Upcoming films for Kaplan include a comedy featuring actors from Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and famed Bollywood star Naseeruddin Shah which is in post-production currently. In pre-production (and thus likely for 2010) is the film Play, in which Kaplan directed and co-wrote.
I hope you enjoy the insights and thoughts the interview brings up, as well as taking the time to see the Little Red Riding Hood collection of short films now out on DVD.
Michael Vass: What led you to focus on short films, and then fairy tales for your work?
David Kaplan: There's something wild, unruly and deep about fairy tales. Their imagery seemed perfectly suited for film. Short films are simply more affordable than feature films and therefore easier to make.
Michael Vass: How did you come upon Christina Ricci, and the other actors in the film?
David Kaplan: I had already worked with Christina at the Sundance Institute's directors' workshop. She seemed born to play the part of Little Red. Not only did she have an uncanny resemblance to the famous Gustave Doré illustration of the tale, but she also had a sparkling intelligence in her eyes necessary to embody this clever young girl. The other actors were friends or were found through auditions.
Michael Vass: Why did you choose to have so much of the film shorts devoid of sound?
David Kaplan: They're not devoid of sound. They have music, sound effects, narration.... I chose not to have sync-dialogue in Little Red Riding Hood because it made it more storybook-like, which gives the audience a certain nostalgic comfort at the beginning, a feeling which is gently subverted as the film progresses.
Michael Vass: In each film there is a subtle but definite sexuality. They each border on the taboo, in their own ways. What inspired that direction?
David Kaplan: Fairy tales explore some dark shadows and truths of the human experience. Even though we think of them as innocent children's stories, I always felt they were much more complex than that. As Djuna Barnes notes in Nightwood,
“Children know something they can't tell: they like Red Riding Hood and the wolf in bed!”
Michael Vass: Do you have plans for a full length feature film? If so, will you be expanding on these film shorts or a new idea?
David Kaplan: Yes, I have several feature projects in the works. A couple are fairy tale adaptations. In fact, my first feature film, Year of the Fish is an adaptation of an old Chinese fairy tale. It played in theaters last year and will be released on DVD soon.
Michael Vass: Is the concept of introducing sexuality in a unique and subtle manner something you want to include in all your films, or was it just something that you found compelling for this short material?
David Kaplan: It really depends on the particular film. For example, the last feature film I made is a mainstream comedy about Indian food and cooking (it's in post-production) - not a lot of dark, offbeat sexuality in that one :)
Michael Vass: Since the success of your shorts at multiple independent film festivals have you found mainstream Hollywood more interested, or less?
David Kaplan: The shorts are very useful as an introduction to Hollywood. They got a lot of doors open for me.
Michael Vass: Do you have an ultimate wishlist film that you would like to make? If you could film any style of movie, with any actor/actress, what might you do?
David Kaplan: Yes, there are quite a few wishlist films I'd like to make. But that's a secret unless you're willing to finance them.
Michael Vass: What are some of the films and directors that inspired you?
David Kaplan: Charles Laughton's Night of the Hunter, Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Murnau's Sunrise, Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon, Neil Jordan's Company of Wolves, and of course Cocteau's La Belle et la Bete.
No comments:
Post a Comment