Jones' storytelling is agile, says Gyllenhaal

New Dehli, April 22 (IANS) Hollywood actor Jake Gyllenhaal, whose thriller 'Source Code' will hit the screens in India April 29, was intrigued by the film's premise, and the acting challenges inherent in his character's predicament in the movie, and suggested Duncan Jones' name to direct the film.

In the film, Gyllenhaal plays a US airman who inhabits another man's body in eight minutes' increments as part of a high-tech military counter terrorism initiative.

'I'm fascinated by the concept of time, so I loved mining that stuff. There was a lot for me to take in, especially in pre-production, in order to understand Colter. His overall arc keeps coming back to the eight minutes that he lives over and over again,' Gyllenhaal said in a statement.

After signing on as leading man, Gyllenhaal suggested to the producers that they approach Jones, whose first film 'Moon' impressed him a lot.

' 'Moon' was stunning from the first frame to the last,' he said. 'As I watched, it became so clear that Duncan is fluent in the language of film. His storytelling is so agile that I immediately wanted to work with him,' said Gyllenhaal.

There are some clear parallels to 'Source Code' explorations of time, identity and humanity in Jones' first film.

'Duncan seems to be interested in altering reality a bit,' said Gyllenhaal. 'At at the same time, he gets to the heart of what's in the unconscious. In both these films, somebody is very lost at first and they have to find their way through this unfamiliar situation. They are trying to discover what they're doing and why they are there,' he said.

Jones was not keen on directing 'Source Code', but after reading the script and the chance it offered of working with Gyllenhaal made him greedy.

'But I loved the script. It was tightly written and fast moving. I'm also a huge fan of Jake Gyllenhaal. I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to work with him,' said Jones.

Almost all of the film's action takes place on a train headed for Chicago filled with commuters who make this trip daily. But for one of those commuters, this is anything but an ordinary day. Colter Stevens, a Blackhawk helicopter pilot in the US Army, is there on an astonishing assignment.

The film is produced by Mark Gordon, whose credits include 2012 and 'Saving Private Ryan' and scripted by Ben Ripley.