This week on BEHIND THE LENS we take a step back in time with writer/director DEVON PARKS as he talks about his debut narrative feature directorial, THE RIOT ACT. Premised upon a fascinating and factual piece of history upon which Devon takes true events from the turn of the 20th Century and then hypothesizes “what if”, creating a riveting tale of revenge and shifting allegiances. Take a listen as we go in-depth talking about the actual events of 1903 when locally respected and esteemed Dr. Parchman (fictionalized to “Perrauw” for the film) shot and killed his daughter to prevent her from running off with “a low life actor”. (And yes, folks, he was acquitted because of his social stature.) Digging into court files from the trial, the underlying facts of this fictionalized “what if the daughter had lived” account, are accurate. But beyond the facts being accurate, how about the shooting locations. Shot on location in Fort Smith and Van Buren, Arkansas, we go into great detail about the locations utilized in the film – the exact locations, all listed on the National Historic registry, where the events occurred. And given the protected status of the streets, the buildings, etc., the authenticity is beyond immersive for both the audience and the actors. Listen as Devon talks about cinematography, production design, costuming, and casting with unparalleled passion. (Programming Note: Next week, two of the stars of the film, BRETT CULLEN and MICAH HAUPTMAN, will be joining #BTLRadioShow live!)
But before Devon joins us live, take a listen as we go back in time talking about an icon who needs no introduction, Judy Garland, and RUPERT GOOLD’s new film, JUDY. Set during Garland’s final stint at London’s The Talk of the Town mere months before her death, thanks to award-worthy costuming, cinematography, musical arrangements, and a tour de force performance by Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland (HAND HER THE OSCAR NOW!), we are transported to a time and place we’ll now only find over the rainbow. It’s been 30 years since Judy Garland took us all over that rainbow into the Technicolor land of Oz. But time, pills, alcohol, husbands, have taken their toll on her. She is now broke, homeless, battling ex-husband Sid Luft to keep her children with her, and she has a reputation for unreliability. JUDY is a 6-week slice of life in 1968 that paints a relatively complete emotional portrait of the life of Judy Garland, a woman who was basically sad, alone, fearful, believing she was unloved; a woman who lost herself in the cycle of pills and alcohol. They may have taken her to Oz, but they never let her find her way home. Watching JUDY, one can see that she gave the world her all so they would have the joy and happiness that she herself so desperately sought. I sat down with JUDY director, acclaimed artistic theatre director RUPERT GOOLD, the perfect choice as director for this film, to talk about the elements and challenges in bringing JUDY to life. Take a listen as we talk about The Judy Garland Great American Songbook (including some fun factoids on license fees for song use), the film’s cinematography as a storytelling layer and use of anamorphic lenses, framing, dutching, cranes, and more in constructing the film’s visual tonal bandwidth, visual metaphor, the pros and cons of Rupert’s theatre expertise in tackling a film like JUDY and, of course, Renee Zellweger.
