THE OCCUPY ZEITGEIST IN 2011 CINEMA

By Nicholas Rombes

1. A sense of outsideness. Buildings turned inside out on 9-11, and people outside in the streets of Manhattan. The mind, outside of itself with disbelief. The brutal and temporary restoration of the natural world in the middle of one of the world’s largest cities. Located a block from the World Trade Center, Zuccotti Park, terribly damaged on 9-11 and slowly restored,

would become the locus of the Occupy Movement. Encampments. Tents. The incongruous sight of camping gear in urban spaces and beneath the shadows of skyscrapers, in a forest of steel and concrete and glass. It is not films like Margin Call or Contagion which speak to the Occupy anxieties of this past year, but rather a handful of films that at first glance seem far removed from what happened, and in some instances is still happening, in Manhattan, Oakland, Boston, and other cities.

2. In chapter two of Walden — a chapter that seems as bright and dangerous as it must have upon publication in 1854 — Henry David Thoreau (punning on the railroad tie usage of the term sleeper) spit-balled a promise across the American centuries:

Men think that it is essential that the Nation have commerce, and export ice, and talk through a telegraph, and ride thirty miles an hour, without a doubt, whether they do or not; but whether we should live like baboons or like men, is a little uncertain. If we do not get out sleepers, and forge rails, and devote days and nights to the work, but go to tinkering upon our lives to improve them, who will build railroads? And if railroads are not built, how shall we get to heaven in season? But if we stay at home and mind our business, who will want railroads? We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us. Did you ever think what those sleepers are that underlie the railroad? Each one is a man, an Irishman, or a Yankee man. The rails are laid on them, and they are covered with sand, and the cars run smoothly over them. They

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TRUST ISSUES: SEAN DURKIN & ELIZABETH OLSEN TALK “MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE”

By Jason Guerrasio

Originally published in our Fall 2011 issue, I sat down with Sean Durkin and Elizabeth Olsen to look back on the process of making one of the most talked about indies of the year. Martha Marcy May Marlene is nominated for Best Ensemble Performance and Breakthrough Director.

Here Durkin and Olsen talk about the first time they met:

Elizabeth, how did you hear about the project?Olsen: I auditioned right before filming Peace, Love and Misunderstanding. We had Mondays and Tuesdays off [for that film] so I was able to come down to the city to audition.

Durkin: [Laughs] “I’ll just come in on my day off!”

Olsen: I loved the script! I’d just started reading scripts in January and this was late summer [when I auditioned]. I didn’t get to read lots of challenging roles, especially as an unknown. Nobody wants to trust you with anything too challenging. It was really exciting to read something that was so great. I didn’t have any expectations of getting the part or not, but I really wanted it and I really thought I knew what Sean wanted. [Looking at Sean] I remember being surprised by how you looked. I remember that about the audition.

Durkin: [Laughs] You’ve never said that before. I don’t want to know what you expected.

Olsen: Older.

Durkin: Oh, okay.

Read the complete story.

 … Read the rest

DAVID LOWERY ON STORY STRUCTURE IN “MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE” & “SLEEPING BEAUTY”

By Dan Schoenbrun

Filmmaker David Lowery (Pioneer, St. Nick) has an interesting piece on his blog today comparing the storytelling engines in Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene and Julia Leigh’s Sleeping Beauty. Martha, he argues, deliberately builds tension by withholding key information, while Sleeping Beauty lays everything on the table up front in an attempt to diffuse tension and focus deeper on story, theme, and character.

In the article, Lowery also defends Martha against Richard Brody’s recent New Yorker blog post (a response in itself to Anthony Lane’s review of the film) in which Brody argued that the film’s flashback-heavy narrative structure was little more than an excuse to mine cheap thrills from the viewer. Lowery counters by arguing that Durkin’s storytelling is quite precise, even masterful. He writes:

“(Brody’s) assessment is basically correct, except that the trade-off Brody suggests Durkin made is not for a better film, but a different film altogether. What he did make is indeed a thriller, an expertly crafted one which, in that it even suggests the depths which Brody wishes it fully plumbed, has the bonus of being more than the sum of its well-calibrated parts. That its structure doesn’t completely mirror the psyche of its subject doesn’t bother me. I’ll wait for another film to do that, and enjoy what this one does so well.

Martha Marcy May Marlene is up for three awards at this year’s Gothams Independent Film Awards (including Best Picture). Whatever your stance on the film’s structure, it’s hard to argue that Martha is an ambitious debut; the type of film that invites debate and discussion.

So… did you find Martha’s structure to be manipulative? Or did you appreciate the film’s tension-filled pacing?… Read the rest

“MARTHA, MARCY…” PRODUCTION CO., BORDERLINE FILMS, SIGNS FIRST-LOOK DEAL WITH FOX SEARCHLIGHT

By Scott Macaulay

Just hitting the wires is the word that Borderline Films, the team of Antonio Campos, Josh Mond and Sean Durkin, have signed a first-look deal with Fox Searchlight. Searchlight is currently distributing Durkin’s Boderline pic, Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Both Campos and Durkin are Filmmaker Magazine “25 New Faces” selections, and in the current print issue Mond talks about how the company sustains itself in the independent filmmaking business. They’re a talented team and I’m glad to hear their future projects have a first-look home.

The press release follows:

LOS ANGELES, CA, November 3, 2011 – Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley announced today that Borderline Films, the creative team behind the critically acclaimed psychological thriller MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, and Fox Searchlight Pictures have signed a two-year, first-look deal. Borderline Films is the partnership of Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin and Josh Mond. Currently in theatres, MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, Durkin’s feature debut, was picked up by Fox Searchlight at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was the winner of the Dramatic Feature Directing Award. The film went on to play such key festivals as Festival de Cannes, Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival just to name a few.

Says Borderline Films: “Fox Searchlight is an ideal home for our company. This partnership allows us to take the momentum we’ve built since launching Borderline in 2003 to an entirely new level. Over the years, we’ve worked very hard to create a support structure which offers us the ability, resources and independence to grow as filmmakers, both individually and collectively. We’re excited and grateful that Fox Searchlight, who recognizes our company’s dynamic model and has already been an incredible partner, will continue to be invested in Borderline’s upcoming projects.”

Utley and Gilula state: “Sean, Antonio and Josh are an exciting talent collective with unique voices and a bold vision. They are not afraid to challenge audiences with thought provoking films. We are thrilled to be in business with them and look forward to a very creative partnership.”
Borderline was represented by David Flynn at

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“MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE” – A HAMMER TO NAIL REVIEW

By Michael Nordine

(Martha Marcy May Marlene earned Sean Durkin a Best Director award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, where it was picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight. It opened theatrically on Friday, October 21, 2011. Visit the film’s official website to learn more. EDITOR’S NOTE: HTN co-founder Ted Hope is an executive producer on the film.)

Looking at Elizabeth Olsen, you know exactly who she’s related to. It’s a trait that lends the actress both familiarity and strangeness—as though you know her but you don’t. It also makes her perfect for the title role in Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene. One glance is never enough here; you have to stare, then turn the image over in your mind in order to come close to understanding what it is you’ve seen. No one in the film can quite reach Martha—AKA Marcy May, AKA Marlene, names given to her by a cultish patriarch named Patrick (John Hawkes) who takes her in under circumstances we only catch glimpses of—so it follows that we shouldn’t be able to, either. But, just as Martha’s sister on one side and her fellow indoctrinates on the other have the advantage of not only observing but interacting with her, the audience has one, too: we’re able to see both sides of her. That this only partially satisfies the question of who this young woman is speaks not only to the depth of the character but also to that of the film which carries her name–or names, rather.

Martha Marcy May Marlene unfolds out of sequence. In its first scene, we see Martha leave the nightmarish commune where she’s spent an unspecified amount of time and tearfully call her older sister from a payphone to come pick her up. (This is the first time they’ve spoken to each other in two years; whether Martha’s current whereabouts account for the entire duration of that absence isn’t specified.) When asked where she is, Martha says “upstate” but doesn’t seem certain of her exact location. The rest of the film moves from this post-commune present to … Read the rest

DISCOVERING JACKSON C. FRANK IN “MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE”

By Jason Guerrasio

If you went to see Sean Durkin‘s haunting debut Martha Marcy May Marlene over the weekend you’re probably still digesting Durkin’s dark story, the exhausting performance by Elizabeth Olsen and the beautiful cinematography from the film’s DP Jody Lee Lipes.

But tucked away in all this is a soothing song delivered by John Hawkes titled “Marcy’s Song.” Playing Patrick, the manipulative leader of the “community,” he wins over Martha with an acoustic guitar and a song from a little-known ’60s folk singer.

Jackson C. Frank only released one album in his career, but his life is ripe for a biopic filled with strange behavior in recording studios, bouts with paranoid schizophrenia and an unfortunate encounter with a pellet gun. But 12 years after his death, Frank’s music is finding an audience.

When interviewing Durkin and Olsen for our Fall issue I asked how Durkin came across “Marcy’s Song.” (This portion did not make the final edit of the story.)

The song that John sings in the movie is beautiful but very haunting. How did you find it?

Durkin: I had a scene in the script, I just wrote “Patrick plays a song that wins over Martha,” it was very simple. But I didn’t know what the song was. So a month before shooting I was just searching songs under “Martha,” “Marcy May” or “Marlene” at my computer at home. I have a long playlist of names that matches the title of the movie. So the one I absolutely fell in love with was the Jackson Frank song, “Marlene” and it’s the song in the end credits. So I bought the album and the song before it is called “Marcy’s Song” and I couldn’t believe it. Songs back to back on an album recorded in the ’60s! I loved “Marcy’s Song” and John was really into that part of the script and we gave him the cords and the lyrics and he sort of spent a couple of weeks playing it. I don’t think I listened to it until the night before shooting. It’s John’s own rendition, it’s different

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FALL ’11 ISSUE ONLINE

By Jason Guerrasio

Select stories from our Fall issue are now available.

You can now read online our interviews with Melancholia‘s Lars von Trier (before announcing he would no longer give interviews), Sean Durkin and Elizabeth Olsen chat about Martha Marcy May Marlene, we get biblical about The Catechism Cataclysm with thoughts from the Reverend Megan Hollaway and we look at what film schools need to achieve to be relevant in the future.

Plus, the Culture Hacker and Industry Beat columns.

The issue hits stands next week, but you can read it now on your desktop by subscribing to our digital issue. Learn more here.… Read the rest

TRUST ISSUES

By Jason Guerrasio

A dark character study of a girl escaping a cult, Sean Durkin’s feature Martha Marcy May Marlene is an impressive debut that also highlights the talents of this year’s Sundance breakout actress,
Elizabeth Olsen. By Jason Guerrasio | Photograph by Henny Garfunkel

SEAN DURKIN, ELIZABETH OLSEN AND JOHN HAWKES ON “MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE”

In the below video: Martha Marcy May Marlene writer/director Sean Durkin on Altman, Polanski and why he’s fascinated by cults; Elizabeth Olsen on her character, scripts, and what attracted her to this part; and John Hawkes on why his cult leader wasn’t another dark creepy dude. Photographed by Jamie Stuart, edited by Daniel James Scott and with music by T. Griffin. Shot at Sundance 2011.

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THE POSTER AS STREET ART

By Scott Macaulay

Okay, I’m weird — I’ll stop and notice a movie poster when I have no idea what it’s advertising. Like this wall of one sheets in Manhattan’s East Village for Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, that makes street art out of giant QR codes. By the way, this controlled and eerie film, which boasts a riveting performance by Elizabeth Olsen, is highly recommended. It comes out October 21 from Fox Searchlight. (If you blow this picture up on your desktop you can scan the codes and go to trailers and clips of the film.)

(Post amended after the perceptive comment, below.)… Read the rest