Soames.Hewasa character,toughas
nails.Wewerepullingstuffoutofthehat
buthekneweverytrickinthebook.Daly
madethedifference.Whenit wasthe24th
hourandabouttotipover,heputmore
moneyintosaveus.Infact,I didn’tshoot
thebeginningandtheendinguntilafter
theshoot,whichwasa greatthing
becausetherewasnomoney.They
cancelledusoutinMexicoonthe47th
dayandwewerekickedoutfornon-
paymentofbillswiththe union. It was
a seriousbusiness.
Whatareyourmemoriesofthefilm
comingout?
It wasa nightmare.It waslike,afterall
thatwork,youthinkyou’dgeta break.
OrionPicturesturnedoffthereel.They
thoughtit wastooviolentandtoosexy,
it wouldnevergeta rating.It wasnever
goingtobematerialfora mainstudio
andOrionwasourlasthopebecausethey
weresemi-independent.Soweknewwe
werefuckedandnobodywouldrelease
thatfilm.Dalyagainsteppedupand
formedHemdaleDistribution.Even
Dalywaspressingmetocutthings,but
I likelettingit allhangout.Whenyou
gotoSalvador,youcrossaninvisible
lineora mirror.It’sanotherworld
downthereespeciallyduringcivil
wartime.It’snotlikenormalreality.
Whatdidyoumakeofthe
film’sreception?
Thereviewswereinteresting.
Thereweresomeverygoodones
andI wasforgivenforsomeofmy
earlytransgressionsbythecritics.
Thefilmwasactuallyrecognisedby
thecognoscentiandgottwoOscar
nominations,oneforBestScreenplay
forBoyleandI. BoylegoingtotheOscars
is anotherstory.Herenteda tuxedo
from,I don’tknow,a junkyard.Hewas
loadedtothegills.Hewasa demon
takingcentre-stageallthetime.Woods
gota nominationtooandI thinkhe
wouldhavewonit butit wasthe
sentimentalPaulNewmanyear.He’d
beennominatedsixorseventimes.
Jimmywentallout.ThatwasJimmy.
Isit fairtosaySalvadorwaseclipsed
byPlatoon?
IfI hadDaly’sofferagain,I would
havedonePlatoonfirst.Salvadorwould
havegota hellofa lotmoreattentionas
a secondfilm.FranklyI don’tregretit
becauseI learneda lotandI certainly
provedI couldworkundertheworst
pressureofall.IfI couldsurvivethat,
I could survive anything.IAN FREER
SALVADORIS OUT NOW ON BLU-RAY
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