Shooting in a Ring of Fire

Interview with Richard Martini. By Clint Morris

Early last year big-time American film studio Destination Films pulled the plug. Down went the films of the studio too, films which have since sat there on the shelf gathering dust. Now, thanks to Columbia Tri-Star Home Video in Australia, one of the films, Ring Of Fire, a bull riding epic starring Kiefer Sutherland and Daryl Hannah, will see the light of day. In this exclusive interview, Clint Morris talks to second Unit director, Richard Martini, about the film, it's high profile cast and working in Hollywood as a movie maker.

Clint: Ring of Fire is on the eve of its Video Release Here in Australia. How difficult a project was it to make?

Richard: Wow. I had no idea it was coming out. It's been sitting on a shelf here because the original distributor went belly up. Sorry to hear it's not going to be on the big screen, but at least everyone's work will be seen. Xavier Kollar directed the film, I was only the 2nd unit director. Which was an honor to do, cause I got to get into the chutes with the bull riders. The film was shot on the fly, low budget, etc, but the producers asked me to go out and get the raw footage of rodeos around California. It's always hard to make a film, and matching action and stunts from 2nd to first unit was difficult - I did my best to make sure what I was shooting blended in with what Xavier was doing. That being said, you have no idea the adrenaline rush it is to be in a chute with a 3000-pound bull that only wants to crush you. And then they open a gate and he gets a chance to do just that! It's really much closer to Gladiator sport than any I can think of, and these young guys throw their bodies against these bulls and somehow come out on top. The whole milieu, with the prize buckles, the 'buckle bunnies' - cowboy hats, tobacco juice, bar fights - even the way they talk is old Americana - I got the impression in this bull riding school in Nipomo, California, a few hours from LA, they were acting/talking/cowboying the way it had been done for 200 years. Robert Redford's son wrote the script, and it's unusual as he was able to get into the world of these bull riders, and their equally important counterparts - the 'rodeo clown' who is known as a bull fighter in their parlance. It's an amazing world, and the story hasn't been told before.

Clint: There are numerous movies about bull riders. got a favorite? and how do you think Ring of Fire compares?

Richard: There's never been a great film about this sport. There are two I can think of; "8 Seconds" and another I can't name. They always screw it up. The problem is that when a movie begins they never give enough time for these amazing stunts that have to be done properly - after all, if you're going to get your principal in with a 3000 lb. bull the insurance company will go nuts. So doubles are used, cameras are placed in various safe locations. But it's got to be real. And it's hard to get a bull to do what's scripted. Especially an angry one. During the filming of the action scenes, I became B camera so that Xavier could get a variety of angles. The Director of Photography at one point had at least six cameras in the high speed for the slo-mo sequences, which are really stunning to see. Ring of Fire is the first film I've seen that actually gets into the ring, as well as amazing footage shot at the Finals in Las Vegas. I know that action sequences have never been seen before, and I'm glad I got a chance to do some of them.

Clint: Kiefer Sutherland is only now on the verge of a comeback - how was he on the film?

Richard: Kiefer's a consummate professional. Since he was playing a `bull fighter,' rodeo clown in the film, he did this amazing thing at the first location during the Bull Riding finals in Las Vegas - He took the six or so professional bull fighters out to dinner, then took them to gambling tables, gave them a thousand bucks each. I know that Kiefer lost money making this film - he did it purely out of respect and love for these guys. I remember at one point he asked one of the championship fighters if he'd ever 'lost a rider.' This guy stared at Kiefer, these tears welling up in his eyes, and said nothing. The tears began to roll down his cheeks and you realized that these guys live to save the lives of those guys on the bulls, and it destroys them when someone gets trampled, or in the case of this guy's memory - dies. Most people don't know that Kiefer has cowboy in his blood - after he did a cowboy flick with Woody Harrelson, he actually left Hollywood, bought a huge ranch up in central California, and became a cattle rancher. Just stepped out of the limelight, and while he was at it, decided to take up professional cattle roping - you've seen it at rodeos, two guys who chase down a calf and are timed while doing it. Well, I'll be damned if he didn't become the champion at that sport - he and his partner won the championship the year that he competed, or they place in the top 3 - my memory is fuzzy on where they finished. But he can rope as good as Will Rogers.

Clint: Can you tell me something about "Ring of Fire" that most people wouldn't know?

Richard: And you want me to work in this town again? Something funny, I directed Daryl Hannah in her first film, a student film while we were at USC as students 20 years ago. She looked around one day and saw me and said, "What the hell are you doing here?" And I said, "Oh, you'll never see me on the set, I'm directing second unit." And she said, "You don't look like you're doing anything. I think you're making that up!" I still think she thinks I was just hanging around the set. Most people don't know that the director won an Oscar for best foreign film.

Clint: You worked as an assistant to Robert Towne out of film school - was this great experience?

Richard: A bath by fire. Robert was directing his first feature "Personal Best" and I was his dog walker, typed up all the copies of the new pages, and even directed some second unit on the film. Not because he asked me. Because we had a B camera and the editor Bud Smith was whining about stuff he needed to cut the film together - so I snagged the B camera guys and we shot inserts of clocks and whatnot. Funny story, we were shooting in Eugene Oregon, a crowd of 5000 extras - and the Assistant Directors were treating the extras like, well, extras. Yelling and cajoling them. I, on the other hand, was doing mostly comic routines with them, and one day I had to run off to LA and turn in my first script (My Champion with Yoko Shimada). I told the AD I'd be back late on Monday and he said, "Oh, I guess someone else will have to walk the dog." So I wind up at the track field around 10 am, and as I walk into the stadium I hear this chanting going on... "We want Martini." I thought it was a "Twilight Zone" episode. Turns out the extras thought I was fired or something and refused to answer to any of the A.D's. They had been on strike for an hour and refused to budge. So with 5000 people chanting "We want Martini" I walk into the stadium and this huge roar goes up. Robert Towne comes over to me, grabs me by the lapels and says in a purple rage: "Why are you doing this to me?" He thought I had arranged this sit down strike for something - maybe to take over the film. I quickly explained that it must be that the AD's were rude, so he picked up the megaphone and said "You wanted Martini, I brought you Martini. No one on this movie crew is allowed to speak to an extra again.. unless it's through Martini." The crowd went wild. It was odd. It's still odd, even as I recount it.

Clint: I have one of your films in my video collection, Three for The Road, what was your involvement?

Richard: I've written and/or directed six films. "Cannes Man" is coming out on DV next month, let me know if it makes it to Oz. "Point of Betrayal" with Rod Taylor and Dina Merrill is still searching for a foreign dist., but "Limit Up," and "You Can't Hurry Love" have been in video stores in Sydney. "Three For the Road" was the first feature I wrote (after "My Champion") and starred Charlie Sheen, his next picture after "Platoon." I was pretty excited when I went to see him on location and he said, "Forget it - the reason I did this movie was I loved your script, but they've re-written it and it sucks now." I thought he was kidding. I can verify the only funny things in "Three For The Road" is the stuff I wrote. I wasn't invited to a screening of the film, so I bought a ticket on opening night at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood there were only 8 people in the 3000-seat theater. A disaster. The reviews said, "whoever wrote this should go back to film school." I couldn't picket the theater and say "They screwed up my script!" so I did the next best thing - started directing my own films. "You Can't Hurry Love" came next. Of course you haven't seen most of them, so I can tell you, they are hilarious beyond your wildest imagination.

Clint: Charlie Sheen would have been at the peak of his bad-boy drugs, sex and rock n roll stage then, yes?

Richard: No, Charlie was amazingly sane and focused. A funny guy. I'm just sorry I wasn't directing the film. But what can you do? He's gone through some wild days since then, but he seems to be on the other side of that. He and his brother Emilio are talented filmmakers - wish they had more material that was up to their potential.

Clint: Looking back at what you have done now filmwise - what's the best thing you've worked on?

Richard: I enjoy them all. "You Can't Hurry Love" was fun, because it was the first. The first day we were shooting, we were down near the pier in Santa Monica setting up a shot with Tony Geary and David Packer. I was wearing my usual tennies and a jacket, and a guy jogs up and says, "Hey, what are they shooting?" And I said "Oh, some teen comedy. I think Charles Grodin and Bridget Fonda are in it." He said, "Oh really? Huh." And then I said, "actually I"m the director." He looked at me, looked at my shoes and said "No way." I said, "yeah, watch this. (to the crew) Hey, anybody need anything?" They all looked up and shrugged. The jogger looks at me and says, "that doesn't prove you're the director." I said, "Stay here." Then went over, set up the next shot, said "Action.." and then "Cut!" Then looked over at the guy and raised my hands. "See?" He shook his head and said "Only in Hollywood."
"Limit Up" was fun - got to work with Ray Charles and the soybean traders from the Chicago Board of Trade - a wacky bunch of guys. "Cannes Man" was completely improvised, so I can only take credit for being a good editor of that film. And "Point of Betrayal" I got to work with the great Aussie Rod Taylor. What a treat. I'm surprised he doesn't work more - he's got such talent and brings such gravitas to the role. I hope I can find something else for us to work on.

Clint: In Feb, your film Camera is out. A pet project?

Richard: "Camera" is officially listed as "Dogme #15." It's an improvised film - story of a DV camera that gets stolen from a video store and goes on an adventure around the world from the POV of the lens. Carol Alt is in it, Angie Everhart, even Phillip Noyce, another Aussie makes an appearance. I made the film to prove that you don't have to have alit of money to be creative and get your work out into the world - I was invited to a DV festival in India last year, and showed the DV tape via the Barco system in a theater of 3000. It was great.. From my camera to the projector. I sell it through Amazon.com - made my money back in three months.
I haven't tried to get traditional distribution for the film. Let me know if anyone down under wants to distribute it!

Clint: What's on the horizon for 2002?

Richard: I'm shooting a DV musical - story of two musicians and their love affair, with their music as the backdrop for the film. They're not actors, but amazing musicians - he toured with Miles Davis and Alanis Morisette - she's got a powerhouse voice.. I've got a background in music; scored two of my films (Point of Betrayal and Cannes Man) and I play piano in a blues band, we play in venues around LA, the House of Blues, etc, and I want to translate some of the magic that comes out of live performance onto the screen. By the way, I think Baz Luhrman is a genius when it comes to music - I loved "Rouge" and am a big fan of Craig Armstrong who put the score together. Hope they both win Oscars. I still think "Strictly Ballroom" is one of the great dance films of our era. A couple of years back I had dinner with the guys who own the "Moulin Rouge," meeting with them to see if I could make a film about the club. They wanted control of everything, the Can-Can has these restrictions about how many women have to perform it, and at some point I realized they just wanted to shoot the show as it is at the Rouge. I realized the only way to go forward would be to approach the Studio who made the original... But having the great idea doesn't mean you have the means to put it together - and I only wish that I had gone from that goofy meeting in Paris five years ago to a phone booth and called up Baz. Maybe I could have shot second unit. Hopefully I'll do that the next time!

Ring of Fire is released on video February 6th.

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