Richard Kelly: The Movieline Interview

It's striking to see a studio thriller like this that's set in the 1970's. Usually, you'd have to fight tooth and nail with executives who'd want it set in the present day.

I think they understood why its necessary, since it's tied into historical events at NASA in 1976. There's also the issue of, if you tried to tell the story in the present day, there's modern technology that would drastically impact the plot. Social networking, internet search engines, surveillance cameras, all that kind of stuff. When Arlington Steward shows up with his offer, they just have to go on the internet and Google his name and look him up. [Laughs] It would just all transform the plot in a way that's probably not as intriguing and suspenseful. Now we live in a world where we know everyone and can see everything. Privacy's essentially been eradicated, and everyone's out there online, tied into the system.

It's interesting, though, because Donnie Darko and The Box are relatively recent period pieces, while Southland Tales is set in the near-future, as is a script you're working on now that takes place in the year 2014. It's like you're skirting the present day.

It's not that I have anything against it. [Laughs] Maybe I haven't discovered a story that would make it necessary. I've always been fascinated with recreating the past, but I also find it even more fascinating to speculate about the future, to predict where things might be headed. Filmmaking is a wonderful opportunity to construct a universe. To be the architect of an alternate future or a speculative future is exciting to me.

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Your last two films essentially found their audience well after their theatrical release. How do you measure that? When you see Donnie Darko costumes at Halloween, do you think, "OK, it really did make an impact?"

Yeah, it really does mean a lot to me to see that stuff out there. It makes me realize that the movie is continuing to make a lasting impact. Obviously, it'd be really nice to have a hit right out of the gate and have it reach a wide audience immediately, but I certainly understand that in the long run, if the movie continues to reach people, it's almost like a consolation prize in a way. A good one.

You can see that sort of effect, I think, in how Donnie Darko galvanized the careers of so many of those actors. Not just Jake Gyllenhaal, obviously, but Mary McDonnell, Beth Grant...

...Ashley Tisdale was in Donnie Darko. She was the dorky girl in the scene with Patrick Swayze who asked a question about her sister eating too much. That was Ashley Tisdale! [Laughs]

Seth Rogen's in it, too.

Rogen played the bully. It's great to see all these younger actors go on to have big careers. I'd have to give some credit Joseph Middleton, our casting director. When you work with a younger actor, you feel kind of like a mentor for them, that you helped to guide them along. It's great to see them move on to bigger and better things, absolutely.

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Comments

  • SunnydaZe says:

    Southland Tales is such an amazing film. I have it in my collection in-between "Strange Days" and "Brazil"; A Trilogy of Terror concerning where society is headed. (or maybe we are already there?)
    Southland Tales is one of the only films with that big of a budget which functions like an art film. After watching it I feel more like I had a dream than watched a film.

  • Peg Entwistle says:

    "I try to make movies that are a lot to digest in the first viewing, that leave your head spinning when you leave the theater, and it can take a little bit for all the pieces to coalesce in your mind."
    Like "I Hope They Serve Been in Hell," which Kelly produced?

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