Interview: U.S. director Dito Montiel presents truth human story

"This was a movie pretending to be a big movie but it's just a little human story " U.S. filmmaker Dito Montiel told Xinhua.

"We didn't have a big budget, we filmed in New Orleans, and unfortunately, because of the hurricane Katrina the location was a very half-apocalyptic and half-trying to rebuild so it lent itself to be very real set," Montiel explained in an interview with Xinhua about his movie Man Down (Orizzonti) at the ongoing 72th Venice Film Festival.

Montiel was selected for the Venice Film Festival with A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006) starring Robert Downey Jr., Rosario Dawson, Shia LaBeouf.

Montiel's police drama The Son of No One, starring Tatum, Ray Liotta, Al Pacino, Tracy Morgan and Katie Holmes, was presented at the Sundance Film Festival. He then directed Oscar Award winner Robin Williams in his last movie Boulevard which was premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The scene of the movie is a savage post-apocalyptic America where a U.S. Marine (Shia LaBeouf), searches desperately for the whereabouts of his estranged son (Charlie Shotwell) and wife (Kate Mara).

Accompanied by his best friend (Jai Courtney), a hardnosed marine whose natural instinct is to shoot first and ask questions later, the two intercept another survivor carrying fundamental information about the Gabriel's family.

The first priority of Montiel was to design the story in a credible way, he explained, "It's a very difficult subject and it is a just personal story of a man, his wife and his child about what they are going through. I wanted to keep it like that because I thought it would help to humanize it and keep it honest."

To keep more real the war atmosphere Montiel had an expert on set, he explained, "Our military consultant, Nick Jones who was sergeant in the marines, was with us every day. He just came back from Afghanistan and he was there back and forth for six years."

"The director's goal was to keep the movie real because the war it's not as fun as sometimes the movies may make it seems," he underlined.

Describing his job as film director, Montiel thinks that "Movies are weird; it's like trying to make a painting with one hundred people. It's a weird world but every job is weird; it's always a little bit hard, crazy and fun, a nice combination."

Talking about his collaboration with Shia LaBeouf, he said "I love it, he is crazy and he is great and this is a good combination for me, he brings something unexpected all the time, a little frightening and a little grave. I enjoyed that kind of madness.''

The director thinks that he takes this job very serious and sometimes maybe he comes across arrogant or annoying and he understands that but it's nice when someone cares so much, he said.

There is then a last moved thought for Robin Williams, he said "I love him, everybody grew up with one version of him and I remember we were walking around and talk about the roles all night long, it's very sad what happen in the end." Endit