I was very impressed by Jake Paltrow’s second feature, Young Ones, which is set in a near-future world when water has become the most precious and dwindling resource on the planet — one that dictates everything from political policies to interpersonal relationships. The land has withered into something wretched and unforgiving. The hardened survivors of the loss of our planet’s most precious resource scrape and struggle to stay alive. Ernest Holm (Michael Shannon) lives on the harsh frontier with his two children, Jerome (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Mary (Elle Fanning). He defends his farm from bandits, works the supply routes, and hopes to rejuvenate the soil. But Mary’s boyfriend, Flem Lever (Nicholas Hoult), has other ideas. He wants Ernest’s land for himself, and will go to any lengths to get it. Young Ones is a futuristic western told in three chapters that layer Greek tragedy over an ethereal narrative that’s steeped in the values of the American West. Jake Paltrow’s filmmaking pedigree was partly shaped by his parents, actress Blythe Danner and the late director/producer Bruce Paltrow, along with his Oscar-winning sister, Gwyneth. I sat down with Paltrow just before the release of his new film.
Danny Miller: I remember when I saw the play Urinetown on Broadway, I thought these drought-related issues were such a great metaphor for many of our social ills. But now, in 2014, your film almost seemed like a prescient glimpse into a possible near future!
Jake Paltrow: It’s funny because when I was writing it, the drought we’re experiencing now in California wasn’t happening yet, even though this part of the world always lives under that specter. At the time I was first working on this script, I was drawing more from stories that were happening outside of our country — in places like Chile and Yemen. Those situations are what made me first think about dealing with drought as a propulsive narrative element.
And now we are seeing even here how the government and other entities can be affected by such dire situations.
Very much so. Certainly as we were shooting the movie, these problems had come to the United States. In fact, the political background of the film is really an extrapolation of the contracts that have been made between the states that share the water of the Colorado River. I took those ideas and stretched them out to an extreme.
One of the things I loved about the film is that it never feels like you’re hitting us over the head. You just drop us into this world and rely on the storytelling and our own intelligence to figure out what’s been happening in this world. I have to admit that part of me was waiting for a Planet of the Apes-type reveal where we are able to pinpoint what some former civilization has become. Did you ever consider situating the story in a more specific way?
I really didn’t, because I wanted the movie to feel kind of like a storybook. Even though the performances are naturalistic, I wanted the overall film to feel very movie-ish. So it is specifically non-specific in its geography and its time.
And yet, again, it was easy for me to imagine how such a world could come about starting with some of the issues that we’re already addressing today.
We were definitely trying to achieve a certain plausibility — this is not a post-apocalyptic movie, it’s not about an unnamed event or nuclear disaster or anything supernatural.
It’s such a gorgeous film to look at but nothing about it looks like it was an easy shoot. Was it as grueling as I imagine?
It was unbelievable. We shot in South Africa near the Namibian border, and our main sets were in a very, very remote place — about six or seven hours from Capetown where we had prepped the film. We had very long days in what was the height of the South African summer.
Oy, what was your average temperature during the shoot?
The first three days it was 115 degrees but it probably averaged about 100 to 105 on most days! The first thing we shot was that shootout scene with Michael Shannon and it was so difficult I remember wondering whether we’d be able to get through the shoot if it stayed like that — especially at the speed we needed to with our limited budget.
Yikes, and you sure didn’t want your people dropping like flies!
No! We had one really scary dehydration case with a crew member but that ultimately worked out fine!
Your locations were so beautiful but I still find it amazing that you went that far when you probably could have found somewhere in California to shoot the film.
I thought about that and you know, there’s just a very familiar look to a lot of rugged places in America, especially the ones outside of L.A. I wanted this movie to have a real “otherness” to it. I think we achieved that, you can tell it’s not Death Valley. It really feels like this could have been fertile land at one time.
Right. Or the dozens of movies shot in Joshua Tree but pretending to be other places.
Exactly.
I would imagine that there are other benefits of shooting this intense a story in such a remote location.
Absolutely. Everyone came from so far to do it so right off the bat there was a very high level of trust and hope. There were no hotels where we were so we were staying in these guest houses, these rooms in the back of people’s homes. We hired a cook to come out with us for the whole shoot and we’d have dinner every night together. That really helped create a wonderful sense of camaraderie. Our dinners became something to look forward to — we’d have such tough days, and there was something about coming back, taking a shower, and all of us meeting up in the kitchen in this woman’s house. There was a real warmth to the group that has lasted to this day, we’re still in touch with each other.
Michael Shannon is always so great. I’m used to kind of being scared of him in his movies but I loved that here he was fierce but terribly charismatic.
Yes, he’s tough but very warm. That’s a quality that is very natural for Mike in his own life as a father but something we haven’t seen very much on the screen.
A lot of this movie reminded me of films like The Grapes of Wrath where you see how when people are forced into these extraordinarily different situations, their true characters really come out.
Yeah, that’s a perfect example. I can’t think of a better Father Casy than Mike Shannon, he’d be great. I had two other actors involved with that role before Michael signed on but he’s such a great actor that he just came and immediately understood that character.
I’m always curious when people grow up in a creative family like yours if it’s a given that you’ll also go into that same industry or are there moments when you think you’d rather do anything but?
I never had that, I think my interests were always skewed towards this world, but I was very into special effects as a kid. I wanted to be a creature creator, working with Rick Baker or Dick Smith. A lot of my early shorts were based around special effects.
You must have had a blast creating the very unique robots and technology that we see in this film.
I did! We had a wonderful visual effects group. I wanted the robot to be largely practical so that the actors could really relate to it. I think we achieved that.