Venice Film Festival: ‘King Ivory,’ the Cast of a Fentanyl Crisis Crime Thriller.
The world premiere of John Swab’s multi-faceted action thriller King Ivory at the Venice Film Festival was held this week in the Horizons Extra section. It is a multi-faceted look into the U.S. drug crisis, weaving together stories from different angles. The main cast reunited on the Lido this week after shooting the film under an interim agreement in Tulsa last year.
Layne West, a Tulsa police drug officer (James Badge Dale), is fighting the local criminal elements, but it hits home when his son becomes addicted to fentanyl. West’s mission is to bring down the responsible parties, such as the Mexican cartel local shot-caller Ramon Garza, (Michael Mando), Indian Brotherhood war chief Holt Lightfeather, (Graham Greene), the state-wide trafficker Holt Lightfeather, (Graham Greene), while he serves his life in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlester, and the Irish Mob, headed by George “Smiley” Greene,
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Swab, a Tulsa native who is now nine years sober, opened up about his addiction. He spent time in the homes of addicts and active junkies as well as with government officials, police, trafficked migrants. criminals, cartels members, and prisoners.
Below are edited and condensed excerpts from those conversations. Below are excerpts from those conversations which have been edited and condensed for clarity.
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WME Independent is selling domestic rights. WME Independent is selling domestic rights.
DEADLINE: Melissa, how did you get involved in King Ivory?
MELISSA LEO:
Well, there’s one answer to that question, John Swab. John Swab is an extremely prolific director. He explores well-known subjects in new ways.
We’re dealing with fentanyl in King Ivory. John explains without any judgement that this sh*t can kill anyone. It will kill those who sell it. It will kill those who purchase it. It will kill those who are doing it for the very first time. It will kill people who are drug addicts. It will kill the people that are hardened drug addicts.
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LEO:
The gentle way that (Swab) explores this difficult subject removes these ideas, in my mind, of bad people and good people. She is a woman, a mother who has grown up under God knows what circumstances. I imagine that her background was pretty criminal, but because of the character of her brother, you learn what you know and make your way through life. So, I don’t think she’s bad or evil. And that is what draws me to work with John. And that is what draws me to work with John.RELATED: ‘Of Dogs And Men’ Director Dani Rosenberg & Producer Alexander Rodnaynsky Talk Making The October 7 Drama, The Petition Calling To Boycott Israeli Films & Why Their Project Is “An Important Statement About Peace” — Venice
DEADLINE: Michael, your character also appears to care deeply about his family, but is responsible for forcing people into the drug trade.
MICHAEL MANDO:
What I find interesting about gangsters, is that they’re very much people. We tend to categorize some people as if they are separate. They are people just like everyone else. They are people, just like us. They have families, a sense humor, compassion and a different view of the world. It’s because they have no opportunities, don’t know how to get in. They can’t afford to feed their family.
Ramon Garza wants to be caught. I think that he is a man with a conscience, who has an epiphany when he sees the violence. Daniel Craig on Intimacy, Fulfillment & Accessibility of Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” – Venice Film Festival
DEADLINE: James, before signing on, how familiar were you with the fentanyl crisis in the States?
JAMES BADGE DALE:
I took a deep dive to prepare for the character.
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JAMES BADGE DALE: I took a deep dive to prepare for the character. We must protect the young generations. It’s not that I have any solutions, but we need to address this problem. It’s only going to continue changing. We have to be responsible to the next generation, to make sure they are safe and informed. I have kids. I have children. I mean, my kids are young, but I don’t know what it’s going to be 10 years on, and it might be something new.
LEO: This is not speaking for John or his film, this is Melissa’s opinion on that subject. I believe that the United States government is responsible for the opioid crisis. They are trying to control their own citizens. It’s my opinion that the government is no longer using religion to control the people.
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LEO:
Not particularly important in and of itself. Not particularly important in and of itself. I’m an actress, right? Portraits of women are very important to me now that I’ll be 64 in two weeks. I am horrified by the lack of accuracy in the portraits of American women, but I am even more frightened by the portraits of older women.
John has used my experience in the most delightful way, and my experience, my opinion, my taste about things; he gives me this incredible gift from a director to an actor that he respects my perspective on the character, and I work with him because I’m given an opportunity to show women — even if it’s a smaller part — that I can see.DEADLINE: How did John facilitate shooting in his hometown?
DALE: Tulsa was a little bit wild west — we’re going handheld, two cameras, run and gone, super young crew that had worked with John before. So we’re moving like this, but John could just be like, “Yo, yo, man, you want to be in a movie?” So, that’s paperwork, boom, boom, boom, put you in there, and he has that ability to talk to people that maybe other people would be scared to talk to, communicate with them, bring them in.
MANDO: We had a scene where we had two guys who worked with my character, and we were in a car, and there was this whole intimidation scene with us. We grabbed two men off the street. It was interesting to work with great actors such as James, Ben, Melissa and also people who have never appeared on camera. You and the director had to figure out how to get these people to give the best performance. John knows Tulsa like Scorsese does New York. It’s beautiful to work with him there.
DALE: We can tell that John put a lot of himself into this, in his heart and his soul, and this one meant something to him. It was a tight script. It was a really tight script.
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DEADLINE: It was also a pretty tight shoot, right?
DALE: We were trying to finish the film before the labor stoppage and so when our deal wasn’t agreed to, we shut down for five days. We were among the first to submit an interim agreement, and were included in that group of 30 or so films who received an agreement. We’re an indie film so we missed five days of shooting. We don’t have money to make up for those five days. We increased the pace. We just went to six-day weeks.
DEADLINE: Because of the way the film is structured into separate but ultimately converging storylines, how much did your paths cross?
MANDO: I have one scene with James, and we don’t talk in that scene, and then I have one scene with Ben, and we also don’t talk in that scene. It was fascinating. You’re the guy trying to bring me down.” You’re the guy trying to bring me down.”
DALE: I love movies like this, where you’re weaving together these storylines. It’s great that I can see Michael’s art in Venice. Ben and Melissa’s art is on display. I can see the effort they put in. This was one of those shoots where everyone put their best foot forward each day. That’s the spirit of filmmaking, according to me.
