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<\/p>\nPeople make movies for many reasons \u2013 fame, fortune, artistry. Mor Cohen and her husband, Polaris Banks, ended up saving their marriage when they went to the middle of nowhere to film twisty meta-horror And Her Body Was Never Found.<\/p>\n
Premiering at South by Southwest this week, it\u2019s a literal two-hander from the Austin filmmaking couple, who wrote, directed, filmed, and are the sole cast members in this story of indie filmmakers playing a warring couple, only for the story to worm its way beyond the narrative.<\/p>\n
According to Cohen, the film came from \u201cme bugging Polaris for maybe three or four years that we need to do a movie together.\u201d Finally, she suggested doing \u201csomething very cheap, with just us, whatever resources we have, and he took it from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Banks\u2019 first idea was a horror movie set on a camping expedition. But rather than a faceless slasher, he realized that \u201cthe scariest thing is if the person you\u2019re with is trying to kill you, and then I went, \u2018what if we went off to make the movie, and real me was trying to kill you, and behind-the-scenes me was trying to kill you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
That fear was in part inspired by Cohen\u2019s own experiences as an actor. \u201cI sometimes shoot on location,\u201d she said, \u201cand I\u2019m going, \u2018I\u2019m literally driving into this tiny town, not knowing anybody.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t just about the fear of strangers, but the fact that Banks\u2019 and Cohen\u2019s relationship was in a very unhealthy place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were in a very difficult time in our marriage,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cOur couples therapist told us, \u2018You shouldn\u2019t go make this movie, it will break you up.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are whole stretches of dialogue that are almost word-for-word taken from real arguments they\u2019d had, as Banks\u2019 script drew on their real problems. Cohen said, \u201cHe would sit me down and go, \u2018I need to ask you personal questions about your relationship with me,\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Are we gonna break up?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In spite of their tensions and fears, Banks and Cohen headed to Washington state to start filming. Just two people, a lot of kit, and the wilderness. Banks said, \u201cMor, every time, would go, \u2018Do we have to shoot there?\u2019 and I\u2019d go, \u2018Yes! I know it\u2019s a pain, I know this is too cold.\u2019 She was trying to find a river in Texas, and I would say, \u2018They\u2019re not the same. We need to shoot in the ice river, we need a mountaintop at the end, we have a cliff.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
This means shooting pivotal scenes in rivers, in forests, on cliffs, all the while literally reenacting old arguments. Cohen said, \u201cWe\u2019re talking about waking up, hiking up the mountain for three hours, filming for three hours, and hiking back for three hours before you get stranded there in the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since he\u2019d got used to roughing it during location scouting, Banks was fine with all the hardships. In hindsight, he observed, \u201cI should have catered it more to Mor\u2019s needs.\u201d As a filmmaker, he admits to a certain masochistic streak, \u201cand Mor\u2019s been a great counter to that. If I\u2019m shooting a scene from now on, I\u2019ll be like, \u2018If Mor would be comfortable doing this, everyone will be fine.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Rather than fulfilling their therapist\u2019s prophecy, all these horrible conditions and onscreen fights based on real arguments made their relationship stronger. Cohen said, \u201cif anything I think it saved our marriage. It taught us to be a real couple.\u201d<\/p>\n
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And Her Body Was Never Found<\/a><\/p>\n Visions, World Premiere<\/p>\n Saturday 14, 6pm, Alamo Lamar<\/p>\n Monday 16, 3:15pm, Alamo Lamar<\/p>\n Wednesday 18, 9:30pm, Alamo Lamar<\/p>\n
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