 CHRYSTAL
GOES TO SUNDANCE A
rough cut of CHRYSTAL was submitted and then selected for one
of the sixteen coveted slots in the dramatic film competition
at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2004. After final
editing was completed in May of 2004, CHRYSTAL went on to be
selected to other major festivals around this country and Europe,
including the influential American Film Institute’s Festival
in Los Angeles, the Austin Film Festival, the Virginia Film Festival,
the Savannah Film Festival, and the Stockholm International Film
Festival where Ms. Blount won the Best Actress Award for her
tour de force portrayal. “With
a beautifully nuanced performance, Blount gives poise and dignity
to a character in physical and emotional pain.”— Jury
of the Stockholm International Film Festival in awarding Ms.
Blount the Best Actress Award. THE
TEAM
The
creative team behind CHRYSTAL starts with a trio of filmmakers whose
unique collaboration has already earned them an Academy Award for
their 2001 short film THE ACCOUNTANT, a rural comedy about a farmer
on the verge of bankruptcy who hires an accountant with unorthodox
ideas for saving his farm. Lisa
Blount, Ray McKinnon and Walton Goggins formed the production company,
Ginny Mule Pictures, to make THE ACCOUNTANT. The Ginny Mule team
then joined together with producers Bruce Heller and David Koplan
to create the film CHRYSTAL. Lisa
and Ray are married. They met on an airplane as they flew from Los
Angeles to Vancouver to work on the film NEEDFUL THINGS and wed
seven years later. Walton Goggins had met Ray several years before,
on the set of a movie of the week shooting in Georgia. Later, they
played fellow crack dealers on an episode of In the Heat of the
Night. Before
the Oscar, Ray had already appeared in many TV shows and films,
among them APOLLO 13 and O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? Blount was
nominated for a Golden Globe for her role opposite Debra Winger
in AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN and has appeared in countless films
and TV projects. Goggins had a similarly long resume, with roles
in such films as SHANGHAI NOON and Robert Duvall’s acclaimed
THE APOSTLE. THE
ACCOUNTANT GOES TO THE OSCARS
McKinnon
describes the formation of Ginny Mule Pictures partly as the
result of Lisa's nurturing of his writing and directing talent,
and describes their interest in making films as “long-simmering.”
Goggins signed on to THE ACCOUNTANT as an actor, but as the team
moved toward production, it soon became evident that Walton’s
talent touched all aspects of the process. “He became so indispensable
that we invited him to join the Ginny Mule team,” McKinnon
recalls. “We
had to trust our instincts in everything -- from deciding each edit,
to music, color timing. For better or worse it was truly our vision,”
recalls Goggins. “From that I think we learned a language,
a way of communicating to people what we really wanted. Doing
the short gave us more confidence in all of the split-second
decisions that have to be made when making a film. We also learned
how important it is to share our enthusiasm for telling a story.
It takes so many talented people to make a movie, and we try
to include everyone in the process.” Says
Blount, “We learned from the first film how to create a
collaborative experience. That means, regardless of my title,
my job is to do whatever is needed and wanted at any given moment.” Adds
McKinnon, “I depended on Lisa and Walton greatly on THE ACCOUNTANT
and for CHRYSTAL it was the same, only more so. Lisa has long been
my story editor but I have grown to depend on her in other areas.
Her strong sense of production design is evident in both films.
Walton will one day be recognized for his filmmaking skills separately
from us. I’m just glad he’s going to hang around for
a while longer. In the end, I am attracted to each of their aesthetics.
Lisa and Walton both have unique voices and even when I don’t
agree with one or the other, they challenge me to continually
clarify and distill.” All
this collaboration culminated in the absolutely unexpected Academy
Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2002. McKinnon upon
accepting the award for their film said: “We’d like to thank the
Academy for this wonderful honor in a category that still allows
for a person who is just burning to make a movie, to load the camera
in the back of his daddy’s old truck and gather up some
talented dreamers and do it. And if the stars align, and the
fates conspire, that person might find themselves standing right
here at the Good God Almighty Academy Awards. I want to thank
everybody who helped us on our film, especially my two partners
here. My true friend Walton Goggins and my dear and beautiful
wife Lisa Blount.” CHRYSTAL
AND THE SOUTH
When
it came time to tackle their first feature, the setting of this
new Ginny Mule project would be easy to determine: Blount, McKinnon,
and Goggins are all children of the South. McKinnon is a native
of Adel, Georgia; Goggins was born in Alabama and raised in Georgia,
while Blount is a native Arkansan. "I
was most interested in making a movie that was culturally real to
me," says McKinnon. "Most films that are made about the
south are of an artifice, that may contain other qualities, but
the feeling of authenticity isn't one of them. Not to me anyway.
In those films, I don't recognize the characters as real people.
Not ones that I have met personally. They feel slightly removed
or ‘almost real’. Like ‘southern Shakespeare’,
replete with British actors no less. Certainly those types of
movies have their own value, but I wanted to inhabit this film
with people that I would recognize, accents and all." “This
story is down and dirty,” says Blount. “And heartbreakingly
real. There’s sex, drugs, and rock and roll. But there’s
also a lot of humor in it. Audiences get loud and rowdy! ” CHRYSTAL
has been described by some as Southern Gothic. “I don’t
know,” says McKinnon. “I didn’t consciously think
about it. I suppose as the Southern Gothic structure employs certain
archetypal characters and settings as well as mystical notions–yeah,
there are those elements in CHRYSTAL,” McKinnon says. “And
though influenced by Southern writers, I drew heavily upon real
people rather than previously drawn fictional characters. I grew
up in a rural area. There were more than a few interesting non-fictional
‘characters’ to draw from. And there were farms and
woods and dirt roads all around me. CHRYSTAL reflects that.” Says
Goggins, “The South resonates with me. It is the place
of my youth. While it is no longer where I reside, it is certainly
an important part of who I am: the culture, the storytellers,
the seasons, the food. Along with its edges there is a soft,
graceful quality about the South. It can be, at times, like moving
through water. But there is also the sharp edges, too. Our movie
has both.” Says
Blount, “I’m from Arkansas. I was born right up the
road from where we shot this movie. I’m a true hillbilly.” Before
heading off to Arkansas, the filmmakers brought “CHRYSTAL”
to producers Bruce Heller and David Koplan, who helped secure the
necessary funds for making the movie. Heller and Koplan also helped
Ginny Mule put together an enormously talented production and post-production
team to bring their unique vision to the screen. The Ginny Mule
team had never worked with outside producers before, but as Walton
says, “Working with Dave and Bruce was instrumental to
making this movie.” McKinnon
adds, “I guess the highest compliment I can pay Bruce and
Dave is that I would work with them again in a second. They have
both worked so hard for this film and still are. I shudder to
think of carrying on without them.” THE
SETTING
So
they all set out for Arkansas, making the town of Eureka Springs
in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas their base. Says
McKinnon, “There is often such a disregard for the setting
of a film these days. Place has become interchangeable and expendable.
In a celebrity driven medium, place is not a part of ‘the
package’. It usually becomes an accounting decision rather
than an artistic one. In CHRYSTAL, the setting is one of the
main characters. It instructs both the plot and the other characters.
And there is no setting quite like the Ozark Mountains. It's
different from the Smokies and the Rockies and it is smack dab
in the middle of this country. Amazingly, only a handful of movies
have ever been shot there and none of note in a great while.
It is a center piece of the film.” He
continues, “Of course, we wanted to shoot there for artistic
reasons but there was also the pragmatic—there was neither
time nor money to create a faux-Arkansas somewhere else. So when
we filmed the scenes at the ‘fictional’ catfish house,
we used a real catfish house. We had locals who normally come to
that catfish house, show up dressed in the same clothes that they
wear when they eat catfish there when no movie company is around.
We felt it was even more important to try and create an authentic
representation of both people and place to play against the sometimes
fantastical nature of the film’s plot.” Adds
Goggins, “This story takes place on the Arkansas side of
the Ozark Mountains. It was important for us as filmmakers to
capture the feeling of this fascinating place. It has a remoteness
to it, an inaccessible quality that can be claustrophobic at
times. One can imagine screaming and the sound never leaving
the hollow.” “Lisa
and I talked a lot about the design of the film. With the help of
our talented craftspeople, like our production designer Chris Jones,
we tried to give it a timeless quality,” says McKinnon. “Everything
from costume design to furniture. Even the cars.” Adds
producer Heller, “We wanted to ensure that the film looked
and felt as authentic as possible. Even though it was difficult
to shoot in and around Eureka, due to its remoteness and windy mountain
roads, it was well worth the sacrifice. There is no place I’ve
ever been that is quite like the mountains of Northwest Arkansas.” The
BILLY BOB THORNTON Factor
Billy
Bob Thornton was the team’s first and last choice for the
role of Joe. “Billy was the first (and I believe still the
only) Southern filmmaker that I knew of who had made a widely released
Southern film,” says McKinnon. “When I first saw
SLING BLADE, I felt much like a New Yorker must have felt when
seeing MEAN STREETS for the first time or a Scot upon the initial
viewing of TRAINSPOTTING, in that, what I was watching and experiencing
was true and honest to me. It was as if the fakery had been stripped
away leaving behind a world that I personally knew. It was both
exhilarating and inspiring. It validated my own experiences of
who I was and where I was from, and it gave me real hope in regards
to my own storytelling ambitions. It is not an over statement
to say that the cinematic experience of watching Billy's movie
was instrumental in changing the course of my professional life.
Plus, we got him to work for cheap." “I
feel like Billy is my Arkansas brother,” says Blount of Thornton.
“I almost feel like we’re more than just kindred spirits.
I think we may actually be kin.” McKinnon adds, “They
both have that culture in their bones. To have Billy play opposite
Lisa’s ‘Chrystal’ made for the perfect reality.” In
CHRYSTAL, Thornton and McKinnon share a memorable fight scene, shocking
in its realism. This is not the kind of fight scene one usually
sees in the movies. Says
McKinnon, “We wanted the fight to be wild and wooly. A
little out of control. Ungraceful. Like the ones I had witnessed
back home. Billy knew exactly what those fights were like. So
we went at it. In fact, a couple of hits actually landed. I literally
saw stars once. It was crazy fun.” At
other times, the filmmakers felt it would be more effective to
let audiences use their imagination in regards to disturbing
aspects of the story . As Blount puts it, “The violence
is necessary in telling this story, beginning with the car crash.
But even if we had the money, I would never have chosen to film
that, because not seeing it, just hearing it, allows for more
imaginative participation.” Blount
also shares a sex scene with Thornton that may draw discussion,
not for its graphic nature but for what it says about the character. “I don’t see Chrystal’s sexual behavior as good
or bad,” says Blount. “I don’t judge it. I just
wanted something that didn’t feel like movie sex, but something
based more on female physiology.” Another
memorable scene, which is cross-cut with the fight scene, is
Chrystal’s
performance on Pa Da’s porch. “Yes,” says Blount,
“that was me singing. Ray and I first found the song ‘Sugar
Babe’ in an old timey song book. We taught ourselves the song,
but to this day, I’ve never heard anyone else sing it.”
THE SOUNDTRACK—FROM ROSCOE
HOLCOLMB TO THE DRIVE-BY-TRUCKERS
Music
is a constant theme throughout the film. It is integral to the
plot itself as well as setting the tone at various points in
the story. The movie opens with the late, great Roscoe Holcomb’s a capella
rendition of “Moonshiner”, and later follows with Clarence
Ashley’s sublime version of “Coo Coo Bird”. “These
are two of the coolest hillbilly singers ever,” says McKinnon.
“They made some really great music. And it’s music still
relevant today. There is some old time music that I can only listen
to a few times. Not these guys. I could listen to Mr. Holcomb and
Mr. Ashley all day long.” McKinnon was also interested
in juxtaposing this old time music with its ever evolving 21st
century descendants. From the pure authentic sounds and stories
of The Drive-By Truckers to the delicate sentiment of the seminal
Jay Farrar, the sound track has some great music that speaks
to present day issues. “There
has been a vital musical movement in the last decade with regards
to roots music and we feel lucky to have a few of the influential
ones in the film,” adds Blount. “It
is a kick ass sound track,” says Goggins. “We also have
a wonderful song by Harry Dean Stanton that was recorded just for
this film, and Lisa’s singing in the movie still blows
me away.” Steven
Trask’s film score supports the story tonally as well. McKinnon
says, “We wanted the film score not only to reflect the heaviness
of Chrystal and Joe’s world, but also the beauty that could
be mined from that sweet sadness. I wasn’t interested in the
standard ‘hillbilly score’. I wanted something more
classical that would truly underscore the story. Steven was able
to incorporate our desires into a beautiful score of great restraint.” ARCHETYPE
NOT STEREOTYPE
CHRYSTAL
is a story that partly deals with fable and legend in 21st century
America. It is also a story that uses archetypes to explore the
baser, and conversely, the nobler actions of people. McKinnon
offers, "All of the characters in the story represent one ‘type’ or
another. But they are archetypes not stereotypes. One character
might represent innocence in the story and another evil, but
every character in the film is intelligent and three dimensional,
even capable of a real sense of humor about who and what they
are. You know, like real people.” He
continues, “It seems that it is increasingly more difficult
to create or accept new myths in an era of the 'reality based story'
or the ‘literal idea’. And yet, we keep digging deeper
and deeper into the archives of the ancient legends for filmable
stories because we obviously still have a need for what they give
us. But I believe we also desire to have mystery and mysticism inhabit
our present day lives. And we need the occasional contemporary film
to reflect that. CHRYSTAL is not a film to be taken literally at
all times. Hopefully an audience can experience the film on other,
more primitive levels. Our story explores one of humanity’s
oldest fears--that of losing your child to the dark forest--
and brings it into the modern day setting.” “CHRYSTAL
also presents another age-old theme, 'Can true love overcome
great tragedy?' I have to believe that it can and to bear witness
to that overcoming is a great catharsis for us all. I hope so
anyway." For
Bruce Heller, working with Ray, Lisa, and Walt was one of the
most inspiring creative experiences of his career. “The
three of them have a tireless and unforgiving eye for detail,
that pushes the envelope in both cinema and storytelling. For
me, this film is a piece of art that could not have been created
by anyone else. Our movie was made with the true spirit of independent
filmmaking.” Koplan
adds, “It sounds so corny when people talk about it, but there
really is something incredible about the spirit of independent filmmaking.
It all starts with the script, and Ray’s words drew all
of us into wanting to see this story on screen. Everyone involved
in the process gave so much of themselves to bringing the story
to life.” McKinnon
concludes by observing: “Even though I wrote the script and
thought that I knew the characters inside and out, Lisa supplied
me with some wonderfully eccentric takes on this hillbilly heroine.
But in the end, it was her boldness and refusal to water down certain
aspects of the character that I admire most. Without her inspiration,
encouragement, cajoling, prodding, pushing, and loving, this story
never would have been written. And without her ‘never-give-up’
attitude this movie would never have been made. She is my muse.
I’m so grateful.” |
