‘Bring Them Down’ Director Christopher Andrews on Losing Paul Mescal — but Gaining Barry Keoghan — for His Irish Thriller: ‘We Struck Lucky’

As a seasoned movie buff with a penchant for European cinema, I must say that the shift of ‘Bring Them Down’ from the UK to Ireland was a stroke of genius by director Christopher Andrews. Having spent my formative years tending sheep on the rugged moors of the Scottish Highlands, I can attest to the authenticity of the film’s portrayal of rural life and the simmering conflicts between neighboring families.

When filmmaker Christopher Andrews lost Paul Mescal as one of his lead stars for his tense revenge thriller ‘Bring Them Down,’ set to premiere in Toronto on Sep. 8, he chose an effective solution: instead, he cast another highly sought-after and Oscar-nominated Irish star, Barry Keoghan, in the role.

However, the first-time director made several notable changes in his Mubi-funded film, featuring Christopher Abbott and delving into a tense feud between two competing sheep farming clans in rural Ireland. Drawing on his own background working on farms in Northern England, this movie — produced by Wild Swim Films, Tailored Films, and Frakas Productions — was initially conceived to be filmed in the U.K., but production was moved to County Wicklow, Ireland (despite being set in Connemara) to capitalize on Ireland’s attractive tax incentives.

Speaking as someone who worked on the camera crew for the first three seasons of “Shameless,” I can tell you that I went to considerable effort to infuse the movie with a sense of local authenticity. A significant portion of the dialogue is spoken in Irish, with Abbott, one of the very few Irish actors in the cast, delivering most of it.

While conversing with EbMaster, Andrews delves into the topic of securing Keoghan, whose stardom soared after “The Banshees of Inisherin.” They also touch upon Abbott’s Irish persuasion of a local and the challenges faced in creating a field teeming with dead sheep.

“Bring Them Down” was originally written to be set and shot in the U.K., but because of Ireland’s tax incentive, you rewrote it to shoot there. How did you manage this?

I placed a high priority on making sure the story felt genuine and connected, not merely transplanted. Therefore, we visited the location initially, conversed with local farmers, shared the original tale, and they acknowledged that such an event had occurred nearby. This is because farming methods in northern England have remained similar due to their Viking origins over a thousand years ago. It was crucial for the narrative to be grounded in that world and authentically reflect the landscape. Additionally, the dialogue was adapted to align with the local dialect to further establish its authenticity.

The film was originally announced with Paul Mescal and Tom Burke attached, which was a pretty amazing pairing. And then it was recast with Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbott, which isn’t exactly the worst replacement. How did that all come about?

Regardless of how the film turned out, casting is always an integral part of the process. On a limited budget like ours, we simply can’t match the production values of larger movies such as Mad Max: Fury Road, which featured Burke. There are numerous factors beyond our control that can make things challenging. However, securing Chris and Barry was truly a privilege. Their enthusiasm for the material was palpable, making it an incredibly rewarding experience. Every aspect of the project seemed to fall into place, making it feel like a resounding success.

Were you shooting with Barry after his success with “The Banshees of Inisherin”?

Prior to the release of “Banshees,” he had not yet watched the movie, as it was already filmed. However, he was subsequently nominated and went on to win a BAFTA award. The nomination for an Oscar came on the very first day of shooting, which turned out to be quite fortuitous!

I hope you gave him five minutes to enjoy his Oscar nomination…

Negative! Yet, affirmatively, he did have lunch at his mobile home earlier. Regrettably, there simply wasn’t enough time for a five-minute break. However, they were present throughout all the scenes as the time was pressing. Nevertheless, he savored it later on.

It’s actually Abbott’s character who has the most dialog in Irish. I don’t speak Irish, but it sounded impressive to me. Did he go on a crash course or learn his lines specifically?

Indeed, he memorized those lines intentionally. He attended workshops, learned the lines phonetically first, then comprehended their meanings. We made adjustments when necessary. The characters were terse, typical western archetypes who spoke sparingly, which was advantageous. However, his performance was remarkable. Our crew member hails from Connecticut and resides in Ireland, expressing surprise as he claimed to have watched every Irish film and recognized every Irish actor, but found it difficult to grasp the role. I chuckled and said, “He’s also from Connecticut.

I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but there are a lot of dead sheep in this. How does one go about making a lot of realistic looking dead sheep and was it a headache for the production department?

Indeed, it proved quite challenging for us. We had two unique puppet designs to work with. One was a plush beanbag-like creature that could be tossed around and easily stored in the back of our vehicle. The other was a de-limbed puppet, not animatronic but operated by a puppeteer using brake cables and enhanced with visual effects. We breathed life into these characters through their expressive eyes and gory wounds. Our hero sheep were real, while the rest were created by our production designer using bales of wool, chicken wire, and milk carton faces. Placed in the fields, they’d dance about like tumbleweeds when the wind blew, until we secured them with pegs.

2024-09-07 19:47