'The Green Inferno's' Eli Roth and Cast Talk Difficult Shoot in Remote Village
- Details
- Category: Interviews
- Created: Thursday, 24 September 2015 12:04
- Published: Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by Ethan Falk
Enjoy watching body dismemberment and cannibalism? If so, you’ll be happy to know that director Eli Roth--the masterful guru-of-gore, is back in the directors seat with THE GREEN INFERNO delivering arguably his bloodiest and most cringe-worthy picture yet, and he’s happy about that.
THE GREEN INFERNO is my mic drop,” Roth told Cinemovie at a recent press event. After killing the occasional Nazi in Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards, Roth was ready to make his directorial comeback since releasing Hostel: Part II in 2007. For this bloodbath, Roth takes us deep into the jungles of Peru where we meet a tribe that ain’t so fond of a group of good looking college activists encroaching on their village. And…. the bloodletting ensues! In order to make the film look and feel authentic, the entire cast and crew left the comfortable confines of Hollywood and filmed on location in the Amazon using real villagers to round out the cast.
“There was so much I learned from Quentin Tarantino. From the way I write the characters to ditching the monitor. There’s no monitor, no chairs, not even trailers, we were truly in the Amazon. It gave the film a certain kind of energy and look,” said Roth.
During pre-production Roth and producers ventured into Peru to scout locations in the Amazon basin. While exploring the treacherous Huallaga River, Roth spotted a grass hut on the bank, something he envisioned while writing the films script. They then greeted the villager’s and were welcomed with open arms. Roth discovered that the indigenous were so far removed from the modern world they had never seen a movie before, didn’t have electricity or running water, and surprisingly had never used ice cubes before! Roth showed the natives his iPhone, took photo’s with them, and then struck a deal to make a movie on their land.
“We built a kitchen for their school…. All they wanted was to be part of the modern world. When we went there and filmed, they loved it. Everyone in the village was like, “Our little village is going to be everywhere in the world.” Even though they hadn’t seen a television or movie, they all tell stories...They were also the greatest extra’s ever,” says Roth.
Chilean model-turned-actress, Lorenza Izzo (Aftershock) who plays Justine, told Cinemovie that the cast was stripped of any connection they had to their usual lives in the western world. That meant they couldn’t use Snapchat or Twitter considering there’s no reception or Starbucks in the middle of the Amazon. Instead, like their characters, they were forced to sit down with the villagers and connect with them on a very human level. Luckily for Izzo, they were able to communicate speaking Spanish, her native tongue.
“It’s a little bit scary to just get away from whatever you’re used to and actually have a conversation with someone and talk and listen. I definitely took that back. Learning from them was truly magical, reflects Izzo.
According to the 23-year-old, surviving the conditions of the Amazon proved to be much tougher than she had expected. “Most of the time you were fighting or struggling with bug bites that you couldn’t stop scratching, the heat that was so suffocating you would pass out-- that was very common. The diarrhea attacks; I actually shat two beds. There were a lot of challenges and daily struggles,” smiled Izzo.
Izzo’s co-star Daryl Sabara (Spy Kids) explained to Cinemovie that shooting in the Amazon wasn’t just a walk in the park for him either, “And I had a slight arachnophobia and I had to get over it, because my character has a really nice scene with a tarantula! So yeah. But that’s over with.”
Sitting next to Sabara on the panel, was blonde haired Kirby Bliss Blanton (Project X), who endured a baby python being thrown at her face for a scene, an idea proposed by the children in the village. “They thought it’d be funny if they threw it in the cage with the Americans!,” smirked Roth, “And I was like, that’s actually a really good idea! Who wants to get a python in the face?”
Experience the horror for yourself when THE GREEN INFERNO opens Friday, September 25th!