Baron-Cohen to Helm Thriller ‘Novella’
By Darrah Le Montre

Ash Baron-Cohen: raging bull behind the camera

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 4/25/09 — Ash Baron-Cohen, writer-director of three festival-winning features will direct a “Basic Instinct-like thriller” starring Lenny Kravitz. The Bob Yari film, “Novella,” is set in a literary college with Kravitz playing the leading role as a professor.
Regarding relative film newcomer Kravitz, Baron-Cohen tells Hollywood Today, “I believe in his abilities.”
Kravitz was seen alongside Mariah Carey in his big-screen acting debut at Sundance this year in the acclaimed “Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire.” “Push” then became entangled in a studio legal battle between Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company.
Baron-Cohen, cousin to “Bruno” and “Borat” star Sacha Baron-Cohen, is also in talks to direct an Oscar-winner in an upcoming L.A. mafia film called “RadioActive” from a script he penned.
Baron-Cohen’s first feature “Bang” was released in 1996. Lauded by Oliver Stone as “one of the most gifted of his generation,” Baron-Cohen subsequently shot “Pups.” A raw look into youth and violence, “Pups” tells the story of a 13-year-old boy (Cameron Van Hoy) who discovers his mother’s gun. The film was a big bow for then up-and-coming Mischa Barton.
Having worked with other young stars on the precipice of celebrity, and arguably aiding their rise (including “Prison Break” star Wentworth Miller in the short film “Confession”) Baron-Cohen is confronting new territory in “RadioActive.” The Russian mafia, the effects of Chernobyl, and segregated pockets of L.A. are targets here.
Hollywood Today sat down with the British director at Café Med in the lush Sunset Plaza district to discuss the genius of Robin Williams, being expelled from film school, and the new Los Angeles youth.
“I grew up in London where even the cops didn’t have guns. So if the cops were in trouble…chasing criminals down an alley, they say stop, or shout stop again louder. Then you’ll see them in a Monty Python- style, running…saying ‘they’ve got guns! They’ve got guns!’ and they’re freaking out.
“I first came here when I was in film school and I had seen kids on the streets who had guns – you know, young kids, and I remember hearing a kid say, ‘the cops are the smallest gang in L.A.’ I… thought of doing a remake of Dog Day Afternoon but with 13-year-old kids.
“You have to wonder ‘why are kids so involved with guns?’ and I was curious to explore it in “Pups” and I still believe if you leave guns around, kids are curious enough and will play with them. And they haven’t quite formed their boundaries of reality yet.”
In regard to working with child actors, Baron-Cohen said, “I think kids are on the whole frequently better actors. They haven’t been conditioned so much. They’re less self aware.”
When asked what acting schools they should attend or what films they should watch, the London-native suggests actors view the French film, “Ponette,” or “My Life as a Dog.”
Or else, volunteer in a mental hospital. “You’ll see great acting there. Both from the staff and the patients. It also forces you to improvise with the patients and if they buy it, then you must be a damn good actor!”
With subject matter that ranges from the porn world to street gangs one can’t help notice a resounding theme of violence in Baron-Cohen’s work.
However, he tells Hollywood Today, “I’ve never thought of it as necessarily being violent. I think more than anything else, I’m interested in what makes people survive and the survival of love in desperate conditions. One thing I’ve noticed in my work is that I’m interested in seeing what women are capable of when pushed to extraordinary circumstances.
While Ash insists he is a peaceful person, he is also a passionate one. His films explore an aspect of humanity that erupts spontaneously.
“Funny thing about creativity and even love, you could argue, is the natural act of creation or making love can be interpreted as a violent act. To an alien or child observing they might be forgiven for thinking that the man is stabbing his partner-or part of the man is being devoured. But hopefully there’s no violence or violations involved…There’s no accident that the act of creation and the concept of creativity are linked.”
In “This Girl’s Life,” Ash directed James Woods in a demanding role, as someone with an escalated case of Parkinson’s disease who is also the father of Moon, a famous Internet porn actress.
“In my mind he’s as good as people like De Niro,” Baron-Cohen informs.
He is known for working on frugal budgets, creating both a documentary-style as well as cinematic grittiness that aligns with his scripts. Ash contemplates that with the new, higher budget of $15M his style may change. But that’s not the aim.
“I think the budget increase is so you can actually pay for your insurance and pay for your locations, instead of having to steal them, but also you’re paying for bigger actors to be in your movie.”
Having big actors in his movies is nothing new. After all, this is the same filmmaker who, while still in film school, convinced legendary Irish actor Richard Harris to play hooky from a day of filming Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven.” Harris participated in a short film Ash had handwritten and given to the actor at the Sunset Marquis Hotel, called “Cunt,” a sort of manifesto in defense of the slang term.
Richard Harris remained in Ash’s life until his death in 2002, when the story of their meeting was told at his memorial in the United Kingdom.
Pasadena Art Center later expelled Ash for shooting a documentary about a dominatrix on 16mm film, rather than Super 8. This type of rebelliousness is what has enables Baron-Cohen to work with A-list actors some burgeoning filmmakers wouldn’t attempt to contact.
In the works is a documentary called, “Little Warriors: Big Fists,” about kids born with HIV/AIDS in America, which is a follow up to the first “Little Warriors” that debuted on the Discovery Channel.
“HIV and AIDS has sort of gone out of the priority list of public consciousness.”
He hopes that this work will make people more aware.
“I’ve always thought movies are not movies because of the moving image, they’re movies because they’re meant to move people. If I can do that, then I’ve done something worthwhile.”