Robert Lorenz previously directed Liam Neeson in the action thriller The Marksman and this year they team up again for the Irish set action thriller In the Land of Saints and Sinners, filmed on location in Donegal.
Robert stopped by to chat about the movie with us.
Today we’re going to be talking about your new movie In the Land of Saints & Sinners, and this has been an important movie for me because my family’s from Donegal. We were actually there whenever you were filming, staying in Marble Hill, which is on the other side. There’s something that’s very enchanting about Donegal and it grabs a hold of your soul. How did you find filming there?
Oh, I loved it. Well, it was referenced in the script, when I got the script. I called the writer and I said, “Well, why did you set it here?” And he said, he had been traveling around the country. He’s Irish, obviously and he ended up in Donegal and he just thought that it was a beautiful place. It kind of inspired the whole story for him so he went home and he wrote it. When I first arrived in Ireland, I told the locations manager who was ready to show me all these places around Dublin that were very convenient to hotels and restaurants and everything. And I said, “Okay, well, that’s great. But I want to see this place that’s referenced in the script first”, and he said, “okay, but it’s very remote and a three-and-a-half-hour drive”. I said, “Yeah, that’s okay”, so we drove out there. Like you say, it’s enchanting; when I got there, I just said, “Oh, my God, this is beautiful. This coastline is just epic, and so beautiful and majestic”. Then the town itself, felt like it had been frozen in time; these little cottages and there’s no highways or big buildings and everything. I felt like I had been transported back into the 70s. So, I said, “No, no, this is where I want to film this movie”.
Yeah, so it’s a whole different world from Los Angeles, but still very real and it’s probably my favorite place in the world.
You might probably know this, but, historically, it was, as I understood that from reading and talking to people, a place where folks would go to basically hide out, to get away from other things and be they criminals which is what is happening in our movie with these IRA guys, or other people like Finbar’s character who’s just looking to sort of escape from the rest of the world. They’re in this small, little town, and you could believe that these people could hide here because there’s so much open space and so much anonymity there. So, it all made sense to me.
Yeah, it’s very remote. I mean, you could go there and just not see anybody for for miles.
It is.
I find Donegal is almost like the main character of the story because it couldn’t be filmed anywhere else. Aside from the location, what was it about the script that interested you in the project?
Well Liam had read it before me. He liked it very much and he had suggested me to direct because we had such a good time making Marksman together and we were looking for something else to do. Otherwise, I don’t think anybody would have thought to send me this movie. Even though I do have Irish roots. My mother’s Mary Joseph O’Callaghan and the O’Callaghans are from County Cork, and then the Duffy’s from Armagh County so I’ve got I’ve got Irish ancestry, but the script to get back to your question, I just was just fascinated by it. I thought it was a story well told. I really loved all these different unique characters and how he kind of got to know them, and how all of their lives and these different threads all kind of came together in the end, and I love thrillers. I was really eager to make a thriller that was more about that kind of excitement than the action and the shoot ’em up, although this has that too. But yeah, and I loved that it was a redemption story. I mean, the logline of the movie is “retired assassin has to come out of retirement to do one more job”. It feels like you’ve seen that logline 1000 times before but this one was just so unique in any setting and characters and sort of authentic feel that I felt like this will stand out among others and so obviously eager to do it.
Yeah. I loved to the characters but particularly Kerry Condon who I thought was fantastic. She was hateful, but yet believably human at the same time. Was that important to have everyone just feel like genuine real people?
Yeah, yeah, it was important; I thought to understand each have their point of view and what was driving them. I mean, each of them feels like they’re doing the right thing for their own reasons. I think conflict is always stronger when two people feel that they are in the right. I specifically wanted to cast all Irish actors, because I can’t distinguish accents and they may not all be perfect, but I needed Irish actors to be able to pull that off. And because I wouldn’t be able to tell if an American or somebody else was coming off ridiculous. And the same with the crew, I wanted as niche as possible all Irish crew that helped me just keep everything on the up and up throughout.
I believe this movie had three composers. How did you work with them to create the right music for the film?
Yeah, so they’re siblings, and they all work together. And Diego is kind of the leader. He’s the lead creative. I spoke to them early on, and the producer had recommended them. They liked the script and they were eager, so I thought it was a good deal, because I was getting three for the price for one. It’s always great when you have more creative input, you have more ideas and so I liked that idea. They said about composing a bunch of music, I just gave him the instruction that “look, I’m making a 70s thriller, and I want the music to help enhance that. Then I also want to contrast it with sort of the beauty of Ireland and kind of open it up a little bit as well. So, they delivered.
How would you like the film to resonate with audiences?
Well, I think it’s a movie with heart. I mean, it’s got great emotion there. I think it’s got a great balance, not because of me, but the script has a balance of drama and humor, and bright and dark, and seriousness. I was just trying to maintain a tone throughout that would make all of these different emotions believable and work together. It’s a tricky thing to pull off. There are some people that do it. well, like Martin McDonagh, The Coen Brothers and stuff, but it’s kind of hard to have both humor and seriousness and excitement and quiet. It was a little bit of a trick. So that’s what I was going for.
You’re 100% successful. If you get a chance to go back on vacation, I definitely recommend going to Marble Hill and all these beautiful sandy beaches with no people.
Okay. Yeah, I definitely would like to go back my kids. They came out for a short time while I was there and they loved it. So, we’re all talking about going back and exploring more of the environment.
Excellent. Well, you enjoy that. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today and great to speak with you again, and hopefully Speak to you soon.
My pleasure. Thanks a lot. Take care.
IN THE LAND OF SAINTS AND SINNERS IS IN THEATRES NOW
