Nicole Kassell is the writer/director of the controversial film The Woodsman which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Kevin Bacon is the films star and executive producer. He plays Walter, a pedophile, who returns to his hometown after 12 years in prison and attempts to start a new life.
Check out the official website for The Woodsman
Daniel Robert Epstein: Should we feel sorry for Walter?
Nicole Kassell: Thats up to you. I was not trying to manipulate the audience into feeling one way or the other. I simply wanted to humanize this character and make him into a real person. A lot of people have asked why we tried to make this guy sympathetic but I never thought I was trying to do that. I was just trying to make him real. If an audience member feels sympathy, thats their own humanity speaking out. Kevin talks about how you can play angry or sad but you cant play sympathy. Thats a reaction not an action. I always go back to how I felt when I first saw Steven Fechters play. There were moments where I was furious at the character and moments when my heart breaks for him.
DRE: Would you want this guy to hang around the school where you children are?
NK: Of course not. But the fact is, they probably are and if they are, what can we do to make it safer? We can make sure they are in treatment and there are ways to integrate these people back into society much more safely than what is actually happening right now. A lot of them are going unpunished.
DRE: If the character had been a rapist or a murderer, do you think it would have been the same?
NK: Ive thought about that a lot. He did not kill any of the children but if he had done anything much worse than what he did I dont think I could have done this film. So I guess I was questioning myself as to what degree I would consider a second chance for someone. The odd thing with murder is that its much more acceptable. In the prison system and in our society, the lowest of the low are the child molesters. The prison sentences for murder in New York are lower than if you sold a little cocaine.
DRE: How was it expanding the play into a movie?
NK: My main goal was to make it visual and really ground it in the real world. The workplace was what we developed a lot. The role of the boss played by David Alan Grier and his secretary played by Eve were brand new characters. Also in the play the character of Walter is much more extroverted and aggressive. To me I felt like someone whod come out of prison for this crime would really try and be invisible. But because film is a visual medium, we were allowed to make it a much more internalized performance and character.
DRE: You established there many different kinds of molesters. The one outside the school was doing it almost gleefully and for Walter it was almost a compulsion.
NK: I did a ton of research. Part of why its such an epidemic in the world is because most child abuse happens within the family or someone very close. The crimes where the stranger commits them such as when the man picks the boy up from school are much rarer. Within the family thats where you have to look around at whats going on. I was trying to make a point that it comes in every shape and form.
DRE: Martin Scorsese has been taken to task for glorifying a life of crime in films like Goodfellas and Casino. But at the end of those films the characters are either dead or ruined. Nothing like that happens at the end of The Woodsman; in fact Walter seems to be in a good place.
NK: Well Walter is in a good place because hes neither dead or in jail.
DRE: He has a new girlfriend and a new apartment.
NK: Hes being given a chance which to me is much more like reality. I didnt want to make it easy for the audience. Its easy for this character be dead or in jail at the end of the movie but they live amongst us and thats something we all have to live with. At the end of the film its hopeful because hes finally taking responsibility, realizes he needs his shrink, he needs his girlfriend. All those things have to happen to help him be ok. But theres no guarantee that hes not going to struggle with it for the rest of his life or reoffend.
DRE: What was the biggest challenge of making this film?
NK: It took a long time to find a producer willing to work with this script because of the subject matter and that Im a first time director. Then it took us a long time to find Kevin then we had the whole cast and we still didnt have the money. It was just two days before shooting started that Damon Dash came on.
DRE: How was it for you being steeped in the material of this film?
NK: Well I just had a baby, so obviously I still believe in the world but it was definitely really hard. I interviewed a lot of offenders so it was all overwhelming at times. A lot of it was incomprehensible because a lot of the offenders had gone through treatment so I was dealing with men who were incredibly articulate about their feelings. They were very open with me then they would leave the room and I would learn what they did. It was hard to take in. Then making the film was hard because it was hard to take Kevin to such difficult places over and over again. The scene with him and the little girl in the park was upsetting. But that was the movie I was making, so I had to go to that place.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Kevin Bacon is the films star and executive producer. He plays Walter, a pedophile, who returns to his hometown after 12 years in prison and attempts to start a new life.
Check out the official website for The Woodsman
Daniel Robert Epstein: Should we feel sorry for Walter?
Nicole Kassell: Thats up to you. I was not trying to manipulate the audience into feeling one way or the other. I simply wanted to humanize this character and make him into a real person. A lot of people have asked why we tried to make this guy sympathetic but I never thought I was trying to do that. I was just trying to make him real. If an audience member feels sympathy, thats their own humanity speaking out. Kevin talks about how you can play angry or sad but you cant play sympathy. Thats a reaction not an action. I always go back to how I felt when I first saw Steven Fechters play. There were moments where I was furious at the character and moments when my heart breaks for him.
DRE: Would you want this guy to hang around the school where you children are?
NK: Of course not. But the fact is, they probably are and if they are, what can we do to make it safer? We can make sure they are in treatment and there are ways to integrate these people back into society much more safely than what is actually happening right now. A lot of them are going unpunished.
DRE: If the character had been a rapist or a murderer, do you think it would have been the same?
NK: Ive thought about that a lot. He did not kill any of the children but if he had done anything much worse than what he did I dont think I could have done this film. So I guess I was questioning myself as to what degree I would consider a second chance for someone. The odd thing with murder is that its much more acceptable. In the prison system and in our society, the lowest of the low are the child molesters. The prison sentences for murder in New York are lower than if you sold a little cocaine.
DRE: How was it expanding the play into a movie?
NK: My main goal was to make it visual and really ground it in the real world. The workplace was what we developed a lot. The role of the boss played by David Alan Grier and his secretary played by Eve were brand new characters. Also in the play the character of Walter is much more extroverted and aggressive. To me I felt like someone whod come out of prison for this crime would really try and be invisible. But because film is a visual medium, we were allowed to make it a much more internalized performance and character.
DRE: You established there many different kinds of molesters. The one outside the school was doing it almost gleefully and for Walter it was almost a compulsion.
NK: I did a ton of research. Part of why its such an epidemic in the world is because most child abuse happens within the family or someone very close. The crimes where the stranger commits them such as when the man picks the boy up from school are much rarer. Within the family thats where you have to look around at whats going on. I was trying to make a point that it comes in every shape and form.
DRE: Martin Scorsese has been taken to task for glorifying a life of crime in films like Goodfellas and Casino. But at the end of those films the characters are either dead or ruined. Nothing like that happens at the end of The Woodsman; in fact Walter seems to be in a good place.
NK: Well Walter is in a good place because hes neither dead or in jail.
DRE: He has a new girlfriend and a new apartment.
NK: Hes being given a chance which to me is much more like reality. I didnt want to make it easy for the audience. Its easy for this character be dead or in jail at the end of the movie but they live amongst us and thats something we all have to live with. At the end of the film its hopeful because hes finally taking responsibility, realizes he needs his shrink, he needs his girlfriend. All those things have to happen to help him be ok. But theres no guarantee that hes not going to struggle with it for the rest of his life or reoffend.
DRE: What was the biggest challenge of making this film?
NK: It took a long time to find a producer willing to work with this script because of the subject matter and that Im a first time director. Then it took us a long time to find Kevin then we had the whole cast and we still didnt have the money. It was just two days before shooting started that Damon Dash came on.
DRE: How was it for you being steeped in the material of this film?
NK: Well I just had a baby, so obviously I still believe in the world but it was definitely really hard. I interviewed a lot of offenders so it was all overwhelming at times. A lot of it was incomprehensible because a lot of the offenders had gone through treatment so I was dealing with men who were incredibly articulate about their feelings. They were very open with me then they would leave the room and I would learn what they did. It was hard to take in. Then making the film was hard because it was hard to take Kevin to such difficult places over and over again. The scene with him and the little girl in the park was upsetting. But that was the movie I was making, so I had to go to that place.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 8 of 8 COMMENTS
Should you see it? Yes. Is it upsetting? I'd say no, it's too clever for that. Will it be overlooked? Probably.
[Edited on Mar 09, 2005 by Crivelli]