FILM 1403: LOVE & MERCY
TRIVIA: The real Wilson reported
having a mild dissociative experience while watching the film. He started to
believe that Paul Giamatti
was the actual Eugene Landy and felt "absolutely in fear" for several
minutes.
During the Q&A at the film's
premier at SXSW '15, Brian Wilson stated that his favorite scene in the movie was
the intimate scene between Cusack and Banks, reflecting a happy moment between
his real life wife and himself.
The studio scenes were improvised
in a live, unrehearsed pseudo-documentary style with two 16mm handheld cameras.
Dano, who once played in a band, was really directing the actors on how to play
their instruments, who themselves were also real life musicians. While these
scenes were mostly unscripted, Dano directly quoted some lines spoken by Wilson
from the original session tapes.
Atticus Ross's original
score, composed almost entirely from original Beach Boys multi-track recording
stems, was inspired by the Beatles' experimental sound collage "Revolution
9" and Danger Mouse's Beatles/Jay-Z mash-up "The Grey Album".
A third era which focused on Brian
Wilson's infamous bed period in the 1970s was considered, but ultimately
discarded, leaving some of his most troubled years to the viewer's imagination.
When asked who would have filled the third Wilson role, Pohlad responded that
he had considered Philip
Seymour Hoffman.
Dano alternates throughout the film
between singing for real and lip-syncing to original recordings of Wilson's
singing.
