Luigi: week 4

The

helicopter situation!

Very early on in this adventure, I was told by José and Kristýna that the event we should try our hardest to avoid while in the canyon was ‘the helicopter situation’, that is somebody sustaining an injury severe enough to warrant beiing airlifted to hospital by the local Air Ambulance.

And yet…

On the day after I succumbed to heatstroke and nearly passed out, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that one of the cast ended up in a helicopter situation after being rather too successful while rehearsing a fall.

I can now reveal that the broken ankle belongs to Jana, (who plays Véra). I couldn’t really say who it was last week, but now I can, because sadly Jana has gone back to Bratislava to heal. So there have been frantic changes to the shooting schedule (as reported last week). Anyway, I can now show you the bouquet we made for Jana on her return from hospital.

Why the cigarettes, I hear you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. There is not a scene in the film where Véra is without a cigarette, and it is true that Jana is fond of a ciggie herself. So it seemed inappropriately appropriate. Jana laughed like a drain.

So, to get round the absence of Jana, Miki’s mum Lenka, and make-up assistant Simone have both been acting as stand-ins. They have both been doing stand-out jobs, but without Jana it does feel like there is a wheel missing.

So here’s to you, Jana! I hope you heal quickly and without further incident, and I can’t wait to work with you again in July!

⬆️ A very special bouquet for Jana - I mean, who wouldn’t love flowers and eighty low-tar? (pic by me)

28th April

Anyway, on with the diary. Today is a busy and complicated day: in addition to the six of us in the main cast and the twenty-four strong production crew, there are nine additional cast members (Bob’s work colleagues, Ferny’s sisters, three canyon guides), there are also another fifteen or so supporting artists. And a dog. And all of us have to be smoothly co-ordinated and choreographed to such an extent that it seems that our interactions are the most natural thing in the world.

This collection of scenes is one of the most complicated in the whole film (so complicated, it has to be filmed over two days) - it’s where all the main characters are all in the same place, even though they haven’t all been formally introduced. It’s also where Bob meets Luigi - and their lives will never be the same…

⬆️ L-R: Bob’s work colleagues and their guide share a joke with the co-director. Erik (played by Corey), Gigi the guide (Alberto), director Adam, Matthew (Cheick), Bern (Maynard). (pic by Sendy)

29th April

It’s the second day of filming in the car park, and it’s surprisingly cool in the northerly wind.

Benny’s character, Fernandel, is clearly an old man of some means, as his car is a very expensive Mercedes AMG G Class SUV - which means nothing to me as a devout pedestrian, but I guess any petrolheads out there will be swooning. His sisters are clearly avaricious divas, but how far would they go to secure his fortune?

Jeanine and Virginie, who play Louisa and Effy, are clearly having a fantastic time on set - both their personalities are bubblier than champers - and Virginie was reluctant to hand back the car keys to the producer!

Today’s scenes also introduce the mysterious semi-professional climber, Juraj (played by Peter), who seems determined to find his way to the canyon, with or without at a guide; and 12-year old geology fanatic Tadeáš, (Miki) and his bitter and controlling grandmother Véra (Jana).

Yes, I know you’ve already met them, but in the weird time-travelling world of the shooting schedule, things are seldom created in chronological order. Also, chronologically, it’s the first time Luigi and Bob have dialogue together…

⬆️ L-R: Effy (played by Virginie), Fernandel (Benny), Louisa (Jeanine) - Ferny and his sisters. (pic by Sendy)

30th April

…and speaking of weird chronological order, today we’re filming some of the very last scenes of the movie, on a long and winding road stretching across a plain reminiscent of the landscape in Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns. Of course, I can’t tell you too much about what happens, but I can tell you it’s emotional, and exciting - and unexpected!

Special mention goes to Simone, Vera’s stand-in for today.

Also, there were cows, and pigs - and donkeys!

Francesco had some scenes to film over the next couple of days, but the rest of the main cast were free - until (rising organ chords) the night shoot…

⬆️ Luigi and Bob - and Boom, courtesy of Anna. (pic by Petr Syblik)

4th May

A forty-five minute drive in the van in the evening, back to the long and winding road we encountered on the 30th, and beyond that through mist-wreathed mountains and potholed concrete roadways, until we are decanted into (joy of joys) a 4x4 Land Rover Defender (for the record, I am not sponsored by them), which takes us on a gruelling hour-long trek through a hinterland that alternates between Blair Witch country and lunar landscapes. Comfortable it is not.

Followed by a steep and unruly descent into another chasm, this time with a small lake, and a cave. This is where we are filming tonight.

I’d love to tell you what happened, but you know the score. What I can tell you is that there is fear, there is the pretence of sleeping on cold cavern floors, there are multiple takes, and there are pot noodles.

So that’s it for now. We have another few days of hiatus, because of a new threat: Sardinian weather. It has been pretty well-behaved thus far, but now the Mistral is baring her teeth. We have thunderstorms, torrential rain is forecast , and we have two more days planned in the canyon that have been shunted around so many times over the last few days, that they are positively dizzy. Stay tuned for the final diary entry (for now) next week.

⬆️ L-R: Vašek (sound), José (2nd AD), Veronika (Costume Designer), Aleš (2nd Camera Assistant), Petr (Gaffer), Vojtěch (Grip), Anna (Boom Operator), Adrian (1st Camera Assistant), Filip (Director of Photography), Fra (Luigi). It’s highly likely that Miki (Tadéàs) and Simone (Vera double no. 2) are in there somewhere, too. (pic by me)