Director and Cast – / Movie

/ Film had the opportunity to sit down with the screenwriter / director at the SXSW 2019 Film Festival Riley Stearns and members of the cast Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen sprouts, and Alessandro Nivola to discuss the upcoming release of Bleecker Street, The art of defending yourself.

Since this funny black comedy takes place in the world of dojo martial arts gyms, it made sense that the press conference takes place in a dojo gym in Austin. As such, the rules were strict, including the lack of shoes on the carpet. Since the film itself is obsessed with the rules and peculiarities of the karate world, it was appropriate.

Bleecker Street will open The art of defending yourself sure July 12, 2019.

Riley, how did you get the idea of ​​the movie?

Riley Stearns: I have been practicing jujitsu for about six years now. I really wanted to write something in the world of what I had fun doing and I also thought that defining something in the world of karate, but then exploring ideas that you might not want exploring seemed interesting. It just becomes a nice organic process once I realized that it would be a martial arts film and that I would put my own ideas, my fears and my thoughts. It's coming pretty fast.

What attracted you to the project?

Jesse Eisenberg: To be honest, when I read it for the first time (the first five pages or so), I thought I did not want to do it because it seemed to me to be some sort of well-told story about a modest man trying to gain self-confidence. But I found it so funny that I simply continued to read out of curiosity because the dialogue was very entertaining and I realized that this idea was totally reversed. The film is a very intelligent commentary, funny but also insightful, contrary to the lost aspirations of masculinity. Thus, while the worn-out structure of a character who gains self-confidence through physical activity has already been practiced, this kind of subvert this idea and makes you understand that his aspirations to this type of trust flow of idiotic notions of what masculinity or ideals of masculinity.

Imogen sprouts: I thought it was one of the best things I read. I just loved it. This gave me the opportunity to rage and I was delighted, but no, I just thought it was the funniest scenario. I liked the characters and loved the story. When I read it, Jesse was already part of it and I absolutely wanted to do it. I just liked it and then everything came together.

Alessandro Nivola: I imagine that I like very much the idea of ​​playing someone who is both very funny and really scary. (Laughs)

Imogen sprouts: Very.

Jesse Eisenberg: Like this answer. Case in point.

How much training was involved in the preparation for the role?

Jesse Eisenberg: Imogen and I practiced karate a lot because we had some time before the film and Alessandro did not have that much time but they had to do more.

Imogen sprouts: I had a few sessions with a coach, Mindy [Kelly]who is brilliant. She is an expert in karate.

Jesse Eisenberg: She is one of the best in the world.

Riley Stearns: She is an expert especially specialized in the stuff for the cinema and a little bit.

Imogen sprouts: She kind of started us in the same way. She was amazing and then Alessandra, he had no time.

Alessandro Nivola: I had 48 hours, but each of those 48 hours was a little sweat-stained

It paid off.

Riley Stearns: She entered my hotel room and went there for two days. It was awesome.

Jesse Eisenberg: Clarification needed. (Laughs)

Alessandro Nivola: Are you just going to comment on everything?

Jesse Eisenberg: Yeah.

Now that you are trained in karate for a movie, do you think you would be able to defend yourself in the street?

Imogen sprouts: The other day I was walking to Sudbury. It does not matter where it is, it's in Ontario. But I was walking and I felt really nervous. I was like, oh, yes, I know how to have a hash. So, I said to myself – in the worst case, I could just throw a chop and everything will be fine. But it was totally …

Riley Stearns: Chop and run.

Imogen sprouts: Chop and run. I feel that I could try that if need be.

Alessandro Nivola: I know how to put my finger in the forehead of a guy.

Imogen sprouts: From the annual like?

Alessandro Nivola: To the point. If I only used it if I was really in trouble.

Jesse Eisenberg: Say that, definitely.

Riley Stearns: And you, Jesse?

Jesse Eisenberg: Nope. (Laughs) I can not do anything, but that's part of the charm … of the weakness.

What were some of the challenges encountered in making the film?

Riley Stearns: I would say that the biggest challenge of any movie is always the time. You feel like you're out of time, especially with an independent film like ours. We had big pieces of action. We worked with dogs. We were children. We worked on motorcycles. There are all these moving parts and if something goes wrong, it affects everything else. You always think of the coming days that will be hard but at the same time, you must be present the day you are there. I think juggling all of this is stressful, but in a fun way and a rewarding experience once you've gone through.

Jesse Eisenberg: In addition, the tone of the film is very unusual, that is to say that the comedy is not comical but very funny. It's not as if the people who made the movie were winking at the audience or letting it be known that it was sure to laugh. It's a very unusual comic relationship with people watching it. I think we were all – Riley's scenario, as Imogene said, is one of the funniest things I've ever read. She said that. I have read and thought about that. I had the same thought and so I think we all knew, no? Did you know that even if you arrived early enough before the movie?

Alessandro Nivola: I did not know what the tone was before I thought the third day would be a good thing when Riley called me to tell me I was wrong.

Riley Stearns: He lies. (Laughs) I remember that there was one – I forgot who told me that, but you were reading something in the truck to go to work or anything someday . The line on this subject is your belt: "It's yours, it's sacred. Do not come to class without your belt, "and then you say it will be fifteen dollars if you lose it. You just realized that it's actually the funniest thing you've read and that I think that sort of thing, when you go after a little thing, you can make decisions that illuminate the rest of the movie . I think we all had to be on the same page. It's a lot of confidence.

Alessandro Nivola: I remember that one of my challenges was simply finding where to breathe the speeches I had.

Riley Stearns: He has a lot of monologues in the movie and that's the nature of all the martial arts classes you attend. The instructor always starts the course with a little something but definitely ends the course with a speech. At the end of each class, you do a monologue.

Alessandro Nivola: But the way they are written is that, if you wish, they must be delivered from start to finish, without a break. If you take a break, it's done. It's almost like singing or something like that. You must determine how much you can go out before you run out of steam. I remember that.

Riley Stearns: Sorry. (Laughs)

Is it a challenge to do the monologue while doing karate movements?

Alessandro Nivola: Yes, my boy It was a very big challenge. It was the first day of filming, the moment I had to talk about my shopping and do it. It was like the main routine of karate. The day before, I had just started the karate routine without dialogue, then Jesse's sister, who is herself a great actress, was also working on the film and she helped me learn all the dialogue, so I am very grateful. to her for help me.

Riley Stearns: I have forgotten that. We all love Hallie!

Jesse, how exciting was it to come back to the Zombieland universe for the sequel that will come out later this year?

Jesse Eisenberg: Oh that's good. It's funny because I do it now, but we also do the press for this film and it gives me a glimpse of different types of comedy. The art of defending yourself is a kind of risky comedy to do. The art of defending yourselfit's because you really trust that the audience will understand the kind of narrow margins of tone. I'm doing a much more accessible comedy now …Zombieland, C & # 39; is. It's also very fun, of course, but the tone is clear and explicit.

Imogen sprouts: As wider?

Jesse Eisenberg: Yes, but it's also a sign that the audience is so funny that you know it's funny, that you know our situation is not exactly that of worrying you, The art of defending yourself never really do that. This tells the public that the critical situation we are facing is very real and very serious. And if people laugh at it, what do I imagine that they are going all and most of them. It's a bit like they're alone. We never tell them it's okay to laugh now, but it's great. As an actor, it's a gift to be able to do things like that. They are few because they are probably a little harder to do.

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