English translation Grand Piano behind scenes
Automatic English translation with quick check (sorry about mistakes).
RODRIGO CORTES (producer)
Initially, all starts in a pure act of admiration for Eugenio, to Eugenio Mira since I saw his first film, "The Birthday" as an enthusiastic fan, and always wanted to find a project for him, precisely. So, with Adrian Guerra, my producing partner, we found this script, "Grand Piano", and thought it was ideal for a director like him, with musical training, radically insane in the best sense and that is not otherwise could tackle a project as unlikely as this.
The film takes place entirely during the celebration of a piano concerto, that means we have to see the actor developed his dialogues, interacting with other players, while playing the piano and while we see what he is doing and while we see the musicians. So, the music has to be precomposed, must be made in advance and can not be, without more, concert music, but also it has to answer certain narratives insertions very mathematically, which requires, starting from the script , in a highly specific but not abstract way, it’s necessary that all requirements, normally provide after editing, they are incorporated before. That takes mathematical precision work very hard to define, and the collaboration of musician Victor Reyes and Eugene, which has a very deep musical training that he has provided the road map before, they have managed to establish that precomposing from the first moment , forcing to do a third of the movie before watching the action.
The script is written in English from the first moment. It’s written by Damien Chazelle. Since the film takes place entirely within a concert, an expressive vocation almost silent film in certain moments immediately made to think with Elijah Wood, an actor who has been on the top since he was 8 years old. and is a highly technical player to answer guidelines of what prompted Eugenio. In the case of John Cusack, his presence in most of the film is through his voice, is a strictly auditory contact until his appearance in a certain time frame, and it takes a huge domain precisely of this tool, along with a especially voice meant at certain levels, is practically an icon of interpretation.
EUGENIO MIRA (director)
I think the film is a psychological study of stage fright and of many things that are not touched on this subject, behind stage fright there are some selfishness and narcissism, and there are shades of sociopathy even. The stage fright really is very bound to think that if you can do better, people might expect you to be able to give the best, is the excuse that there are musicians, filmmakers, actors, not to continue working.
At the end of the movie is what I say, there comes a time that arises if everything is happening in his mind and if it appears it would be an obstacle in his career is actually a release because it is ... the irony of the film is that, in this case the liberating angel is doesn’t telling him what he wanted to hear, you don’t have to play, which he is forcing him to do is what all the people around him want and expect from him, but people do not know that he really would not want to be there, and this is all I can say without giving away the whole plan.
About the presence of John Cusack, and the character he plays, it was essential to doubt about his own existence, because I like the concept of the voices in the mind, and also a guy who we know he has stage fright and he would not be there and suddenly he is in this situation with a guy who is telling him get off the stage, go to the dressing room, and you're thinking this is very convenient for someone who does not want to be there. There are so many twists in this field, the intentions of who is speaking and what he is expected of him ... was essential not to see him too much or wait for the right time.
Personally, I’m more of the school to work before shooting then later in editing. In this case, it’s the project that states very clearly we must predefine all like a musical score. Each plane we do, have a name and a number and goes from a cut to another, and we don’t have an editing plane between. Note you that we need to be doing all actions simultaneously with music, and don’t have much leeway, moreover you have to know that if you have 37 seconds and seven things have to happen, they have to happen when they have to go.
"Grand Piano" is really easy to identify with Hitchcock, but actually I think that we are about references, there are very few homages to things that exist, there is an intention to go further, to do things that have not been indeed, say Brian de Palma and Alfred Hitchcock, and really I have no direct references, they are many ages and tastes, what is surprising me the most is that, despite being musical and having sound, bigger inspiration is silent filme. You could watch this movie without hearing anything that John Cusack says, only with posts and seeing how that person reacts. It's closer to Fritz Lang or Cecil. B. deMille than Hitchcock.