Every time a comes out new movie by M. Night Shyamalan It always causes discussion, since it is often a horror-thriller that focuses on a plot twist sensational that goes hand in hand with the current theme that the film speaks for. Trapin theaters from August 7th, is no exception, or maybe it is: we talked about it with the person directly involved and with the protagonist Josh Hartnettwhich the director brings back to the big screen after his collaboration with Guy Ritchie and Christopher Nolan and the serial parenthesis of Penny Dreadful and an episode of Black Mirror.
Hartnett plays a father, Cooper, who, together with his teenage daughter Jody (Ariel Donoghue), goes to the concert of her idol, Lady Ravento discover that it is actually a trap set by the authorities to frame The Butcher, a serial killer who is terrorizing the city and who in reality… is him! Here’s what they told us in our interview at the Fan Event in the capital on the occasion of the film’s release in cinemas.
Trap: A Different Film Than Usual for Shyamalan
Josh Hartnett and Ariel Donoghue father and daughter in the film
From this premise alone it is clear how the film starts from Shyamalan Twist rather than getting there, giving a different narrative tension to the film, with a different point of view and a greater (self)irony. The Indian American director says: “When I make a film I want to create something unique that will capture the attention of the audience, compared to other films already existing. Something that you remember and that will grab your heart, that will make you say ‘Oh yes I remember that film!’
Regarding the Roman location chosen to close the promotion he has no doubts: “Finishing the film tour in Italy is almost symbolic, since it is not the first time I come to present one, also because Rome represents an important part of the history of cinema and connection with art and culture. I feel it is the right place”. Hartnett echoes him: “Rome is the sexiest city on the planet!”
The lead actor continues, hoping that the audience will enjoy watching the film as much as he enjoyed shooting it: “Cooper is very different and far from the characters I’ve had the opportunity to play so far. It was a big challenge but I knew Night was the right guy to help me bring him to the stage and push the boundaries. It doesn’t come from an algorithm. It’s rare to play something like that these days, maybe a once in a lifetime opportunity, he’s very dark as a character. You shouldn’t feel guilty if you find yourself loving him and rooting for him, he has to have his own charm. It doesn’t mean you’re a psychopath (laughs). It’s part of the game that Night has so skillfully put on and it’s a testament to his ability as a director.”.
Such an extreme character that to interpret it you have to skip the emotional path and get directly to the prize, to the sweets so to speak: he lacks empathy and on the set they discussed a lot about how some people end up being like that. We asked the filmmaker if he has a Shyamalan Twist since it is the element that made him famous in the world: “Mine? Oh God, I don’t know… This is a difficult one: they are all my children. I don’t have a favorite.”
The relationship between parents and children
Saleka, Shyamalan’s daughter, is Lady Raven.
Speaking of family relationships, Trap is a movie between parents and children in front of and behind the camera. In fact, everything started with the Shyamalans, as the director says: “Our house is like a mini art school (laughs). If you come in you find someone who paints, someone else who works with ceramics, someone who writes poems or designs clothes, and so on. There is an artistic connection between us and I find it an aspect that unites us. With Saleka, my eldest daughterwe were thinking of a film that combined two of these arts together, cinema and music“.
Continues M. Night Shyamalan: “I wanted him to compose an album specifically for a feature film and for his lyrics to speak to the viewers, in an ironic and emotional way. How to fit it into the plot? I didn’t want to copy too much Purple Rain which is set in a club and it took the perfect place where people could listen to an entire album: a concert! It fit perfectly with the story and the fact that the protagonist was trapped in it, unable to get out and looking at everything from an internal point of view”.
Hartnett is more reluctant on this front: “If my children want to become actors, of course I will support them, but I really hope they don’t choose acting as a career (laughs). I certainly won’t give them any instructions in that regard, also because they are the ones directing me: I have no respect in my house (laughs). They are still young but they already have a lot of opinions, they are very perceptive and usually right, so that’s fine (laughs)”.
Since we’re talking about children, how did they find working on this film as parents? We asked the people directly involved. Shyamalan says: “Probably. Because Saleka is an incredible artist, that’s the main reason. Her music, the way we spent so much time making a real concert. The concert in the film is a real one. Josh and the other performers were acting as the show went on. I think the love I put into that concert was partly motivated by Saleka’s presence.”
Hartnett closes: “I played a father when I was younger, before I had kids, and I felt like an impostor. Now I don’t feel like that anymore. I feel like an older man who’s been through it more than once now (he has three kids, ed.). So I definitely felt more involved and like I finally had the right to it than when I was younger and I was trying to do it without fully understanding that role.”.
