Original-Cin Q&A: Director and Star of Bau: Artist at War on Schindler's Famous Rescuee
Sean McNamara’s powerful historical drama Bau: Artist at War, starring Emile Hirsch and Inbar Lavi, tells the incredible story of holocaust survivors Joseph and Rebecca Bau.
A story of creativity, survival, and love based on Joseph Bau’s memoir, Bau: Artist at War tells of how Bau used his creativity and skills as a forger to help fellow prisoners survive the horrors of Nazi concentration camps. Despite facing unimaginable adversity, he finds hope and love with fellow prisoner Rebecca.
Bonnie Laufer spoke with Director Sean McNamara and actor Emile Hirsch about telling this powerful and uplifting story.
Bau: Artist at War is in select theatres today.
CLICK HERE to read Liam Lacey’s review of Bau: Artist at War.
Emile Hirsch as Joseph Bau in Bau: Artist at War
ORIGINAL-CIN: Schindler's List briefly touched on the Bau’s secret wedding in the concentration camp. And how they were saved by Oskar Schindler was my introduction to them. There's so many extraordinary stories that have come out of the Holocaust. But Joseph and Rebecca’s story is one of the most inspirational I've heard and I've heard a lot. When did they show up on your radar and make you decide to tell their story on film?
SEAN McNAMARA: Well, Bonnie, like you said, I look for inspirational movies. All the movies that I do are based on me watching Rocky the first time when I was a kid, and just was inspired - not to be a boxer, but just inspired.
So films like Soul Surfer and Miracle Season, I just kept up with that tradition. I read this script and all of a sudden, it felt familiar and I wasn't sure why. As I was reading it I realized they're the couple who got married in Schindler's List. I don't even know if they mentioned them by name in Schindler's List but it was such an inspirational movie.
Then, as I read on, I found myself laughing while I was reading the script and I was going, “Should I be laughing? Is it funny?” And then I realized that was his character. Joseph used his wit, charm and humour to survive and help others.
That was what he did to lighten the load of the people he was with. He brought light into a dark room. And that's what was really important to me. Being a jokester in this absolutely horrific situation was going to be a challenging part of the movie, but we wanted it to be inspirational.
It's also first and foremost a love story. I haven't done a big love story yet and this is a powerful love story to do. I just thought, this is the most inspirational love story I've ever seen set with that backdrop. Even though it's a Holocaust backdrop, I want people to walk away from it thinking there's so much light in the world and hope and we need to see films like this more than ever right now.
O-C: Emile, I have been interviewing you for more than twenty years, but I think your performance as Joseph Bau had to have been your most challenging. This had to have not only just been a lot of pressure, because you're playing somebody real, but frightening because you want to get it right. Can you tell me a little bit about taking on Joseph and why it was so important?
EMILE HIRSCH: When I first read the script, I was excited at the challenge of playing Joseph. And the more I waded into it with Sean, the more we started really working together to get him and his story accurately told.
We made a decision to expand certain elements of the script with the writers. Sean and I were relentlessly being like, “Okay, what is this? What is this film?”
The film and the script kind of grew and really became what it was up until the moment of shooting. We were working on it up until the day that we would be shooting scenes because we just weren't going to let anything go unless we completely felt sure that this was the right moment for the scenes. So much of the humor and the pathos and the tragedy were things that we were constantly shaping and shifting around.
It was a wonderful process to work with Sean on this. I had an amazing experience working with him. He empowers his actors so much to feel like they can take those risks and to not be afraid because it was a very intimidating role.
There were so many different variables involved, getting the accent right, the aging process, balancing the comedy and the drama, carrying a movie in a way and making the love story believable and threading the needle on this personality of this man who was very resilient, always saw life as the glass was a half full.
O-C: The glass was pretty empty actually, but he made the most out of it.
HIRSCH: He thought it was half full, he had no choice. So there was something to be said for that type of resiliency. A lot of it came down to Sean constantly telling me from the very first conversation that what we had was an inspiring story to tell. There's a lightness to Joseph that Sean never wanted to lose. And so the more we waded into it, we really doubled down and went further with the comedy than we initially intended.
O-C: Not an easy thing to do when you're depicting the Holocaust.
HIRSCH: Exactly. We knew he was a funny guy. He's very funny and everyone thinks he's funny. But then when we really were sitting around discussing this we were like, “Well if he's such a funny guy, we better make some jokes that make people laugh.”
If we have actors faking humor and the other actors don't actually think it's funny, there's nothing there, it won't work. So Joseph actually has to be funny even in the absolute darkest of times. It was a very intense collaborative experience with Sean and I and the writers, and we were relentless about getting it right.
O-C: It's interesting because whenever I interview young actors, especially when they are in movies that deal with the Holocaust, my first question to them is, did you learn anything about the Holocaust in school? And nine out of 10 of them say, no.
Even though this is a movie that deals with the Holocaust you focused on resiliency and hope. You made it accessible for families to watch so that the younger generation can learn and in turn keep the memories alive. Now more than ever, we need to learn from these things and give young people hope. Was that one of the goals of making this film because we need to show it in schools. It’s not just another Holocaust movie, it inspires hope and tolerance.
McNAMARA: First of all, you nailed it. One thing that was very important to me was that I made it a PG movie. It was originally rated R because there were some more intense scenes there that we ended up taking out. I didn't want just 17 year olds or 18 year olds to be able to see it. I need the 13 year olds to see it and I think they can.
I think I cut enough of this stuff to make it just right. When I was making it, to be honest with you, I thought I was making the tale of something that happened 80 years ago and we should watch this because look, it could happen at any time. And then while I was editing it, October 7th happened. My initial reaction was that films of this nature are needed and are now even more important.
Our world is turned upside down right now and I think more than ever, people need to see this and they need to talk about it because this is where it can go if we're not careful. That's why I make films that take on a life of their own. This one has definitely taken on a life of its own because it was never intended to be a historical movie. I feel like it is very present and the things that are going on in the world, people need to see this movie.
O-C: Emile, how does playing someone like Joseph Bau change you or inspire you as an actor and more importantly as a human being?
HIRSCH: This was an incredible role to play because as a personality, he had so much light and humor and love and zest and charisma, and I liked playing that part. I'm wishing I can carry these qualities with me after I'm done playing the role. For me, the biggest gift was the gift of just Joseph himself.
People who don't ever give up hope is something that I think we should protect. Even in the darkest of times, and especially these days when people are so negative and they're so cynical, having someone like Joseph Bau, who was a light of positivity, I think is something that the world needs.
O-C: Sean, you also used many of Joseph’s drawings and animation throughout the film. It's shot so beautifully. The scenes in the concentration camp are all black and white but there was one scene in particular when Joseph tells Rebecca she is his light and colorful flowers pop up, it was just gorgeous.
McNAMARA: That was Joseph Bau in a nutshell. Seeing in light in the dark. When I first walked in to his office in Tel Aviv (which has now been converted into a museum), all of his paintings are on the wall and he had the black and white charcoal ones that I used throughout the film.
But his color oil drawings are incredible as watercolors and they all have humor in it. They're, they're just incredible. So those came from his paintings. There's a painting of him holding these beautiful colorful flowers with little faces on it. So what I wanted to do was see the world through Joseph's eyes. I put whatever I could of his art in the movie somehow. That was the way he saw the world, at least what I was trying to make happen.
O-C: Close to the end of the film there was a reenactment of the trial of the Nazi officer who was in charge of Joseph’s Barracks. I think I held my breath for the entire scene. Emile, how do you get through something like that?
HIRSCH: I don’t really know to be honest. A little bit of actor magic, I guess. We wanted it to feel like this epic showdown of sorts. It also helps complete Joseph's arc as he relearns the lessons from his younger self and is able to carry his own qualities, his own good qualities that kept him alive during the Holocaust. He's able to resurrect them and bring them back to his time as an older man.
So it was really like a self triumphing over a lot of the fears and anxieties that he had, that had haunted him after the war. We had a fantastic group of actors and we were all just there just going for it.
To be honest, Sean and I agonized over that scene creating different versions before we settled on what you see in the film. We were constantly just pedal-to-the-metal and making sure that that scene landed just exactly right. I'm so proud of that scene and the whole movie.
That scene is a good example of the kind of exhaustive process that we had making the film. It wasn't like we just showed up and did the thing. We did absolutely everything we could to make it the best we could.
O-C: Sean, you worked closely with Joseph and Rebecca’s daughters who are now running the museum and keeping their legacy alive. What was their reaction when you finished the movie and showed it to them?
McNAMARA: Well, that was a great reaction because I've been in this position a lot when I do true stories and I have to show it to the families and so forth. I think they were very nervous, like any family is when it's their story. When they finally saw it, they were just thrilled and called me immediately. They had tears of joy and said, Emile just embodied their father. He became their father and they were so grateful.
They told me that this was the only conduit of who the real Joseph Bau was and to hear it from the daughters, was the best feeling in the world.
O-C: Emile, what was it like to hear something like that?
HIRSCH: It was extremely heartwarming and also it felt familiar too, at the same time, because I knew that there were so many qualities and things that I liked.
I wanted to be a humorist and a cartoonist and all of these different things, even from childhood. So, I really related a lot to Joseph Bau and more so probably than any role I've ever played.
And so in an odd way when they said that, it made sense. I was just so honored and thrilled to bring this man’s story to light to share with others and to have his family’s approval was the icing on the cake.