I spoke with Scott, and producer Joseph White who are in Hollywood for the movie’s premiere later this week. The film opens in LA, New York City and Dallas on August 5th, and will be available through On Demand for cable customers around the country.
“We really don’t have any plans beyond this weekend. We don’t really know how it will be received. Quite frankly, to lay our cards on the table, our hope is that somebody rings our phone next Monday morning, and they say that they want to expand this theatrically! But we really don’t know what will happen beyond next Sunday. We’re guaranteed that, right?”
“No, we’re not guaranteed anything!”
“Not even the weekend?”
“No. They’ll play it through the weekend to see how it does, but there is no guarantee.”
Welcome to the world of the independent filmmaker. This exchange occurred between director Rosenbaum, and producer White midway into our conversation. They have made the most important rock and roll movie since The Last Waltz, but they also live in a world in which, while there are no guarantees, there is fate and destiny, which seem to be siding with them.
It is almost a miracle that the film got made. The movie briefly fell under the aegis of Spike Lee’s organization (White worked for Lee for many years, and Rosenbaum studied under Lee as an apprentice), but unfortunately was abandoned in development, the fate of many ambitious films. This didn’t impede the pair’s passion, and they commenced to finish the film, and sell it, utilizing their own financing. This is not a proceeding which should be considered by anyone with less than an amazing amount of desire, ambition, and sheer determination.
“To write something, and to be so passionate about it,” says Rosenbaum, when asked about the process, “when, instinctively we all know that Hollywood doesn’t really care, and it’s weird – because I think this is what people want, and that’s Hollywood’s job, but they gravitate towards big meteors, or whatever, and this is something Joe and I have talked about ever since he joined the film, There has been a tremendous amount of serendipity involved around the film, but the last three years have been very difficult for us. It has literally been like wandering around the desert and wondering if it was ever going to happen. That’s why this week has finally been so gratifying – to be here for the film’s premiere. To be here after going through all that has happened, and to finally have this thing see the light of day, believe me, neither of us takes this for granted. It’s a real blessing for us.”
The film is the story of two friends whose destinies took them in different directions, but their fates had them reconciling – for one to save his ailing career, for the other to find and realize his calling. A rock and roll band is the perfect vehicle for the story in this day and age, for it is rock and roll that has created the “27 Club.”
The 27 Club is an elite list of musicians who have died at that age. Starting with blues original Robert Johnson, the list is highlighted by Joplin, Morrison, Hendrix, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain, and now, tragically, Amy Winehouse. I asked about the not insignificant timing of the Winehouse death to the film’s release. Rosenbaum had this to say:
“We’ve definitely been fucking with some mojo, for better or for worse, and hopefully we were ultimately able to tell a story that has some meaning for some people – and that is what it was all about from the beginning. People seem to get the message of the film, and it has an impact on them, and they make some sort of change in their life for the better. That’s really the highest compliment, and one that we have heard quite a bit.”
Back to the film, it is a tale that is as old as they come. Allegorically speaking, It is basically the story of Christ, a tale of death and redemption. Rosenbaum has successfully and correctly paralleled the story of Jesus with that of today’s rock and roll heroes.
Scott, “I sat and wondered if the film would ever get out, and if anyone would ever realize that it is a poem, and not just a shitty film about a time period in rock history.”
“So many people do not get that reference and it’s odd that you write something like this of all things, about Christ and Christianity. You’d think that people would be coming out of the woodwork, especially in this day and age, and they would get it, yet nobody has said anything about that. I almost feel sort of blasphemous when I talk about it, but the reference was plain (The Perfect Age). All these great rock stars, musicians, and personalities are the equivalent of what Christ was made out to be. There were these amazing figures that commanded tremendous public attention with their message, then they died at an early age, and achieved a sort of immortality. Those are the true bones of the story that I have been really reluctant to talk about. I never thought anyone would get it, and I’ve felt like to talk about it just cheapened it. It’s a very strange thing, and God willing I get to write another screenplay, I hope that I have the courage to write something like that again.”
Neither Rosenbaum nor White seem terribly anxious as they sit in the luxurious confines of the legendary Mondrian Hotel, and await the fate of their film. The director has spent almost a decade leading up to this moment, and now it is in the lap of the gods. Rather fitting for a film that is so entwined in fate that one of the leading characters, Rose Atropos, played by actress Taryn Manning, is named after the goddess Atropos.
The oldest of the three fates in Greek mythology, Atropos, was known as “the inevitable.” It was Atropos who would choose the mechanism of death, and ended the life of each mortal.
Actress Taryn Manning, in addition to her eerily accurate portrayal of a female road manager (a rarity in the rock world that demands a very strong personality and will), has been spearheading the final thrust of publicity for the filmmakers, flying from coast to coast and working the talk show circuits.
“Taryn has been a real warhorse,” Rosenbaum replied when asked about the public relations effort, “She’s been unbelievable – she came to New York Tuesday night and has been doing press ever since. Now she’s flying to Dallas for two days of press, then she’s back home to LA for the premiere next weekend.”
“And oddly enough, and I don’t mind sharing this with you, Peter Fonda and Kevin Zeger have all but disappeared! In my mind they have been at least MIA, if they have not written off the film completely (principle shooting finished in 2009), which is to me, and I think you will agree, ironic – as it is some of the best work of their careers (it is, and I do agree). They’re just kooky, you’ve lived out here, I don’t have to tell you, but people are strange, you’d think that they would celebrate what we have achieved, but they are artists.”
Joseph White picks up, “They can’t let their guard down. They are very sensitive and that is exactly what makes them great artists in their own right. This film was pretty naked for them, it was raw, and this has been said to us a lot - that unless there is a groundswell of acclaim after it comes out, they’ll stay away, but if that happens they will come back very quickly. That makes complete sense, and I understand. I really have tremendous empathy for what an actor does, and you can’t judge their behavior alongside what normal people experience, especially when it comes to something as difficult as acting in a film – it’s a very odd thing, and I get it, but sure, it hurts.”
Dealing with the temperament of actors on the backside of the process, I asked Rosenbaum about the front end, as this is his directorial debut. A debut which I originally referred to in my earlier review of the film last year as, “The best directorial debut I’ve seen since Liev Scheiber’s excellent Everything Is Illuminated.”
Rosenbaum said, “When I started writing this, I had never directed anything. It was just one of those deep seeded realities that I knew I had to do this. It took so long because I was able to study with three or four great theater directors in New York. You can’t just walk on to a set and be a director. It’s been very hard for me, personally. You need to have a lot of confidence.
“There are so many people on a film set – and so few really care, even a fraction of the amount of the people who are making the film. You almost have to be some type of tyrannical figure. But, I try to be nice, and I try to be a gentleman. This has been a hard process because so much of that has been challenged along the way – you just hope to maintain your integrity.
“Filmmaking is like anything in life; it’s just more hyper, more condensed. I worked on Wall Street and trading was similar, especially when it got crazy, but filmmaking is very unique.
“I made this film to understand what exactly it was that I was trying to say. When you work with these great directors who teach you their method, you’re supposed to know the premise and preach it to actors, grips, and gaffers everyday. You are supposed to know everything that you are doing. But it feels like, and I think the great directors are right – but you cannot possibly hold it all, it’s too big. It’s beyond you, and I think that as an artist, if you are true to your work, you come to a point where you realize it is just coming through you, and you should be grateful that it does.”
Coming back to the story, as it always must, as this is, above all, about the story, I get back to asking about the tale. We have an allegory concerning two friends who return to where they began, albeit, much more successfully. The movie comes to its conclusion long after the story between friends has ended. Spyder, the film’s antagonistic focus, who has now twice, in a manner of speaking, sacrificed his friend Eric Gensen, is being interviewed by a rock journalist several years after the story of their friendship has come to its conclusion. I asked Scott Rosenbaum to what end the interview serves.
Scott answers, “The end of the film is oddly cathartic and oddly uplifting. The whole interview sequence was definitely written to be as if it were a confession, with the role of rock journalist Clifton Hangar being played by Lukas Haas. What Lukas was saying to Kevin Zeger’s character Spyder, about the fact that he had given Eric the gift of life, the opportunity to live out his passion – is the same that can be said for Amy Winehouse, or any of these artists, and there are so many others who died earlier, or similarly – Keith Moon, John Bonham, James Dean, those people, it’s sad that they died when they did, but at the same time they have been able to experience their passion, and that is the message that Luke gives to Spyder. That kind of frees him – it is easy to feel bad that someone did not live to a ripe old age, but equally sad is how many people who have lived to be a ripe old age that were miserable for a long time.
“There has always been that pull towards rock and roll – because it is life, it’s the alternative to the deaths, which is the whole irony of the whole thing. It goes back to what you said about this being an allegory. It’s hard to talk about if you are a writer. As a writer if you say you’re making an allegory, it feels like you’re making out like you’re some pretentious asshole.”
I get the feeling of being wrapped inside of a play that’s wrapped inside of a movie that is wrapped inside of the life of the very gifted Scott Rosenbaum. This is a great and ancient story couched in a stunning, and eerie depiction of a rock and roll band, but maybe even more about its author, but I’m going to back away from that notion to get some more words from Joseph White, on the movie’s message.
Joseph White said, “It’s unfortunate, but part of the message of this film is about the darker side of success. Part of the message is a warning that it is not all glamorous and wonderful, it is hard work, and if you aren’t careful, and you lose yourself, you’re gonna get hurt. The reality of taking a character on such an adventure across the country, and he hits this peak, and it’s like, ‘my music came out and I am finally going to get full recognition, I am going to get to play my music. Here’s a fucking Porsche, and I fell in love along the way,’ and life couldn’t get any better for Eric when he steps into that party. The guy goes out on top. He found his father in August West (Peter Fonda), he found his mother in Rose Atropos, he found his music, and all of it. Unfortunately, he has to face a bitter moment before his demise, but he goes out on top.”
I realize that I may have created a bit of confusion here by not giving more details concerning the film’s plot, and the story’s background, but this is no mistake, no mere accident. It is solely my device to make you watch this movie. It’s a fine, fine film, and as I have stated previously and ad nauseum, I do not like very many films about rock – most aren’t worth watching, but this film gets better with repeated viewings and I want that for you the reader, the viewer.
White on the music industry, “People can say whatever they want about the music industry, but I have to tell you that the music industry really supported this film. There was just one single band, one song, one set of lawyers, and it was Alice In Chains, who said no – and I had to let go of the song.
“I called Bob Dylan’s representative (he doesn’t like the term manager) – if I had to attach meaning to the word Mensch, I would attach it to this man, and I don’t do this lightly because it is a special thing, but he’s the guy. He said to me, ‘Listen, man – you take that DVD license down, and you take the most favored nations clause out of that contract, and you tell everyone that Bob Dylan did that for you, and if Bob Dylan can do it, they can do it. That was incredibly fucking cool. I used that a lot, too. I used it with Sony, Universal, and EMI and they all respected that, ‘Wow, if Bob Dylan will do that, and he is the toughest licensing guy out there, then I guess we should.’
“I explained our situation, and most people were like, ‘OK,’ and some said, ‘Let me talk to this or that person, and get back to you,’ but overall, most were very supportive of this film. My experience with the music business has been very positive and I want them to have that recognition.”
“I had put the song in the film to begin with because so much of the film deals with things such as the theft of old blues songs, and the deaths of so many great musicians, and to put Layne Staley in there seemed appropriate, not because he was 27, but because his story is so much a part of the history.”
The producer had a final few words about the film, “I’ve seen how people react to this film, and they like to have a good time after it. It’s a dark ending, yet there is a catharsis that the audience leaves with that I never understood, yet I am fascinated by it and I feel with proper exhibition, it’s a good thing.
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