Possibly the only film in Cannes which has been in the works for more than forty years, This World, Then the Fireworks is a dark family tale about a brother and sister with a very unique relationship.
Originally written in 1955 by pulp meister Jim Thompson, the story was left waiting in the wings until 1983, when it was finally published, six years after Thompson's death. The delay had nothing whatsoever to do with the writing, which is brilliant throughout. Instead, it was because of the sexual relationship in the story between brother and sister.
Incest is just the tip of the iceberg of psychosis in the siblings' lives. Marty and Carol Greenwood, played by Billy Zane and Gina Gershon, are dealt their fateful hands at their fourth birthday party, when they see their father commit murder, signing his own death warrant by way of the electric chair,.
The Greenwood kids develop an intimate rapport as they struggle to cope with the demands of their demented mother, played by Rue McClanahan. By the time they reach adulthood, one has become a prostitute, grifter and murderer while the other is a two-bit con artist.
"Marty and Carol are two lives that don't fit into the very conservative, hypocritical Fifties," says Zane, who also acted as co-executive producer on the project. He clearly enjoyed playing Marty, "the most dramatic and challenging role I've encountered, and the most morally twisted characterI've ever read in a script."
In preparation for the project, tyro director Michael Oblowitz and his team watched dozens of classic noir movies. They also turned to Fifties jazz to help set the menacing mood. Award-winning screenwriter Larry Gross (48 Hours, Geronimo) was determined to be faithful to the spirit of Thompson's bruising prose. 'The story takes us boldly and deeply into the characters' psychotic obsessions, family conflicts, forbidden sexuality, and even real love...it's a wild ride.' Ben Epstein
Prod Co: Largo Entertainment
Prod: Chris Hanley, Brad Wyman, Larry Gross
Dir: Michael Oblowitz
Scr: Larry Gross
Ph: Tom Priestley, Jr
Art Dir: Maia Javan
Cos: Dan Moore
Music: Peter Rugolo
Ed: Emma E. Hickox
Cast: Billy Zane, Gina Gershon, Sheryl Lee
Running time: 100 mins
Int Sales: Largo Entertainment
