Winter Solstice director Josh Sternfeld

Apr 22, 2005

Josh Sternfeld has created a unique film in Winter Solstice. So many modern films shoot their dialogue back and forth like warring machine gunners. But Winter Solstice allows the actors to unfold the dialogue and be heavy in the room.

The film is about a family of three men who lost their matriarch in a car accident. The father [Anthony LaPaglia] confronts his older son's [Aaron Stanford] decision to leave home and his younger son's [Mark Webber] self-destructive behavior.

Check out the official site for Winter Solstice

Daniel Robert Epstein: The pacing and the way the dialogue worked in Winter Solstice reminded me of a John Cassavetes film. Your film doesnt have a lot of fast dialogue. Was that the way you wanted it?

Josh Sternfeld: Absolutely, I think every writer has their own pace they work at. Its hard to describe but I felt that for this story I wanted to slow everything down and get to the emotion between the lines of dialogue.

DRE:

It didnt seem like it was totally done through the editing either. Did you explain to the actors how you wanted the pacing to be?

JS:

There is always a little bit of play in the editing. When we were on set the actors were doing the scenes at the pace they felt comfortable with. Rarely did the situation come up where I had to alter the pace of the dialogue.

In the script I was very conscious of pauses and beats in the dialogue because it was important to me that the actors understood that I wanted it to come across as realistic. So now when you watch the movie it doesnt seem unnatural.

DRE:

Did you model it after any other filmmakers work?

JS:

You mentioned John Cassavetes and he was a huge influence on me especially his later work like Killing of Chinese Bookie and A Woman Under the Influence.

DRE:

Were your short films, Colin's Date and Balloons, Streamers, paced like Winter Solstice?

JS:

They were. I made two short films and now a feature that I think had that pace. So Winter Solstice was a culmination of this early style. Now Im doing my next script which is a departure for me.

DRE:

Whats your next script about?

JS:

Im writing a rural police drama that on the surface is about crime but is really about class warfare.

DRE:

Did the cast of Winter Solstice come together in the usual way of just sending the actors the script?

JS:

That was it. I was working with two producers and the first two people we approached were Aaron Stanford and Mark Webber who wound up playing the brothers. After that we hired a casting director who got the script to Anthony LaPaglia and loved the script.

DRE:

Anthony is such a great actor and he is great in this.

JS:

He is wonderful and a total professional in the sense that hes there to work and do whats best for the character. I also appreciated that he had a lot of strong ideas and opinions. Like any great actor they test the director with their opinions and you get to build the character together, which I appreciate.

DRE:

What was it like having Paramount Classics buy the film?

JS:

Paramount Classics had a representative at the premiere of the film at Tribeca Film Festival in 2004. The deal came together in about a week. Its was a pretty heady and glorious couple of days.

DRE:

For a film like Winter Solstice there cant be large box office expectations.

JS:

Im just ecstatic that its coming out especially from a large company like Paramount. Of course the expectations are up to each individual to decide but Im just glad that the general public will get to see it. I feel that this film has a lot of genuine emotion that is going to connect with the public.

DRE:

What was the first idea that got this screenplay going?

JS:

It was the idea of a family of men. A family without a feminine presence that was going to have to find a way to express their feelings to one another in the ways that men do, which tends to not be as sensitive or expressive. Then all of the subplots and atmosphere came out of that.

DRE:

How autobiographical is the movie?

JS:

The emotions and atmosphere are very autobiographical. I grew up in a suburban commuter town. I remember at a young age realizing that there is much more said between people that isnt really in what we say but in our demeanor. But the story itself is fictional.

DRE:

Has your dad ever pulled your mattress out of the house and put it on the front lawn?

JS:

[laughs] There have been similar incidents but not that one.

DRE:

What does your family think of the movie?

JS:

They love it. theyve been so supportive over the years and now thats its being released is like a dream come true.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

SG Username: AndersWolleck

1 Comment