Wrath of "The Purge"

WHILE MANY Hollywood films convey the devastating outcome of violence and crime, “The Purge” by James Demonaco tackles an interesting theory – can violence kill off violence?
The story is set in America nine years into the future, when crime and unemployment rates are at an all-time low because of an annual 12-hour “purge” – when all crime is legal and everyone can go on sprees of robbery, rape and even murder. The Sanden family, wealthy from selling home-security systems, comes up against a purge that will change their lives forever.
Starring Ethan Hawke and Lena Heady, “The Purge” is Demonaco’s second movie after “Little New York”, which starred Hawke as well. Demonaco is also producer and screenwriter for “Purge”.
We had a chat with him on the phone ahead of the movie’s release in Thailand.

THE FILM IS A PHENOMENAL SUCCESS. DID YOU SEE THAT COMING?
Not at all! [Laughs] We were actually thinking it’s such a strange film and were hoping for only a small release. Instead we had this huge opening and we were over the moon. I was blindsided that people were taking in such a concept. It’s a tiny film that has been seen by so many people. It’s amazing!

WAS IT TOUGH TO PRODUCE, WRITE AND DIRECT A FILM?
Yes. Writing and directing on their own can be overwhelming. I can’t imagine directing something someone else wrote, so for me it’s almost one and the same thing. Directing is just an extension of what you started.
A screenplay is not a novel – it doesn’t exist on its own. It needs that next step, which is putting it on the big screen. I was lucky. I had very nice, supportive team. We made the film on a small budget so, in a way, the pressure was even greater. And we had such a small amount of
 time and didn’t have the big tools, so you have to be very creative on how to finish things and get it done on time.

WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT THIS FILM?
What we made is not a typical Hollywood film, there’s no real hero, and there’s a lot of grey area. I find Ethan Hawke’s character an amoral, corrupt man who makes money out of a very grotesque system in this future America. That’s very rare in a Hollywood movie.
And I think the beauty of it is that the small budget we had allowed us creative control. The studio didn’t interfere because they only worry about a movie that costs $200 million, and we only cost $3 million. Someone told me this was the smallest-budget film Universal has ever made. So they were like, “Oh, yeah, it’s that little movie. Let them do what they want.” [Laughs]

WHERE DID THE MOVIE’S CONCEPT COME FROM?
I was living in Paris while making my last film and I realised that no one in France has a gun, whereas in America everyone has one. And then I was living in Canada on another movie I was working on and it was the same thing. People left their doors unlocked at night, which is unheard of in America.
So I started looking at America. I think we’re very fearful nation. My wife said something very horrible one day after a driver on the road almost killed us. She was very angry and said, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if we were allowed one free murder a year?”
That statement stayed with me for almost a year. And then I looked at violence in America that helped forge the idea of this new “holiday” where America accepted violence and for one night allowed people to purge their hatred and release their aggression. I hoped it to be thought-provoking. That’s the idea.

IS THERE AN UNDERLYING MESSAGE?
It’s at the most simplistic level: violence is an awful thing. But, you know, I don’t really have the answers to all of this.
The mom says towards the ending of the film, “ No more killing tonight,” which is actually the idea. And there’s a little bit in the movie that talks about social classes in America, the treatment of the poor and the homeless.
But I don’t want to preach too heavily. I just hope, for a little bit, that people will be disgusted by violence and by how we treat the poor. It’s great to get people talking about these issues after they watch the film.

DID YOUR WIFE LIKE THE MOVIE, THEN?
She did. She was terrified, and that’s the effect I’m looking for. I don’t want people to leave feeling good. She’s still very upset, though, that I tell people the story about what she said. My wife’s a paediatrician – she wouldn’t normally say things like that!

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?
Probably “The Purge Part 2”. When something’s successful in America, they want to see a Part 2. I actually think I can answer some questions and expand on the idea of what I was trying to say about violence in America and humanity, and maybe make the movie a little bigger and show what’s happening in the inner city.

SNEAKING IN
“The Purge” opens next Thursday with sneak previews at 8 nightly at most multiplexes before the wide release on August 15.