“MERCY” INTERVIEW WITH PATRICK HOELCK AND SCOTT CAAN
May 14 | Author: Mike Plante
Two-part interview for MERCY. First part with the director Patrick Hoelck and second part with the actor and writer Scott Caan.
MERCY director Patrick Hoelck’s early break came when friend Vincent Gallo requested Patrick to shoot a magazine cover, followed by a published photography art book titled “Tar”, a producing role on the film COFFEE AND CIGARETTES by Paul Thomas Anderson, and countless music videos. Hoelck is currently working on a coffee table book comprised of short stories and images.
MERCY centers around a successful but cynical young writer writes about love but does not really believe in it until he meets the titular character of Mercy, who turns his world upside down.
What did you bring from your background as a photographer to the process of making this film?
Unlike motion pictures, still photography gives you less frames to tell a story. Having only one frame to get an entire story in makes me see things very rapid and very clear. I was also lucky in one way to have started directing music videos when I was barley in my teens. This was long before I ever took still photographs. In video and commercials you learn a lot of camera moves and different techniques, yet it is unlucky when you find out none of them apply to Cinema. My approach with the cinematography for MERCY was that less would be more in the end. Let the performances tell the story rather than some slick look or fashionable camera move. Also, I had the great Phil Parmet alongside me who had shot over 40 films, stealing my cigarettes and getting into deep discussions about every shot with me.
What did you like about the filmmaking process?
Everything. The idea of working with the same team day in and day out was just bliss for me. I loved working with the crew and the actors, all of whom really traveled deep into the process, the actors diving deeper and deeper into layers and layers of subtext within the words of our story. Learning what would carry and what would fall short from the words or actions. The feeling of magic when the cameras were rolling and the cast members would nail the scene. The whole journey was therapeutic; you meet all your insecurities and securities, you meet your internal hero, your aimless ego that fails you every time. Your great maneuvers that suddenly become humiliating short comings all in the same day. Then after all that you start seeing the truth right in front of your face, and you start to touch it every morning when you’re blocking a scene. Wanting to make a movie since I was 12 years old then finally doing it at 39 was great. Indescribable with mere words.
Do you gamble?
Not much.
Scott Caan began acting in the late 1990s, appearing in a number of low-budget independent films. His first role in a major film release was that of a Texas football player in the 1999 film VARSITY BLUES, which led to several other prominent roles. In 2003, Caan made his directorial debut with the film DALLAS 362, which won the CineVegas Grand Jury award. He was also the writer, director and part of the cast in the 2006 comedy THE DOG PROBLEM. Caan wrote MERCY, which he also acts in.
Tell us briefly about the film’s story, and what it means to you.
The story is about finding, holding onto, and losing love. The main character watches love relationships all around him, and coming from a less than functional mother and father, decides it’s just not for him. Changing his ways when he falls in love for the first time, he is forced to deal with his own issues, the struggle of maintaining a relationship, and the possibility of losing it all.
Most things in life have a science, or a formula. Love of course does not. The most analyzed and most agonized over subject in the history of mankind, so it means a lot to me.
Did you ever want to direct this script and how did you find the director?
I always imagine directing when I’m writing something, but when it came time to make this movie; I felt that I really needed to focus on performance as an actor. I felt that directing and acting in Mercy would pull at both ends and would ultimately hurt the final product.
I knew that the movie needed a specific look and I knew with out question that Patrick Hoelck, long time friend of mine and photography mentor, would find that look and push the film in the direction it needed to go. Most importantly I trusted him.
What do you think the role of a film festival is?
I think with out film festivals movies like this one would hardly ever be seen by anyone. Although it’s obvious that less and less films sell every year at festivals, it’s still what keeps the independent filmmaker employed. Or at least working.
Do you gamble?
I gamble, but very carefully.
Screenings during the 2009 CineVegas Film Festival:
Saturday, June 13 – 8:30PM
Sunday, June 14 – 12:30 PM
See also:
