'Across the River and into the Trees' - Liev Schreiber

Moviefone speaks with Liev Schreiber about 'Across the River and into the Trees'. "I had only read the basic high school Hemingway," he admitted.

Opening in theaters on August 30th is the new war drama ‘Across the River and into the Trees’, which is based on the 1950 novel by Ernest Hemingway.

Directed by Paula Ortiz (‘Teresa’), the film stars Liev Schreiber (‘Ray Donovan’ and ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’), Matilda De Angelis (‘Coco’), Josh Hutcherson (‘The Beekeeper’), Laura Morante (‘Man on Fire’), Danny Huston (‘Wonder Woman’), and Sabrina Impacciatore (‘The Passion of the Christ’).

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Liev Schreiber in 'Across the River and into the Trees'. Photo: Tribune Pictures.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Liev Schreiber about his work on ‘Across the River and into the Trees’, the work of Ernest Hemingway, his character, working with director Paula Ortiz, filming during the pandemic, reuniting with his ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ co-star Danny Huston, and why Schreiber did not reprise his role of Sabretooth in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.

Liev Schreiber in 'Across the River and into the Trees'. Photo: Tribune Pictures.

Moviefone: To begin with, how familiar were you with the work of Ernest Hemingway before making 'Across the River and into the Trees'?

Liev Schreiber: I had only read the basic high school Hemingway, which was, I had read ‘A Farewell to Arms’ and I'd read ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’. I really didn't have much experience with him. When Paula initially reached out to me about the film, she told me about a novel by a guy named Andrea di Robilant called ‘Autumn in Venice’, which is a wonderful telling of Hemingway's time in Venice, which is a place that as many people know, he really loved. Especially his relationship to a young Countess, Adriana Ivancich. I knew that Paula wanted Ernest Hemingway to be present in this film and I followed. So, we grew my beard a little longer, and I spent a tremendous amount of time in Venice. There's a lot of films about older men and younger women obviously, but one of the things that I appreciated about Hemingway was his self-consciousness about it and his self-loathing, or self-consciousness that verges on self-loathing. I think that that is a very refreshing and interesting take on it. He was impossibly spellbound by Adriana, the real woman, and at the same time hated himself for it and was very frustrated and then did absolutely nothing to hide it. So, a very complicated man, and I think in ‘Across the River’, he paints the portrait that perhaps he wants us to see, or that he wanted Adriana to see because he ultimately did write it for her, I believe.

MF: Did you relate personally to your character and what was your approach to playing Colonel Cantwell?

LS: I don't often take things because I think I can knock them out of the park. I wish that there were things that I read that I thought I could knock out of the park. This was something that I was interested in perhaps because I was thinking about it and I was feeling it, which was mortality. We had just gone through the pandemic, my father was terminally ill, and I am getting on in years myself. Mortality in all its incarnations and the vulnerability that it elicits and the uncomfortable feelings, and it was just something that I thought was worth exploring and would be compelling for me as a role.

(L to R) Matilda De Angelis and Liev Schreiber in 'Across the River and into the Trees'. Photo: Tribune Pictures.

Can you talk about collaborating on set with director Paula Ortiz?

MF: Well, initially I was just so surprised that this feminist auteur director wanted to take on Hemingway. When I watched her other films, I thought, okay, this is someone who was really in touch with that. Everyone always talks about the simplicity of Hemingway, the masculinity of the writing, the spareness of it. But to be honest with you, that's not what I thought when I read Hemingway in high school, and it's certainly not what I thought when I read ‘Across the River’. I get that grammatically, in terms of styles of writing, I think he's a romantic. I think that there are aspects of him, and I think that the masculinity that he wanted to convey to the world was a bit of a costume. For a child whose mother dressed him in girl's clothes and things like that, he seemed awfully obsessed with doing masculine things. I think that Paula captures that. That there is this bravado, there is this lurch towards something that feels appropriate or that how one should act. One should join the military, one should serve one's country, one should lead bravely, one should sacrifice one's life, one should do all these things, but what one feels is oftentimes entirely different and at odds with what one should do. I think both Hemingway and Paula had a good handle on that concept.

MF: Can you talk about shooting in St. Mark's Square in Venice during the pandemic? What was that like?

LS: It was extraordinary. I mean, imagine that city with no one in it. It had been returned to the Venetians, and they were in heaven. It's probably why they've outlawed cruise ships because they're still desperate for a bit of that. To be walking down those streets and beside those canals by yourself in the middle of the night, and to see the history and to feel the ghosts and the shadows of that extraordinarily beautiful city and culture, and because of the pandemic and what everyone was going through, we were there for quite some time and it was probably the best year of my life.

Danny Huston in 'Across the River and into the Trees'. Photo: Tribune Pictures.

MF: What was it like reuniting on screen with your ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ co-star Danny Huston?

LS: Yeah, Danny and I are dear friends, and he was kind enough to help us out by coming to Venice to do this role. So yes, it was lovely to be with Danny again.

MF: Finally, was there ever any talk about you reprising your Sabretooth role in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’?

LS: No, there wasn't. But I mean, I suppose that's a conversation for Ryan. I think that they had it in their story that it would be Tyler Mane and that version of Sabretooth, which was a very different version of Sabretooth than mine, so I understand completely.

Across the River and Into the Trees

Not Yet Rated1 hr 46 minAug 30th, 2024

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What is the plot of 'Across the River and into the Trees'?

United States Army Colonel Richard Cantwell (Liev Schreiber) confronts the news of his terminal illness with stoic indifference and enlists a military driver for presumably his final hunting trip and a visit to Venice. Along the way, Cantwell investigates an alleged war crime and has a chance encounter with a young woman from the Italian nobility.