BLOODY TRAIL TO FAME FOR SOUTH AFRICAN DIRECTOR JONATHAN LIEBESMAN
By Daniel E. Dercksen

At the age of 30 South African-born director Jonathan Liebesman is calling the shots in Hollywood. For his latest film Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, producer Michael Bay headhunted Liebesman to direct.

It's gory, violent and extreme and in the capable hands of Liebesman, who leaves a bloody trail of fame in Hollywood, following his initiation into the studio system with Darkness Falls, an imaginative fantasy that turns the fable of the tooth fairy into a horrific nightmare.

Now he takes the cult horror Texas Chainsaw, and brutally turns its insides out.

It is surprising to discover that although Liebesman has carved a name for himself as a hotshot young horror guru, it is not his favourite genre. 

"I'm not a massive fan of horror movies," acknowledges Liebesman, who only saw the original 1974 cult classic three years ago and was pleased that Tobe Hooper (who directed the original film), 'loved it' when he saw it at its premiere in L.A..

"I grew up in South Africa where there was not really a horror film culture. For me, I did not get inspired to do horror movies in South Africa, I just got inspired to tell stories," he says, referring to everyday news stories he read in his teens. 

"In America, people know about every single horror film, those were not the type of movies I was brought up on. I was raised on the big Hollywood movies that were big in South Africa," he says, recalling memories of films like Braveheart, The Last Emperor and Terminator 2.

Despite horror not being his favourite genre, he admits that "horror movies are a great way to learn studio politics and get a track record with studios," and that his favourite horror film is The Excorcist (1974).

"Fear is very visceral, one of the primal kind of emotions, and horror films play right to that," he says. "Films like Jaws tap right into fear and you get one of the most visceral reactions out of an audience."

Although he is not a fan, it is understandable why he could relate to Chainsaw.

Although most people will simply dismiss Texas Chainsaw Massacre: the Beginning as a horror film, it is ultimately a film about family and the search of identity.

"Definitely," agrees Liebesman. "It's about a character who has no place in the world and about a family who accepts him."

Liebesman left South Africa at the age of 19 and was adopted by a 'new' Hollywood family.

"You can look at it like that. I think the film industry here is very fickle. One day you can be dining with family so to speak, and the next day you're on the road. That's how Hollywood is.
When you leave South Africa, and you come here your sense of home becomes a bit confused. I think it's important to really understand where your home is."

You have to be very, very strong to survive Liebesman's excellent exploration of fear in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: the Beginning. This is one prequel that delivers on all levels. It is bloody, brutal and unforgiving.   

"Horror movies are I believe suppose to be exploitive," he says "To me, you go in there and you know what you're doing. You're exploiting the audience and that's the point. You're being sadistic and that's why it's a horror film, it's a horrific experience. As a filmmaker I don't particularly have an issue. It really depends on the story. If the point of a story is gore and violence, there's no issue."

He agrees that one of the most important things of being a filmmaker, is giving your audience what they are looking for.

"Yes, being true to your story," he says "The birth of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre means it's going to be gory. It starts in Hell. I always laugh when I see reviews that say it's so nihilistic and depressing and dark and disturbing, nasty and mean spirited."

"It was just funny to me that a lot of the reviewers were very angry, saying it's so exploitive and sadistic, but what are you coming to watch? They were so mean saying 'I did not want sit through it'. It's like, yes, but when you are on a roller coaster some people want to get off, some people love it.  That's what it is."

What's brilliant about Texas is that Liebesman has a sensibility as a filmmaker to chose what to show when, and avoid what may be too excessive.

"It's fun to say to an audience: 'Let's show you some violence and let's see you turn away' and 'is this really what you want to see?," he says.

"The movie is supposed to be sadistic. When I hear the title, I hear people getting cut up. It seems like frightening.  When you think of images in your head if you haven't seen it, the images are gory."

He refers to conversations he had with actor R. Lee Ermey, who plays the sadistic sheriff, and is renowned for his role of an equally brutal officer in Stanley Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket'

"Ermey told me that Kubrick always said that 'more is more'. In Hollywood everything is more, and that is kind of the general rule," says Liebesman.  "With this film, with the gore and the violence, you know what, more is more!  There are people who will argue against that but they don't have to watch it."

Although Liebesaman is one of the very few South African directors who have actually made it in Hollywood, and is an inspiration to many local young filmmakers who are motivated and by his achievements, he finds it difficult to admit this and talk about himself.

"I'm very proud to be South African," he says. "But I don't think I have achieved close to what I want to. Until I have achieved what I would like to, there's a massive road to go."

His ultimate goal as a filmmaker is "to make the great films."

"That's what I always strive to do. Unbelievable films like Unforgiven, One Flew Over the cuckoos Nest, Amadeus, and Lawrence of Arabia Films that stand the test of time. I challenge myself to try and get there one day."

When he heard that Martin Scorcese's film The Departed was going to be screened during the opening weekend of Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning in America, Liebesman went to see the film at a preview.

"It was so unbelievable incredible. I left not upset that I was opening against the movie, but inspired that I get to make films and I get to open on a weekend that I consider to be the best film I've seen in a year-and-a-half. That's what inspires me. Great moviemaking, to show what is possible with moviemaking."

Born and raised in Johannesburg, he attended the South African School of Film and Drama before studying at the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

At Tisch Jonathan wrote and directed the award-winning short film Genesis and Catastrophe, based on Roald Dahl's short story. The short film won top awards at both the Hollywood Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival and has been used as a teaching tool at his alma mater.

He believes that making short films is a great way for local filmmakers to draw attention to their work.

"It is important. Forget what people think. Get it in film festivals. I made one and now I'm directing a big studio movie. All I can say is follow your instincts. They tell you what you would 
be best at. "

He firmly believes that the future for SA filmmakers looks promising.

"Look at Mexico and Australia's film industry. We're like them a few years ago. We have the talent and courage to tell our own stories.  It's already started for South Africa."

And how does he think Hollywood sees SA as a filmmaking country?

"Like any country that not the USA. They're only aware SA exists when a great film comes from SA or when they need somewhere cheap to shoot. I wouldn't worry though - they're Americans, they don't know everything!"

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