The Making of "The Rook" – Part One
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"The Rook" took place in a part of my career which, if filmed, could be called, "The Replacement. It was a point in my career where people hired me to replace other people.
Line producers and assistant directors in film are like general managers and managers in baseball. No one really notices them until things go awry, and then people look to fire them.
When I came aboard this film, they were in the first week of shooting. The production manager, Carrie, had sold herself as being more experienced than she was, and going into the first week they were already way over budget.
I came into the office at the end of the third day of production. The director, Eran, was looking over dailies on a Steenbeck with the editor and co-producer. I watched a little of the footage with them, and then we talked about the problems on the film.
They knew they were over budget. Nothing seemed to ever be ready on time. Carrie had not left, and they had told her that I was there to help her. They handed me the script.
I went home and read the script. I was confused. I had started out as an actor and stage manager in theater. I had read many scripts. This one, I just could not figure out. It turned out that I was not alone.
Eran, the director, later described the script as a vision of the future as seen by people in the past. The plot revolved around a religious man who comes to a small town that is part of a revolution. Religious people run the country.
Which religion? Which country? What time period? None of these things are clear in the script, and indeed, this is the way Eran liked it. The country seems European, but is never named. The people are driven around in horse and carriages, but they have telephones and ""thinking machines" that seem like old computers.
The next day, Carrie and I went to set. All the way there, she told me how she thought Van, the assistant director, was an arrogant guy who wanted to run the set his way. I just smiled to myself. I had worked as an assistant director, and thought to myself how many people might describe me in much the same manner. I was going to see for myself.
