THE FILMS THAT GOT AWAY
TRIBUTE TO RUTGER HAUER 25.07.2019
EQUINOX - ANOTHER FILM THAT GOT AWAY
As a tribute to RUTGER HAUER and to honour his memory,
I will reveal the story of our first meeting, which marked the beginning of our relationship.
In 1985 I wrote the original screenplay EQUINOX which I planned to produce and direct. It was an expensive, spectacular, post-apocalyptic epic, new at that time. EQUINOX attracted interest right away. Casting got underway for the leading parts.
My first meeting with Rutger Hauer was set up and lunch was arranged at an exclusive London restaurant. This big man was trembling with excitement, when he walked in and extended his large hand for a first handshake. He had read the screenplay and was so taken with it and the prospect of working together, that it created a charge between us; lunch became an emotional event which extended late into the afternoon (we kept the restaurant open), we were both living the film. We hit it off tremendously.
Rutger committed to the film that very day, and even volunteered to reduce his “top star fee” if required in order to facilitate
the making of the film.
HANDMADE got cold feet and the production of EQUINOX took me on a bizarre visit to Hollywood. I returned to London to seek finance on familiar ground, where in the meantime EQUINOX had acquired a cult reputation despite the fact that the screenplay had been read by very few people. I was offered exorbitant sums to sell the screenplay but refused. Rutger Hauer stood by me and we decided to make EQUINOX at a later date. Sadly the film was never made, and alas Rutger Hauer left us this week.
I will reveal the story of our first meeting, which marked the beginning of our relationship.
In 1985 I wrote the original screenplay EQUINOX which I planned to produce and direct. It was an expensive, spectacular, post-apocalyptic epic, new at that time. EQUINOX attracted interest right away. Casting got underway for the leading parts.
My first meeting with Rutger Hauer was set up and lunch was arranged at an exclusive London restaurant. This big man was trembling with excitement, when he walked in and extended his large hand for a first handshake. He had read the screenplay and was so taken with it and the prospect of working together, that it created a charge between us; lunch became an emotional event which extended late into the afternoon (we kept the restaurant open), we were both living the film. We hit it off tremendously.
Rutger committed to the film that very day, and even volunteered to reduce his “top star fee” if required in order to facilitate
the making of the film.
HANDMADE got cold feet and the production of EQUINOX took me on a bizarre visit to Hollywood. I returned to London to seek finance on familiar ground, where in the meantime EQUINOX had acquired a cult reputation despite the fact that the screenplay had been read by very few people. I was offered exorbitant sums to sell the screenplay but refused. Rutger Hauer stood by me and we decided to make EQUINOX at a later date. Sadly the film was never made, and alas Rutger Hauer left us this week.
_______________________________________________
"VOLCANO" WAS THE FIRST FILM THAT GOT AWAY
VOLCANO SKETCHES from Michael Papas on Vimeo.
When THE PRIVATE RIGHT was delivered the National Film Finance Corporation was so impressed that they were interested right away in the next film by Michael Papas. MP had met Pantelis Prevalakis, the Cretan writer, in Athens, who was equally impressed by THE PRIVATE RIGHT and offered the director the pick of all his works for a film. Michael Papas chose sections from a book about the History of Crete and the last part of the play "IPHESTIO".
Michael Papas researched the period – 19th Century Crete, drew from the Prevelakis source material and wrote a grand-scale screenplay VOLCANO about the turbulent years when Crete was occupied by the Ottomans. Each generation of Cretans would rise up against their occupiers, the Turks would crush them, when the next generation grew up they would rise again, and so on. In the uprising of 1866 the Monastery of Arkadi became the centre of resistance and a place of refuge for women and children.
Michael Papas had a strong visual concept for the film: costumes never before seen on the screen, colour schemes never before employed, a variation on the "Western" on an epic scale - the Cretans led by their “Capitans” dressed in traditional black and white outfits and high black boots, riding white horses, and the Ottoman occupation armies led by their Pasha, dressed in glorious reds; these two forces flying over the Cretan landscapes (in 70mm) across open steppes and stormy mountain locations - ending at the baroque Monastery of Arkadi where the Capitans, the people of the surrounding area, and the fiery Abbot Gabriel hold out against the might of the Turkish army. The Turks stage a spectacular siege and finally bring in a giant cannon to destroy the thick walls of the monastery. In the climactic massive finale, the Abbott blows up the monastery by setting fire to the tons of gunpowder stored in its basement, the Cretans sacrifice themselves, at the same time destroying the Pasha and Turkish armies who were entering the monastery in triumph..
When the final print of THE PRIVATE RIGHT was finished Michael Papas screened it to Paul Fletcher the general secretary of the NFFC who was overwhelmed by it, put his feet up on the chairs and asked MP what he wanted to do next. The two of them were alone in the large Bowater preview theatre and MP unfolded the story of VOLCANO and his cinematic concept “shot-for-shot”, a spectacular adventure with imagery never before seen, a prestigious yet accessible production. The year was 1966, Michael Papas had written the screenplay and his friend the composer Nicos Mamangakis (THE PRIVATE RIGHT) had already composed sections of the music.
Paul Fletcher was “mesmerized” - he not only promised NFFC participation but also got British Lion involvement. John Boulting, (he and his brother Roy headed British Lion), was equally taken by THE PRIVATE RIGHT (he had to stop its screening and rush upstairs to his office to gulp a double whisky before he could see the rest of it) and by the concept and script of VOLCANO. Within days British Lion had boarded the production which was designed to be one of the most impressive British films of that year.
Ink and pencil drawings by Michael Papas of Sean Connery as the Abbot (L), Gregoire Aslan as the Pasha (C) and Sean Connery again (R)
Michael Papas was considering Sean Connery - who had just made his name in the first James Bond pictures - for the role of the Abbot Gabriel – an impressive figure: tall, bearded, in flying black robes. But this choice was considered too risky. For the Pasha he wanted Gregory Aslan, and an array of English and Greek actors for the plethora of other important parts. John Boulting wanted Yul Brynner (who was the top star of that period) to play the Pasha. MP explained that he wanted a treacherous, lecherous Pasha, the Butcher of Crete (who also exercised his right to deflower Cretan virgins prior to their wedding night) and rejected Yul Brynner who would have made him too sympathetic, too likeable. John Boulting insisted. NFFC supported MP. There was a stalemate. Michael Papas stuck to his guns, so did John Boulting... and the film was never made.
COMING UP
THE NEXT FILM THAT GOT AWAY WAS "SUMMER GHOSTS"
WITH ALEXIS KANNER ("THE PRISONER") AND ORSON WELLES AND/OR LAURENCE OLIVIER AS "THE PSYCHOLOGIST".
THE NEXT FILM THAT GOT AWAY WAS "SUMMER GHOSTS"
WITH ALEXIS KANNER ("THE PRISONER") AND ORSON WELLES AND/OR LAURENCE OLIVIER AS "THE PSYCHOLOGIST".