This week will mark the 100 year anniversary of the ANZAC landings in Gallipoli. On Anzac Day, 25 April, we will remember the Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in war and conflict and the contribution and suffering of those who sacrificed for our freedom and democracy today.
Tonight’s screening, Forbidden Ground, is a WW1 drama, about brotherhood and survival, set against the backdrop of war. France, 1916 - the film tells the story of three soldiers, who while on the Western Front, become trapped on the German trenches, during a halted attack. Back home in England, wife of one of the soldiers, Grace, has another story to tell.
This week will mark the 100 year anniversary of the ANZAC landings in Gallipoli. On Anzac Day, 25 April, we will remember the Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in war and conflict and the contribution and suffering of those who sacrificed for our freedom and democracy today.
Tonight’s screening, Forbidden Ground, is a WW1 drama, about brotherhood and survival, set against the backdrop of war. France, 1916 - the film tells the story of three soldiers, who while on the Western Front, become trapped on the German trenches, during a halted attack. Back home in England, wife of one of the soldiers, Grace, has another story to tell.
I chatted to Johan Earl about his film and about war, he had a lot to say. He is quite the talent and one to keep an eye out for. The team behind this film is a strong one, which makes Forbidden Ground a compelling watch ahead of Anzac Day.
First of all – congrats on such an outstanding film! You wrote, co-directed, produced and played a lead role in Forbidden Ground - phew – you’ve done it all in this film!
What was your interest in making a WW1 drama? Do you have a personal connection to the war?
I don’t have any relatives who fought in the war, so for me there’s no personal or direct connection, aside from incredible admiration and the fact that we live in freedom because of sacrifices made. What I find most compelling is the strength of the human spirit, and there’s no greater example of that than the soldiers who fought in the trenches of WW1. The conditions they lived and fought under were horrific, how they found the courage and strength to push on, to climb over the trench wall and march to an onslaught of German machine guns, simply astounds me. When the human spirit is pushed to the brink, it either cracks or forms an impenetrable strength. In either case you’ve lost a big part of who you were. You will never be the same again. As a filmmaker I want to tell those kinds of stories.
How did the process of the film get started?
It kind of evolved from multiple brainstorming sessions. I was after a very contained film, as we didn’t have a lot of money to spend. My co-producer, Denai Gracie and I funded the production of Forbidden Ground ourselves. I researched films like Buried and Phone Booth and eventually got to a point where we were talking about a film set in a foxhole during the Vietnam War. I wasn’t that keen on the foxhole concept but thought, how about a bomb crater? So, essentially Forbidden Ground was meant to be confined to a few bomb craters, then I just got carried away building trenches and expanded the idea from there.
How long did Forbidden Ground take to make – from conception to completion?
I started writing the script in August, we shot all the interior home scenes in November over 4 days, then spent 20 days in December filming the battlefield scenes. Add to that, a few days for miniature and VFX elements. By Christmas we had finished the shoot. January was spent making a trailer, which went to Berlin Film Festival in February where we pre-sold many territories. That’s where we got our affirmation that we had something good. Post-production took another 18 months after that, with over 750 VFX shots, a lot of which was in the opening battle field sequences.
I have to say the film is pretty intense! There’s a lot of depth to the main characters in the story. How did you come up with such characters and their storylines?
I guess it comes down to creating a journey or a mission for the characters, whether it’s physical or emotional, or both, then putting as many hurdles in their path as possible.
Emotionally, the war destroyed people’s lives yet we’re never really presented with the reality of it. Traditional filmmaking dictates you have a happy ending, the hero survives the war and returns to his wife’s waiting arms and they all live happily ever after. But that wasn’t the truth of this war. The brutal truth and horrors of life after returning from the front has been swept under the rug by Hollywood’s version of history. Not all stories ended happily, in fact most didn’t.
I wrote the script, and my co-director (Powers) and I made revisions to it together. As a filmmaker, I like pain burdened in irony. Events that enrage you and disarm you at the same time, confused emotions, after all, we are complex beings.
In Grace’s story, you touch on a very taboo subject, especially for that era, her story ends in possibly the worst case scenario - what were you hoping your audience took away from it?
I came across some statistics of how many women died from illegal backyard abortions every year and it was staggering to think that this is swept under the carpet. Also, on the battlefield, one of the most treated injuries was gonorrhoea. I angered a few veterans with these comments, but it’s true. People were fighting a horrible war thousands of miles from home. Men in trenches slept with French prostitutes, and some women at home desperately needed company, someone who might understand what they were going through.
I was hoping people would walk away with an understanding of her character. She was vulnerable and afraid. She made a mistake then paid the ultimate price because of the stigma of the times. Overall, I wanted her to be real and flawed, in doing that I knew people would relate and feel compassion. We’ve never experienced anything remotely close to the horrors of WW1 and we probably never will. If you understand the period and open your mind, you’ll understand Grace and genuinely feel for her.
The film is set in early 20th century, Europe, but you shot it in Australia. The film has a very authentic look and feel to it - how did you pull it off?
It was a combination of techniques. It involved some green screen work and a lot of rotoscoping, which is like cutting and pasting characters out of the farms in Dubbo where we shot the film, and placing them in a fake environment. We also used miniature sets for some battlefield extensions. Then adding a lot of elements like dust, bullet strikes, explosions, smoke etc.
Forbidden Ground is your directorial feature debut, what challenges did you come across, or what was the hardest part about making it?
Definitely lack of sleep. I was usually the first on set and the last to leave. Without a doubt, this was the most gruelling experience of my life. Adrian and I built the sets, and dug the trenches ourselves. We filled the sandbags and laid barb wire. This went on every weekend for months before the shoot. Being in charge of so many elements myself was the hardest part. It only began with writing, acting and co-directing. I also co-produced, I was in charge of pyrotechnics and armoury and the list went on.
I’m always curious when I find out a person is acting in a film they’re also directing. Your performance as Sgt Arthur Wilkins is stunning – where did you get your direction from on set? How did you make it work?
Thank you! While I’m acting, I direct myself. It’s my script and my vision so I know what I need from my character. I’d also go home every night and watch all the takes, make notes and reshoot things that didn’t quite work. Also, Adrian would be behind the split screen.
Did you find yourself in any dangerous situations while in character on set? Do you perform your own stunts?
I absolutely do my own stunts. It’s always dangerous when working with stunts and explosives, but we had a great stunt team led by Igor Breakenback who made everything very safe. I have years of martial arts training and have been very physical all my life, so there was nothing I felt uncomfortable with. I draw the line at being set on fire through, a stunt double can have that gig!
Thank you so much for your time, lastly, what projects are you working on at the moment?
I have several projects in advanced stages of development. Thankfully I won’t be tackling everything at the same time like I did in Forbidden Ground. I’m playing a lead character in an underwater action horror this year, then directing a modern-contemporary dance film, then moving onto a big Sci-Fi I wrote last year, which I’ll be acting in and directing. Variety is the spice of life right?!