Silent Hill Movie Interview

Interview Continued

FiringSquad: The original Silent Hill had a man as the main character who looked for his missing daughter. Why did you decide to switch the main character to a woman for the film?

Roger Avary: We felt that there was a deeper emotional resonance from a mother- daughter relationship. Also, we were always drawing generational analogies, and the theme of doubles from past and future were more appropriate to the exploration we wished to undertake.

FiringSquad: The Silent Hill games are more psychologically scary than, say, the Resident Evil titles. How hard is it to come up with a storyline that keeps that kind of attitude that the games have?

Roger Avary: The games already had a rich tapestry of frightening psychological imagery for us to draw from. We just cherry picked what we felt would best serve the spirit of the games. For the most part we were very true to the details of the game, but most of all we were true to the spirit.

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FiringSquad: Are there any overt themes that you wanted to explore while writing the Silent Hill screenplay?

Roger Avary: Christophe doesn't ever explore any single theme. He approaches as many themes as he can stuff into the work -- and at the same time make an audience accessible picture.

FiringSquad: What was it like working with Christophe Gans on the film and how much input did you have on the movie once it started production?

Roger Avary: Christophe is like a brother to me, and I was invited to be as involved as I wanted to be. As it were, he had a very clear idea of what he wanted to make, and it was just up to me to just transcribe the thoughts in his head. As it's very fun to hang out with Christophe, the writing experience was fun as well. I'm at the stage in my career that I don't do ANYTHING if it isn't going to be fun, so I'm cautious about who I work with. Christophe is one of those fellows.

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FiringSquad: There is some major acting talent for the Silent Hill movie. Do you know of any trepidation they had on taking on roles in a video game adaptation?

Roger Avary: To be honest I'm not sure. I can imagine that the parents of the little girl who played Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) might have had trepidation -- but I never met them. If I do meet them, I'll probably apologize for traumatizing their child.

FiringSquad: Overall are you happy with the final result and do you think fans of the games will enjoy the movie?

Roger Avary: I hope the fans love it. I have been a little concerned with the build up. I mean, some people make it seem like the future of game to film adaptations rests on the success of Silent Hill. When there's so much expectation to nail something that so many hold beloved -- well, you can imagine the anxiety. I'd like the movie to be judged by the fans as a movie. Cinema is a passive experience, and the interactivity of a game is an entirely different experience, with its own strengths and weaknesses. The gamers need to remember that they give up control in a movie theater, "we control the vertical..."

FiringSquad: Now that you have adapted Silent Hill, what other video and PC games would you like to adapt to movies?

Roger Avary: I'm currently adapting a game into a script for myself to direct. I'm not talking about it yet, but it's for Atari -- so you can imagine that it's like a dream for me.

FiringSquad: Finally is there anything else you wish to say about the Silent Hill movie?

Roger Avary: Actually, I'm about ready to go silent myself. It is, as they say, golden.