Luigi: week 5

8th

May

The weather is doing its best to mess us around. Rain, and lots of it. Cast are up and in Costume from 6:15 am, only to find the downpour will delay us by three hours - so, back to bed we go!

A little later than planned, we are back at Gorropu Base for another day of shooting in the canyon. It’s surprisingly dry, both up here and, following another interminable slide/skid/rally cross/drive down to the river, following by a 40 minute hike to the canyon entrance, it’s also surprisingly dry there.

I am particularly nervous today, because I have a lot of lines in these scenes. Just got to get on with it, I guess.

There are so many shots of the same scene (from different points of view, or POVs), it’s quite dizzying at times, because you have to do your best to do and say the same sort of thing in a similar way, again and again.

And often you’re asked to do it slightly differently, with slightly different intent, or looking in a slightly different direction…

What can I tell you about today’s scenes? There’s a lot of suspicion, maybe even paranoia (but is it justified?), and a cataclysmic loss of decorum and temper. There might be some hiding, some deflection, a little deception - and also some pathos, I think.

Are you intrigued? You should be.

⬆️ They’re so tiny… L-R: Adam S, Eliška, José, Anna, Vašek, random tourist, Fra, Adam T, Filip, Maynard, Sendy (pic by me)

9th May

We’re here so early today, we’re here before the Land Rover lads!

And it’s back down the vertiginous trail in a 4x4, bouncing up and down like James Bond’s favourite cocktail (shaken, not stirred), and then the hike (I have calves like the Hulk now), and then unpacking all the gear, and the sound crew taping mikes to our clammy, sweaty bodies - and then rehearsals, and then, filming.

And in between my cries of ‘Has anybody seen my bag?’ (surely to whichever deity you may believe in, the crew must be sick and tired of me asking that), and fits of giggles with Benny, there are sandwiches, and water with electrolytes, and sugar sweets and bananas, there is direction from Eliška and Adam, and ‘just to the left, two steps forward… there!’ from DOP Filip, and ‘Copy that!’ from Fra, and, of course there is José with a stentorian ‘Settle … and … Action!’…

…it’s just another day’s filming in the deepest part of Gorropu Canyon.

⬆️ Urzulei in the morning (pic by me)

10th May

Today is possibly the toughest day in the canyon so far. Fra is fearless, storming ahead, but this old boy has assistance from two proper guides, Tore and Jean Batiste, who make sure that I have the right headgear, and that I am putting my correctly-shod feet in the right place at the right time, so as to avoid injury and potentially another helicopter situation. I am grateful.

The route to the deepest part of the canyon (so deep you could lose the Empire State Building in it, if you remember) was difficult, stepping from rock to rock and squeezing through narrow gaps between boulders, but this is twenty minutes of something else entirely. I am encouraged to use hands and feet, sliding down some surfaces on my backside, whatever way that works and is safe.

Jean Batiste says: ‘Try and find the easiest way to get through this.’ I reply: ‘That’s how I’ve tried to live my entire life.’ He laughs. He’s a good audience.

And to the filming, where Luigi and Juraj meet up for the first time on a ledge halfway up a cliffside, closely followed by Luigi’s band of dusty misfits. Then we find ourselves at the entrance to a cave that looks dark and foreboding. What happens next? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see…

⬆️ Fra, defying gravity (pic by me)

11th May

So that’s it. filming is over for now, and most of us will be returning in July for a cluster of night shoots and probably some equally mad scenes, and then we’ll be in Prague for a few days in September or October to finish off some stuff.

We all kind of bounce around Cala Gonone like lost souls today. There’s packing, and there are naps, and in the evening, there’s a barbecue and a bonfire on the beach (probably not that legal, but we had the help of some spearfishing cops who didn’t seem too bothered by it).

And there’s music and beer and wine and Mirto (a sweet local liqueur) and Sardinian sausage and some weird sheep cheese that is fermented in a sheep’s stomach (thanks to José and his quest for the world’s most unusual foods) and there are speeches and people jump over the fire (I don’t) and there are tears and hugs and it’s pretty sad and happy at the same time.

End of part one. But part two of the Luigi diary will be back in July. I hope you’ll join me again then.

In the meantime, I’d like you to do me a favour: if you’ve been reading this on your mobile phone, I know there’s been a formatting problem, which I think I’ve fixed - please revisit the diary and let me know if you can read it more easily.

And don’t forget to follow @luigi.film on Instagram to keep up to date on all things Luigi-based.

Finally, if you’re expecting a poem, I’m afraid I’ve not quite finished it yet. It’s called Fluid Situation and it should be posted in the next couple of days.

⬆️ Moonrise over the Tyrrhenian (pic by Benny)