vital gateway. It's a very steamy mix. Also, it's the brothel capital of Central America.
For that brothel scene where Harry [Rush] goes to see Osnard [Brosnan], we were shooting in this hotel. There was a young Panamanian who was helping us, and he said, "My uncle's got a chain of brothels. I can get you any number of whores you want." So I said, "OK, I'll need about 24." Then I went to the hotel and told them what we were up to. They said, "We have whores. What's the matter with ours? Why do you have to bring others in?" It caused some bad feelings there, so I compromised. I brought 12 in and used 12 of their whores. That's Panama.
Were there really vibrating beds and hardcore porno on the tube, like in the film?
No, I added those things. All these scenes were about finding settings where Osnard can put Harry at a disadvantage. He's torturing him. So he takes him to that hotel or to that gay disco, settings that make Harry feel uncomfortable.
The Irish press reported that you were enraged with your crew because they were spending too much time in the bordellos. Did that really happen?
That was a very unfortunate remark of mine. It wasn't the film crew itself but the construction crew. They were painters and carpenters -- some of them had never been out of Ireland in their lives. Suddenly, they're in this place where all these things are possible. I went away, and when I came back, they hadn't progressed as much as I'd hoped because they'd been expending some of their energies on visiting these houses of ill repute. But it's kind of tricky because their union is threatening to sue me over this. Some of these fellows got in trouble with their wives. So I regret saying that very much.
