American Cinematographer - May 2003 - 80

Life

on

the Lam
fluorescents."
This

peculiarity helped the
cinematographer create a contrast
between the

eastern

and

western

worlds within Phnom Penh. He used
incandescent

sources

only to light

a

European enclave: the Belleville
Hotel and its bar

the street,

across

by Corsican expatriate Emile

run

(Gerard Depardieu). This is Jimmy's
first destination in his hunt for the
elusive Marvin, and it's filled with
details that signal its western sensibil¬

ity, including Emile's dusty turntable
Jaques Dutronc tunes and
the bar's motley clientele of U.S. war
with its

"The Belleville is the

veterans.

one

place in Cambodia where you do see
an incandescent
light, so it represents
the European incursion," says
Denault.
The

Tucked away
from authorities'

prying eyes,
Marvin (Caan)
enjoys the good
life in
Cambodia.

eventually locates the expatriate

con

artist, who tries to convince him to

scheme: the development
of a large casino in partnership with
a
Cambodian ex-general. But

join

a new

Marvin is in

sucked into

his head and gets
world of violence and

over

a

a

phere relating to the characters who
in our movie."
Denault says his primary

pop up

visual stimulus

was

Cambodia itself.

Like Dillon, he

was

fascinated by its

he should watch to prepare.
of Bamboo
I don't know how you can get it,
just watch it,"' Denault recalls.
Indeed, locating a copy of this Sam
Fuller film wasn't easy. The Museum
of Modern Art ultimately showed
Denault a print from the personal

menacing as the underground econ¬
omy springs into action. During 12
weeks of preproduction, Denault
was also struck by Cambodia's differ¬
ent approach to everyday lighting:

collection of Martin Scorsese. Set in

was

"It's all fluorescent. There isn't
incandescent

lightbulb in the

an

coun¬

try, I think." What's more, the vogue
for

of Bamboo

garishly colored fluorescents.
"People use colored fluorescent lights

Dillon's

for mood, for effect, the way some¬

project: it's about a community of
expatriate gangsters and shady char¬
acters in a country that's just getting
on its feet after a war.
"Visually it

body here would dim down the
tungsten in a fancy restaurant to

some

similarities

to

create

a

warm

they'd turn

ambience. There,

on some

pink

or

yellow

a

bunch of

open-faced 2K and IK quartz lights.
It was a pretty small package, but
even if I'd had more
lights, we
transport

black, and the mood becomes

bears

bunch of Kino Flos and

wouldn't have had the

were

postwar Japan, House

four
four 1.2K Pars, four Jokers, a

reflected in the film.

Denault asked Dillon if there

-

He ticks off the final list: "A 12K,
4K Pars,

wild mood

swings, which came to be
During the day,
it's a land of lush, green jungles,
decaying French Colonial architec¬
ture in beautiful pastels, and a rain¬
bow of colors on the crowded city
streets. When night falls, the palette
turns candy-colored and molten

"Matt said, 'Watch House

May 2003

influence," says
similar atmos¬

an

Denault, "but it had

deception that even he can't master,
while Jimmy finds himself pulling
back from his longtime mentor. "It's
an atmospheric thriller, but also the
story of redemption, the journey of a
man breaking away from old ideas
and corrupt influences," says Dillon.
Before leaving for Cambodia,
any films

74

wasn't much of

complete absence of such
lights elsewhere allowed Denault to
whittle down his lighting package.

means

them."

And

there's

the

Cambodia's ruined roads
sible for
-

to

there

to

big trucks

traverse.

-

rub.

impos¬
much else

are

or

However, because

equipment-rental
grip and
lighting equipment had to be
brought in somehow from a rental
house in Bangkok, the Hong Kongbased Cinerent. Fortunately, the
production's crew included two
Israelis who had just the right mind¬
set to tackle such a challenge. One
was line producer Rony Yakov. "He's
are

no

houses in Cambodia, the

a

veteran

of all those Cannon films,

including Bloodsport and Delta
Denault. "He decided that
we had to invent just
enough of the
film business here to get the movie
Force" says

done, and not

an

inch more." Yakov

brought in production manager
Danny Ben Menachem, whose
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