Focus 580; Jesus Son: A Film

Just a moment we'll be talking with one of the creators of one of the movies that will be shown this week as part of the Overlooked Film Festival now in its third year here in Champaign Urbana. That in just a second but before we do that we do want to remind you here this is going to be your last opportunity this week to show your support for this program and not only for this program but for other shows you listen to here on AM 580. One of the times we sit down in front of the microphones and say Folks the reason public broadcasting works is that people like you are willing to pay part of the bills. That's a simple and straightforward message. If you're not a supporter of the station we hope that this morning you would do that. You could do it right now as a matter of fact by calling us 2 4 4 9 4 5 5 is the number our one of our producers Jack brightness unplayed central and Jack we actually have something that we're offering as a kind of incentive for people to pledge this morning at least to give us a call we have a drawing for a very special item. And here we go. I'm sorry there we go there's Jack. Hi David Yeah. Yeah. This is very special. Actually it's

a ticket to the concert tonight at Krannert by Ravi Shankar and his daughter a new show. Ravi Shankar of course the master sitar player from India who you and I have both seen in years past in concert that is just going to be outstanding We have one ticket that we will give to the first person who calls during this hour to our pledge line 2 4 4 9 4 5 5 with a pledge of $60 or more to support focus $580 reprograms here on day one and this concert sold out. So there's no way that you're going down to the box office and and get a ticket. You know they have a second row ticket by the way yet so it's a great seat. Just one of our one of our colleagues here had it and said You know I can't use this. Would you like to give it away and we said sure we can do that maybe that gets some people excited about giving us a call. So that's the deal that again what it was is we're asking people to do. A pledge of $60 or more the first person with a pledge during this hour 2 1 7 2 4 4

9 4 5 5 you can make it a credit card pledge if you'd like. And that will go instantly into the Friends of oil pots and make you friend of oil well and you also get this ticket to see the rather concert by Ravi Shankar and his daughter a new sky. All right well we'll check back with you in a while Jack. Thanks for being with us today. If you like movies Champaign-Urbana is a good place for you to be this week because once again we are hosting Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival it's now in its third year. He selects a number of movies that he thinks are worth seeing and ones that perhaps as the title of the festival suggest were overlooked. And then he shows the film and also invites people who were involved in making these movies performers and directors and writers and producers. And we're fortunate here to have with us this morning one of the writers. Of a film it'll be shown as part of the festival tomorrow night. The movie is called Jesus His Son. It will be shown tomorrow night at 7:00 and all of these showings are at the

Virginia theater and champagne. David is our guest. Also we're going to have his partner in production and writing on the film Elizabeth. Unfortunately something came up and she could be with us we're glad that he could come and spend a little time talking about the movie. If you have questions certainly you can call and talk with him here in Champaign Urbana 3 3 3 9 4 5 5. We also have a toll free line good anywhere that you can hear us and that is 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5 so again if you like to be a part of the conversation 3 3 3 W I L L and toll free 800 2 2 2 w I'll. Well thanks very much for for being here. Thanks for having me. I understand that when when you and Elizabeth formed your company even star films the first thing that you bought was this book by Dennis Johnson Jesus. That's right. What attracted you to this as a movie project. Well Elizabeth had been reading the stories as a

collection of short stories that Dennis Johnson wrote over a number of years and they were all individually published in different magazines like Harpers or The New Yorker or Paris or view. And Elizabeth had been a writer pretty much all her life and was always looking at new American fiction primarily and had been reading the stories and loving them. And when they were collected and published in 92 she gave me the book we've been friends and working together in the theater for about 12 years now. And so she gave me the book and I read it actually I started reading it at first and I was at a particular point in my life where the first story depressed me so much I actually put the book down. I recognized how brilliant it was but it was taking me into such dark places that I really couldn't handle it at the time so I put it aside a few months later I picked it out and read it all the way through again

and absolutely loved it. So fast forward about four or five years. We started the film company we began looking for projects and initially we thought of another book by Dennis Johnson called Angels which was actually his first novel that he published in 1979 and beautiful story very simple few characters we thought we could make a good low budget film out of this book. So we contacted his agent and found out that Angels was not available had been under option for well almost since the book was published and so we Elizabeth said well what about Jesus Son. And at first I was. While I love the book I my memory of it was number one that it was short stories and I wasn't immediately aware of how we could

turn it into a cohesive film. So I read it again and we talked about it and. Began to see that you know it could be a really incredible film if we could find a way to tie it together and certainly the story was beautiful and what it had to say we thought should be out there in the world and we had our we each had individual reasons and personal reasons of how this story affected us. So we inquired about those rights they were available actually they were just becoming available and. Other people were betting on it and we threw our hat in the ring and ultimately we ended up with it about three months later. Understand that it was a challenge writing the film was a challenge it actually took a couple of years and that is as you say it's a the book is a collection of stories but in one review that I read of the book The reviewer said well yes it's a collection of stories but it's really a novel because it follows it has it has this central

character and it follows him. It does have a thread its It has a place it has a starting place it has an ending place there is an arc to the story and so it's there but it sounds as if for you it was still a challenge to find a way to pick among these stories and to construct a kind of narrative that viewers could follow. Yeah absolutely there is I mean he does. Well Dennis never intended it to work together the stories do have an arc and they follow this man's recovery redemption number words I could could use. So it is there but. The options I guess for adapting a group of stories that do have a central character. One of the things we could have done is just flatten it out completely just sort of put all the stories together or just been inspired by the stories and created some sort of complete linear sort of typical 3x structure. But what interested

us about this project besides the story itself was the opportunity to create a different type of structure and I want to say it is a structure that we invented because we certainly didn't there are other films out there that use similar techniques but we chose to keep it episodic and while we didn't use Ultimately all the stories we did use a number of them we combined them we moved them around but it was a challenge we needed to find a way to keep it together. Anough or maybe more so than the book to make a little bit more of a cohesive. Linear narrative. Well that's And for people who are not familiar with the movie and I don't want to give too much away so that I'm encouraging people to go see it or it's also possible to rent. Yeah. So people can see it but basically it all revolves around a particular character who is has a lot of problems with drug and

alcohol sort of involved in petty crimes to support his habits. Is is kind of a lost soul somebody who is more acted upon than acts in his life. And yet over time what happens is the guy manages to get himself together maybe catch a few breaks and it is really a very optimistic story I think tidy in by the by the point that it ends. Yeah I think so too that's actually what attracted us to this is that you know his redemption his recovery. We weren't interested in telling a story about drugs and I don't while there are there is drug use in the film. It's not focused on the mechanics of addiction and certainly recovery what it takes to recover is in no way the focus of this film at all. It's really his. His recovery his redemption his the light that I

think he sheds on his own life and those around him. And I think I really was really struck by one line in particular. It's one of those experiences that sometimes you you watch a movie and someone says something it's almost like their writer the director is reaching out and grabbing and saying this is the point and if I'm over doing but the Holly Hunter is in the film and she has a relatively short partner it comes near the end of the film and there is one sort of particularly funny. She she. And the hero meet at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting or once a particular funny thing where she's talking about her various husbands and boyfriends all of which have died right. And there's a lot of black comedy in this movie. But the thing that struck me is that she's here talking to the lead character and about what has happened to all of these guys and she says they were people just like us only luckier. And to me I thought Wow yeah that definitely is the thing that people in this movie. You know it's the kind of thing we're encouraged as you think about how you know there but for the

grace of right you know whatever that could be you. How many people are just a couple of bad breaks away from being a really bad place right. And I think you're encouraged to do you know to think of the lead character with some affection and in a way that he's not and he's not an evil person he is just a guy that's just lost then. And you know it took a couple of wrong terms and turns and that's all it takes. Yeah yeah definitely he is just a guy that was also really important to us we didn't want to portray this as sort of cool you know druggie guy you know court sort of you know even though Billy Crudup is very good looking we didn't want it. We didn't want that type of mystique. And I think has played brilliantly by Billy Crudup you do get just this sort of ever he's bumbling he's he makes mistakes he screws you know his nickname is something that I don't think I can really hear a family show we can. But. You know it's well-deserved in a certain way but it's also with given to him I

think with a certain amount of affection and so he is just he's this guy that's just trying to make his way through life. He's a he's a DS a screw up. But but he's sort of a sweet kind of goofy screw up. So it's sort of hard to you sort of want to shake your head in a way but it's hard to dislike him and actually I was sort of surprised in a lot of I look at a lot of reviews of the movie and people seem to really have very different takes on that character. And I guess my response was was maybe a little bit more positive than assume. Yeah yeah. We did get a lot of different takes on it. That's that's true. But I'm sure some another actor in another actor's hands it would have been a very different sort of thing and somehow he manages to. And it's I think probably a tribute to his ability that it doesn't really look like he's acting now. Not at all. Not at all. He's an incredible actor. And for those of you out there who are familiar with his work you know that he is he's such a chameleon. He's

different in every single film. It's just it's really extraordinary what he does. The our guest here this morning on focus 580 DAVID He is one of the writers of the film Jesus Son one of the show's films being shown as part of Roger Ebert's overlooked film fast and if you're interested in seeing the movie it will be shown tomorrow night at 7 o'clock that's at the Virginia. And if for some reason you can't get to the festival it is available to you can rent it see if you haven't seen the movie. You might want to take a look at it and of course questions are really welcome. Three three three W I L L toll free 800 1:58 W while I'm interested going back to maybe talking a little bit about the narrative structure and about how now we're starting to see more stories being told in a non-linear way because it definitely this is this is this happens where the movie opens and we see a series of events that leads to another place and then and then we get credits and then we go to the place where he was going.

But then the story stops and he takes us back. And so the movie moves back and forth in time in a way that. At one point you know nobody movies just wouldn't do this movies were chronological right. This thing happens then this thing happens then this thing happens well we have a lot of movies that don't don't do that anymore and now we have a popular thriller that actually tells the story backwards. It's it starts at the beginning and then goes goes back which in some cases I think asks a lot of the audience but maybe it is the case that now people are getting used to that idea that OK I'm going to have to kind of pay attention here when we're talking about and there's no guarantee that we're going to follow a straight line here. There there's something about that way of telling a story that you think is particularly interesting. Well I think I find it interesting but I. In terms of this particular film we also think that it was. Natural to tell the story this way. We didn't we didn't write this film because this way because we thought to be a cool thing to do or because

you know Quentin NATO had had such a good job of it in Pulp Fiction It was the stories are written in the first person and you get a sense from reading it that a number of years have passed since these events so you do have the sense of of an older or perhaps wiser person telling you the events of his youth. So we do use voiceover in the film and we wanted the other thing that happens in the books that we tried to use a couple of times even that was a little more difficult is that there's there's a number of direct addresses in the stories that directly address the reader which are pretty shocking when you get to them because that doesn't happen too often either. But what we wanted to sort of convey is the feeling that you were sitting around with this guy and he was telling you some of the important events in his life in real time. So we

wanted the voiceover to have a feeling not of sort of this older man sort of taking you back in a very logical way. But if someone sitting around and telling you a story and in the middle to oh I forgot to tell you back when that this happened to and that's important so we can go on so. Billy did such a wonderful job in the voiceover of making it feel like it's happening at the moment not something he recorded in a studio you know at some point but that he's almost watching the film with you and is in control of where the film goes at that moment that's what he wanted to convey anyway. And that is a little bit more the way that people do tell stories and not such a disciplined linear way that it's it's as if you were sitting down with a character and he was relating things that happened just as you said he might be telling you a story and then you might get to a point and say well wait a minute. There's some else you need to know that I didn't tell you about which can then take you back to a different place. So it has that that kind of conversational narrative quality to it seems that seems very real just the way the people are when they talk.

Right. There are other aspects of it too that you sometimes you may not be quite sure if he's telling you the truth or what's being made up or what he clearly remembers or maybe he remembers something but did it actually happen that way or did he actually see that. You don't know. And I guess too that after you had produced the script that had this sort of unusual feature and you were going around trying to get some money to make the movie that that was one thing in addition to the drug use that maybe made some people uncomfortable. That narrative structure the fact that it was unusual and made people resist the idea of giving giving you the money to make them oh really. We had a lot. We had. That was the main thing people. We did show the script to studios after we had finished it and that was everyone who liked the script and we had meetings with. That was the thing that they were concerned about what what are you going to do how are you going to make this work and people were worried about it. And we had people interested. Ultimately we had

some Fortunately some money to bring to the table through our company. So we weren't looking to sell this project outright. Alternately we never could find a good match that would let us do the film the way we wanted to do it so we worked a little bit harder and raise the rest of the money ourselves and just just made the film that we wanted to make. So how much does it cost to make this can't. It was less than Titanic. OK well I know that it was made in just like 34 days oh yeah that when I read that just a little bit more than a month about 35 that we shot about seven weeks five day weeks must have been really grueling. It was the this was the first film I for I come from theater I've produced a lot of the over this first film I've produced and it was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and we had a lot of very experienced crew people on it and while none of them said it was the hardest film they worked on they all said it was definitely one of the hardest were brutal 18 hour days we shot in the middle of winter. A lot of exterior scenes a lot of night scenes was extremely cold and it was

it took its toll on everybody on everybody. Just I really liked the film very much and I think that you and your partner I think in writing it really did bring a lot. It's my understanding you brought a lot to it. For example it is very faithful. It seems to the spirit of the story there are a lot of dialogue that just comes right out of the story. And yet at the same time to make it the movie you had to do a lot of work. You really it sounds as if you really created also the female lead Yeah who the character of Michelle who's an important presence as it's described important presence in the book. And yet she almost never speaks at all. Yeah. The story so you had you had to really create a character who could be of who could be a physical character who could be a presence in who headline. Right. Yeah. That was that was a challenge Denis does. There is a good amount of dialogue and and in some of the stories some of the stories are not

dialogue driven at all but. Dennis Johnson has many talents and many strengths and one of them happens to be his brilliant ear for dialogue and the turn of phrase it's and the rhythms are so incredible and it was a real challenge to try to match his his rhythms the way he has his characters talk and especially to come up with a new person who would fit into this world and he apparently was happy about it he felt. Yeah OK he we you know we did the negotiation with his agent we never talked to him fact we were afraid of him because we held him in such high esteem and after we'd had the project about eight months if we get this call one day at the office I picked up he was like hey this is Dennis Johnson and I was wondering why you never called me. Don't you want to ask me some questions don't you. Can I read the script and we did. You know we've heard stories that you know it's his work and we

didn't want to you know we don't want to make him mad we didn't want to you know do anything we had the option for two years and we knew that you know it was ours for that time and you know and then we had to either buy it or give it back to him but so ultimately after the first year we had a draft that we felt comfortable enough with to take a chance and know if he hated it we still had a year to raise the money to make the film. And if he liked it you might be able to help us out. So luckily he liked it. We're about midway through our conversation with David. He's one of the writers and also a producer. Producer of the film Jesus on one of the movies that will be shown as part of Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival. This is this particular movie you can see at the Virginia tomorrow night at 7 o'clock and it's also on DVD and video if you'd like to look at it. We want to take a second here to remind you that your support for the stations is really important. More than 40 percent of the budget that it takes to run this place comes from you. So we need the support of all listeners that we can

get to 4 4 9 4 5 5 is the number to call. We also want to talk again with Mavor Riley our editor of our program guide patterns who is employed Central I understand we still have that no one has taken us up on that offer of that ticket for the sold out concert tonight. That's right we have one ticket to the Ravi Shankar concert tonight at the corner center It begins at 8:00 p.m. in the fall and your great hall. And we want to pledge of $60 and if you give us a pledge of $60 we'll give you this ticket the first person that calls with a pledge of $60 and we're sorry we don't have to show you but we just have one and it is sold and it's sold out so it would be a great opportunity to go see this. It's a great seat. Yes. So he is and he's performing with his daughter right and it sounds like a great show. There's been a lot of press about them in the News Gazette and I've seen a couple things and you know if no one else takes and I think I might so. Number to call is 2 1 7 2 4 4 9 4 5 5 and of course we do have some other reasons for you to contribute as you contribute the $40 basic level. Of course everybody who does that or above will have your subscription to patterns.

Write a program guide and we do have this thing that we called the this new thing called the member card right and that which is pretty cool. That's a great deal if you it's for a pledge of $75 or above it's a thank you gift. We're not selling the member card it's a thank you gift for being a friend of W. I allow and I don't titles you two two for one entree is a lot of area restaurants that includes restaurants in Champaign Urbana Springfield Danville Decatur throughout the whole listening and viewing area so that's another great incentive to call. OK and we definitely need folks help we're kind of coming down to the wire here of the spring fund raising effort. We're raising the money that we use in our programming for next year we do have a goal we want to meet by the end of the fiscal year and this week we want to get as close to that goal as we possibly can. I think today's goal overall $20000 do you know. How close they are and how. Hang on just a second. I'm sorry I sort of sprung that when I. Well I'll just take the opportunity to give the phone number again here while Mavis is going over and looking at the tote board for 4 wy a well or 9 4 5 5 you

can by the way pledge online if you like you can go to our website at. W i l l dot UIUC dot edu. That's the place you go if you want to listen. Course we're online 24 hours a day. We also have archives of past programs focus and afternoon magazine and commodity week a lot of our shows are there and if you would like you would be more convenient for you. You can pledge on the website again w i l l dot you see Dot e d u. David I'm sorry I'm going to remember JR Levon thousand dollars and like you said we want to get to twenty thousand dollars by the end of today to keep us on target for our goal. Ravi Shankar our ticket has just been taken. You know but that's no reason why you shouldn't still continue to call if you want but Rees Yes there are a lot of good reasons to want 7 2 4 4 9 4 5. All right thanks very well talk to you again a little bit. We'd like injuries again our guest for this part of focus 580 David. He's one of the writers and producers of the film Jesus Son. One of the movies being shown as part of the Overlooked Film Festival that Roger Ebert

started doing here a couple of years ago this is the third year. And if you'd like to see the movie you can go over to the Virginia theater tomorrow night 7:00 o'clock and see it. And of course questions are welcome. Three three three W I L L or 9 4 5 5 toll free 800. Two two two W. Iowa. You were fortunate to have a couple of very strong performers come and do short roles. Holly Hunter was one and Dennis Hopper has a great. He was there apparently just one day. He did this thing with Billy. And as I was watching the movie I'm thinking to myself these guys are making this up. They're making it up as they're going along. And yet I when I read the one of the reviews I read of the book quoted from that scene. So apparently that's that's word for word out of the book that's from a story in the book called Steady hands at Seattle general and. We don't see that part in Seattle it's actually said in Chicago but that

particular story is all dialogue I think there's a paragraph or so at the beginning of that story that kind of sets it up. But then it's just it's all dialogue it's just a scene and so that was an easy adaptation. And it's Bill Billy Crudup and Dennis Hopper and he and Hopper sitting there and Billy's shaving him yes he's got that safety razor any shaving in there just talking. Yeah and as I say I thought Oh and these guys just they just sat down they're making this up that I think that shows you something of the quality of the movie that does seem very general genuine almost spontaneous and in its quality and where when in fact it was something that was very carefully written and in doing that I know that you stuck very close to the script nobody was almost almost nothing was improvised. No I don't I don't know if there's any word you know you're talking about that scene that was improvised by either actor. It was pretty much for beta. Yeah talking to Bible and all. Yeah. Which is an incredible it's one of those lines you know in writing this we were faithful to the script maybe more so than

than most people who adapt. Books or plays or whatever to the film we were extremely faith we felt a tremendous responsibility really to preserve this this work. And. So consequently the book was at our side there was a third screen writer I should mention a name. Oren Moverman a very talented guy so there were three of us we hired to help us with this particular project. And but the book was constantly at our side. I mean we never ever put it down. It was a constant source of inspiration you know. Also the author Dennis Johnson makes an appearance in the movie does he does he. He had told us he was actually down in Austin. Teaching and he's taken acting classes and I'd like to do some acting so. So he he wanted to play actually that Dennis Hopper role. We had just signed a deal with

Dennis that wasn't available so if there was another role that I don't want to give away but. He's incredible and he and he he showed up on set he's an amazing actor just completely natural was funny. Did a great job. It's yeah it's. It's there's a lot of black comedy in this movie and that is one of the sections that's. That's the strange and bizarre and yet it's very funny. I think mostly because it's it's such an absurd situation and it's it's the way that the people in the situation react. Yes. Some with no emotion some with extreme emotion and people just generally watch for this. It's it's it's the emergency room right segment right. And I would say more than that Jack Black who is an amazingly funny actor has got been in a lot of films lately High Fidelity and. He does an incredible comedic job in this very important middle segment he's very funny. Very nice during what it was it was a difficult to get a couple of

people of the of the level of Holly Hunter does Hopper involved in the project you know I I'm embarrassed to say ultimately they kind of fell into our lap. We did a lot of work in the script stage and while we were raising funds to attract people who we thought would help us sell the film which is you know the ultimate goal and is to get it out there so we sent the script out to a lot of people. And it's difficult for independent films and last year fully financed to actually get people attached because people agents generally want offers and you have to say well yes it is an offer and they say well how much are you paying him and when you shooting you say well we actually have the financing and we don't know where we're going to start because we're on the money yet but would he do it and they say well come back to us when it's all said and done. And so we had a lot of that luckily Billy was you know he was on board we wrote the film with him in mind.

Elizabeth knew him from their days at NYU and he was gracious enough to say yeah I'll do it. You know when you guys can get it together other people Dennis Hopper. We actually sent the script to his agent he never read it. They said he was too busy out of town then when we were in pre-production we were out scouting I remember we got a call his agent said You know he finally read it in the parts still available. You know he'd love to do it. Great he was on board. HOLLY HUNTER We never sent the script to her she was doing a play in New York. Again we were unprepared and we were a couple weeks away from shooting and she was in a play in New York saw that our screenplay backstage another actor had auditioned for it and she was a huge fan of Dennis Johnsons and knew that I knew the book and asked to read the script. She took it home that weekend I read her agent called us and said you know there's a part in this film that Holly Hunter would like to play and is it cast yet and if it isn't Would you consider using her so. You know she

ended up in that way and Dennis Leary a very similar situation just sort of you know came came on board. Billy Crudup had done a small role in a film that Denis Leary was in called Monument Ave and so Denis Leary thought it would be a great sort of return of the favor. So he came in and did it. Billy crib now because he's been in this Cameron Crowe movie and probably now people will know him that wouldn't have before. But and I know you think that the other actors less well-known actors than Holly Hunter and does harbor could have played those parts and it would have been just as good a movie but I'm Brad magine for you to be able to put their names on our this is a this is a good thing it will get people to pay attention to it that Otherwise if the stars were if the performers here were were less well-known. Yeah absolutely absolutely. You can't I mean it's. You know a lot of independent filmmakers you know don't want to you know quote unquote sell

out by giving roles to stars undeservedly just because of the name and I in no way do I feel that we did I think we got the best people to play those roles we were fortunate that you know some do have a marquee value that certainly helped the film and help the film in foreign territories where you know it's much more difficult to sell an independent film. It helped us a lot and we've done well in foreign territory as well and then the them I think they're really it's a compliment I'm sure to them that they're there. The problem with very well-known performances when you see them in addition to seeing whatever they're doing you're seeing them you can never think about the fact you're sitting there thinking Hey that's Dennis Hopper right. But I think to their credit and Dennis Leary too they're not they're not they're saying hey I'm Dennis Hopper. Look at me being in this movie. I mean they're they're really it's a very very understated playing by by all of them and really you know really all did a terrific job.

Yeah I think so and they they all did work that was shocking in many ways I mean people who are familiar with dancefloor I think when they see this film will be surprised that really he's funny there's definitely his humor is in there but it's completely understated performance it's it's brilliantly done he's so moving and touching and you can tell. The affection that his character has for for Billy's character and vice versa. And I think it wasn't easy in terms of fitting the schedule in for these people it was easy because the film's episodic and so they were all there for just a few days they would come and do their episode and then leave. So that worked in our favor. And two very strong leads really critically at the more than I. To me I think what it really comes across from them in their performances is incredible vulnerability. In those characters and a real you know went to the scenes of the two of them have together I think are very very

touching. Yeah. The relationship between the two of them obviously very very very needy people and needing each other and and and as I said very very vulnerable. Yeah. Samantha Morton was another one that was we were so incredibly lucky to get her we were in the midst of writing Michelle and creating the character and kind of searching for exactly who she was and my partner Elizabeth read an interview with Samantha Morton in Interview magazine. She was promoting a film called Under The Skin. It's a small British film that she did happen to be playing nearby in New York we went and saw it and that was it was like that's British. But it was that was Michel for us. And. I wrote the rest of the role or worked on writing myself but she was the one that I used my model and we didn't think we could ever get her she was British could she do an American accent who was she you know she wouldn't help us with all that financing.

But as it turned out right before we shot the film our casting director is Woody Allen's casting director and she said well you know there's this girl Samantha Morton and we are oh my god Samantha could you get a good script and she fell in love with it and she came in and did a brilliant American accent so and it worked out she went right from the Woody Allen film Sweet and Lowdown to us. So that's where you would never think that this was not an American. Oh she does it just just perfectly we did get a dialogue coach for her. But she has an amazing ear. And you know she did very little looping at the end and coming back and sort of fixing words that she sort of screwed up with her British accent is like three or four I think it was. She had such a good job. What are the things I read about the movie was that there's this there's a commission of priests that go to Cannes and Venice and here Lynda the film festivals and you think it's awful every rough job there. Pretty rough assignment. They go

in they go to the festivals they watch the movies and they give an award to that that they think is the most inspiring story and they gave the one year they gave the award to your movie and I read that Elizabeth goes and collars collars collars you guys the head of the guy and of course she says well we're very pleased. This is very nice but why why us. And that they said that in fact they really found it a very you know that the thing that the character goes through is and they did it was very inspirational story. Yeah it was. This was at the Venice Film Festival in 1909 the wards called the American ecumenical award. And yeah he said you know this film we were protested by a group of nuns in New Jersey who are issuing this because they thought the title of if I was blasphemous they didn't you know they didn't have a story at all but so to get this award from from these these priests was quite shocking but they said you know life is hard. But this guy is searching

for. Peace you know and searching for humanity and that's what we that's what we look for. Interesting There's another film that we won at Venice we won the ecumenical award and we won the baby golden lion which is given by young Italian filmmakers. It's sort of their Golden Lion and the last film at Venice to win both the ecumenical award and the baby golden lion and not win the Golden Lion was another film that's here 2001 A Space Odyssey. Back when it went it was it Venice. So it was it was a great honor actually to get that that award. The come down the point we have maybe about five or six minutes as one people are listening that if you feel like you want to call any good questions I'm on your mind you can certainly do that. And our guest is David. He is one of the writers and producers of the film Jesus Son. It's playing as part of the Overlooked Film Fest.

Roger Ebert's festival tomorrow night at 7:00 and maybe we should mention that the title of the film comes from the title of the book that it came from. Which comes from a song by Lou Reed. Right. And that there's no there's no direct in the movie there's no reference to it. There's no this has no religious you know outright religious angle it's just. It doesn't really almost have anything to do with the movie now except that well this is the title of the book that writer stories come from. Yeah if there is a connection I think it's it's you know this this guy walks among sort of maybe outcasts and sees the good in them and is searching for his own recovery in a way in a way out so if there if there is a connection I think that there are very spiritual themes in the in the book. And you know we tried to convey them in the film so but it's loose it's there's no outright related the there's a very the very similar

images open and close the movie and there's the there's Billie on the road and in the beginning it's it must be sunset. It's you know and it's actually very beautiful the colors and the shot are very beautiful because it's all really sort of blue and and and hazy and in the end it's it's daytime the sun shining. And in both cases you're the camera it's a it's sort of a master shot and it just looks down the road. And that sort of says something about where this character goes over the in the arc of the story from where he starts to where he ends and as I mentioned it has a very optimistic very positive ending. Was there anybody who said this is this is somehow too nice that the ending is too is too positive. No we haven't had that that comment. And no I think maybe because it goes to such dark places I think in the course of the

film but also it's not it's not wrapped up completely. You know he finds Holly Hunter are there together but you don't get the sense that they're going to be together forever it's a little open ended anough I think that it all the ends aren't really tied up and you're not even sure that this guy's completely recovered or will he complete recovery but you get a sense that he's on the road to something he's bettering his life and he's making and yeah that that's what. Well that that and that that's almost anybody can do that part of the human condition is that we all have our disabilities that we struggle with some more challenging than others and that that's that the challenge is. Making the best of it making it from one day to the next. Sometimes just putting one foot in front of another. The hope is that if you're if you're at least moving that's something. Yeah exactly that's really well put. That's really well put. So does the the the success of this film. This makes it

possible for you to go on do more you say this was you had been in theater before this was the first movie that you were involved in yes. And you're working on something else. Yeah we have another it's actually an adaptation of another Dennis Johnson book this one is a novel called resuscitation of a hanged man. And Elizabeth and I are writing that one together and and we'll produce it later on we're still in the script stage. It does how I mean we've we've been incredibly lucky with this film the people involved were incredible We were lucky enough to get distribution. So it's been a real the whole project was sort of a blast from the beginning we thought initially we're going to do a very small film and it turned into just sort of grew and so we were fortunate. And now based on that success the next time you're going to go look for money you think it'll be easier. I hope so. We haven't done that part yet so. Well see we're still in our little rooms writing writing the script so we'll see when that comes. Yeah well I'm sure that that success can be something of a mixed blessing at least as far

as the work is concerned as I am sure that we've all seen a lot of people who made good small films that were very successful and then somebody came along and said I'm going to give you a big bucket of money for you to go make your next movie and when when in fact maybe that really having a blank check is not always such a good thing. Yeah it may not be there's a lot to be said with working on a tight budget. It makes you makes you reach a little harder I think. Yeah. Well thanks very much. Thank you. We've been having and I certainly would would recommend to people that you try to see the movie Jesus Son. It'll be shown as part of the Overlooked Film Festival on Saturday night at 7:00 at the Virginia Theater here in Champaign Urbana. So you can see it that way but it's also on video and on DVD out there for you to rent. If you would like to do it that way.