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Break : Interviews

Interview Marina Anna Eich

Eric Dinkian: Before we speak about BREAK, could you introduce yourself to our readers ?

Marina Anna Eich : My name is Marina Anna Eich, I'm a German actress. I ventured into producing films and I am also a distributor which means I'm also in Cannes to look for interesting films, independent films, to buy rights for German release in theatres and in DVD. We also have a DVD label. So I'm pretty much of everything.

How long have you been acting ?

I started when I was 16 as a part time job and at school, so I could finance my studies with little parts in cinema and TV series. I've always liked art. Then in the year 2000 I became also a producer with the company WTP International. I was still acting, for example I played Eva Braun in a documentary drama movie for the Japanese television called HITLER, then many other German TV series. So I have been acting for a pretty long time now. I don't like only to act, I also like to see the things behind, so I like organizing, producing, to see how it is to make a film, I also like to tell things through films.

And you have not directed yet ?

No, I think it's the only thing I'm not doing. (Laugh)

Do you like horror movies, do you know this genre? How did you come to a project like BREAK which is a bit harsh?

As a producer and as a distributor, I'm more focused on artist films, thought-provoking and deeper sets, but for my hobby I really like good horror films. I have a very huge DVD collection of horror films ! And I've always said I really would like to make a horror film someday. However I know that we -as a production company- we're not doing it because that's not our way of doing films. So that was a very lucky coincidence that my cousin Matthias Olof Eich called me up and said "Marina you've been since years in the film industry, I have a role for you. Can I send you my script ?". I said "You know what, I have no idea if I have the time but OK send me the script and I'll tell you." So I read the script, then I said "Ok, I really like the fact that you're going to produce it on your own, without funding system because we're working the same way so I will give you all my help, camera, dolly…. Whatever you need technically you can have, and I can really free up some time to play this role because I would like to help you". That's how I came to play this role, out of help and also out of interest because I like horror genre.

You told us about producing disturbing art films. From your point of view, do you think BREAK is disturbing ?

For me it's not disturbing, no. It's entertaining in a way and it's very new as a German genre because Germany is not producing so much horror films. So this is kind of a unique thing which I really like but, why is it disturbing for you?

The movie is fun and entertaining but there are some scenes which are very disturbing. The rape scene is very disturbing.

Because you're French! (General laugh)

Maybe… In the audience everyone was laughing, reacting very cool in front of the movie and when the rape scene comes no one breathed a word…

Yes, I think this scene makes a twist in the movie. A twist because the scene is touching you, it also touched me because it's really very brutal, very honestly brutal.

How was it to shoot this sequence ?

It was very good because I had a very good relation with my acting partner. We set together, we said "Ok how far you would like to go?". Then I told what he can do, what he cannot do. He told me what he likes to do, if this is possible, so we made it up in our head and then it was no problem because as an actress if you have restrictions, it's not good. So I always say as an actress you're playing a role, that's not you, it's a role. And if you have any restrictions to play a role it will not be good to do it that way. For example someone says "Why are you not ashamed to present yourself naked like this", I say "Why? Naked is such a natural thing", not raping but being naked is natural. Things like this happen really so why shouldn't you do this as an actress ? For me it's good to make some specific and also some cruel scenes, as an actress it's very interesting.

One thing caught us: it's the relation between the 4 characters, the 4 girls, which was very good. So ok, it's a genre film but the 4 characters work very well together I think.

Yes because they're very different. All 4 are very different characters. I think a lot of spectators can identify themselves with one of the 4 characters and that's good because they're so different. We did only, maybe 1 or 2 rehearsal because we had a very tiny time, only 21 days of shooting. And the rape scene was not rehearsed. It was just shot at once.

You said it's a tiny budget but the production value seems a lot bigger ?

Yes, that's right. I think the camerawork is a very good work and also Mathias -as a director- had good ideas about how the camera should look and also the post-production was very good. I think they spent a lot of money through the post production. That why the result is much more than the real cost.

The movie was screened in Sitges. How did the audience react ?

Very good because the Sitges audience is marvellous and they're so yearning to see genre films, also artist films, and sure, science fiction and horror films. And it was packed, it was full, 400 people or something, it was a very very good response.

And now, what is the next step for BREAK ? What do you expect ?

World companies is going to sell it in many different countries because horror films are still a very good market value.

Could you tell us about the film you produced ANGEL WITH DIRTY WINGS which is not related to horror or scifi ?
ANGEL WITH DIRTY WINGS is an erotic drama, very provocative, about double moral, about sexuality, about freeing oneself from the moral of society. So just be yourself, don't follow the line of what others tell you, you should do this, you shouldn't do that. So this is a film to free yourself from double moral, to search your own sexuality. We have a market screening here and it has been titled "the scandal film in 2010 for Germany", so we have about over 500 press articles and many festival screenings. It was screened in Sitges. It has also been screened in India, even though it's a rated X 18 film because of the sexual content and because of the way it is done. But I'm very much behind that. It's completely different from BREAK but that's what, also as an actress, is great to do many different things

Eric Dinkian : Could you introduce yourself to our readers ?

Matthias Olof Eich : My name is Matthias Olof Eich, I'm the director of the backwoods slasher BREAK. I started in this business in 1999 as a Set and Propsbuilder. In this work I got the chance to build some of the Classic and Prequel STAR WARS props for LucasArts and LucasFilm for the european publicity work. Then I started shooting some music videos, commercials and short movies on my own. In 2005, I played a role in a Movie called THE BLACK REPTILE. That's when I meet some producers and they liked a script of mine and so I got the chance to make my first motion picture called DEEP HOLLOW. The fact that we didn´t got enough money to shoot DEEP HOLLOW the way I wanted it led us to the script of BREAK which was a lot cheaper than the other one. Well, and that's why we here now.

What were your major influences when making Break ? It reminded me of DELIVERANCE but also THE DESCENT cause of the feminine cast.

You named it. DELIVRANCE and THE DESCENT are two of my all time favorite movies and you can find a lot of similarities with BREAK. But my biggest influences were American "B-movies". I grew up with those films. My older brother and his friends always tried to shoot movies like those they watched in cinemas. And when they started there first short movies it was always gore and bloody. Really funny to watch that as a 9 year old boy.

How did you involve this mostly feminine cast in a project such as Break?

The idea to make the whole cast feminine was already part of the first draft of the screenplay. I really loved the idea of this cast. There is no "hero" type of guy for the audience. I hate flicks with those guy´s involved. We don´t have one, so I hope the viewers will have there fun in wondering who will face those hillbillies.

Is it difficult to produce a horror movie in Germany ?

Yes, absolutely. Allow me to quote Andreas Marschall, a friend of mine and the director of the movie TEARS OF KALI : "If you shoot a horror movie in Germany, the filmbiz looks down at you. Shooting horror movies is the same as shooting porn movies in Germany". And he´s right. Its very hard to get money for your ideas. You could never shoot a flick like UNE NUIT EN ENFER in Germany, except you use your own money. England and France are way beyond Germany in this genres.

How long did the shooting and the post-production of BREAK last ?

We needed 21 days of principal shootings and 3 days for some pick up shoots. The whole post-production including all the Vfx, score and sound needed 6 months. But I have to say that the post productions was done in our "free time". Remember, BREAK is a independent movie and after those 3 weeks of shooting we all had to get back to our regular jobs. But I'm very proud of everyone included in the team. They all did a great work and I love to see them all back again.

BREAK is very gore but it's also a fun movie. And then comes the rape scene which is very disturbing. What was your goal with this sequence ?

Yeahhh the rape scene... I think that's why my "Wanted" picture is pinned on the wall of every office of the German censorship authorities (laughs). But it's easy to explain. I can't find one little funny thing in the raping of a woman.... so I wanted to show it as hard as possible. I already knew on set that this scene would be violent and very disturbing so I shoot some scenes to give me the chance to cut it out. Then, after the first screening of the rough cut, everyone of the audience told me to cut out the raping, because that was the worst they ever saw and they felled uncomfortable watching it. Well at last I decided to not cut it out but cut it down from 3 minutes to 1 minute. And man, it's still hard to watch. But my goal was reached. Even the hardest "Slasher-Fan" is getting nervous watching it. I think that's what everyone should take home from watching BREAK: chopping of a man´s Balls is funny... raping a woman isn´t.

What feedback do you have after the latest screenings of BREAK, for an example at Sitges) ?

The best feedbacks I got was when everybody was amazed that the whole movie was shoot in Germany by Germans. When I started working on BREAK my greatest aim was to shoot a movie that looked international and not "German". So when people told me that they never thought that this was a German movie I was very happy with my work.

What is now the future of Break ?

BREAK will be released in most Country's on DVD this summer.

What are your projects now ?

Ohh... I can't tell you that... Because I had to kill you... and all your readers too (laughs)… Shooting independent is the same as shooting for Lucasfilm... TOP SECRET… OK ! Joking aside, we already started the next movie. I can't tell you to much about it because its a very simple storyline and I don't want to spoil the fun. But what I can tell you about this movie is that we will have a way bigger body count than we had in BREAK and a lot more firepower and funny moments. It's completely different to BREAK and we will go a new way.