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On-set friction; Whitey Bulger basis; The Wire offer to Ray Winstone; Scorsese's surprise at winning; Wolf of Wall Street yacht; X motif; Ballhaus's last collaboration; tax credits; Monahan sequel idea; F-word count; VHS; Psycho shower homage
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:31:10Read transcript
- "Him and Nicholson" reportedly did not get along on set (the referent is unclear in the transcript).
- Nicholson wanted it to be more than a gangster film, so Monaghan based Costello on Whitey Bulger; the window view behind the rat nods to Little Caesar, Scarface and White Heat.
- Ray Winstone was supposed to play Jimmy McNulty but turned it down because he did not want to move to Baltimore.
- Reportedly the director was surprised the film won and never thought about awards, finding it too nasty and violent and a remake; the yacht behind Frank is the same yacht as in Wolf of Wall Street.
- X motif sightings: airport walkway crossbeams, taped windows where Queenan is thrown, behind Costigan in the elevator, and the carpet when Damon returns.
- This was the last Scorsese-Ballhaus collaboration; an early attempt to shoot with more Infernal Affairs-style whip pans was dropped; later films with Robert Richardson and Rodrigo Prieto look totally different.
- Shot mostly in New York for its 15% tax credit, the film prompted Massachusetts to adopt a 25% credit and 15 years of movies filmed there.
- Monahan described a sequel set before, during and after the first film, showing off-screen actions; the reply from Scorsese was no thanks; Walberg talked about a Dignam sequel, and Ted Sarandos is urged to make one.
- The count of the F word is given as 112 and 238 (unclear which is the answer) with a sense it is undercounted; it was the first Best Picture winner not released on VHS.
- The shower shots before Madeline listens to the Costigan tape repeat the three shots of Psycho's shower scene.