AS Pierce Brosnan surveyed the graves of war veterans in Normandy, barely recognisable under his nonagenarian make-up (as 92 'and three quarters' year-old 'Artie Crawford') film director Terry Loane had a quick intake of breath and recognised this as a mise-en-scène like no other.
Here was a rare, shuddering moment when reality collided with the fictional tale they were telling in The Last Rifleman – showing tomorrow as part of Belfast Film Festival – and Loane could not help but shed a silent tear.
Reflecting on the emotional piece of filming for the new 'road' movie – also starring Harry Potter actress Clémence Poésy, Derry Girls' Claire Rafferty and Normal People's Desmond Eastwood – the Belfast-based director says the segment at the war veterans' cemetery hit him hard.
"We filmed a lot in Northern Ireland, but we could not authentically recreate the war cemetery in France, so we got permission from the War Graves Commission and filmed at the cemetery, just outside a small town called Cambes-en-Plaine where the soldiers from the Ulster Rifles are buried," says Loane, who was first sent the script in 2017 by Belfast-based producer, Katy Jackson.
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"When I saw Pierce standing there as his 92-year-old character, it was one of the most emotional things... I am getting emotional talking about it now... It was the same for Pierce who very much felt it an honour to play a character representing one of those who came back, but also commemorating all those young fellas from Northern Ireland who didn't."
The Last Rifleman tells the story of elderly war veteran Artie Crawford who 'escapes' from his Northern Ireland nursing home, intent on travelling back to France for the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings – the first time he will have returned to France in the same number of years.
"It's a road movie," says Loane, "but it's also a hugely emotional journey for the central character – and that's the kind of stories I like to tell. They are very personal, they're very intimate, but set against an expansive backdrop. It's a very local story with, hopefully, a universal message.
"The D-Day commemorations in 2019 marked the 75th anniversary and they were a huge international event, but we weren't trying to tell the story of that; we were telling one man's journey and one man's personal quest for inner peace, I suppose.
"There's lots of amazing spectacle now in modern cinema, but I really want something that... something that when you leave at the end or when you turn off your telly, an emotional memory remains."
Luckily for the Mickybo and Me writer and director, Pierce Brosnan felt exactly the same way. Twice before, the two had planned to make films together, but both times the projects had fallen victim to the vagaries of the industry. Now it appeared to be third time lucky.
"Pierce read the script and, like me, immediately fell in love with Artie," enthuses Loane from his home in north Belfast.
"I think I sent it to him on a Friday and thought he might get back to me in a couple of weeks' time, but it was the Sunday evening he called from Malibu – Sunday morning in his time – so he had read it that day, read it again, phoned me and said, 'Terry, this is great; I'm in.'
"I think the great thing for him was he had never done anything like this before – we have seen him as a movie star, we have seen him be sexy in a cool suit as James Bond, but there were other things I have seen in him which made me realise he has a range that he doesn't always get to play.
"He knew it was going to be a challenge: the accent, the make-up – which involved two-and-a-half hours of work every morning before we started filming and an hour at the end of the day – but, my goodness, he was amazing.
"On set he really did become the cardigan-wearing, cane-wielding pensioner, to the extent that when, about three weeks into filming, I met him one day as Pierce, it really was quite a shock."
Inspired in part by the real-life story of D-day veteran Bernard Jordan who 'escaped' his Sussex care home in 2014 for a similar-type adventure, and in part by a 2004 BBC1 Northern Ireland documentary, We Fought on D-Day (which struck an immediate chord with The Last Rifleman scriptwriter, Kevin Fitzpatrick), local filming mainly centred around Antrim and Lorne House in Holywood.
The town centre of Antrim was reimagined to look like a Normandy village on D-Day, while the Girl Guiding HQ in Holywood became Artie's care home – a building, notes Loane, that was "beautifully cinematic" and lent itself perfectly to their story.
A bit of a latecomer location which also proved a hit was the home of the Ulster Aviation Society at the former Maze/Long Kesh site outside Lisburn where volunteers were eager to assist, "moving planes about" and even taking a helicopter outdoors to facilitate one particular scene.
"We filmed in the hangars with Spitfires, jump-jets, all this wonderful stuff they have there," says Loane who had first intended to train the cameras on an actual airport.
"But, when we found this location, it was just inspirational," he adds, cheerily, "and we altered the script just a little bit to make sure we could use it to its full potential."
Painstaking research also led the creative team to the doors of the Royal Ulster Rifles Museum in Belfast where they again met with an enthusiastic troop of helpers.
"Research is very important because we don't want people seeing stuff on screen that's just silly," expands Loane who studied photography at university before moving into theatre set design and later film, setting up production company, Prodigal Films in 2010 with actress, Geraldine Hughes.
"So, everything, from the exact medals Artie wears, to the uniforms, needs to be authentic. The story is too important not to be."
Hollywood A-listers aside (Liam Neeson is starring in his upcoming movie, The Land of Saints and Sinners), the 'story' has always been the most important factor for Loane, a self-confessed "control freak" with perfectionist tendencies.
"It's always a leap of faith for anyone who wants to direct," he concludes thoughtfully, "but it is an addictive thing and if you're lucky enough to get a script like The Last Rifleman that will make you laugh or make you cry or make you feel something, then you're at the beginning of an incredible journey."
:: The Last Rifleman starring Pierce Brosnan, Clémence Poésy, Claire Rafferty, Desmond Eastwood with Tara Lynne O'Neill and Ian McElhinney, has a gala showing tomorrow (November 9) at Cineworld, SSE Arena. It goes on release via Sky Cinema in the UK and Ireland this month with release dates still to be confirmed for Europe and the US.
