“Were you on that plane?”
“No.”
“Too bad. It would have made one hell of a story.”
The dialogue above comes from the movie “War of the Worlds,” written by University of Wisconsin alum David Koepp.
In the movie, a plane taking down a deadly alien “tripod” may have been considered a pretty big deal, and at UW, a visit from Koepp, a successful screenwriter and director, may be considered an equally big deal.
UW professor David Bordwell and the UW Cinematheque invited the Pewaukee native and UW alum to Madison to screen three of his films, during which he discussed his inspiration and challenges throughout his career.
As a successful screenwriter, Koepp boasts a résumé that includes “Jurassic Park” and “Spider-Man.” He has also made the transition to director with films such as “Ghost Town” and an upcoming untitled animated movie.
Koepp took time for discussion both before and after the showing of “War of the Worlds.” Koepp and David Friedman wrote the film in 2004, which included references to the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001 and the U.S. involvement in Iraq.
“We tried to bear in mind that this is a summer popcorn movie,” Koepp said. “If people want a downer, they’ll go see a downer. It infused a lot of what we did, but I don’t think it overwhelmed the movie.”
Bordwell said this movie is somewhat unique because the main character does not save the world. Rather, he only manages to survive the horrific situation.
Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” and “Glory Days” provided inspiration for the main character Ray Ferrier, played by Tom Cruise, Koepp said. He joked about an in-depth discussion between himself and Springsteen about copyright law after he shared this inspiration.
“I wanted to write a guy who was a bit of a disappointment to himself and others,” Koepp said. “I wanted to write this guy who wasn’t going to save the world.”
Ferrier, a divorced man, is supposed to care for his two children over the weekend while their mother visits her parents in Boston. This is complicated by the sudden rising of giant alien tripods from within the earth.
However, a spoiler to those who have yet to watch the movie: Cruise’s character succeeded in not messing up. Ferrier is able to keep himself and his children alive.
The idea to portray a divorced family actually came from Koepp’s own life.
“I was recently divorced at the time and had two small kids with shared custody,” Koepp said. “I looked at [Steve Spielberg] and said, ‘You’re going to love this.’”
In response to a question on the writing process, Koepp said he was once told that one must fill themselves with “things” to be a great writer. While learning to be a writer, exposure to a variety of music, movies, books and art is necessary for inspiration.
“You need input before you can have output,” Koepp said.
Koepp showed “War of the Worlds” and “The Paper” on Wednesday. He’ll show “Ghost Town” at 7 p.m. Thursday evening in the UW Cinematheque screening room, 4070 Vilas Hall.
