In part two of our look at filmmaking in North Dakota, we talked to Goran Rušinović, director and co-writer of the 2008 film “Buick Riviera.” The 2008 film was shot in Fargo.
The film is about two Bosnians living in North Dakota. One is Muslim, Hasan, and the other is Christian, Vuko. The two encounter each other when Hasan’s 1965 Buick Riviera crashes into the snow. Vuko offers Hasan drives by and offers Vuko a ride. In the cold, freezing temperatures of North Dakota, nationalistic and personal tensions heat up between the two as they discover more about each other.
The film is based on the novel of the same name. Rušinović, who was born in Yugoslavia (now Croatia) had read the novel in New York.
”I got a strong urge to film it because it was very clear and in a very good way to explain this kind of different religious origin that leads to the civil war in Yugoslavia,” Rušinović told the Journal.
Filming started in 2003 with the crew shooting on Super 16 mm film and braving the frigid winter and snow.
The novel is not set in North Dakota but in Oregon. Rušinović said he was a big fan of the film “Fargo” and wanted to set the film there. “I always thought that film had such a beautiful approach and everything.” Rušinović also learned from local journalists that his film would be the first professionally shot full-length film shot in the city.
North Dakota didn’t have a film commission. Cities like New York and California would require written permission for on-location shoots but that was something Rušinović and his small crew didn’t have to worry about.
“Fargo was super generous to us,” he said. “Local people were super open and welcoming.” In one scene that takes place in a bathroom, an older lady from Fargo offered her bathroom for that scene.
Not everything went peachy for the film crew. One scene that took place at outsie at night needed to be lit in a way that the moon looked like it was producing light.
“That night when we came to shoot the night scene, the wind was so strong that the light we needed to pretend it was the moon, it was moving left, right, up, down,” Rušinović recalled. “That was only one disadvantage that we couldn’t shoot at night because we didn’t have experience with the weather.”
In another instance, Rušinović and his director of photography while scouting locations were arrested by the police. “They thought we were crazy Russian terrorists,” Rušinović said. They were let go shortly after and despite being arrested, Rušinović said “[the police] were nice in the station.”
Despite the obstacles he faced, Rušinović has great memories of filming in Fargo.
“All my memories is just amazing,” he said. “I would like to come back to shoot… I had a great time. The people were amazing. I think it has a lot of potential.”
“Buick Riviera” is available to watch online on Vimeo.
