What did he say about the sort of film he wanted to make?Rushdie: He was talking about something which was not linear, something which was not only a
What did he say about the sort of film he wanted to make?
Rushdie: He was talking about something which was not linear, something which was not only about the attack, but would go backwards and forwards in time and talk about the larger story, not just the larger story of the attack on The Satanic Verses, but the larger story of my life as a writer. He referred to a British television series written by Dennis Potter called The Singing Detective, which is about a man who’s in bed in a hospital remembering his life. And so it happens both in the present tense of his situation, but also in the past tense of his life. And he said that felt to him like a guideline of how he might want to approach the project.
Did you have any hesitations about taking all of this and broadcasting it to the world?
Rushdie: Instinctively we are both quite private people in our characters, and yet here we were going to make this very, very public film about something very vulnerable. So it required making the decision, but I think we were both glad we made the decision that we did.
Griffiths: We had a lot of conversations, and then I think we just reached a moment where we felt people needed to see the story and experience it. And I think there’s something abstract when you hear about certain kinds of terrorism or violence, but when you focus on one person’s life and their experience, which is so raw and gripping, it leaves a real impact. And so I think us both being writers, and then for me also being a visual artist, it’s like, How could we not go forward being who we are?
Rushdie: It’s not just a story about violence and near death; it’s also a story about love. And I thought there’s something quite attractive that people would come to a film thinking they were going to see a true crime story. And what they actually get as well as that is a love story.
How did making this support you process the attack? Did your attitude toward it shift as a result of revisiting it in this way?
Griffiths: It was just such a kaleidoscope, such a collision of emotions at any given moment. In the moment when everything was happening, I don’t think I really cried in the trauma ward. I had too much on my plate. I had to focus and bear down. And I am someone who, when there is a lot of chaos and pressure around, I get really clear and focused and get into a real badass mode. I don’t have time for emotions. And so in some way, later, the work of this film is now allowing me, and has allowed me, to grapple and struggle. These gears are turning. I have a really good therapist, and we do a lot of therapy to deal with PTSD and the other things that are a direct result of what has happened. But we’ve both said it’s bigger than us. And so all of these kind of real human expressions of love and, for me, anger, rage, how did this happen? How could it happen? Why? These kind of gigantic questions that people find themselves in when something traumatic happens to them, something violent, something that is a loss or grief or something beyond their control. And so it connects us to others in a way that I would’ve never imagined in my art prior to it happening.
