Movies
Behind The Scenes: The Forest
Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Focus Features
Newcomer at the box office is Jason Zada’s psychological horror flick The Forest, which spooks its way into theaters Friday, January 8th. The film is based on a real-life forest called Aokigahara, and stars Game of Thrones‘ Natalie Dormer who travels to Japan into the notorious suicide forest in search of her missing sister. Taylor Kinney also stars.
Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Focus Features
The Forest is director Zada’s feature debut. Because filming in Aokigahara is not allowed, Zada found similar surroundings in Serbia for his production — but he did visit the site at the northwest base of Mount Fuji.
When Zada finally found a guide to lead him (after two previous ones bailed due to the nightmares of the forest), the director deviated from the designated path and said that he felt as if something was there and that it was “freaky.”
Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Focus Features
Dormer, who is also known for her roles in The Hunger Games: Mockingkay – Part 1 and 2, makes her horror debut as twin sisters Sara and Jess Price. When Sara learns that her sibling has vanished, fearing the worst, she hops on a plane from America to Asia to find Jess.
“Anyone can imagine getting a phone call that someone they love is in trouble and against all reason and all better judgment and all the warnings of the locals, you go to this alien world,” says Dormer. “You do something kind of crazy just out of love and loyalty (for those) you care deeply about.”
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In an interview with BackstageOL’s Dave Morales, Dormer noted that “doing a horror movie is a lot more technical than [she] thought it was.”
She continued to explain how horror relates to comedy, in a sense. “In a comedy you go to set up a joke and then you got the punch line. In a horror, you got to set up the scare, build the intensity and friction and then release it with the jump. To watch the filmmakers, to watch the guys on the other side of the camera, I found the process really interesting, actually.”
Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Focus Features
Dormer in action on the set of The Forest.
Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Focus Features
In an interview with Dormer, the actress explained her excitement to performing her own stunts and getting physical on set. Here she is shown getting harnessed for an intense scene.
Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Focus Features
To help promote the thriller, Dormer answered some fan questions on Reddit during an AMA (Ask Me Anything). One user asked if she got the chance to travel to the actual forest “in preparation for the movie.” Dormer responded, “I visited it for a day. It’s really beautiful. It’s the perfect place to be in the day if you stay on the path….but of course, Sara leaves the path in the movie and then it gets dark and then…..!!!!!”
Dormer explained that when she went to the Aokigahara forest – accompanied by a Japanese driver – she ventured five meters off the path to take some photos, but her driver wouldn’t step half an inch over the path.
Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Focus Features
Unlike Zada’s “freaky” experience, Dormer explained that her own trip to the forest was more spiritual than frightening.
“The lens with which we look at a place is informed by our knowledge of it,” the actress says. “You have a different sensation when you walk into Aokigahara because you’re compassionate and sad. You appreciate that people go there without the intention of coming out.”
Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Focus Features
Kinney’s character (Aiden) is said to be very ambiguous – is he good or is he evil? In an interview with POPSUGAR, the actor explained, “I think Aiden, some of the things he says you kind of have to go back and say, ‘Is he telling the truth? Or how truthful is he? Does he mean that? Is he working an angle?’ And I think that was a lot of fun to play…I was working with Natalie [Dormer] and it would be fun to do a scene where, you know, we can play off of each other. She was great. I can’t say enough good things about her. She was an amazing scene partner.”
Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Focus Features
Aokigahara (a.k.a. the Suicide Forest or Sea of Trees) is a 35-square-kilometre forest lying at the northwest base of Mount Fuji in Japan. According to the IMDB trivia page, the forest is associated with demons in Japanese mythology.
Watch the trailer for The Forest below:
