| Bug | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | William Friedkin |
| Produced by | John J. Anderson Kimberly C. Anderson Michael Burns Gary Huckabay Malcolm Petal Andreas Schardt Holly Wiersma |
| Screenplay by | Tracy Letts |
| Based on | Bug by Tracy Letts |
| Starring | Ashley Judd Michael Shannon Harry Connick, Jr. |
| Music by | Brian Tyler |
| Cinematography | Michael Grady |
| Editing by | Darin Navarro |
| Studio | DMK Mediafilms International, Inferno Distribution LIFT Prod. |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
| Release date(s) | May 19, 2006 (CFF) May 25, 2007 |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4 million[1] |
| Box office | $8,059,140[2] |
Bug is a 2006 American horror/thriller directed by William Friedkin, and starring Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon and Harry Connick, Jr..
The film is based on the play of the same name written by Tracy Letts.
Contents |
Agnes White (Judd) is a waitress living in a run-down motel in rural Oklahoma. Unable to move on from the disappearance of her son some years previously, she engages in drug and alcohol binges with her lesbian friend, R.C. (Lynn Collins). Her abusive ex-husband, Jerry Goss (Connick), has recently been released from prison and she is receiving silent telephone calls which she suspects are from him. R.C. introduces Agnes to Peter Evans (Shannon), a drifter who says he is a recently discharged soldier. Agnes and Peter reach out to each other out of loneliness, and start a relationship.
The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.
Peter is, in fact, mentally ill, and believes he was the subject of biological tests by the U.S. government while he was in the military. He starts to draw Agnes into his delusions, persuading her that the silent telephone calls are the government trying to track him down and when he starts seeing bugs in the motel room, Agnes says that she can see them too. Jerry arrives at the motel and attempts to throw Peter out and restart his relationship with Agnes, but Peter persuades Agnes that Jerry is working for the government and she rejects him. Agnes also rejects R.C. when her friend tries to warn her away from Peter.
Peter comes to believe that a nest of bugs has been implanted under one of his teeth, so he pulls it out. He fills the room with flypaper and bug zappers and his movements become increasingly twitchy as he slaps at invisible bugs, as does Agnes.
A Dr. Sweet arrives, saying that Peter has escaped while under treatment at a mental institution, and tries to persuade him to return. Peter kills Sweet but tells Agnes that he was a robot sent by the government. Agnes is drawn ever deeper into Peter's delusions and creates her own delusion that her son had been taken from her by the government so that she and Peter could meet; she comes to believe that she has been implanted with a queen bug intended to mate with Peter's bugs and infest the world. To prevent this, Agnes and Peter douse themselves in gasoline and set themselves on fire.
During the credits, the spectator can see first the toys of Agnes's son and then the body of Sweet in a house that is not burned: a possible interpretation is that the suicide of the two main characters by fire was only a hallucination.
The film was produced and financed by L.I.F.T. Production, Bug LLC, DMK Medienfonds and Lionsgate with a budget of $4 million.
Its set design was done by Franco-Giacomo Carbone, the production designer of films such as Hostel (2005) and Rocky Balboa (2006).
Most of the film's action occurs in a seedy motel room. The scenario has three interconnected rooms — a bathroom, a kitchenette and a living room. At one point in the film, the room has several dozen fly strips hanging from the ceiling. At another point the entire room is covered from floor to ceiling in tinfoil.[3] Friedkin has said the tinfoil was a nightmare to work with, because it had to be repaired constantly, and because it reflected everybody who was there, including the crew.[4]
Exteriors of the motel were filmed near Mammoth, California, and at Grace King High School[5] while studio interiors of the motel room were filmed on a soundstage in Metairie, Louisiana, near New Orleans.[6] A grocery store scene was shot at Migliore’s Grocery, and the lesbian bar scene was shot at Boomerang’s Bar, both located in New Sarpy, Louisiana.[7]
Score
The film was scored by Brian Tyler and the musical direction/supervision is by Jay Faires. The score was released as digital download on May 22, 2007.[8]
Soundtrack
The film's theme song is performed by Serj Tankian, the lead singer of the rock band System of a Down. The lead track, "Learning to Drive", is performed by Scott Weiland, the lead singer of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots.
Additional artists are Sean and Sara Watkins (of Nickel Creek), Chainsaw Kittens, The Backsliders, Susan Tedeschi, Jerry Leiber, and The Coasters, Alvin Robinson, Los Tigres del Norte, Leon Russell and Brian Tyler.
The soundtrack was released in stores on May 22, 2007.[9]
The film is distributed by Lionsgate.
It made its world premiere in May 2006 in France in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.[10] On May 22, 2006, film critic Roger Ebert wrote, "The film has caused a stir at Cannes, not least because its stars, Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon, achieve a kind of manic intensity that’s frightening not just in itself but because you fear for the actors."[11]
The film received its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 25, 2006, in Austin, Texas. It opened in the U.S. at 1,661 theaters on May 25, 2007. In its opening weekend it earned $3.24 million, and ranked as number four, of the most-seen films of the weekend, placed behind the threequels Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Shrek 3 and Spider-Man 3.[12]
It was released to theaters in France on February 21, 2007. It drew praise from most critics in France, but did not reach the top in the box office.[13] In its opening week in France, it ranked as number twenty of the most-visited films of the week, and earned $216,244 from sixty-six screens.[14][15]
It received a very limited United Kingdom release on November 9, 2007. The film received generally positive reviews from the U.K. media, receiving three out of five in The Guardian. It was also critic Mark Kermode's film of the week on BBC Radio 5 Live.
As of June 8, the film was in 331 theaters nationwide. It received mixed to positive reviews from film critics. At Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, it has a 60% "Fresh" overall approval out of 129 reviews from critics, while scoring a 65% "Fresh" rating out of 37 reviews from RottenTomatoes-designated "Top Critics".[16] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 62 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews" based on 29 reviews.[17]
Bug was released on DVD[18] and Blu-ray[19] on September 25, 2007. It was also available on HD DVD as a German exclusive.
Friedkin has said that the film would have been flagged, in the 1960s or 1970s, as a horror film,[20] but he insists it is no such thing.[21] He told ComingSoon.net that "There were all sorts of people who looked at Bug, (including magazine people like Fangoria,) and they called it a horror film," he said. The horror connection "came from a lot of sources."[22] Friedkin claims that Bug is "in many ways, a black comedy love story.[20] He stated in an interview, that "It's not a genre film, but marketing works in mysterious ways. They have to find a genre for it. 'This is a comedy. This is a melodrama. This is a love story. This is a horror film. This is an adventure film.' Bug doesn't fit easily into any of those categories."[22]
The film received an award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival from the International Federation of Film Critics in the Director's Fortnight section.
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