USA: WOODY HARRELSON PUTS HIS ENVIRONMENTAL BELIEFS INTO PRACTICE ON THE SET OF HIS LATEST FILM "PALMETTO"

Record ID: 387459

  • Title: USA: WOODY HARRELSON PUTS HIS ENVIRONMENTAL BELIEFS INTO PRACTICE ON THE SET OF HIS LATEST FILM "PALMETTO"
  • Date: 17th February 1998
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 17) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) ELISABETH SHUE SAYING, "WELL, WE REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO MAKE STRAIGHT FILM NOIR, BECAUSE THE STORY'S BEEN TOLD SO MANY TIMES AND IT'S BEEN DONE SO WELL, THAT WHY REPEAT IT, SO WE REALLY HAD TO COME UP WITH A WAY THAT WOULD MAKE IT DIFFERENT AND WE JUST THOUGHT THAT WE JUST WOULDN'T TAKE IT SO SERIOUSLY. THERE IS ACTUALLY A CAMPINESS TO FILM NOIR AND THAT THESE WERE ALMOST ACTORS ACTING OUT FILM NOIR. THEY ALMOST SAW THEMSELVES IN A FILM NOIR MOVIE AND THAT'S, I THINK, WHAT LIBERATED US FROM TAKING IT SO SERIOUSLY." (SOUNDBITE GERMAN) VOLKER SCHLONDORFF SAYING, "OF COURSE I'M FAMILIAR WITH THE STYLE OF GERMAN DIRECTORS WITH ALL THE CREATIVITY...THE TEUTONIC, ERMAN-MADE STYLE AND THE DREAM, FOR EVERYONE OF COURSE IS THE HOLLYWOOD FILM, THE GANGSTER FILM, THE FILM NOIR AND, OF COURSE, I GREW UP WITH THESE KINDS OF THINGS AND WHEN I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY IN HOLLYWOOD TO DO THIS KIND OF FILM, I WAS VERY INSPIRED BY HARRY BARBER THROUGH ELISABETH SHUE."
  • Embargoed: 4th March 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA3DSS4RMEL0HRPMF2TKNZO39JV
  • Story Text: - Woody Harrelson put his well-publicised environmental beliefs into practice on the set of his latest film "Palmetto" and at the film's world premiere in Los Angeles last week (on February 17).

    On the set, the actor refused to allow ozone-depleting air conditioning, while at the premiere, he gave up the traditional gas-guzzling limousine and arrived in an electric-powered car -- out of sight of cameras.

    Harrelson stars in "Palmetto" opposite Elisabeth Shue, Gina Gershon, Michael Rapaport and Chloe Sevigny.He plays former newspaper reporter Harry Barber, a man who has just been released from two years in prison after being framed for a crime he didn't commit.

    Following his release, he comes home to the sleepy seaside Florida town of Palmetto, a chronically-corrupt hamlet sweltering under a muggy heat wave.

    Harry gets back with his artist girlfriend (Gershon) but soon is distracted when he meets the voluptuous and mysterious Rhea Malroux, played by Shue.

    Malroux wants Harry to help her execute a "simple" plan involving kidnapping and extortion.All Harry has to do is make a phone call to her rich husband saying he has kidnapped his daughter Odette, (played by Sevigny) who will be safely hiding in Miami, then collect a 500,000 dollar ransom.His reward is 10 percent of the ransom...50,000 dollars.

    The plan gets complicated when Malroux's brutal bodyguard Donnelly gets involved."Copland" co-star Michael Rapaport plays Donnelly.

    "Palmetto" is directed by German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff.The director won an Academy Award for his earlier film "The Tin Drum," which also won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.

    His other credits include "The Ogre" with John Malkovich and the television version of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salemsman" starring Dustin Hoffman.

    "Palmetto" is based on a novel by British author Rene Raymond, who, in the 1930's, wrote a series of crime novels under the pseudonym of James Hadley Chase.He became one of England's leading pulp novelists and although relatively unknown in America, is still a favourite among readers across Europe.

    "Palmetto" has the feel and look of classic film noir thrillers like "The Big Sleep" and "Double Indemnity," but updates the genre by setting the story in the 90's and adding a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humour.

    The film was shot throughout the palm-lined resort towns of the Gulf Coast of Florida in towns including Sarasota, Fort Myers, Arcadia and Venice.Although there is a Florida town called Palmetto, the filmmakers specifically avoided that touch of reality.

    But they did heighten the reality by shooting the film in the early summer, when the Florida temperatures and notorious humidity started to take a toll on the cast and crew.To make matters worse, Harrelson's objection to any air conditioning meant the crew and his co-stars had to suffer sweaty days and sticky nights on the set.

    Both Shue and Gershon agree, though, that the humidity added to the mood of the film, especially during the love scenes between old friends Shue and Harrelson.

    "Palmetto" is now playing in theatres throughout the United States.
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