The Movie, The Dream, The Challenge

     As the writer and producer of FAR WEST, I like to talk about it through two different paths, the two different roads that I took when thinking and planning this movie.
     The first one is the Dream. As a writer, I always thought that some stories have to be told, some elements have to be brought to public, elements and stories that are often ignored and/or forgotten intentionally for several reasons. I was not afraid of writing something with a lot of controversy to it, with a lot of current issues people try to avoid precisely because they are so new.
     So I wanted to start with our current war. We have so many punch lines, so many cliché lines going around without any solid information to back them up. But most of all, we all keep forgetting it is a war. It is an invasion, and for some bizarre reason, it still comes to us as something foreign, like a TV show, a video game, a movie. Have we forgotten our past wars? Have we forgotten all the pain, loss, death, destruction? I guess we have. Otherwise there is absolutely no explanation for the lack of reaction around the globe. We forget a war has no casualties. A war has no "numbers", no "statistics". Each one of the "casualties" had names, plans, dreams and families, just like all of us. But this piece of information seems to be constantly forgotten in our official speeches, newspaper articles or TV news. I wonder why…Once more, I guess Vietnam was not enough, I guess our world wars were not enough, I guess the first gulf invasion was not enough. We just seem to forget. Always. Forget.
     In Far West, one of the main characters, Nicholas, is haunted by this war. Each one of his actions and decisions are somehow related or caused by the war.
     Along the same lines (and yet taking a completely different road), there are still some local problems I wanted to deal with: Homosexuality. Yes, it has been mentioned again and again and again, it has been the theme of countless books and movies. And yet, gay people are still murdered and treated like aliens worldwide (with, obviously, the exception of some of our largest cities or cosmopolitan centers). So, I guess all the countless books and movies were not enough, huh?
     Other issues I wanted to deal with were the primitivism of some parts of the country and also the corruption in our military/police system. Again, these issues are not only disturbing the United States of America. These are universal issues. I've traveled through many places around the globe, and everywhere I went I found the same problems. And yes, I believe it is our, as artists, to write incessantly about these things, until they are finally gone from this planet.
     So I wanted to put all these things together in a story, and of course, when I saw the result, what came out of it, I had no doubts about the Title: Far West. To me, the wild west still exists, it is here, all around. Just drive 200 miles east of LA, 200 miles west of New York, and you'll understand. All the elements of the classic westerns are still here, with us - the blood, the shootings, the law being written or forgotten by individuals. Adding to all of this the spice of the motorcycles (again, the character Nicholas finds in his bike more than a passion, he finds a way of being), you get the last element of the classic westerns: the lonely rider.
     So, coming down this road, that's my vision of "FAR WEST", the movie, and a dream, a story that had to be told.
     Looking at it from a different perspective, and taking the other "road", there is the challenge. The challenge posed itself in many ways: a logistic challenge, a technical challenge, and a time challenge.
     Far West is not a "Low Budget" film. It is a "NO budget" film. And still, I wanted to prove to myself a theory I've had for a long time, that, even though it might be hard (obviously) it IS possible to shoot a really good movie with no budget. I wanted to test my limits in this way. I wanted Far West to look good, captivating, with great actors, shots, so forth and so on. Also, I wanted to make it happen FAST. As the producer, I wanted to give myself one month for pre-production, one and a half months for production and a month for post. Given it is not a short, and it is NOT a simple film to shoot, people laughed at me and I lost track of how many times I heard "this is just not possible". Well, so far, I have proven my theory. As of now, early December 2003, production is almost done (pre started in mid-November!). Yes, it is hard. It's more than hard, more than a full time job, and many times I went nuts. But it is doable. It's being done, and I truly believe the final results will be amazing. Keep checking this website for news and updates, but as of now I'm pretty positive everyone will be hearing about "Far West" by March!!!