Jungle - The Yossi Ghinsberg Story Featurette — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Jungle is uh based on a true story uh
2. 0:04about Yosi Ginsburg getting lost in the
3. 0:08Amazon jungle in 1981. A lot of great
4. 0:11stories are basically ordinary people in
5. 0:12extraordinary circumstances. This is one
6. 0:14of those stories where you have just a
7. 0:16average young guy who is traveling and
8. 0:18who finds himself in the most extreme
9. 0:20situation which is basically fighting
10. 0:22for survival in the Amazon rainforest.
11. 0:24what Yossi went through and the fact
12. 0:27that he's alive is is miraculous whether
13. 0:30or not you believe in like miracles in
14. 0:32the traditional sense, but it certainly
15. 0:34was against the odds.
16. 0:36Several times he blatantly should have
17. 0:38died. And for whatever reason, be it
18. 0:40providence or luck or whatever it is in
19. 0:41the universe that that decides someone's
20. 0:44fate, they chose him to live.
21. 0:45It's a survival story, but more than
22. 0:48just a regular survival story, it's a
23. 0:50story about finding the hero within you.
24. 0:53It's turning the jungle, which was the
25. 0:56biggest enemy,
26. 0:58into his provider.
27. 0:59I think it's a movie with a heart. And I
28. 1:02think that uh Greg brings that vision.
29. 1:05It's it's not about adventure. It's
30. 1:07about transformation. You know, the
31. 1:08adventure is the background.
32. 1:11It's about the human spirit and about
33. 1:13the the discovery of self and about
34. 1:16transformation. It's about friendship
35. 1:18and the tragedy
36. 1:20that happens when friendship collapse.
37. 1:23This not Oregon, Kevin. But I guess
38. 1:25you'll never get it, huh?
39. 1:26You have no idea.
40. 1:27Shut up. What? Carl, tell us the plan.
41. 1:31You know, I kind of call him a
42. 1:33accidental Buddha in the sense that
43. 1:35basically he's a guy who who fell into a
44. 1:38situation that became something very
45. 1:40bad, but through that discovered
46. 1:42something quite profound. That is an
47. 1:44important idea. I think for me it's
48. 1:45interesting making a story that there's
49. 1:47a very genuine moving interesting kernel
50. 1:51at the heart of this concept that I
51. 1:53think is something that people will be
52. 1:54moved by and interested in because it's
53. 1:56about what people can do under
54. 1:58extraordinary circumstances.
55. 2:00Survival is why we here. You know, we
56. 2:03know how to survive. That's why we're
57. 2:05here. We don't need to learn it.
58. 2:07However, we don't know that we know. And
59. 2:09that's the big discoveries that I had. I
60. 2:11discovered that I'm actually a great
61. 2:13survivor. It wasn't my image of myself
62. 2:15before because we don't get a chance to
63. 2:18really survive.
64. 2:22[Music]
65. 2:27So, the film Jungle is about uh three
66. 2:31new friends that all meet together.
67. 2:33This is my friend.
68. 2:34Hey, man. Kevin G. Good to meet you.
69. 2:36Yeah, good to meet you.
70. 2:37And they they decide on making a journey
71. 2:39to the middle of the jungle with someone
72. 2:40that they've just met.
73. 2:43father, we're going to have the best
74. 2:44time. And now if we got ourselves,
75. 2:46that was the allure of the jungle in the
76. 2:47first place to these guys to Yossi,
77. 2:50Marcus, and and Kevin speaking to Carl,
78. 2:52this wanderer and this devil character.
79. 2:54He was something of a beautiful
80. 2:56dangerous mystery just like the jungle.
81. 2:59So, I think it's going to add to the
82. 3:00film.
83. 3:00And Yossi was just like, "Yeah, this is
84. 3:01what I've been waiting for. This is the
85. 3:03real experience that I've been wanting
86. 3:04all this time." And so, he he does go in
87. 3:06with Carl. And Carl walks a really fine
88. 3:09line the whole time between
89. 3:12somebody who is just great fun and and
90. 3:15charismatic and and interesting.
91. 3:18The jungle shows us what we really are.
92. 3:20We are nothing.
93. 3:22And somebody who's got a real kind of
94. 3:24streak of danger running through them
95. 3:26and a real edge to them that you're not
96. 3:27quite sure what they're going to do
97. 3:29next.
98. 3:29What makes it why I wanted to do it and
99. 3:31and why I find it exciting is the story.
100. 3:34And the film wouldn't be interesting to
101. 3:37me if it's like a trip uh of couple
102. 3:40backpackers who meet the crazy German
103. 3:42and uh and couple of them get lost and
104. 3:44that's it.
105. 3:47I think the movie only works if it's if
106. 3:49it's emotionally uh uh grabbing you.
107. 3:52It's got a lot of action. The And I
108. 3:55think that the action and the
109. 3:57entertainment aspects are earned with
110. 4:00very well built drama and tension and
111. 4:05conflict.
112. 4:06Someone read the script recently and
113. 4:07they didn't know it was based story and
114. 4:08they were just like saying, "Wow, what
115. 4:09an amazing adventure story." Like, "No,
116. 4:10it's it really happened." And so, just
117. 4:12as a pure adventure story, it works.
118. 4:14Everything is is real in this movie. all
119. 4:17the events and everything that you see.
120. 4:20Maybe not exactly the the dialogue, you
121. 4:23know, but this is a true story and uh I
122. 4:26think uh the movie does justice to to
123. 4:30this true story.
124. 4:34I've played real people before, but I've
125. 4:35never played a real person who's still
126. 4:37alive. So, it was amazing having him as
127. 4:39as a resource and just to be able, you
128. 4:42know, to be able to turn around to
129. 4:43somebody and go like, "Well, what did
130. 4:45you do?" You know what what were you
131. 4:47thinking at this moment?
132. 4:48So I I I lived through it. This story I
133. 4:51I always felt is much bigger than me.
134. 4:54And when I found that story immediately
135. 4:56I needed to tell the story. It was also
136. 4:59very cathartic to write the book. The
137. 5:01book wrote itself completely. I had no
138. 5:03clues that I can even write.
139. 5:04We were lucky because when he when he
140. 5:07wrote the book, he wrote it right after
141. 5:08he survived. So it's very very authentic
142. 5:11and raw and it's not a person who's
143. 5:15writing about it 30 years after the
144. 5:17event and remembering.
145. 5:19Well, I don't think we've ever been
146. 5:20involved in film where we have to rely
147. 5:23on so much accuracy because we have with
148. 5:25with Yossi here on set and obviously had
149. 5:28written the book and and co-written the
150. 5:29script. It's his story and Greg went out
151. 5:32of his way to tell as much of the story
152. 5:35that was humanly possible.
153. 5:36I actually had heard of this movie
154. 5:37because it was it's been around for
155. 5:38quite a while. the script um uh it just
156. 5:41came to me. I read it and immediately
157. 5:42just you know thought it's incredible
158. 5:44story and then I read the book and I
159. 5:46thought oh my god this is actually all
160. 5:47true and then uh I just you know went on
161. 5:50a quest to try and work out how I could
162. 5:52get to direct it.
163. 5:52I read the book many years ago and loved
164. 5:55it. The book stayed with me and inspired
165. 5:58me and kind of gave gave me strength. I
166. 6:01think that Yosu's story, that survival
167. 6:04story is so primal, so strong that it
168. 6:09can inspire and give strength to
169. 6:11everybody, anybody that reads the book
170. 6:13or watches the movie.
171. 6:14The movie was the hardest process. It
172. 6:16actually took 26 years. I arrived in
173. 6:19California in in in Los Angeles in 1990
174. 6:24with my book
175. 6:25and we were up and down with this
176. 6:27project many many times. We were even um
177. 6:30financed with a full cast and three
178. 6:33weeks before production and it fell
179. 6:35apart. But again, I had to convince him,
180. 6:38"No, Yossi, we're going to make the
181. 6:39movie. I'm going to make it. I promise
182. 6:41you." And I'm so grateful for the
183. 6:43opportunity that he gave me to to be
184. 6:46able to uh bring this alive.
185. 6:48Yossi was phenomenal and very gracious
186. 6:50of his time and very gracious to come
187. 6:52and spend time and, you know, work on
188. 6:54the script. And we kind of basically,
189. 6:56you know, we had the shooting script and
190. 6:57then when we started, he just came down
191. 6:59and we just sat in the room for two
192. 7:00weeks and just sort of I just got out of
193. 7:02him all the things that I wanted to know
194. 7:03about the sequences and what really
195. 7:05happened and we actually turned a lot of
196. 7:07things back into what really happened.
197. 7:08Because if you're doing a true story,
198. 7:10what you want to know is tell me so I
199. 7:12understand what happened. So then I can
200. 7:14reinterpret it into cinematic terms.
201. 7:16And the screenplay, I think, did justice
202. 7:18to the story.
203. 7:21But yet it needed you know to be in a
204. 7:25form of a movie. So I have to accept it
205. 7:27and then the actors come in and they
206. 7:28bring themselves as well and they need
207. 7:30to interpretate it because they live the
208. 7:32characters and they want to express
209. 7:33themsel and they need creative freedom.
210. 7:35There is something almost otherworldly
211. 7:37and mystical about him, but he's a
212. 7:40really incredibly interesting guy and
213. 7:42and somebody who had had a huge amount
214. 7:45to offer the set, but also was very good
215. 7:47at sort of letting go and knowing that
216. 7:49it's a film and that some stuff will be
217. 7:51different and some stuff will change.
218. 7:55Um, this is his last day on set.
219. 7:57Yeah.
220. 7:58Unbelievably,
221. 7:58the resemblance is
222. 8:00luckily this stays on set for a couple
223. 8:02of weeks.
224. 8:03I have I have I have much more time. I
225. 8:05like you being yours against her.
226. 8:07I'm very glad.
227. 8:08I don't know who I like more.
228. 8:10If I please this man, then that's all I
229. 8:12have to worry about. So, you do a little
230. 8:14bit. It's an honor.
231. 8:16Awesome. The story is just so brilliant
232. 8:18and incredible on its own. And then
233. 8:21Justin Monjo, the writer, he gave us
234. 8:23such a sense of the arc and also
235. 8:25structured the screenplay incredibly
236. 8:26well. But it's just irreplaceable to
237. 8:29have someone like Yossi there. this
238. 8:31happened to him and it just reminds you
239. 8:32that something bigger than a movie, you
240. 8:34know, and in a way that kind of takes
241. 8:36the pressure off because you just kind
242. 8:38of feel grateful just to be a part of
243. 8:39the whole thing. In general, you know,
244. 8:42it's for me it's huge celebration just
245. 8:45to see it happening and to be on set and
246. 8:48also just to be part of of the process
247. 8:50of making a movie. It's fascinating and
248. 8:52addictive. There's a lot of detachment
249. 8:56and yet there's some scenes that really
250. 8:58move me very very deeply and those are
251. 9:01the scenes that uh I see Marcus you know
252. 9:04because um it hurts me it hurts me to
253. 9:08see him hurt on the set you know Joel is
254. 9:11doing a great job but his suffering
255. 9:13really breaks my heart it breaks my
256. 9:15heart having YSI on set watching me
257. 9:17recreate Marcus or um inhabit that role
258. 9:22was fantastic
259. 9:23because you could tell if it was a good
260. 9:24take or not because you just look past
261. 9:26the monitor and look at Ysi whilst
262. 9:28looking at Greg. But knowing that you
263. 9:31reached him, a part of his soul or a
264. 9:32part of his heart or his ethos, that
265. 9:35meant that you were touching on
266. 9:36something that was very close to the
267. 9:38surface and that was a a true memory or
268. 9:41something that he he knew which
269. 9:45ultimately was what we were going for to
270. 9:47get that real experience that is inside
271. 9:49Yossi. Yossi is a very interesting man
272. 9:52and a very fascinating character and
273. 9:54it's his story. So there's a kind of
274. 9:56duty of care to being the storyteller to
275. 9:57this tale.
276. 9:58Tell you the truth, I'm not sure I
277. 9:59remember anymore. You know, for me
278. 10:01sometimes watching it is more real than
279. 10:03what happened to me. But I think the
280. 10:05essence is there. The story is there.
281. 10:07It's very easy to invent a couple of
282. 10:09jaguars, few snakes, throws them on
283. 10:11people, and it's not about that. It's
284. 10:14about the character. Those characters
285. 10:16are tremendous. They represent for me
286. 10:18much more than just my friends.
287. 10:21Kevin, I'm here.
288. 10:23They're giants for me. And to see them
289. 10:25come to life each with their attributes
290. 10:29and and uh uniqueness, those were real
291. 10:33people. Two never came back.
292. 10:36So, it's important to respect their
293. 10:38memory and their legacy. I think Yossi's
294. 10:42story although it's very very extreme is
295. 10:44applicable to lots and lots of people
296. 10:46whether it's people that are suffering
297. 10:48with illness or any anybody who is
298. 10:50battling any kind of adversity there is
299. 10:52a message here in that Ysi is somebody
300. 10:54who went into this journey completely
301. 10:57unprepared he had no warning he had no
302. 11:01training for this situation and purely
303. 11:04based on his instincts and willingness
304. 11:06to survive and his determination
305. 11:08um he was able to survive
306. 11:11I think any production that attempts to
307. 11:14put the action where it's actually
308. 11:16scripted. So, not using green screens,
309. 11:19using real actors, using real stuntmen,
310. 11:22people who are willing to go that extra
311. 11:24mile to make their audience on the edge
312. 11:28of their seat or to fully believe in the
313. 11:30story and to really feel for the
314. 11:32characters. I admire that.
315. 11:34It's got a lot of color and flavor and
316. 11:37light and shade. Um, I think it's a
317. 11:40really, really fun movie, but then
318. 11:42ultimately it's like a survival film,
319. 11:45um, with a lot of darkness and a lot of
320. 11:48honesty. When you lose it all, you
321. 11:50discover it all. And what you discover
322. 11:52is is that that materiality and the
323. 11:56things we cling to are really, really
324. 11:57meaningless. And ultimately, beyond all
325. 12:00that, we're all just basically existing
326. 12:02in this planet and we all should just
327. 12:04work together and be together because
328. 12:06we're all one. which sounds kind of
329. 12:08cliched and wanky but when you
330. 12:09experience it in a very pure way like
331. 12:10this it's a very profound thing
332. 12:12sometimes you need to get lost in order
333. 12:15to find yourself you know so actually
334. 12:17being lost by being lost you shed
335. 12:20everything you know like I I lost
336. 12:22everything not just got lost but by
337. 12:25losing everything what did I lose I lost
338. 12:28what wasn't mine because what was mine
339. 12:31cannot be lost and that discovery is an
340. 12:33awakening and it's a universal discovery
341. 12:36it's not about me. It's about,
342. 12:39you know, I want that transformation. I
343. 12:41want people to feel that, to get
344. 12:43empowered.
345. 12:44So, I think there's like a really
346. 12:45mystical
347. 12:47um aspect to the story that is just, you
348. 12:49know, it's wild. I mean, I love it. I
349. 12:51think that that's why I'm doing it cuz I
350. 12:53feel like it's um it's a story that
351. 12:55makes me sort of cry sometimes because I
352. 12:57think about it, gives me a little tear
353. 12:58and I just think it's a really profound
354. 13:00story and I hope other audiences I hope
355. 13:02audiences, you know, agree when they see
356. 13:03it.
357. 13:04And the other thing is the essence of
358. 13:06just being part of the of this beautiful
359. 13:09world, the rainforest that symbolizes
360. 13:11life on this planet and harmony. I'd
361. 13:13like this movie to be of meaning. It's a
362. 13:15great adventure and it's a great story
363. 13:17and this is very important because if
364. 13:19it's not a great adventure and not a
365. 13:21great story, we wouldn't fall in love
366. 13:23enough to allow it to penetrate the
367. 13:25heart and transform us. So this is the
368. 13:28lure of the movie but within that lure
369. 13:32and I hope and aspire that it will touch
370. 13:35many people and you know contribute to
371. 13:38this transformation.