Shooting the Apple
Production began in New York in a magnificent 41st-floor set
representing Steven Taylor's suite of offices, the first of some 70-plus
locations throughout the length and breadth of the city.
Andy Davis and Pat Kelly decided from inception that, as long as their story
was to be set in New York, they would take full advantage of the city's
extraordinary locations. "It might as well be a living postcard of New York,"
notes Kelly. And so, for the next few months, Davis and company careened from
the southernmost reaches of Manhattan's financial district northward to Harlem,
crossing the East River to Brooklyn, the Hudson River to New Jersey and heading
out to the green expanses of Long Island.
Any number of New York landmarks provided the backdrop for the film's
intrigue, some known the world over, others familiar primarily to denizens of
the city. These include the United Nations, the Ellis Island Ferry, Penn
Station, the Fulton Fish Market, Washington Square Park, the East Side
meat-packing district, restaurants and bars of varying sizes (including the
famed Gotham Bar & Grill, as well as the diminutive Raoul's in Greenwich
Village and Riverrun in Soho).
The company traveled to Glen Cove, Long Island, for sequences at the palatial
home of Emily's mother, Sandra Bradford, utilizing the noble interior of
Salutations, one of the many homes built by turn-of-the-century mogul J.P.
Morgan.
Much filming also took place on the Upper East Side, where Gwyneth Paltrow was
happily besieged on a daily basis by students from the nearby Spence School,
her alma mater, for whom she is a great local hero as well as a considerable
role model. "It was great to go back to my old neighborhood," Paltrow says,
"right across the street from my school."
The film's most extraordinary "practical" location--and also its most
logistically difficult and lavish sequence--was the Temple of Dendur wing at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the setting for a stunning charity party
attended by the characters portrayed by Douglas, Paltrow and Mortensen, as well
as hundreds of New York's most elegant residents (some of whom were portrayed
by local friends of Arnold and Anne Kopelson and Michael Douglas).
"Two nights of all-night filming at the Met, 500 extras dressed to the nines,
tremendous lighting and other production challenges," recounts Peter
Macgregor-Scott. "But that's the fun, and that's why we do it. If it were
easy, then everybody would be doing it, and I'd be driving a cab!"
The dimensions of the Temple of Dendur wing induced director of photography
Darius Wolszki to come up with some ingenious solutions for lighting the space
without cluttering up the floor with huge lights and other equipment. Wolszki
arranged for several lighting balloons, resembling gigantic Japanese lanterns,
to ascend to the ceiling of the glass-enclosed wing and appropriately
illuminate the entire scene.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the middle of the night, can be both magical
and superlatively spooky. It's not often that even the veterans of multiple
movie productions pass billions of dollars' worth of art on their way to a
catered midnight dinner. And veteran production designer Philip Rosenberg was
reminded by his surroundings that in the early 1970s he'd worked on the film
version of the classic children's book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs.
Basil E. Frankweiler, about two kids who hide out in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
And most unusually for a feature film, writer Patrick Kelly was on set nearly
every day for the duration of the shoot. "I promised them I'd cook if they let
me hang out," jokes Kelly (who spent six years of his life as a stand-up
comedian). "Actually, this is a dialogue-heavy script, so it allowed me to
work things out when necessary with Andy and the cast, and poke my nose where
it doesn't belong!"
Design for Living
The plentiful number of real locations, as well as two crucially important
living environments for the three major characters, were challenges met head-on
by Rosenberg. The showpiece of his work was the extraordinary interior of
Steven and Emily Taylor's Fifth Avenue penthouse apartment overlooking Central
Park. Although the exterior of the apartment building and terrace were both
shot on the Upper East Side, the large number of crucial scenes set inside the
apartment--and the need for total accessibility for the cameras to roam through
the penthouse--required that the interior be entirely designed and built from
scratch.
With New York soundstages at a premium, the filmmakers decided to utilize the
tremendous Jersey City Armory, which provided enough space for the 11,000
square foot set.
"I basically deal with visual concepts formulated by the director," notes
Rosenberg, "and Andy felt very strongly that the Taylors should have a global
view of life, what with Steven being involved with international finance, and
Emily working at the United Nations as a translator. So we came up with the
idea of having each room in the penthouse reflect different cultures.
"The problem facing my department," continues Rosenberg, "was how to execute
it in a way that the architecture held all of these elements together. We
developed a scale and scheme that was common to all the rooms, and just changed
the various elements of decor to indicate the various regions that each
represents. Thus, there are strong Japanese accents to the master bedroom and
bath, Morocco highlights the kitchen and dining room, the library feels very
British, and so on."
Appropriately for the world of pleasure and privilege in which Steven and
Emily live, the walls of the Taylor penthouse are hung with many examples of
fine art, some reproductions, some original. Among the artists represented are
Larry Rivers, Robert Natkin, Bjorn Rye and Philip Rosenberg himself. The
Japanese woodblock prints are originals from the collection of Rosenberg and
his wife, both avid collectors.
The Taylor penthouse is also arrayed with rich furnishings, and it was the
responsibility of art director Patricia Woodbridge and set decorator Debra
Schutt to comb the furniture dealers of Manhattan for the proper pieces.
"Luckily, Asian furniture is very popular in New York at the moment," notes
Schutt. "We found a dealer in Chelsea who had a warehouse full of wonderful
furniture, much of it antiques, and we rented many pieces for the movie.
However, much of the furniture and other accoutrements in the Taylor penthouse
was built especially for the movie."
Quite a contrast was David Shaw's loft in Greenpoint, as hiply downscale as
the Taylors' penthouse is up. "I first designed the loft before Viggo
Mortensen was cast," says Philip Rosenberg, "but after Viggo came in I worked
very closely with him in re-designing the space to suit his own
sensibilities."
"Working on the loft was great," adds Debra Schutt, "because it was so
different from the penthouse that it was like walking in different worlds.
Viggo really made the space his own and was also very willing to take
direction, which was great for both sides. He would help me in dressing the
loft, but on the other hand, he would also ask for advice from Phil or myself
on how we thought it should look, or where his paintings should go."
Another major task for Rosenberg and his team was to re-create a large United
Nations conference room, which was also constructed in the Jersey City Armory.
"It wasn't really designed to exactly match any existing conference room in the
U.N.," notes Rosenberg, "except for the Picasso tapestry, which we re-created
with the United Nations' permission."
Dressed to Kill
While the art department was dressing the sets, costume designer Ellen
Mirojnick was hard at work dressing the cast with head-to-toe original designs
that were created and constructed especially for the film.
"For 'A Perfect Murder,'" says Mirojnick, "the impetus was that the two
principal characters lead seemingly charmed lives. The base was refined beauty
and perfection of color and shape, but nothing too fussy. In the movie,
everybody lies, so I wanted to make sure that the audience is seduced by the
characters' beauty...because the lie is behind that beauty.
"Steven Taylor's clothing is all fine, fine fabric," continues Mirojnick.
"It's hand-tailored, from top to bottom and, inclusive of his leather shoes,
everything except for a tie or two was designed especially for Michael Douglas,
who plays the character. Steven is made to look strong, powerful and elegant.
"As Emily, Gwyneth Paltrow is also very elegant, but neither of the East Side
matron variety or downtown chic. Rather, Gwyneth is made to look very refined
and simple. It's about shape and form. Subsequently, as with Michael, almost
everything was made for Gwyneth."
"The Balenciaga gown she wears to the Metropolitan Museum is a very unexpected
dress in this day and age, and it looks very elegant and beautiful on Gwyneth.
I don't think we've seen a dress like that in a movie in a really long time.
One of my main goals when I design a contemporary movie is that the clothing,
both male and female, look timeless and classic."
As for Viggo Mortensen's David Shaw, Mirojnick says, "David is not just
bohemian, but truly an eccentric, and also a man of dubious morals. Viggo is
an exceptionally attractive man with a non-stereotypical sexuality, who lives
his roles. He took every single one of those pieces of clothing that we had
for David Shaw and he lived in them, painted in them and probably slept in
them!"
Happy New Year
"A Perfect Murder" wrapped production on schedule, but not without regrets
from a cast that had worked together very intensely...and happily.
Says Michael Douglas, "Every production has its own chemistry between the cast
and crew. This one was really delightful; I enjoyed working with Gwyneth and
Viggo enormously, and Andy Davis visualized and sustained a refined tension on
the screen while keeping things very relaxed on the set."
"It's been such a thrill working with Michael and Viggo," declares Gwyneth
Paltrow. "They each work in very different ways. Michael is so smooth,
together and in control. And Viggo just lives his character. I feel really
fortunate, because these two gentlemen are so talented and classy that it
really elevates the genre to a whole other level."
David Suchet and Constance Towers were also enthusiastic about their
experiences. "I have to say that this has been one of the happiest jobs of my
career," states Suchet. "Michael, Gwyneth and the entire cast and crew have
been charming and wonderful. I also had the feeling that Andy Davis was
enjoying the chance to move from action to drama."
Towers, who has worked for such great directors as John Ford and Samuel Fuller,
has nothing but praise for Andrew Davis. "I'm tremendously impressed with
him," she says. "He is totally prepared, which an actor appreciates greatly.
Another rare quality is that he's truly a decent, caring person, which makes
for a very happy environment in which to work. It doesn't always happen that
way."
Concludes Viggo Mortensen, who finally had to abandon the Greenpoint loft in
which he spent so many hours living and preparing for his role, "I'll miss the
building and the neighborhood.
"I went straight into 'A Perfect Murder' from another movie, in which I played
a very different character. It was scary, but I'm grateful to Andy and the
producers for trusting me enough to try this. Every once in a while you hit
something special with a group of people, and that makes the day, or week, or
year worthwhile."
Warner Bros. Presents A Kopelson Entertainment Production of An Andrew Davis
Film: Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow and Viggo Mortensen in "A Perfect
Murder," starring David Suchet. The music is by James Newton Howard; the film
is edited by Dennis Virkler, A.C.E.; and the production is designed by Dariusz
Wolski, A.S.C. The executive producer is Stephen Brown and the screenplay is
by Patrick Smith Kelly, based upon the play "Dial M For Murder" by Frederick
Knott. The film is produced by Arnold Kopelson and Anne Kopelson, Christopher
Mankiewicz, and Peter Macgregor-Scott. It is directed by Andrew Davis and
distributed worldwide by Warner Bros., A Time Warner Entertainment Company.
www.aperfectmurder.com
Copyright (c) 1998 Warner Bros. (All rights reserved). This written material
to be used solely for advertising, promotion, publicity or reviews of this
specific motion picture and to remain the property of the studio.
