I have a question about the “…And then the sun came up” monologue-

Oren Moverman: Oh! Very specific…

What was it like to write and what was it like to perform it?

Oren: That’s real interesting that you ask about it because that was one scene that was written on the page in a particular way that, in working with Ben, started changing. Ben started putting his ideas in and I started putting my ideas in. It got to the point where, in the end (still on the page) exactly along the lines of what the original one was when I wrote with my co-writer Alessandro Camon. But, then gave it a whole other spin that really became its own. And by the time he was performing it, we only did it a few times. [We only had time to do it 3 or 4 times (actually 3).] It was his story by then.

I understand that you use meditation quite a bit. How was that used in preparing for the film.

Ben Foster: That’s a tough question. I’ve been meditating for so long that it’s hard to-

Did it not bring forward the extra intensity?

Ben: No. I don’t think the meditations were any more intense. It’s- you take an afternoon  for yourself and that’s your routine. What meditation does, for me if I can have any distance from it, is create more inside. And that benefits. It helps me project less and be available to more things.

Was it intentional to encode the film in such a way? Some of the music in the film, even the diagetic music, was king of what was in Sgt. Montgomery’s head. Especially in the scene where you give out the casualty report. If he didn’t cross the threshold we didn’t cross the threshold either. What was the motive behind that?

Oren: The music, definitely, we wanted to use as part of the character. And not only the characters of Will and Tony and Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson characters, but the character of the people being notified, the character of the house, the character of the room they’re entering. You know, I really wanted minimal score in the movie. I didn’t think you needed it to indicate the emotion in the movie. The emotion was going to be complete in the performance or not at all. So, the music had to be almost like a throw away. In scouting the movie, we went to a lot of houses and some were in poor neighborhoods and some in middle class neighborhoods. And one thing that we notice is, is that it’s never quiet. There’s always a TV on or there’s a radio on or there’s a CD playing somewhere. It’s always going on. So, it’s almost like we don’t know how to be with silence anymore. And, we definitely wanted that to be part of the movie. We also wanted it to be the kind of music where most of the time you could find anywhere in the country if you just turned on the radio. Which means older music, classic rock, and things like that. And we wanted it to be mostly diagetic. We wanted it mostly part of that world; wen don’t want to take you outside of that world. But we do have the few moments of score to keep indicating that “it’s just a movie”.

In terms of shooting those notifications: we shot them all one take. Everyone was thrown offset. It was just the cameraman, myself, focus puller, sound guy, and the actors. We never introduced the two sides, so Woody and Ben never met the other guys. They didn’t even know who was gonna open the door. They know who the actor was, but they didn’t know what they were gonna do. I encouraged everyone to get off script; to work with what’s there, but surprise each other with behavior that’s appropriate for the character in that moment. And we didn’t cut until the scene was over. So that we didn’t really leave room for manipulation beyond the acting. And I think it created a sort of respect for that moment because it’s not a documentary, it’s not real, they’re all actors, filmmakers, pretenders. But we also try to be true and respectful to the people who actually have to live this. Thats why it was important for us to have this theme of apology at the end. Because I actually heard on Veteran’s Day this mom speak on the radio who wrote a book on her son who died in the war. The last chapter in the book was about the notification and she apparently was very, very abusive with the notifiers; which is perfectly understandable. You cannot blame a mother for going off on someone who brings such awful news. And, this was very moving, she apologized to him on the radio. She didn’t know his name; she didn’t remember. She wrote a letter to him and published it. I just thought: “We have to do this.” We have to give this moment where they can say: “I wasn’t myself then. Can you forgive me?” Of course, there’s nothing to forgive. It’s an understandable thing.

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