It’s a week of all pre-recorded exclusive interviews on this episode of BEHIND THE LENS thanks to being felled by the flu and laryngitis, but each interview is as insightful and enlightening as the next thanks to TY ROBERTS, LANE GARRISON, NED VAN ZANDT, KENT JONES, and MATTHIAS SCHOENARTS.
Kicking off the show take a listen to a wonderful filmmaking triumvirate – writer/director TY ROBERTS, actor LANE GARRISON, and actor NED VAN ZANDT – talking about THE IRON ORCHARD. Adapted by Roberts and co-writer Gerry DeLeon, THE IRON ORCHARD is based on the novel by Tom Pendleton aka Edmund Pendleton Van Zandt (and the father of Ned Van Zandt) and takes a look at the wildcatting days of west Texas through the eyes of Jim McNeely (played by Lane Garrison). A love letter to the West, THE IRON ORCHARD is also a love story; a love story about Jim and oil, Jim and wife Lee. Capturing the “oil man mentality”, Roberts and company bring to life a mythic side of Texas that has universal appeal. Listen as we discuss covering a time span from the late 1930’s to the mid-1960’s and how that impacts costume, production design, cinematography, and performance. Ty goes in deep discussing the lensing and cinematography by Mathieu Plainfosse and finding the right “style” for THE IRON ORCHARD, not to mention the benefit of having Mathieu’s fresh eyes as he was unfamiliar with the West Texas lighting. Lane digs into character and finding the truth of Jim McNeely while Ned has a completely unique perspective given the novel was written by his father. So how does that impact him, not only as an actor, but in seeing his father’s story brought to life. At the end of the interview you’ll probably feel the way I still feel – the wildcatters of THE IRON ORCHARDare very similar to the independent filmmakers of today.
Then we go from West Texas to New England and our exclusive interview with writer/director KENT JONES as he talks about DIANE. With a tour de force performance by Mary Kay Place and doing what “The Hero” did for Sam Elliott, DIANE is an intimate character study of a woman who cares for everyone but herself, puts everyone else first, seeing that as a means to atone for her self-perceived failure as a mother. Finding poetry in the motions of life, Kent delivers ruminations, often tacit, on death, grief, guilt, but always fills the story and the visual elements of the film with life. We never feel burdened or weighed down by the darkness that life delivers at times. Wonderful cinematic balance. Take a listen as we discuss the metaphors throughout the film, the technical prowess of cinematographer Wyatt Garfield at capturing this world of Diane’s, production design, costuming and score, but above all, casting. This is one stellar cast of legends – Mary Kay Place, Andrea Martin, Estelle Parsons, Joyce Van Patten, Glynnis O’Connor, and Phyllis Somerville – and then punctuated with a standout turn by Jake Lacey as Diane’s son Brian. Having interviewed Kent for his previous film, the acclaimed documentary “Hitchcock/Truffaut”, seeing him stretch himself as a filmmaker here and speak in depth about it is a joy.
Rounding out the show we hear from actor MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS as he talks about THE MUSTANG. Set in the desert of Nevada, THE MUSTANG is written and directed by Laura de Clermont Tonnerre, and is based upon the true story of the Wild Horse Inmate program in the United States while tapping into the myth of the Old West and humanizing or rehumanizing individuals through animals. As convicted felon and inmate Roman, Schoenaerts delves into a situational character different from anything we’ve seen from him in the past, delivering in spades with a very internalized performance which draws the audience deeper into the character and the story. Listen as he talks about working with horses (he had three that served as one), establishing a relationship with the horse, his research and preparation touring prisons and speaking with inmates, shooting within the Nevada State Prison and how its “ghosts” helped inform his character. Some interesting insight into performance.
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