Abel Ferrara and Shanyn Leigh talk movies and the 'Last Day on Earth'

It’s 2012 and the world is abuzz with end-of-civilization chatter. From tin-foil-hat interpretations of the Mayan calendar and Nostradamus to scientific predictions of a runaway greenhouse effect, humankind does not appear to be long for this world.

Two recent films employ scientific conceits to make their point. Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia (2011) substitutes a rogue planet for global warming, which results in the denial and deception of climate-change dissenters, except that everyone is a victim and no one is responible.

It's a plausible scenario, although even world-class spin meisters couldn’t cover-up the impact of a Melancholia-size object “skimming off some of our atmosphere as it passes by." It would be an event of Apocalyptic proportions; the only question would be of degree. Would civilization recover In 100 years? 1000 years? 10,000 years, if ever?

In 4:44 Last Day on Earth, Ferrara portrays the endgame in a context in which self-inflicted mass annihilation is an accepted fact. By fudging a different part of the science, he reveals the catastrophe from another angle.

Last week Culture and Events sat down with director Abel Ferrara and actress Shanyn Leigh (Ferrara’s girlfriend of seven years), who were in town for the San Francisco IndieFest.

What did you want the audience to take away from the film?

Ferrara: The thing I wanted to make sure we got across is that this isn’t a meteorite hitting the Earth; this is a manmade destruction. This is about our misuse of the environment.

Leigh: I think when we started the movie, it was about global warming and the destruction of the environment. The idea came when Abel and a few different directors were approached by Al Gore’s group to make short films that would be shown before a concert series like Lollapalooza. It was going to be a five-minute movie, but that never happened, so we expanded the idea.

I see a lot of pain and suffering in this world when people are in denial about their own death or about the inevitable death of their family. One of the first causes of suffering is attachment – not that you should not be attached to your loved ones. I mean I struggle with this as well, when you lose someone very close to you it’s incredibly painful, but we know we’re going to change forms – we’re not going to always stay in this form – and yet it’s so hard.

Even when you’re a baby and you want that cookie, and you’re so convinced that cookie is going to make you happy, and then you get it and then you want something else. We’re no different than little kids.

The only thing I’d quibble with is the idea that destroying the ozone layer would abruptly lead to the end of the world.

Ferrara: We started looking at the scientific end of it. We had our experts and they said, “Abel, stick to the Twilight Zone,” you know what I mean? A meteor hitting the Earth is like God is looking down. It isn’t the same thing; that’s not a self-inflicted wound.

It’s a complicated issue, man. We’re going to preach to the world now? We’ve had two-cars-in-every-garage, three-chickens-in-every-pot. We’ve had all of that, and it ain’t everything it’s cracked up to be. But tell that to the Chinese; tell that to the Indians. Those guys want their f---ing consumer revolution, and they’re going to have it.

While you were making 4:44 Last Day on Earth, were you aware of Lars Von Trier's film, Melancholia (2011)?

Ferrara: When we were making King of New York (1990), Miller’s Crossing (1990) was being made; Goodfellas (1990) was being made. It just goes to show these ideas come from without as much as from within.

You considered making a prequel to King of New York at one point (see King of New York trailer HERE). What happened?

Ferrara: Good-bye and good luck. It’s a shame. It’s a legal problem as to who actually owns King of New York. These brand names, like Bad Lieutenant (1992), obviously have some strength for raising money.

Biggie Smalls, when he was killed, was registered as Frank White (Christopher Walkin’s character in KING OF NEW YORK). I was thinking about doing a film about a young black kid like Biggie, when he was a teenager and how those cats related to the movie.

The thing that interests me about those kids – they’re poets and at the same time they think they need this street credibility. That balance between the two things always fascinated me.

So the prequel wouldn’t have been based on the Frank White character?

Ferrara: It could have been based on Frank as a young guy, but it could have worked totally independent of that.

It could have been about some guys who actually lived, who were real. It could have been based on John Gotti or Joe Gallo. No one in King of New York was real.

Who did you want for the role of a young Frank White?

Ferrara: Michael Pitt. I needed kids in the 21-22 year-old range. The film was about them at that age. I knew a lot of these kids. They were the children of some real tough wiseguys. But they grew up in the suburbs. They grew up in rich families, very removed from that lifestyle, but at the same time, it’s their father, and it’s their blood.

Anything you wish someone would ask you about 4:44 Last Day on Earth that we haven't talked about?

Leigh: Yes, Geshe Michael.

Geshe Michael?

Leigh: My character is painting, there’s a sitar playing and he’s giving a speech: “Emptiness: A Deep Dive.” It’s a lot to capture, there’s so many layers to that movie.

Future projects?

Ferrara: The story of DSK (Dominique Strauss-Kahn), with Gerard Depardieu in the lead role.