In 1973, writer/director Robin Hardy teamed with Christopher Lee to create the cult classic "The Wicker Man." His companion piece to that film, "The Wicker Tree," has finally hit theaters 39 years later. In it, young gospel singer Beth and her cowboy love interest Steve leave Texas to preach door-to-door in Scotland. After being rejected, they are welcomed with joy and enthusiasm to Tressock, the border estate of Sir Lachlan Morrison. They assume their hosts simply want to hear more about Jesus. How innocent and wrong they are.
I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with Mr. Hardy in great detail about both "The Wicker Man" and "The Wicker Tree."
Talk a little bit about your choices for the music in the two "Wicker" movies.
The music we used in the first film was popular in the 18th century. It was known and obviously people liked it. There are a lot of the aficionados of 18th century folk music particularly in Scotland. Rabbie Burns's lyrics and poetry were turned into many of those songs, like "Gently Johnny," which is one of the most beautiful songs in either film. Paul Giovanni sings [it] down near the bedroom while Howie is trying to go to sleep. That's Rabbie Burns in the first film. The orchestration has been updated to [a] sort of contemporary folk [style], of course. We brought a bluegrass "magnificant" in the second film (laughing).
It's hard to visualize any kind of formal religion without music. I don't know that much about Islam except that, rather like Judaism, it has a lot of chanting. But in the Christian religion, music is hugely important and it varies widely from the kind of choir you get in King's College Chapel in Cambridge all the way to gospel singing in Harlem. It's really an integral part of the religious experience for Christians. It's very strong in Hinduism [as well]. I think that my use of music is very logical in the context of the stories I am telling.
Where was "The Wicker Tree" shot?
It was entirely on location. I came down to Dallas to shoot the opening sequences with a local crew. In Scotland I shot it entirely on a great baronial estate. It was an 8,000 acre estate, which is very big for Britain. I know it wouldn't be big for Texas, but 8,000 acres is a lot of our countryside. We shot the hunt, the wicker man thing on the hill, and all that there. We used the great manor house extensively in the shooting. We had some other locations within a 20 mile radius but that was it. That location is about 20 miles south of Edinburgh on the borders of England.
The actual wicker tree was something that was really built. How long did it take to build it?
It took [the crew] a couple of months. There was a certain amount of trial and error in getting it right. The two guys who built that regularly build wicker men for the Wicker Man Festival every year in the west of Scotland. They're like brilliant sculptures. They put so much movement into the figure. They really look as if they're dancing before they're burned. They're really made of wicker. The one we used in the film was about 45 feet tall.
For more articles by Eric Shirey, check out:
'The Wicker Tree' as Polarizing as 'The Wicker Man'Christopher Lee Returns for 'The Wicker Tree'
'The Woman in Black' Wins With Old-School Terror
Eric Shirey is the founder and former editor of Rondo Award nominated movie news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other entertainment websites. Eric has interviewed and worked with actors like Harrison Ford, Brooke Shields, Gerard Butler, Brendan Fraser, Selena Gomez, and many more.
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