ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Willem Dafoe

Tommaso – Too Much Imagination?

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In Abel Ferrara’s Tommaso, the lines between imagination and reality are never clearly demarcated. That is true not only for the viewer, but, as the film progresses, it is an increasingly difficult boundary for the protagonist to navigate.

Tommaso (Willem Dafoe) is an American ex-pat living in Rome with his European wife Nikki (Cristina Chiriac) and their three year old daughter, Deedee. He fits in fairly well within the Italian culture, although he continues to be tutored in the language. He teaches acting students and is working on a screenplay for his next project. He’s been sober for six years and continues to attend a weekly AA meeting. However, he still struggles with various obsessions. He (like Ferrara) practices Buddhism, but also has connection to the Christian story. He has some frustrations and some fantasies, but early on they seem fairly normal and innocuous.

In one of his classes with acting students, he speaks about the exercises they have been doing and mentions a double focus—about being balanced between control and abandon. That balance may explain Tommaso’s own attempt at living life fully. But when he begins to lose that balance and allows his imagination to go places that aren’t helpful, he begins to lose the life he wants.

We often left guessing about what is or is not real, like when he goes to get an expresso and the server is naked. There are a couple of scenes in which Tommaso is playing out parts of Jesus’ passion, including a crucifixion, which conjures up memories of Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. Are those scenes rehearsals for some project, or just what is going on in his head?

While much of the film seems to be a simple story of a man moving through his daily routines, we slowly begin to see that his imagination may be altering his understanding of reality. As this happens we see a disintegration in his relationship with Nikki and perhaps his sanity.

Dafoe, as always, is excellent in his role. But the world around him and the other characters are never fully fleshed out. That made it hard to fully understand the struggle that drives Tommaso through the film.

Tommaso is available on virtual cinema at Kino Marquee (which supports your local art house).

Photos courtesy of Kino Lorber

The Heart of a Survivor: 1on1 with Julianne Nicholson (TOGO)

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Set to debut on Disney+, Togo tells the amazing true story of Leonhard Seppala (Willem Dafoe), a champion dogsled trainer who is tasked with delivering anti-toxin serum to the town of Nome, Alaska when a deadly epidemic strikes. Faced with impossible odds, Seppala turns to Togo, an unassuming, undersized and aging Siberian huskey to lead the mission. Viewed as the runt of the litter, Togo has been championed by Seppala’s wife, Constance (Julianne Nicholson) since his days as a mischievous puppy who could dig himself out of any situation and Seppala, having observed Togo’s loyalty and tenacious spirit, knows the lovable and courageous dog offers his only chance of surviving this mission. Asked what initially drew her to the film, star Julianne Nicholson jumped at the chance work with Dafoe and play a confident, caring woman at the same time.

“When I read it, I knew that Willem was already attached so already I was interested at the possibility. Then, I read the story and thought it was amazing. I couldn’t believe it was a true story and one that had not been told before. I really liked the relationship between Seppala and Constance. So often in a story like this, where it’s a man and his dog, the female character is sort of sitting at home and keeping the home fires burning while, in this story, I felt like they have a real partnership. She was a big part of keeping that farm running from day to day. I just liked how they listened to each other and could have differences of opinions but the love and trust were very much there.” 

Of course, while working with Dafoe was an exciting aspect of the project, one of the more unique challenges was working with the dogs themselves. (As the old adage goes, you should ‘never work with kids or animals’.) Even so, Nicholson valued her time with the dogs and found working with them to be a special experience.

“It definitely brings up challenges just because, as trained as they are, it’s an animal,” she warns. “At any given moment, if it doesn’t want to do something, no one’s interested in trying to force it cause that’s never going to happen. It was kind of amazing. The puppies are so cute and could do no wrong so anything that they were doing made sense and had everybody oohing and ahh-ing every day. (Diesel, who plays Togo, was the direct descendant of Togo so that felt pretty special to have him there.) It was definitely a lesson in patience but also in staying present and being open. So, it was really fun.” 

“To be around [the dogsled dogs] and watch them with their owners was really spectacular because they’re so strong, so energetic, and such athletes. When they would be hooked up to the sled, it would just be barking, jumping, [and] just totally ready to go. It’s all they wanted to do. Then they would run and, at the end, it’s a good workout. They would be just flopping around and rolling over on their backs to get their tummies scratched and falling asleep on anyone who would get near them.” 

Interestingly, Nicholson notes that there were differences between the sled dogs and what they referred to as ‘Hollywood dogs’ (or those trained to act within the film industry). Asked what those were, she feels that most of the differences come down to the expectations that were being placed on the animals.

“Well, [the dogs] have different things that are being asked of them,” says Nicholson. “So, the sled dogs were basically being filmed doing what they do every day so they don’t have to do anything differently and their trainers were there. It gets trickier when you’re inside a cabin and you’re asking Diesel to walk from here to here and look at Willem for 30 to 90 seconds. That starts getting challenging. So yeah, there were definitely different needs from the different dogs.” 

Though Disney is known for its many films featuring talking animals (such as Disney+’s own live-action Lady and the Tramp), Togo takes a different approach with its beloved animals. Rather than personify them, the film allows the pets to simply be themselves. In retrospect, Nicholson argues that this is also one of the key reasons that the film resonates so well with viewers.

“It’s one of the things that I love about this movie and actually why I think it’s gets under your skin,” she claims. “We’re not giving them the traits of a person. We’re letting them be animals, recognizing the beauty in that and just the openness, loyalty and the love that you get from a dog without trying to personify it.” 

However, in light of this, it’s also worth noting that, although the animals may not be given ‘human’ characteristics, they are also portrayed as heroes. For example, in one moment, Constance notes that Togo has the ‘heart of a survivor’, a comment that Nicholson believes serves as an accurate description.

“Togo was the runt of the litter and nothing was really expected of him,” she explains. “Oftentimes the runt of the litter is just going to be a problem. They wouldn’t necessarily nurture the runt to help keep it around because it was just going to be weak. It was just going to be a burden. But Constance sees something in this dog that’s sort of unknowable or unnameable and that proved to be correct. What a thing, with survival of the fittest and what have you, if that’s one of the things that goes along in that, it’s valuable, “

In addition to working with Dafoe and the animals, one of the appealing aspects to working on the project for Nicholson was the chance to work with director Ericson Core. Serving also as the film’s cinematographer, Cole uses his love of nature and wealth of experience shooting the outdoors in a way that brings the film to life onscreen.

According to Nicholson, “[Ericson] has a long history and love affair as an admiration for nature and being in nature. I think he’s not only been a camper his whole life but [also gone off] the beaten path and been on his own for weeks in the wilderness. So, he really has a love for nature [itself] and man in nature. As well, he has a connection to the animal part of the story. He himself had a wolf for many years and so I think he recognized something in the relationship between Seppala and Togo. He is just an earnest, thoughtful guy. Then, also having started out as a [Director of Photography], [he had] the experience of doing action [and] incredible shots in outmost nature, so he had the experience and the heart to tell this story.” 

With that in mind, one can imagine the challenges of shooting the film in the midst of the potentially harsh conditions of the Canadian Rockies. While many of her scenes take place on the home sets, Nicholson remembers that the unpredictability of weather created some difficult circumstances.
“The Canadian Rockies are breathtaking…,” she recalls. “I didn’t have much difficulty within the landscape because much of my stuff is in and around the home front but weather did create a lot of turmoil throughout. We were there in the fall and early winter and they needed those fall months to be able to show the passing of time in our story. We didn’t want it all in one season because we’re telling the story in 1913 and in 1925. Then on day three of filming in first week of October, there was snow storm that dropped two feet of snow. So suddenly our fall is gone and we had to sort of go into the cabin. So that was in my experience that found the big challenge was weather.” 

In addition, Nicholson also points out that many sequences were shot with little (if any) CGI in order to maintain the sense of realism within the film.

“Willem and Ericson could speak much more to all the action stuff that they had and being on the ice,” she clarifies. “One thing I do know is that we had no green screens and very little in the way of CGI. In that ice sequence, of course, there’s some there because you can’t put our actors and the dogs in peril. But they filmed that on a frozen lake. Even if they weren’t on a stage, they weren’t doing it on asphalt and then putting it onto ice. Also, when they’re climbing up in the mountains and the sled starts going downhill, they did outside and the Canadian Rockies on the head of a cliff. They weren’t dangling, of course. They weren’t in the same predicament, but they really did much of the action practically. I think for me, when I watched it, that was so thrilling. I had read the story of course, but I didn’t, I couldn’t expect that it was going to be as breathtaking as it was.” 

For full audio of our interview with Julianne Nicholson, click here.

Togo launches onto Disney+ on Friday, December 20th, 2019.

Motherless Brooklyn: Pulling at the Thread of Power

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Directed and adapted for the screen by Edward Norton, Motherless Brooklyn tells the story of Lionel Essrog (Norton), a Brooklyn detective in post-war New York. Working with street smart private investigator Frank Minna (Bruce Willis), Lionel (who also goes by the name Brooklyn) and his team uncover the truth for hire. However, when Minna is shot and left for dead, Lionel determines to unravel the mystery, plunging him into a Brooklyn underworld riddled with crime, corruption and colourful characters. As his quest for truth leads him further up New York’s ladder of power, Lionel’s investigation is complicated by his Tourette syndrome, which leaves him prone to compulsive behavioural tics and inappropriate verbal outbursts.

Adapted from the 1999 novel of the same name, Brooklynis a tightly written throwback film to classic Hollywood’s noir films like The Big Sleep or Chinatown. With a stellar cast and tightly written script, Norton creates a world which feels both foreign and familiar. While the film transports the audience back to 1950s New York, it also feels current in today’s culture, highlighting racial tensions and the growing divide between the upper and lower classes. In Motherless Brooklyn, power is a drug that gives people the freedom to ‘do whatever they want, whenever they want’ but it’s also short in supply. Divided by racial and financial lines, Brooklyn is a city on the brink of chaos.Those that have little power are struggling to make their voices heard while those who have much fight ferociously to maintain it. 

As Brooklyn himself, Norton’s performance is sharp, engaging, and loving. At the same time, the character becomes a metaphor for the town for which he’s named. Plagued by Tourette Syndrome, Brooklyn feels as though there’s a chaos in his mind that bubbles over and has to be released. While the casual passerby may not immediately notice Brooklyn’s struggle, his mental chaos inevitably reveals itself. With this in mind, the film clearly draws a line between his character and the city itself, as its own unseen chaos can’t help but overflow from the underground. Diffused lighting and growing shadows point to tension between light and darkness, as Brooklyn (the character) attempts to uncover the truth about Brooklyn (the city). Like his compulsion to pull on the threads of his sweater, Brooklyn also must unravel the web of deception until the facts about his city is revealed.

Furthermore, the film also does not shy away from engaging in the complexities of Brooklyn’s mental health issues. Bullied as a child for his affliction, Brooklyn has always been the one that was pitied by others. After Minna’s death, Brooklyn becomes seen by others primarily for his mental affliction as they constantly try to ‘look out’ for him, rationalizing that he needs their protection. Frustrated by his inability to control his mind and constantly reminded of the burden he is by others, Brooklyn remains ashamed and embarrassed by his behaviour. 

Conversely, however, while clearly struggling with his mental illness, he also recognizes its value. Despite the chaos within him, his Tourettes is also what makes him a great detective by forcing him to ‘pull on the thread’ of truth and allowing him to retain incredible amounts of information. What’s more, the film even paints a portrait of Tourette syndrome with an element of beauty by highlighting the musical aspect of Brooklyn’s mental chaos. (For example, this comparison is highlighted when, in one particularly poignant scene, Brooklyn’s inadvertent vocables cause him to become a participant in a jazz ensemble.)

Featuring strong performances and well-written script, Motherless Brooklyn is an entertaining and engaging return to the noir genre. Under the Norton’s direction, the film is also impressive visually, as the shadows and darkness of New York’s underworld are constantly warring against the light of truth. 

Motherless Brooklyn unravels the mystery in theatres on November 1st, 2019.

The Lighthouse: The [Self]Destruction of Darkness

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Starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse follows the journey of Winslow (Pattinson) and Wake (Dafoe), two lighthouse keepers, who try to maintain their sanity while living in isolation on a remote island off the coast of Maine. Tightly written and directed by Robert Eggers (The Witch), The Lighthouse is a fascinating piece that feels like a throwback to classic post-War noir films. Unlike most modern horror films that insist on bombarding the senses, the film is a slow descent into madness highlighted by strong performances from its cast and a striking visual style. Shot on black and white 35mm film, Lighthouse echoes classic Hitchcock films like Psycho and Rear Window by allowing its characters to slowly lose themselves to their circumstances. What’s more, by shooting in a 1:19 : 1 ratio, the film visually reinforces the claustrophobic atmosphere between the two leads as they battle for screen presence. 

Due to the intensity of the relationship between them, the performances of the two leads become even more pivotal to the film and, thankfully, both men are up to the task. While Dafoe has remained a gifted actor for decades now, Pattison continues to mature into a fine performer as well. As the sea rages around them, both actors thunder away at each other onscreen with a rising fury as secrets are revealed and both characters become increasingly unhinged.

Through its visuals and narrative, Lighthouse is most intent on exploring whether one can ever truly escape their own darkness. Taking the position at the lighthouse to start over, Winslow is a man who is determined to prove his worth. He works hard, keeps to himself and simply wants to reset his life on the mainland. (This serves as a direct contrast to Wake who, despite his past, has simply given in to his role on the island.) However, after a questionable decision appears to set the spiritual realm against them, Winslow and Wake find themselves at the mercy of the ever-raging sea. Despite Winslow’s desire to return home and start over, the evil around (and within) them continues to grow, giving failure a sense of inevitability. In this world, the realities of grace and mercy become elusive myths and the sins of our past dictate who we are in the present. For Winslow, hope becomes a boat that may never reach him as the sea grows angrier. In the midst of a furious storm, Winslow finds himself torn as he desperately seeks the secret of the light yet remains trapped within the darkness. 

Filled with psychological terror and bold imagery, The Lighthouse shines brightly. Caught in the grip of a pseudo spiritual enemy, Winslow and Wake fight and claw for supremacy against elements and each other. 

The Lighthouse dives into madness in theatres beginning October 18th, 2019

Creating Historical Horror: 1on1 with Robert Eggers (THE LIGHTHOUSE)

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Starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse follows the journey of Winslow (Pattinson) and Wake (Dafoe), two lighthouse keepers, who try to maintain their sanity while living in isolation on a remote island off the coast of Maine. The Lighthouse is a fascinating piece that feels like a throwback to classic post-War noir films. Echoing classic Hitchcock films like Psycho and Rear Window, Eggers states that it was the film’s unique setting that first drew him to the project. 

“It was the atmosphere and the idea of these two guys in a lighthouse in black and white that made me interested. Then, it was about finding the things that are scary about this setting and indulging in them. Certainly, every little kid knows the first time they get like sucked under a wave that she wins every time. Mother nature is for real.” 

While he was developing his vision for the film, Eggers knew that he needed two men who could handle the material and bring the intensity in their conflicts with one another. Using these criteria, it was an easy decision for him to pursue both Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson for the key roles. 

“I had wanted to do something with Willem and he had shockingly wanted to do something with me. Same with Rob,” he explains. “I [once] offered Robert role in one of the movies that didn’t get made as sort of a posh, cigar-smoking Victorian dandy and he said ‘no thanks. I like something that’s actually challenging and strange.’ So, when The Lighthouse became something that looked like was actually going to get made, who else are you going to call? There’s no question that they’re the appropriate people for these roles… I find it funny that people still kind of say, ‘Oh, after Twilight, Rob’s finally doing some stuff.’ Man, have you been paying attention? He’s a great actor.” 

Shooting in a 1:19:1 aspect ratio on black and white film, The Lighthouse visually reinforces the claustrophobic atmosphere between the two leads as they battle for screen presence. Asked when he decided to shoot the film in such a unique and unsettling format, Eggers claims that those cinematic choices were always a part of his vision for the film.

“From the beginning, it was black and white, [with a] 35 millimeter negative,” he expounds. “It was seven years from the first time I started talking about this until it got made, [so] we thought about different things. There were versions that would have been really more self-consciously degraded looking but it was a process of us pitching different ideas back and forth and then finding out what was actually feasible and affordable. This film is so heavy handed. We made a lot of strong choices and we’re sticking to them even if they’re over the top.”

Interestingly, with The Witch and now The Lighthouse, Eggers’ first two features have been ‘period pieces’. When he thinks about what it is about history that makes it so scary, Eggers contends that the true horror of human nature stems from our inability to learn from our past“History is terrifying because human beings do bad things all the time and the further we are away from different epox, they either look romantic or more horrifying. [Then,] we don’t tend to learn from the past. So, it’s nice for me to understand where we are and where we’re going by looking at where we came from.” 

As these characters slowly descend into madness, Eggers’ film explores the nature and origins of power and hyper-masculinity when two titans are pitted against one another.

“My ‘go-to’ quote is ‘Nothing good happens when two men are trapped in a giant phallus.’ [laughs] But there is a lot of truth in that. There is all of this heteronormative masculine energy and erotic energy that is bubbling up with nowhere to go so it’s going to explode and come out somehow.” 

Ironically, given the film’s intense vibes and madness, one of the more underrated qualities of the film is its underlying humour. In the midst of a heightened environment with wild situations, The Lighthouse also brings an unexpected amount of levity to its script.

“Tarkovsky has almost no humor in his movies, but one of his idols is Dostoyevsky is hilarious,” Eggers illuminates. “Being miserable is hilarious. So, as my brother and I were writing the script, we really wanted to embrace that. Rob and Willem are incredible comedians. In fact, when we were shooting it, I kept saying to the editor like, ‘I think this is too funny.’”

Of course, due to the film’s emphasis on the otherworldly nature of the elements, one would expect that shooting would come with its challenges. 

“Really, there was never really an easy scene,” Eggers recalls. “Even when we moved into this stage, the producers, financiers and the bond company came in we said ‘we’re going to pick it up’ and we had to say no because actually these are all extremely long-oners with elaborate choreographies. There was nothing easy.” 

“One thing that I haven’t talked about was when the mermaid appears on the beach, the tides move really quickly and Valeriia [Karaman], as a mermaid in a prosthetic, can’t walk. So, we have all these guys walking her out to the rocks to place her and we had the rain machine going. We can just see, minute after minute, that these huge crashing waves are getting closer and closer and we’re just trying to shoot this thing before the waves come and wash our mermaid into the Atlantic Ocean. That was incredibly stressful.” 

With this in mind, one of the film’s more interesting (and unique) characters comes in the form of a seagull that plagues Winslow. While working with animals is never easy, Eggers says that he was shocked at how well the birds performed.

“The seagulls were amazing,” he remembers. “There were three birds that played ‘One Eye’… [and] they were incredibly smart and well trained. The trainer was always giving us low expectations of what the birds could do and saying that they are very sensitive. But then the first thing we did was the bird landing on the window sill, pecking three times and flying away. Amazingly, it just… did it… with no CG and, and we thought ‘wow.’ It’s never easy shooting with animals [but] they were cool. “

Willem Dafor, Robert Pattinson The Lighthouse A24

Since the film takes place in a lonely lighthouse, it should come as no surprise that one of the key themes of the film is the tension between light and darkness. For Eggers, much of the mystery surrounding the mystical light grew out of his appreciation for the physical lens itself.

“I wanted the lighthouse and the cottage in the lighthouse station to be a total [dump],” he illuminates. “In truth, in the 1890s, it would have been really difficult to have a lighthouse station in such disrepair because, in the United States, lighthouse establishment was like run like a military organization. They constantly had inspectors checking in on things. We invented the idea that this was so remote that the inspectors [just ignored it]. I didn’t set it earlier when the lighthouse would be in such disrepair because I wanted the foghorn with that sound and I wanted the Fresnal lens, which is the lens in the beacon.”

“It’s hard to believe that those were invented in the 1860s (I believe) because they look like art deco, jewel spaceships. I felt that that object is so romantic and mysterious and hypnotic that, if we had that, there would be a secret in the light, whatever it may be. In fact, our DP, Jared, and I went to one of the few lighthouses in North America that has a working Fresnal lens. I truly believe it was not just because we were working on this movie, but we could have stared at the thing all night. It’s so stunning, you know?” 

While much of modern horror opts to focus itself on gore or ‘jump scares’, The Lighthouse‘s emphasis on its characters’ descent into madness feels far more similar to classic sci-fi horror films of the post-War era. Nevertheless, Eggers also believes that this film allowed him to establish more of his own style, rather than rely exclusively on the greats that came before.

“Hitchcock was not a deliberate influence though he was certainly one of our teachers… I was also pleased to see this movie that put David Lynch’s oeuvre into [this] context… I think the cinematic influences, even the ones that I’ve never seen, are fairly clear. I do think that The Witch wears its influences on its sleeve in a way that feels much more like a first feature. I feel like, for me personally, I’ve integrated my influences a little more [in The Lighthouse] and it feels like you can see what they are, but I feel like I’m doing a better job becoming myself in this one, which I’ll hopefully get better at.” 

For full audio of our interview with Robert Eggers, click here.

The Lighthouse dives into madness in theatres beginning October 25th, 2019

TIFF ’19: Motherless Brooklyn

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Written and directed by Edward Norton, Motherless Brooklyn tells the story of Lionel Essrog (Norton), a Brooklyn detective in post-war New York. Working with street smart private investigator Frank Minna (Bruce Willis), Lionel (who also goes by the name Brooklyn) and his team uncover the truth for hire. However, when Minna is shot and left for dead, Lionel determines to unravel the mystery, plunging him into a Brooklyn underworld riddled with crime, corruption and colourful characters. As his quest for truth leads him further up New York’s ladder of power, Lionel’s investigation is complicated by his Tourette syndrome, which leaves him prone to compulsive behavioural tics and inappropriate verbal outbursts.

Adapted from the 1999 novel of the same name, Brooklyn is a tightly written throwback film to classic Hollywood’s noir films like The Big Sleep or Chinatown. With a stellar cast and tightly written script, Norton creates a world which feels both foreign and familiar. While the film transports the audience back to 1950s New York, it also feels current in today’s culture, highlighting racial tensions and the growing divide between the upper and lower classes. Divided by racial and financial lines, Brooklyn is a city on the brink of chaos.Those that have little power are struggling to make their voices heard while those who have much fight ferociously to maintain it. 

As Brooklyn himself, Norton’s performance is sharp, engaging, and loving. At the same time, the character becomes a metaphor for the town for which he’s named. Diffused lighting and growing shadows point to tension between light and darkness, as Brooklyn (the character) attempts to uncover the truth about Brooklyn (the city). Like his compulsion to pull on the threads of his sweater, Brooklyn also must unravel the web of deception until the facts about his city is revealed.

Featuring strong performances and well-written script, Motherless Brooklyn is an entertaining and engaging return to the noir genre. Under the Norton’s direction, the film is also impressive visually, as the shadows and darkness of New York’s underworld are constantly warring against the light of truth. 

Motherless Brooklyn is currently playing at the Toronto International Film Festival. For more screenings, click here. 

TIFF ’19: The Lighthouse

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Starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, The Lighthousevfollows the journey of Winslow (Pattinson) and Wake (Dafoe), two lighthouse keepers, who try to maintain their sanity while living in isolation on a remote island off the coast of Maine. Tightly written and directed by Robert Eggers (The Witch), The Lighthousevis a fascinating piece that feels like a throwback to classic post-War noir films. Unlike most modern horror films that insist on bombarding the senses, the film is a slow descent into madness highlighted by strong performances from its cast and a striking visual style. Shot on black and white 35mm film, Lighthouse echoes classic Hitchcock films like Psycho and Rear Window by allowing its characters to slowly lose themselves to their circumstances. What’s more, by shooting in a 1:19 : 1 ratio, the film visually reinforces the claustrophobic atmosphere between the two leads as they battle for screen presence. 

Through its visuals and narrative, Lighthouse is most intent on exploring whether one can ever truly escape their own darkness. Despite Winslow’s desire to return home and start over, the evil around (and within) them continues to grow, giving failure a sense of inevitability. For Winslow, hope becomes a boat that may never reach him as the sea grows angrier.

Filled with psychological terror and bold imagery, The Lighthouse shines brightly. Caught in the grip of a pseudo spiritual enemy, Winslow and Wake fight and claw for supremacy against elements and each other. 

The Lighthouse is currently playing at the Toronto International Film Festival. Upcoming screenings can be viewed here.

At Eternity’s Gate – Van Gogh’s Calling

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“God is nature, and nature is beauty.”

The life of Vincent Van Gogh with all its spiritual and psychological challenges is well known. In At Heaven’s Gate, from artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, we see scenes from his life—some based on his letters, some from legends, some (as Schnabel notes) “just plain invented”. It is not meant to be viewed as a straight biography. Rather it is an examination of what it means to be driven to produce art—especially art that is as personal and out of the ordinary as was Van Gogh’s.

The film covers many years of Van Gogh’s (Willem Dafoe) life, from his days in Paris, to Arles, and Saint-Rémy where he was hospitalized, and Auvers, where he died. Along the way we meet others in his circle: his brother Theo (Rupert Friend), Paul Gauguin (Oscar Issac), and some of the people immortalized in his paintings such as Joseph Roulin (Laurent Bateau) and Dr. Gachet (Mathieu Almaric).  But it is Van Gogh’s art and his making of the art that is more important than plot per se.

It is of import that Schnabel is himself a painter. His approach to the Van Gogh story includes a great deal of subjectivity. He tells the story as it has affected him. The scenes are often based in his reactions to Van Gogh’s works. And his concern for the need to make art is very evident in the way this story is told. Van Gogh often speaks in the film of how much he needs to paint. In one important scene while he is hospitalized, Van Gogh talks with a priest (Mads Mikkelsen) about his art and how he sees the world he paints. The priest thinks his work is ugly and offensive. But Van Gogh sees his vision and his talent as a gift from God. And asks the priest why God would give him a gift to show the ugliness of the world.

There is throughout the film a sense that for Van Gogh painting was in many ways a spiritual exercise. He has a deep connection to nature, immersing himself in the very soil of a field before starting to paint it. And in that connection to nature he feels a connection to God. He expands on this as he talks to the priest and brings in theological insight and scripture to expand on his ideas. (Van Gogh was the son of a pastor and at one time began to study for the ministry.) For Van Gogh in this film, painting is a calling to share his vision of God’s creation. For him that vision is about the beauty that God shares with us.

That conversation with the priest give me pause because there are times in the film that I react to Schnabel’s directing in much the same way the priest reacts to Van Gogh’s art. Some of the camera work and editing at times seem to work against watching the film. A case in point is the use of a lens for some shots that seems to be looking through bifocal glasses. It may be that he is trying to visualize the sense of madness going on in Van Gogh, but it was so off-putting for me that it made the film hard to watch and appreciate fully.

Photos courtesy of CBS Films

The Florida Project – Gleanings from Press Day

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I recently had the chance to take part in some round table interviews with some of those involved in The Florida Project. There were three separate interviews: Willem Dafoe, Bria Vinaite with Broolynn Prince, and director Sean Baker. The film deals with a child (played by Brooklynn Price) who lives with her mother (Bria Vinaite) in a motel near Disney World which is managed by Bobby (Willem Dafoe). I share some of the gleanings from those sessions.

When Sean Baker was asked about the inspiration for the film, he brought up a topic that the others had spoken of as well.

Sean Baker: I’ve always been inspired by and influenced by the Little Rascals. I’ve always wanted to make my own Little Rascals. I love the fact that the Little Rascals, if you think about it, was actually showing the harsh reality of life—in that case, the Great Depression—but it was seen through this joyous viewpoint of children, right? So when my co-screenwriter brought this topic to may attention—children growing up in motels just outside the most magical place on earth for children—I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make my Little Rascals 2017. It was important showing that these children were living in very difficult circumstances, but children are children, so we wanted to concentrate on the universal traits of children: the humor and the heart and the wonderment and innocence and resilience. That’s how it came to be.

When Willem Dafoe was asked about the Our Gang influence (which is noted in the film’s credits) he said:

 Willem Dafoe: And it was also during the Depression, and the adults around them, although they weren’t really featured, they weren’t going through easy times. But the kids had a similar thing. They were kind of grifters and scheming. They were causing trouble, and mischievous. Sean never mentioned that the whole shoot, and then when I heard him reference it in France, it made all the sense in the world.

And Brooklynn Prince (who is now seven) responded:

Brooklynn Prince: I just love that we got a really, really close connection. I was like Spanky, and Christopher was Alfalfa, and Jancey was like Darla, and then Aiden was kind of like Froggy.

The casting of the film included well-known actors such as Willem Dafoe; child actors, such as Brooklynn Prince (who readily reminds people she’s been acting since she was two); and people with no acting experience such as Bria Vinaite (who Sean Baker discovered on Instagram. Baker recounted how Bria Vinaite was cast.

SB: For years we were thinking stunt casting for that role. We were thinking actually an ex-Mouseketeer—you can imagine who we were thinking of. Then we were moving into the A list area, the 20-24 year old hot stars, and you can imagine all those names. We were considering all of them. Then I just kept going back to this girl’s Instagram, saying, “Yeah, no matter what, if this girl is able to actually act the way she is acting in this Instagram, she would be so much more fresh than any face, any Hollywood establishment that we could bring to the table.” Over the years I’ve been able to prove myself. I’ve been very lucky to find a bunch of first-timers that are unconventionally cast. It helped me with my financiers to say “Trust me. I know this is very  crazy of me to think that this Instagram selfie girl can do this. I have a feeling about her. She’s making me laugh. She’s different from others. She has a physicality. She has a real confidence. She’s already putting herself out there, so it’s not like she’s shy.  She was very enthusiastic about learning. She wanted to learn. She’s like, “I have less experience than Brooklynn. I need a crash course real quick.” She took the time. She took the whole month before shooting getting into character.

Bria Vinaite was asked about the transition into acting.

Bria Vinaite: It’s definitely been a really surreal experience and at times hard to believe because there’s been so many amazing things every day. It just sometimes doesn’t feel real. There’s just so much thrown at us. I’m really thankful that Sean trusted in me enough to bring this character to life without having any prior acting training. It was a big risk he took, and I’m just so thankful that I made him proud.

Willem Defoe was asked if he needed to take on a teaching role with so many inexperienced actors.

WD: To be honest I didn’t need to. My job was more to fit in with them, because they were very well cast and Sean is very shrewd in how to make them feel comfortable. Sometimes a non-acting approach to acting is more effective. So I tried to be of that world. That’s true anyways. Some movies require performances that are very in your face and very bold and kind of show-off. Other ones, it depends on what your job is, what your function is in the construct of the movie. Other ones you really want to disappear. You almost hope that the audience doesn’t know you’re an actor. I’ve been doing this long enough where maybe someone seen me in another movie, so I don’t fool myself completely, but the idea is nice. So the idea of being in that community and not having there be a difference, I liked. And in a way it’s true almost always, because even in an industry movie, in a studio movie sometimes you have a wide range of skill, because actors come—in our culture, in the States anyway—actors come from a wide range of places. Some are highly trained with lots of experience. Some just have a thing—are beautiful, or just attractive, or charming. They may not be actors. Those are all things that we’re playing with when you make a movie. You can cut around things, you can craft things. You always have to be in the world with these other people. So it wasn’t as extreme as you might think.

Willem Dafoe was asked what appealed to him in the Bobby character that attracted him to this film.

WD: I think it’s interesting that you say that, because there aren’t any big scenes, there’s not a big transformation. On paper maybe Bobby seemed a little bit like a serviceable character—just to keep the narrative going—a device. But so often I sign on to something because of the feel for the people and the feel for the project itself. Miraculously sometimes roles that—It was a very good screenplay, don’t get me wrong. But Bobby did not read as strong on the page as I think it became. That’s partly because Sean added some things. But really why I went onboard was because of the whole project. This world that I didn’t know. The way he was going to shoot it—we were shooting in a real place with real people, mixing real people with first-timers, with street casting, with actors, a very good script, a story that seen through the eyes of this kid who really eexplores the kind of beauty of childhood, but then you also have this shadow of if we don’t take care this is where it could lead. And a basic feeling of community that needs help and what people’s response is to that. It’s only after shooting the movie that I can appreciate that Bobby was kind of a beautiful character in the respect that he—the thing I keep coming back to is somehow he understands that for each person he has a different relationship. It’s practical. He wants things to go smooth. Somewhere he deeply understands that your happiness, my happiness is dependent on yours and vice versa. Which is a very basic thing. But you see it played out in a very real, tangible way. And that’s a beautiful thing to watch in such a precarious world.

Asked if he had a backstory for the Bobby character, he went on:

WD: I had something of a backstory. In research I talked to some people who had this job and had this kind of life. So that was helpful. Not just to get the psychology and where they come from, but get the world and the little details—what kind of watch they’re wearing, whether they have any jewelry, how they cut their hair, how they present themselves and carry themselves. One of the biggest things that I took away from that was that he was very proud of his job, and he was very proud that he made the motel a better place than it was. That was kind of touching. I didn’t recognize it when I was doing the movie, but in retrospect when I see it in the movie, I think that kind of the beautiful thing for me about Bobby is that he’s not an extraordinary person, in the sense of talent or ambition. He’s a quite simple, normal guy, but he has kind of  this big heart and it’s like the average guy who tries to make the world a better place. His world is the world of this little community. So it has real resonance because I think we all have that in our lives. We know our limitations, but we try to apply ourselves because we feel best when we try to make things better.

Sean Baker was asked if this is an advocacy film.

SB: I do. Well, I hope it is. That’s all I can do. I hope that it inspires people to look further into the subject. What we’re trying to do in my Q&As and my interviews is stress that this is a national problem. It’s not just Kissimmee and Orlando. It’s something that’s national and it might be right under your nose. This is a hidden problem so it might just be in your hometown. We know it exists just south in the OC, in San Bernardino, Boston, Chicago, et cetera, et cetera. We are doing our best to bring it to DC. We’re trying to get in front of policy makers, have a congressional screening.

There’s a plethora [of problems in this area]. Almost each individual family that we met had their own circumstance, and sometimes it was many things. A lot of these motels were not acting as welfare motels before 08. They were striving tourist attractions and targeting the same tourists that went to the parks. This really is something that has been a problem in the last decade.

Yeah, there were issues we decided we couldn’t tackle properly in this film. For example, there is a major drug problem there, just as there is throughout the United States right now, with the opioid epidemic. Route 192 had pill mills up and down. They got shut down overnight and you were left with a bunch of opiate addicts and therefore they all turned to heroin. That was there, but that was an issue that we were like, we’re already tackling a lot here and we had to keep in mind, like Tangerine, we were trying to use an entertainment medium to reach a greater audience. We had to still stay thinking Little Rascals, comedy and humor in order to capture people and then hopefully leave them with stuff to think about.

When asked about possible solutions, he went on:

SB: That’s the thing. I’d like to get this in front of policy makers because to tell you the truth I don’t have the answers. I really am only posing the questions. I do know that the agencies that we worked with, especially the Community Hope Center down there, they do have plans in place, they just need funding. They have that funding to a certain degree from the private sector and from philanthropists, but it’s not enough to really make significant change. Right now, I spoke to the office of the Commissioner of Osceola County just the other day and they do have their first—thank God, finally—they have their first low income housing structure going up that will house a hundred families. The rent will be $355 a month. Which is about a third of what they are spending to live in these motels. So it is starting to make a difference now. If they can get more federal funding and Trump doesn’t make cuts, it can help. I hope that attention and awareness is brought to the situation from this film so that possibly there are more people in the private sector and philanthropists who want to help.

On the national level there’s the National Alliance for Homelessness, it’s the website that covers everything. If people want to look specifically at Kissimmee and Orlando, there are two websites I’d recommend. One is RethinkHomelessness.org. That is an organization that covers all Central Florida. And there is specifically for Route192, it’s called the Community Hope Center and their website is Hope192.com. They are wonderful. They are truly making change down there.

 

 

 

 

Building The Florida Project: 1on1 with Sean Baker

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Directed by Sean Baker, The Florida Project tells the story of 6-year-old Moonie (Brooklynn Prince) and her relationship with her young and impoverished mother Halley (Bria Vinaite). However, pulling back the camera, the film also shines a light on the lives of the ‘hidden homeless’ outside Orlando, Florida. Having no permanent address and residing in local motels, these homeless individuals and families struggle to survive from week to week. Because the issue is rarely spoken of in the public eye, Baker says that he was completely unaware of this problem.

“My co-screenwriter, Chris Bergoch, brought this issue to my attention [and] He knows what I’m looking for,” he recalls. “This is our third time collaborating together on a screenplay…  I had no idea about the issue of the hidden homeless. I hadn’t even heard that term before and he was showing me articles about how there were families living with children living in budget motels right outside the parks in the tourist capital of the world, Orlando, Florida. We started doing more research and realized it was a national problem:  Boston, San Bernadino, Boston, etc. These are basically families who are technically homeless because they can’t secure permanent housing… They’re literally one step away from being on the streets so I wanted to explore that in the area that Chris showed me, in Kissimmee in Orlando, because of that very sad juxtaposition of homeless children living outside the place that we associate most with children.  The happiest place on Earth.” 

“In that way, [we hope that] the audience will pick up on the fact that, if this could happen right here, it could happen anywhere.”

Having spent a great deal of time with the families that live in these Florida hotels, Baker feels strongly that many of them have been driven into these situations as a direct result of the financial crisis of nearly a decade ago.

“There’s a plethora of reasons why they’ve fallen into the situation that they’re in,” he argues. “Someone asked me who the villain is in the film. I think they were baiting me to point at the corporations or the new administration. But I was like, you know, there are two villains:  the recession of ‘08 followed by the housing crisis that continued right after it. It had an effect that continues to this day. The way that it affected families, individuals, local businesses, local governments and even corporations. People are still living in these situations so it’s something that I felt was an important enough issue that had not really had a light shined on it and this was my way of doing that.”

While hardly new to the independent film industry, Baker is perhaps best known for his previous directorial effort, Tangerine.  In fact, he acknowledges that it was the breakout success of Tangerine that helped pave the way for The Florida Project to become a reality.

“This actually came before Tangerine,” he says. “We’d been trying to get money to make this for a while, close to six years perhaps.  We were looking for money at the time Beasts of the Southern Wild came out so we thought it might be a little too close which might have been why it was so difficult to get funding.  And then, I made Tangerine and that opened doors for us.”

Though some might be frustrated by these delays, Baker believes that they actually benefitted Project by allowing all the proper elements to fall into place.

According to Baker, “Some people talk about serendipity or ‘things that are supposed to happen’ but, if we made this film six years ago when we initially wanted to, Brooklyn [Prince] was only 1 years old. Things happen for a reason and so I’m really happy it took this long. Over the years that we were thinking about it, I think my vision became stronger with it.”

Despite their vast differences, Baker also recognizes a relationship between both Tangerine and The Florida Project through their use of style and theme.

“Without having made Tangerine first, it would be a very different movie because of that style we used [in Tangerine] where we went with comedy first and foremost to deliver the message, that dictated the way we made this film,” he reflects. “I think we’re telling a universal story in a community that not many people know about or have been underrepresented in film and television. I think that might be the common thing and [of course], the stylistic approach is where the commonality is.”

Through his use of humour within the film, Baker manages to bring a sense of light to an otherwise dark situation. By focusing the narrative through Moonie’s eyes, he allows the characters in the film to reclaim a form of innocence that seems infectious.

“It is very bleak, especially for an adult in full consciousness,” he notes. “That’s one of the many reasons that we decided to focus on children because children are children, no matter where they are or what sort of situation they’re in.  There’s still trying.  There’s still that sense of wonderment.  They use their imagination to make the best of the situation they’re in and that’s what we were trying to show.  Even though this girl lived right outside of these parks and the Magic Kingdom and these amusement rides, they were inaccessible to her yet she was able to turn every day into that.  She was able to turn the parking lot into an nice little amusement park or visiting the cow pasture in the back of the motel was her way of going to the safari.”

Ultimately, however, Baker believes that Moonie’s relationship with her mother, Halley remains the foundation of hope for her in the midst of these painful situations.

“There was a way that this little girl was always able to make the best of things and it was with the help of her mother. Her mother, who comes across as… rough, aggressive, but there is a real love—a maternal love—but she is doing what she can do to always keep her child’s spirits up and make the most of it. Always keeping a smile on her daughter’s face and that’s what I saw on the faces of many of the residents there and I wanted to capture.”

As for the actual residents in these Florida motels, Baker feels that genuine hope exists. With an overwhelming response of support from businesses and local administration, he has noticed a difference in these communities in recent years.

“As far as hope in more realistic terms, all I can say is this:  I do see a change,” he states. “I do see agencies in the area, non-profits, philanthropists, the local government all working together to try to eradicate homelessness in that area.  Even Disney itself has contributed.  In one of the largest charitable contributions by the private sector to eradicated homelessness ever, they gave half a million dollars to the towards the Homeless Impact Fund in Central Florida. So, everyone is trying and that I see as hope.”

The Florida Project is in select theatres now.