Pierre De Clercq
Come As You Are is one of the most charming movies that you will see this summer and is inspired by the documentary For One Night Only.
Pierre De Clercq has adapted the documentary into a feature film as he teams up with director Geoffrey Enthoven for the first time.
We caught up with the screenwriter to chat about the movie, the process of adapting a documentary into a feature and what lies ahead.
- Come As You Are has just been released here in the UK so can you tell me a little bit about the film?
The film originated here in the UK and it is based on the documentary that Asta Philpot made about this journey to Spain. Producer Mariano Vanhoof saw this documentary on television and talked about it to Geoffrey Enthoven, the director, and they thought that it would be a nice feature. They contacted Asta Philpot to see if he would agree to that.
Mariano wrote quite an extensive treatment and then they came to me to ask if I wanted to write the screenplay for the film.
I immediately said yes because it is such a wonderful subject and story, so that is how it started and how I got involved in the film. So I wrote the screenplay and we were filming one year later and the film was released a year after that.
- You have penned the screenplay but the movie is based on a documentary so what made you want to get involved and tell this story?
It is such a unique and… if you only simply pitched a couple of lines to people ‘It’s about three handicapped guys who travel to Spain’ and people are like ‘ok’ and then you tell them ‘to get laid’ and you see the smile on everyone’s face.
So I was really keen to tell such a wonderful and unique story and I said yes rather quickly. I had a talk with the producer and the director to make sure that we all had the same movie in our head and we all wanted to make the same film.
You can take this subject and make a completely different film to the one that we have made and so I wanted to make sure we all had the same intentions.
That is why they approached me, I suppose, as they knew of my previous work and they liked the tone in the films I had worked on before. So we quickly agreed on where we were going before I started writing.
- How challenging was it to adapt a documentary into a feature?
I wrote the screenplay as I thought I should write it. I wrote a first draft and I worked on the characters and then I watched the documentary.
I picked up one of two small things from the documentary such as the way they moved and the way that they behaved along with the simple thing of where one electric wheelchair is pulling another and adapted them into the script.
So I wrote it first from my heart and how I believed I should write it. Then I watched the documentary just to refine a few things.
But then there was a big test as Asta Philpot read the screenplay and he loved it. I have to say it was a job well done because he completely liked it; he lived the way the characters were written and the dialogue.
- Speaking of Asta Philpot how involved was he in the script writing process and in the film as a whole?
Very much, the film wouldn’t exist without him and so he was the inspiration for everything. It might sound funny but I met him for the first time during the shooting - it was the first time that we had met in person - most of the talks he had in the beginning were with the director and the producer and information from those talks were relayed to me.
I like to write on my own an in my own corner and write the way that I think that it should be written. He was on set a lot during the shooting and he would work with the actors, so he was involved all the way.
- Through the writing and development process how much did the script/story change from the initial treatment that you were given to what we see on the screen?
I just wanted to tell the best story. The Claude character, for example, didn’t exist as it was a different driver.
The first treatment saw the movie start with the brothel scene, like in the documentary, but I was like ’you have to put this at the end because it is more like a dream. You have to put it at the end because this is a dream that these guys have in their head when they start out and the audience has to follow the dream until the end to discover it with them.’
The portrayal of their parents and the parents coming back into the story was something else that I changed.
- The movie is directed by Geoffrey Enthoven so how did you find working with him? And how hands on was he when developing the story?
We knew each other and we knew each other’s work; I knew his movies and he knew about the films that I had written in the past. We had talked about things before but we had never worked together before now. It was such a gift to get a story like this as a scriptwriter and development went really well.
We got on really well and on Monday he is starting another film that was written by me; and we have also developed a third one. So that illustrates that the working has been really good and is still going well we continue to work together on other films.
The actors will tell you the same thing as this film was a joy to develop; if that wasn’t true I wouldn’t tell you that (laughs). It was a simply a joy to make, a joy to write, a joy to develop and work with the actors in rehearsals.
The film has done really well on the festival circuit and the awards that we have won. For a small Belgian it has been a nice journey.
- You have touched on my next question really as this film has done so well on the festival circuit and winning over audiences and critics but how have you personally found the response to the film?
You never know what is going to happen when you are making something and this is just more that we ever expected. The before the film was released in Belgium it was shown at the film festival in Montreal in August 2011.
It was the first time it was shown to an audience and it was overwhelming as the film won the Audience Award in Montreal. That was when we realised that people really like this film and they are really touched by it.
- This is not only a road movie but it is also a films about unconditional friendship so what do you hope people will take away with them when they see this film?
Ooh, that is a difficult one. I know that they laugh a lot and I know that they love going on the journey with these characters.
We did one test screening before it was released and one of the problems we thought we had was it was too long but people said ‘no, it is too short’. People really do love these characters and they love going on this adventure with them.
Everyone has their own prejudices but I hope people turn them down a bit and see interesting and loving characters and I hope they take that away when they step outside and watch people around them. That is all you can hope for, I think.
- While you have made a career out of writing you did step behind the camera to direct a documentary back in 1988. So I was wondering why you have not directed since and if there are any plans to ever return to the director's chair?
The one I did was a very long documentary but that really was a personal journey. I discovered of all the different things that I have done in film that screenwriting was the one that I preferred the most.
Then the choice was very simple as I knew that that was what I wanted to do, so I just did it. I have not stopped since then (laughs). But sometimes it is not easy.
- Finally what is next for you?
Geoffrey Enthoven is about to start shooting another movie that I have written. Then I have another one called Winnipeg, which is set in Canada. So I have two movies that are being shot this summer.
Come As You Are is in cinemas now – check your local cinema here: www.comeasyouaremovie.co.uk