Sometimes life experiences really can be fodder for movies.
Directors Brian Crano and David Joseph Craig were in Italy on a 10th anniversary trip when their car got stuck in a ditch during a rainstorm. They ended up at a woman鈥檚 house and stayed up eating and drinking with them for hours, not understanding a thing they said.
鈥淲e did think in the moment we could end up in their cellar,鈥 Craig says.
Director Brian Crano, right, shows Nick Kroll, David Joseph Craig and Andrew Rannells footage from "I Don't Understand You."聽
When the two shared the story with producer Joel Edgerton, he said, 鈥淵ou need to write this.鈥
From that, 鈥淚 Don't Understand You鈥 was born. Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells play the couple; 鈥渆xtenuating circumstances鈥 make the film the nightmare they had envisioned.
鈥淲e kind of knew where we wanted it to go,鈥 Craig says. 鈥淚t just keeps going further and further down a rabbit hole and then, sometimes, we edit ourselves.鈥
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To play Crano and Craig, the two looked for 鈥渢he funniest, most charming people and then you assume that鈥檚 what you鈥檙e like,鈥 Crano says.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we could have gotten anyone better,鈥 Craig says. 鈥淚鈥檒l recast it in my head every once in a while and there鈥檚 no one who tops who we got. They鈥檝e worked together for a very long time, so them being on screen for 90% of the movie together is ideal.鈥
Andrew Rannells, left, and Nick Kroll play a couple who end up in a nightmare trip to Italy in "I Don't Understand You."聽
Because he has directed and produced a number of projects, Kroll would seem eager to make suggestions. But, he says, 鈥渋t鈥檚 so nice not being in charge. (Crano and Craig) had such a clear vision for what it was and it what it could be ... they were just great to be collaborative with the whole time. It was nice to finish shooting and go home and not to have to be worried about the location or anything.鈥
Still, Rannells says, Kroll did give him 鈥渇ace readings.鈥 鈥淗e鈥檇 be like, 鈥榃hat are you doing with your face? You should do more ...鈥 He would really guide me.鈥
While 鈥淚 Don鈥檛 Understand You鈥 doesn鈥檛 put some Italians in the best light, those who鈥檝e seen it loved it because 鈥渋t was about Americans who were in over their head, which they really appreciated,鈥 Crano says.
Subtitles, Craig says, had to be used sparingly, so they wouldn鈥檛 detract from the story, just for the sake of a joke.
Although the two thought shooting in Italy would give them time to tour the country, 鈥渘one of that happens,鈥 Crano says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e just working constantly. The people are really lovely and the food was great.鈥
Now, of course, the two pay attention to situations and lines they hear in everyday life. 鈥淎s filmmakers, you鈥檙e always like, 鈥極h, that鈥檚 the beginning of a movie,鈥欌 Craig says. 鈥淥ur Notes app is full of one-liners that we鈥檒l look back and be like, 鈥榃here did we hear that?鈥欌
Like the couple in the film, Craig and Crano were in the process of adopting a child when they took the 10th anniversary trip to Italy. Now 5, their son appears at the end of the movie and, yes, he has seen the film.
鈥淲e brought him in (at the end of the screening) to watch himself on a giant screen,鈥 Craig says. 鈥淎nd he just pointed at the screen and goes, 鈥楲ook at me!鈥欌
Adds Crano: 鈥淯nfortunately, he got asked to do a school play and he鈥檚 like, 鈥楯ust movies, please.鈥欌
