Sri Lanka has never really had a chance to play herself in a Hollywood film. Take for instance, ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’, where she masqueraded as Thailand or the Indiana Jones flick ‘Temple of Doom’ where she was passed off as a remote part of Northern India (populated, somewhat incongruously, with villagers speaking in Sinhala).
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| Giles Greenwood: Spoilt for choice here. |
Now, director Giles Greenwood has plans that ought to turn the tide. ‘Kayman’s Gate’ – to be released in 2012 – is being billed as a high end production set entirely in Sri Lanka. Filming for the action-packed thriller is scheduled to begin in May 2011. In the meantime, the producers were in town, location hunting – the only problem is they’re spoilt for choice.
So far Colombo, Galle and Trincomalee are on the shortlist of locations. The movie itself promises to be a classic thriller - a detective must track down a woman who has gone missing in Sri Lanka. “So he’s looking for this girl, the problem is that there are a lot of other people looking for her as well. He’s trying to figure out who to trust and who not to.” Giles is cagey about discussing the intricacies of the plot, but he does reveal that the detective has never been outside his native state of Philadelphia. “From there to here is really quite a leap,” says Giles, “it’s all about a fish out of water.”
The detective’s response to an exotic culture is sure to inspire some of the comedy in the movie. In a slender black book, (his producer calls it their bible) Giles has been jotting down all his ideas for the screen writer – detective’s reaction to the unexpected spiciness of the local cuisine is just one. But humour aside, the name of the film hints at the more sinister elements in the plot.
Kayman’s Gate once ensured that the crocodiles stayed in Beira Lake, and the crocodiles in turn ensured that any slaves attempting to escape their Dutch masters faced a painful and messy end. “Though the Town Hall is a symbol of authority, the existence of Kayman’s Gate also meant that there was something quite sinister about it,” says Giles, adding wryly, “besides it just sounds so good.” He intends to ensure there’s plenty of other local colour in the film. He’s also looking forward to indulging his love of cricket – one scene will have the detective set out to make a clandestine rendezvous during a cricket match. Giles is determined to pick the right combination of places - “five star hotels to beaches, slums to mountains.”
“This is such a beautiful, vibrant landscape,” says Mary Pat Bentel, one of the film’s producers. “Coming from Hollywood, I say we’ve over shot every inch of that city... so it’s wonderful to come here and feel like not only are there options, there are too many. It’s going to be about scaling back for us,” she says. This is Mary Pat’s first visit to Sri Lanka and she declares herself amazed by everything, from the country’s lush foliage to temple architecture. “There are so many things here that are way outside of my realm of experience,” she says. The film’s other producer, Shirani Sabaratnam concurs - “all we need to bring are the props and the people, because the rest is here.”
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| Shirani Sabaratnam |
Mary Pat Bentel |
Born in Jaffna, Shirani moved to Britain when she was eight years old. She still has family here, and says she visits very often. “I feel very emotionally and creatively attached to Sri Lanka, so I’m very happy to be back,” she says.
Trincomalee was Shirani’s idea – she remembers acres of pristine beaches from vacations taken as a child – and now she wants to make a movie that will truly showcase Sri Lanka – “I’d like something Sri Lankans can be proud of.” (Shirani, along with Mary Pat and Giles, is a founder of Mystery Mile Films, a company devoted to facilitating the production of ‘Kayman’s Gate’.)
Her familiarity with the country made Shirani the perfect person for Giles to turn to. “Making a film in Sri Lanka made a lot of sense – it’s an incredibly beautiful country, and it’s incredibly diverse ,” he says. Giles first visited Sri Lanka as a seven year old, and has been back three times since. He welcomed in the millennium here and admits to a special fondness for the country. This trip, the trio went down south and explored the coastline near Galle. Still, they say they’ll be back again in six weeks to do more hunting. “We haven’t even scratched the surface in terms of locations,” says Giles. Mary Pat declares that the script itself is changing to fit all these places.
The film’s budget is an estimated $2 million. As for the cast, the producers are unwilling to commit themselves until they have everything signed and sealed. “We’ve always said it was about bringing Hollywood to Sri Lanka – so it will be someone on the A-List,” is all Mary Pat concedes. Locals will also get a chance to be involved – Giles wants to offer students of cinema a chance to participate in the production and the film’s composer intends to record much of the background score here with local musicians. While they’re planning all the usual action sequences, Giles envisions a film that will be plot driven. “Putting the script together, I wanted to have a film that we could accomplish – I didn’t think it was realistic to come to Sri Lanka and want to shoot a ‘Titanic’,” says Giles, “the majority of the film will be low key.”
Though his first priority is to entertain, Giles hopes the end product will result in positive publicity for Sri Lanka - introducing us to new markets and luring visitors here. |
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