Fragile Paradise

Haven

Written & Directed by Frank E. Flowers

Shortly after graduating from USC film school, Caymanian Frank E. Flowers wrote and directed "Swallow," a short movie about teenage drug smugglers. That got him into the William Morris Agency, which got him to Bob Yari (Crash, The Illusionist), who financed Flowers' first feature, Haven. The indie film tells the story of greed and corruption in the Cayman Islands (starring Bill Paxton, Orlando Bloom and Zoe Saladana). "This is the story of my people-an amalgamation of things and characters I knew growing up," explains Flowers. "While I was studying screenwriting at USC, John Singleton encouraged me to make films about my culture. He recognized that I'm from a unique region and said, 'Dude, it'll be hard getting your stories made, but it's your responsibility. You should look into directing.' That inspired me to make my short, to see if I was good at directing and go from there.

MERIN: You show unhealthy sociopolitical attitudes, violence and criminality regarding drugs and offshore banking. Is it accurate?

FLOWERS: To a certain extent. We've cracked down on guys coming to Cayman with a million dollars in cash. It may still happen, but we work hard to keep our financial industry clean.

Regarding violence and the culture, it's accurate in that we live in times when kids are forced to grow up quickly. Issues of sex and violence trickle into our schools, music and media. It's a difficult, complicated time to transition into adulthood and be responsible.

This story's about paradise. It's fragile-whether it's your family, country or freedom. It's about loving, protecting your haven. You can't hold on too tight, can't be greedy; when children fight over a toy, it gets broken. That's what Haven is: everyone fighting over the toy. If they shared, we could all play for a long time.

Growing up, were you the dock boy, gangsta or someone heading for Harvard? I was never going to Harvard. I'm the first generation to attend college. My dad was adamant about it.

[In the Cayman Islands] we graduate high school at 16. The social boxes aren't as defined as they are here. One high school friend was managing a bank four years after graduation, another was robbing banks.

My family's done well in the business my grandfather started. My dad works hard, he's honest, people know and respect him. We're blessed.

Did the government support Haven? Not financially, but with duty concessions, logistically. Shooting in the West Indies isn't easy-you must import everything. They pushed things through, gave us police escorts, shut down roads-which they'd never done before because we'd never had full film shoots before.

But some people didn't care for what we were doing. Cayman's very conservative, very Christian. One guy in government said the script offended his Christian principals; he didn't want the film made. That's strange to me because we have HBO, Cinemax, R-rated movies, so why's this so profoundly damaging? Because of a couple "fucks" and "shits?" That's reality, that's truth. I swear a lot and I want to keep those words alive in the cinema-the way people talk, not watered down. During Q&As, when I say fuck, everyone gasps, but by the end, everyone's "fucking," "shitting," "pissing." It's a brilliant transformation.

Was your script censored? How'd it change during production? It wasn't censored. It evolved through the actors. Like with Bill Paxton, I said, "Bill, nobody knows about being a 45-year-old American father like you do. I'm looking to you to tell me about it."

Instead of rehearsals, I had dinners with actors, going one-on-one with them to find truth in their characters. That changed the story somewhat, but not excessively.

For you, what are the differences between writing, shooting and editing? In writing, you're god of the universe, everyone lives and dies by your almighty keystroke. It's a lonely, frustrating process. I hate writing. There's nothing better than seeing that last page print out.

Alfred Hitchcock said, "The absence of limitation's the enemy of art." Film's about limitation, about being flexible and not loving your script. You love the story-not every word or scene. You've got to cut them bad boys 'cause when you get on set, you don't have time for them.

Editing's interesting 'cause you have what you have. You think about it all the time, can't sleep. Shooting's gathering pieces-picking up the fish. Editing's being in the kitchen-preparing the fish. There're millions of ways to prepare fish; you've got to find which tastes best. Sometimes your favorite way doesn't taste best: you may like things spicy, but people don't like spicy food. You struggle with that.

Haven presents several interwoven stories. Audiences may find it difficult to follow what's happening. Why choose this structure? I want my films to generate conversation. When I walk out of a David Lynch film, I don't know exactly what happened, but I talk about it for weeks. I'm not saying Haven reaches that dimension, or that we should all aspire to be David Lynch, but I want people to leave Haven with insight into a culture they've never seen before and to be talking about it. If people need conversation to connect the dots, I'm excited and encouraged by that. That's what makes films really cool.

What's your favorite thing about the film? Getting my culture known and recognized, and the interaction between my actors and my people. Orlando [Bloom] and Zoe [Saldana] made good friends on the island. That means a lot to me.