The Grey’ s story attracts Academy Award

By Jayam RUTNAM

The Grey's storyline attracted Academy Award nominee (for Schindler's List) Liam Neeson's imagination. The film begins at a refinery in Alaska, where crude oil is broken into various elements for commercial use.

Workers endure gruelling five-week shifts 24/7, then have about two weeks off for vacation. One group of men heading back home encounter a brutal storm, causing the plane to crash in the Alaskan tundra. All on board are killed except for eight survivors who head south toward civilisation, pursued by a pack of mysterious wolves practically prehistoric in their size and ferocity.

Liam Neeson is John Ottway, a sharpshooter who has been hired by the refinery to keep bears and other wild animals from attacking oil workers during their shifts.

“Boy, I tell you what,” enthuses Carnahan. “In terms of what I thought the film was going to be and what it is now, it would be tough to imagine anybody other than Liam in the role. How this character evolved and later shaped by him as an actor has wildly surpassed my expectations.

He was able to bring a deeper, more profound sense of what life and death is about. When talking to younger actors, they didn't understand their own mortality. Liam is nearly sixty and, as vibrant and strong and tough as he is, he understands how we're all on the clock, every one of us. We're all being stalked by time.”

Carnahan strongly believes, “There's really no good or evil in the film -- there simply ‘is'. He feels these basic thematic concepts of “predators” and “prey” protecting their territories might have been lost on a younger, more naive actor. While appreciating his character's own vulnerability, Neeson also recognises the duality of his sharpshooter figure – serving as antagonist as well as protagonist.”

ÓMy character has a specific relationship to these wolves,” explains Neeson. “He works on the refinery's fence line and his job is to make sure the animals don't approach the men at work. What weighs heavily on Ottway’s mind is that, perhaps, the wolves are now coming for revenge.”

Carnahan’s interest was sparked by a short story by writer Jeffers called “Ghost Walkers” about oil workers hunted by a pack of rogue wolves following a plane crash. Jeffers crafted a rough screenplay, and Carnahan spent the next four years, on and off, developing the various characters and narrative.

“It took a lot of time, but the story sparked my interest in a primal way,” says the writer-director. “It mirrors what a man holds dear and important, and I also found that evolving as time went by.”

The “survival story” became infused with far more existential questions as the years of rewriting proceeded. “I wanted something that had deeper meaning, something that questioned nature and life and God.

The wolves are part of that. They're as omniscient and all powerful as the rivers or the blizzards or anything else they encounter. I wanted to show these men as interlopers, the clash of industry versus the natural world.

The centerpiece of the film is definitely these men and their journey. But I also wanted it to be more than just an interesting action film in which the audience knows where it's going.”