Emily Blunt's got a new movie out this week and
that immediately gave us the idea to do an episode on Sicario.
And no, you do not need to adjust your iPod, or Zune, or whatever.
This is not Movie Lists.
But we may do our next episode on No Country for
Old Men just to (Bleep) with you guys.
Anyway here are seven things you didn't know about Sicario, probably.
>> You don't want to do this.
>> I just want to know what I'm getting into.
>> A lot of people know that Kate Macert was originally written as a dude,
except they don't actually know that because it's total crap.
Sicario's lead was written as a female character from day one.
And the screen writer Taylor Sheridan even based her on a real woman in law
enforcement who he met.
Sheridan decided that making the main character in Sicario a woman was critical,
because he felt that a man would be less likely to stand by his principles.
And would allow the end result to justify the means.
>> Yeah, I love how we're going to pretend like I planned this.
>> Why don't you just write that U report?
>> He felt that Kate's unwillingness to bend the rules is the thing that makes her
so strong.
Even though it's also the very thing that makes people perceive her as weak.
Are we sure this isn't an episode of Movie Lists?
Okay, all right, whatever, none of my business.
Here's another thing about having the Kate Macefr character be a woman that you
may not have known.
Actually, it's really a thing about how screwed up Hollywood is.
See, even though Lionsgate didn't ask the filmmakers to change Kate to be a guy,
it also meant that they weren't going to put up as much money for the project.
Director Denis Villeneuve knew that without a Matt Damon or
some other huge bankable male lead in the starting role,
he just wouldn't get as big a budget for the film.
But he also knew that they wouldn't be making the same film if they had
gone that route.
He felt that Sicario simply wouldn't have been as meaningful as it is if,
say, Josh Brolin had been the lead role instead of Matt Graver.
By the way, Brolin almost didn't even play that role.
More on that in our next thing.
(Sound) >> What's the password?
>> Moron.
>> I bet you didn't know that Josh Brolin turned down Sicario at first.
Mainly because he has a crippling fear of showing his toes on camera.
(Sound) Okay, the toe thing may or may not be made up.
But Brolin did really refuse the part because he felt that his character was too
goofy on the page.
He just didn't see how Matt Graver could be played in a way that would be taken
seriously by audiences, or even by him as an actor.
It took some persuading, but
what really helped push him over the edge to taking the role was whiskey.
>> You sober?
>> Will be by the time we get there.
>> Seriously, after having some drinks with real Delta Force guys,
Brolin was able to get a sense of what these guys are really like as individuals.
And how they can commit the acts that they have to commit.
That drinking session was the key to helping him understand Matt Graver and
what he needed to do with the character.
Alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems.
>> It's going to be a good day.
>> Moving on.
(Sound) >> Welcome to Juarez.
>> There are key sequences in Sicario that take place in Juarez,
which helped it illustrate the degree to which extreme violence has become a fact
of daily life there.
But you may not have known that it was far too dangerous to
actually shoot any of the film on location in Juarez.
Instead most of the movie was shot in New Mexico, the outskirts of Mexico City, and
in El Paso.
There are shots of the real Juarez in the film, but they're all aerial shots.
It was just too risky to shoot on the ground.
In fact, the helicopter shots like this were their way of showing
the geography and landscape of the United States and Mexico as identical.
But divided by one line that makes all the difference in people's lives.
Villeneuve did however visit Juarez before filming so
that he'd be able to portray it authentically.
Obviously, he went with a ton of protection so
that he'd know what to do and what not to do while he was there.
But since the script pretty much just described Juarez as a quote living hell,
he went the extra mile to see what that really meant.
And we just went the extra mile because that was quote boom,
a bonus thing you didn't know.
(Sound) >> You going to introduce me, man, or-
>> Ted, Phoenix PD, Ava's my partner.
>> How you doing?
>> Let's talk about this scene in the bar with Jon Bernthal aka Ted, aka Shine!
Because this scene wasn't even in the script, at least not originally.
Villeneuve was just impressed with Bernthal as an actor, and
he found a way to stretch the budget to be able to create this whole scene.
He felt it was important because it gave the film a moment of
intimacy that it didn't have otherwise.
And it definitely makes the scenes that follow in Kate's apartment
even more tense because of the stark shift from intimacy to violence.
I'm going Movie Lists again, aren't I?
You know what, I hear it, too, okay, okay.
Hotpants, tasty hoots, Tuccipalooza, and we are back.
All right, moving on.
(Sound) The score in Sicario is pretty unique and
you might be surprised to find out what they used as their inspiration.
Denis Villeneuve told composer Johan Johannson that he didn't want music so
much as he wanted to create the sound of a threat.
And there was one movie that came to mind to Villeneuve's mind for
a comparison, Jaws.
(Music)
Johannsson created three or so versions of the Sicario theme.
And to his surprise Villeneuve went with the most extreme treatment and
that's what we hear in the final film.
(Music)
>> Everyone stay frosty.
>> It's particularily effective in this sequence,
with the border shootout on the way back from Mexico.
It really helps to heighten the feeling of dread.
By the way, this was the hardest scene to do in the whole movie.
And they had to build an entire border replica just to make it possible.
Boom, another bonus thing you didn't know.
(Sound) The night time tunnel sequence is one of the most tense sequences in
the film.
And it was tougher to shoot than you may realize.
They couldn't shoot it with the usual Hollywood moonlight type of look,
because that would indicate that the characters were not in total darkness.
So it was pitch black on set,
there couldn't be any lights on from vehicle headlights or anything, really.
Which means that none of these night visiony shots were done in post.
They shot on thermal and infrared cameras, so they'd be able to see in deep
night during filming, and they got all of these shots practically.
For this shot with the boot prints on the tunnel steps,
they achieved this by having the prop guy heat up his boots, and
walk down the steps in front of the infrared camera they were using to shoot.
Thus proving, yet again, practical effects are the absolute best.
That was seven things, with a smattering of bonus things,
that we hope you didn't know about Sicario.
As we slip into Oscar season, don't be surprised if we mix in a few more
high-brow movies with our usual pot head comedies in the coming weeks.
Thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe for
more true-ish things about movies.
And sometimes, hot boots and tasty hoots right here on Things You Didn't Know.
(Sound) >> Nothing will make sense to your
American ears.
>> I'm sorry. (Bleep) Get it out!
Get it the (Bleep) out!