The Place Beyond the Pines
The Place Beyond the Pines is a 2012 American epic crime drama film directed by Derek Cianfrance with a screenplay by Cianfrance, Ben Coccio and Darius Marder from a story by Cianfrance and Coccio. The film tells three linear stories: Luke, a motorcycle stunt rider who supports his family through a life of crime; Avery, an ambitious policeman who confronts his corrupt police department; and two troubled teenagers who explore the aftermath of Luke and Avery's actions fifteen years later. The supporting cast includes Eva Mendes, with Ben Mendelsohn, Rose Byrne, Mahershala Ali, Bruce Greenwood, Harris Yulin, and Ray Liotta.
Cianfrance was inspired to write The Place Beyond the Pines based on his experiences as a father. Coccio and Marder, who shared similar interests in film and media, helped write the script. Cianfrance envisioned the main themes to be about fathers and sons, masculine identity and legacy. The film reunites Cianfrance and Gosling, who had previously worked together in 2010's Blue Valentine. The role of Luke was written for Gosling, as he expressed an interest in playing a bank robber.
Filming took place in Schenectady, New York, during the summer of 2011. Though the film contains a disclaimer that its events are entirely fictitious, critics have theorized that the police corruption depicted therein was based upon a 2002 scandal in which five officers, including former Schenectady Police Chief Gregory Kaczmarek, were indicted by the United States Department of Justice for their participation in a local narcotics distribution ring.
The Place Beyond the Pines premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, followed by a United States theatrical release on March 29, 2013. Focus Features purchased the distribution rights after being impressed by the film screening. It received generally positive reviews from critics and was a moderate success at the box office, grossing $47 million worldwide on a budget of $15 million. The soundtrack was composed by Mike Patton and included music by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and Ennio Morricone.
Plot
In 1994, Luke Glanton is a motorcycle stuntman with a traveling carnival. In Schenectady, he meets his ex-lover Romina Gutierrez, who is now with another man, Kofi Kancam. Luke discovers that he unknowingly fathered Romina's baby Jason the previous year. He leaves the carnival to stay near the mother and son.Luke begins working part-time for auto mechanic Robin Van Der Hook. When he asks for more work Robin reveals his past as a bank robber and suggests they commit robberies together. Luke robs the banks at gunpoint and gets away on his motorcycle which he rides into a box truck driven by Robin. Despite Romina's protests, Luke forces a relatively small amount of money from one of the bank robberies on to Romina.
Luke and Romina have sex in his trailer and he spends time with her and Jason. He lets himself into Romina and Kofi's house to assemble a crib for Jason. When Kofi demands he leave, Luke strikes him with a wrench and is arrested. Robin bails him out of jail and Luke says he wants to provide for Jason's future. Robin refuses to do any more robberies and the pair fall out. Robin dismantles Luke's motorcycle, so Luke robs him to buy a new one.
Luke bungles a bank robbery and is pursued by police on foot. He enters a stranger's home and calls Romina to ask her not to tell Jason about him. Rookie police officer Avery Cross enters the room and shoots Luke in the stomach. Luke fires back, hitting Avery in the leg, then falls out of the window to his death.
Avery, a married man with a baby son A.J., is hailed as a hero for dispatching Luke. Though troubled by Luke's death, he tells police investigators that Luke shot first. A group of corrupt officers coerce Avery into joining them in seizing the small amount of Luke's stolen bank money from Romina's home.
Avery later tries to return his cut to Romina, who rejects it. He attempts to hand the money over to the chief of police, who rebuffs him. Avery secretly records other illegal practices in the department and uses the recordings to obtain a position as assistant district attorney.
Fifteen years later, Avery is running for Attorney General of New York. A.J., now a rebellious, drug-using teenager, moves in with his father and transfers to Schenectady High School, befriending the now-teenage Jason, neither boy knowing the history between their fathers. When the teens are arrested for drug possession, Avery recognizes Jason's name and gets his charge dropped to a misdemeanor. He orders A.J. to stay away from him.
Kofi, now Jason's stepfather, tells Jason his birth father's name, which allows him to discover Luke's past. Jason visits Robin, who tells him about Luke and their friendship. A.J. pressures Jason to steal OxyContin for a party. At the party, Jason discovers that A.J.'s father, Avery, is the man who killed his father, Luke. Jason is hospitalized after a violent confrontation with A.J., and buys a gun when he is released.
Jason goes to the Cross family home, assaults A.J., and takes Avery hostage. He forces him to drive into the woods where Avery breaks down and apologizes for Luke's death. Jason steals Avery's wallet but leaves him unharmed. Inside, Jason finds a photo of himself with his parents, which Avery had taken from the evidence locker.
Some time later, Avery wins his election and celebrates with A.J. at his side. Jason mails Romina the old photograph, then later buys a motorcycle and rides away.
Cast
Production
Development
Cianfrance's inspiration for the story first started when he saw Abel Gance's 1927 silent film Napoleon, which uses a triptych technique to play out multiple stories at once. In 2007, the birth of Cianfrance's second son reignited the idea, and he started to think about being a father again and the responsibilities involved. "That got me to thinking about the fire I felt inside me, which had been with me for as long as I could remember. It helped me to do many things. But it was also, many times, a destructive and painful force", he said. He stated it was important for him, as an artist, to do something personal and challenging. He also read the works of Jack London, including the novel The Call of the Wild, and became intrigued with the idea of legacy and what our ancestors had to do for survival. Shortly, Cianfrance met Ben Coccio, who shared a similar interest of books and films, and they began writing the screenplay. The third screenwriter, Darius Marder, joined the project four months before principal photography began.Meanwhile, Cianfrance was still working on the film Blue Valentine, which stars Ryan Gosling. In 2007, Gosling told him about a fantasy which involved "robbing a bank, on a motorcycle, and then making a very specific getaway." Cianfrance told Gosling, "You've got to be kidding me, I'm writing that movie right now." The pair shared numerous identical ideas, and knew that The Place Beyond the Pines would be an opportunity to work together again. Cianfrance envisioned the story to be about fathers and sons, masculine identity, "reinvention or transformation of the self for a man over a period". He added, "It's about legacy—what we're born with and what we pass on. It's about the choices we make and how those choices echo throughout generations. It's a classic tale of the sins of the father being visited upon the son".
While Cianfrance is not a fan of violence in film, he is drawn to displaying the narrative of it and "how a gun could come in" and affect peoples' lives. The first draft of the script ran over 160 pages, which required much refinement from the three writers. Once filming began, they had produced 37 versions of the script. Coccio came up with the title from the Iroquoios translation of Schenectady—"the place beyond the pines". The city is where Coccio spent his childhood, and Cianfrance frequently visits. The writers sent the final script to Sidney Kimmel Entertainment; they financed the film and gave the director and crew "a lot of trust, space and time".
Director Derek Cianfrance revealed that Bradley Cooper nearly quit the film after receiving a rewritten script. "I had given the script and he had a lot of notes for it, and I kind of agreed with a lot of what he was saying. And so we rewrote every word from 10 weeks to six weeks," he recalled. "I remember giving Bradley Cooper the copy of The Place Beyond the Pines, the new script, and getting a voice message from him saying, 'Bro, I just want to let you know I read the new draft and I'm out.'" Cianfrance claimed Cooper was frustrated because it was "not the movie that we had signed up to do." So the filmmaker said he paid a visit to the actor to hopefully change his mind, notably since the film was partially funded due to Cooper's involvement. "I was moving my family up to Schenectady the next day, and the whole crew was coming up there. I had all the money anyway," the director added. "I was like, 'Can I come talk to you?' So I went up to Montreal, and I had a long conversation with him from midnight to 3:30 in the morning where I got him back on. It was only in the last five minutes . I think he just got tired. He wanted to go to bed."
Casting
While the role of Luke Glanton was created for Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper was offered the role of Avery Cross, due to him and Gosling having a similar type of charisma, and both bringing a "different energy" to the screen. Cooper was hesitant signing on for the role, but Cianfrance adapted the script for Cooper, and told him that he would not make the film without him. Cianfrance considered a number of actresses for the role of Romina Gutierrez, but he wanted to cast Eva Mendes from the beginning. "She has such a magnetic screen presence I saw the deep, thoughtful, warm, generous, unpredictable person inside Eva", he said.The role of Peter Deluca was written for Ray Liotta, who starred in one of Cianfrance's favorite films, Goodfellas. Over 500 boys auditioned for the roles of Jason Glanton and A. J. Cross, with Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen being selected, respectively. Cianfrance recalls that in the boys' first audition together, their discussion about favorite actors produced a "conflict", and he thought this chemistry would translate well on screen. Greta Gerwig was reported to join the cast as Jennifer Cross, but the part went to Rose Byrne instead.