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Written/produced in Seattle, Cthulhu terrific freshman effort
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| Written/produced in Seattle, Cthulhu terrific freshman effort | |
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by Scott Rice -
SGN Contributing Writer Cthulhu Opening September 12 Making a film is arduous. It is a lesson in self-immolation and rebirth. Daniel Gildark, director of the locally produced feature film Cthulhu, said, "This was the hardest thing I have ever done." When you speak to him, you know he means this literally. Cthulhu is based (very) loosely on the short fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. According to the press notes, these days the word is generally pronounced "ke-THOO'-loo," but feel free to have your way with it as Lovecraft himself had a number of different takes. He said the human vocal apparatus couldn't exactly reproduce the original alien language. Mmmmmm. Russell Marsh (Jason Cottle) plays a Gay professor of English living in Seattle. When he finds out his mother has died, he sets off for his hometown on an island off the Oregon coast to attend the funeral and settle his mother's estate. He reconnects with his childhood best friend, Mike (Scott Patrick Green), and makes a half-hearted attempt to spend a little quality time with his family. Dark plot twists and complications come hard and fast, and it's not long before Russell realizes the death of his mother is the least of his worries. Gildark and Grant Cogswell, a local screenwriter, were collectively the driving force behind the production of Cthulhu and they managed to put together an impressive semi-famous cast including Tori Spelling of 90210 and Tori and Dean fame. Also on board are Cottle, accomplished theater actor with a couple of small movie roles under his belt and the ex-son-in-law of Dustin Hoffman, Green, actor, photographer, and longtime friend and assistant to Gus Van Sant; Cara Buono, best known for her guest starring role on The Sopranos, and Dennis Kleinsmith, a local theater regular whose film career seems poised to take off with recent roles in a number of small productions including a turn as Lucifer in Todd Downing's Ordinary Angels. When asked about working with some of the more famous cast members, Kleinsmith (Reverend Marsh) giggles before answering. "When you're very familiar with someone, it's common to eat off of each others' plates. While a complete stranger to us, Tori felt we were close enough for her to pick something off our plates and take a bite of it. That wouldn't have been so bad, except, if she didn't like it, she'd put it back on our plates," he said. Cara Buono (Dannie) finally began to hand Tori her plate, saying she was finished anyway. Kleinsmith isn't sure if Tori took the hint. Though Cthulhu's acting can seem uneven, that's probably as much a result of genre as talent. Sci-fi/horror has a tendency for notoriously flat characters, and this can make performances seem one-dimensional. Kleinsmith refers to his own performance by saying, "When I look at it, all I see is bad acting." I disagree with him. Reverend Marsh never shows us anything but the overly zealous villain. There's no room to stretch; the character never changes. And Gildark isn't the only director of the genre to fall prey to getting marginal performances from good actors; George Lucas has an amazing talent for turning otherwise fine film stars into wooden props in all six episodes of the Star Wars saga. Kleinsmith, an established stage actor with aspirations for a film career, has been in Seattle for 9 years. He showed up for the interview wearing a cream colored sweater, jeans, and cool cowboy boots. He's 40-something and fit, with short-cropped gray hair, an aquiline nose, and piercingly handsome close-set eyes. He wears a striking dragon tattoo that sweeps up his arm, over his shoulder and down his back that he describes as his alter ego. Kleinsmith is also the only openly Queer actor with a major role in the production. He finds it ironic that he plays the homophobic villain. Kleinsmith drew on his own difficult relationship with his father to create the character of Reverend Marsh. Kleinsmith said, "I don't think it's uncommon for parents to want to mold and shape their children's personalities and lives but frequently - especially in the case of a Gay child - that molding and shaping becomes a denial of the essence of who that child is. All too often, this type of denial can become quite violent. This very mildly describes my teenage relationship with my father." Filming ended unfinished in the fall of 2005 and resumed in the spring of 2006. Kleinsmith had a difficult time returning to a character with such intimate and painful personal connections. "When we resumed filming, it took a couple of days to get back into the rhythm of the piece. Luckily, we had a good quantity of footage to watch to help us re-connect with our characters. The fact that Jason was much more accessible [during the spring shoot] helped that connection solidify that much more quickly as well." Kleinsmith was one of the original actors cast five years ago. He saw many actors come and go, including the guy originally cast as Mike who bailed because of the Queer love scene. He recalls an exhaustive and erratic shooting schedule that saw him commuting between Seattle and the Oregon coast largely so he could care for his two dogs. Though shooting Cthulhu was a mix of positive and negative experiences, Kleinsmith feels it was ultimately valuable and is happy with the final product. "It has the quality of tension that a really good horror/mystery gives you which doesn't come from gore or sci-fi," he said. He also said, "It's a great ad for making film in the Northwest." Kleinsmith appreciated the opportunity to work with some of Seattle's best filmmakers. He calls Daniel Gildark "a great director to work with. & He had a gentle touch, but a very clear and solid vision." Kleinsmith also had praise for cinematographer Sean Kirby. "I want to work with him again," said Kleinsmith. "Just as Laurence Olivier could read the phone book and make it sound fascinating, Sean could shoot a downtown street corner and make it in itself a beautiful film." As beautiful as the film is, Cthulhu's editing is troublesome. Narrative elements seem to be missing here and there, and the rhythm can seem choppy. Gildark feels this is due to a combination of first-time filmmaker foibles and compromises made with Regent Releasing after the film was sold. The new cut is about 15 minutes shorter than the version previously screened at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). Gildark said, "I worked with Regent on the cut - an experience in compromise. It moves quicker, but it loses some of the feel I wanted it to have." In the end, Gildark says he's happy with this edit and expresses appreciation for Regent allowing him to work with them on it (they weren't required to do so according to the contract) and for giving him a couple of things he fought for. Along with the plot twists and cheap frights (and we love our cheap frights in a good horror movie), some of the best moments are filtered through nice cinematography shot by Kirby. Kirby has worked in film consistently since 1999 including handling the cinematography for Police Beat, another locally made film directed by Robinson Devor and co-written by Devor and Charles Mudede. Admittedly, it's not difficult to make the Oregon coast look good, but the transitional seascapes are hauntingly beautiful and the subterranean sequences are perfectly eerie. Cthulhu is a terrific first film by any standards. It's exciting to see a locally produced (and locally funded) flick get distribution and a little national press. Gildark and company have made us proud. "I like best that we swung for the fences," said Gildark. Yes you did, my friend, and you got damn close. I look forward to seeing the next project. |
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