It was the feeling of being an immigrant in a new country (or feeling like an immigrant in your own country) that got to Perelman. His emotional ties to the story came through in his script. Producer Michael London recalls reading the script and immediately being compelled to make the movie. "You don't often read a script that makes you say, 'I have to produce this movie.' I remember that by the time I put it down, I felt - like many of the people who ultimately took part in the movie - compelled to raise my hand and say, 'I need to be involved in this.'"
DIRECTOR VADIM PERELMAN:
You’ve been traveling around the country introducing this film to audiences. Is there one question you’ve been asked that you didn’t anticipate?
There’s nothing I don’t expect now. Actually one journalist in New York hit me with one. He said, “What would you do if you were Behrani?”
What would you do?
I said, “Probably the same thing because it’s hard to write something that you wouldn’t do.” It just feels like that’s what I relate to.
Is the most common question concerning why Kathy doesn’t open her mail?
No, that’s truly the stupidest question (laughing). It’s one I brush aside with distain.
You’re supposed to be able to figure out why she doesn’t open her mail. It’s just the whole psychological thing.
She’s depressed for Christ’s sake. That’s why she doesn’t open her mail.
With the hundreds and thousands of books you’ve read, what was it about “House of Sand and Fog” that spoke to you so strongly.
It was the story. It was the incredible resonance that these people had and this just amazing… It kept me on the edge of my seat and emotionally moved me. Plus it had a lot of parallels with my life and my journey.
I’ve read your biography. Your life is a movie. Are you thinking of making it into one?
I’m thinking of writing about it first, as a novel, when I get old and I start getting like one of those guys that says, “Let me tell you about my childhood…” I think I’m going to write a novel then.
So it’ll be a while down the line.
It’ll be my opus.
How tough was it to convince the author to let you adapt the book?
You know the story that he’s had over 100 offers for the book, so he was understandably protective of it. I just said, “Look, you don’t know me,” and really nobody knows me, “but this is my life. Not only am I emotionally connected to this but also I have nothing to lose, and therefore I’m not going to get scared. I’m not going to be pushed around by the studio because I really don’t care.” I said, “I will stay true to your story and I will fight to the death.” And he believed me. Thank God for that.
That must have been a real leap of faith for Andre Dubus III.
He’s like me. We’re both very, very intuitive. If right now you had a really good pitch for me, I’d hire you on the phone. That’s how we’ve kind of led our lives. Andre is very similar to me. We’ve been traveling together so we have found out a lot about each other.
You two have been doing the publicity tour together?
Yes, it’s very cool. The novelist and the director – that just shows how much he loves the film.
Was there any part of the novel the two of you interpreted differently? Anything that ended up different on screen than Andre thought it would?
Yes. In the adaptation process there’s always a certain amount of shortening and truncating that goes on, and he expected that. But I tweaked some things in the ending quite a bit and he loved it. He saw the necessity of it. It ended up being more streamlined and tighter of a film.
When you tweak something, especially something having to do with the ending, you’re setting yourself up for fans of the book to go, “Wait a minute.” Have you had any negative reactions from fans of the novel?
I never had in this whole process, I’ve never had a fan say they either didn’t like it as much or more than the book. Not one person. I mean, seriously. And Andre was just actually flabbergasted, just completely floored by that. Huge fans of the book came out and said, “Oh my God, this is so accurate.” And accurate in an emotional sense, not so much in a checklist kind of a sense.
PAGE 2: Adapting a Book, a Nomadic Lifestyle, and Taking Control of "House of Sand and Fog"
ADDITIONAL “HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG” INTERVIEWS:
Sir Ben Kingsley, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jennifer Connelly and Ron Eldard
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
"House of Sand and Fog” Photo Gallery
"House of Sand and Fog” Trailer, Credits, and Movie News
