Guthrie It was only a matter of time before someone came up with idea to turn a mousy, middle-aged female office clerk into a psychotic killer in a horror movie. But who would have thought that New York artist Cindy Sherman, better known for her acclaimed fine-art photography, would give life to this silver-screen villainess?
When Sherman began in the late 1970s to create her now famous "Untitled Film Stills," a series of black and white photographs in which Sherman posed as fictional B-movie heroines in imaginary films, she never expected to one day direct a real B-movie.
Her directorial debut, the soon-to-be-released feature Office Killer, was born out of a suggestion by her friend Christine Vachon, the independent producer responsible for such films as Safe, Kids, and I Shot Andy Warhol. Vachon had been approached by a company interested in financing a series of low-budget horror films for art house audiences, and suggested that Sherman helm one of those projects.
"I tried explaining to Christine all the reasons why I wouldn't want to do it," said Sherman during a recent visit to Los Angeles, where the Museum of Modern Art is currently presenting a retrospective of her photography. "I work alone, and I didn't see myself working narratively. Even though other people can read narratives into my still photography, it's all very ambiguous, and it's not like I have to think of a story. I can just imply a story."
After Vachon assured her that a screenwriter would be hired to write the script, Sherman agreed to help come up with a premise for the darkly comic Office Killer, in which a frustrated office employee, the recent victim of her company's downsizing, systematically murders her co-workers and boss. Sherman was aided by screenwriters Elise MacAdam and Tom Kalin (director of Swoon). Todd Haynes, the writer/director of Safe, also contributed additional dialogue.
Perhaps it is no surprise that Sherman directed a horror film. In addition to being an avid fan of the genre--citing Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, and Dario Argento's Suspiria among her favorites--she has long held a fascination with the macabre, which often makes its way into her photographic stills. Prosthetics, doll parts, and body parts from mannequins have play frequent roles in her work.
"It's not so much about the disgusting element of it--it's more about the ability to see the humor in it and knowing that it's all fake," explained Sherman of her attraction to disturbing subject matter. "I think horror films function the way fairy tales used to function for peasants centuries ago or the way an amusement park functions. You can feel terrified but safe, because you know that it's all going to be over in a short while."
Not surprisingly, Sherman found ways to subvert the horror genre. In addition to making Office Killer's villain a woman, she made the film's killer the protagonist.
"Most of these films aren't about women who are in their 40s, they're usually about teenagers, and I also liked the idea that the person you're empathizing with is also the killer," commented Sherman, who cast Carol Kane, better known for comedic roles, in the role of the murderous Doreen. Rounding out the office of victims are actors Jean Tripplehorn, ex-Brat Packer Molly Ringwald, Michael Imperioli, and Barbara Sukowa as the Boss From Hell. Playwright Eric Bogosian, a friend of Sherman's, also makes a memorable appearance.
In addition to having to manage a crew of people for the first time in her career, one of her greatest challenges was communicating with her actors.
Said the filmmaker, "The only obstacle for me was thinking in terms of how to deal with the actors, because I was really intimidated by the idea of having to correct somebody who is a real professional. If they think they're doing it right, who am I to say, 'That's no good. Do it over again'? So we talked about it and the actors would try out their ideas and then I would try out mine."
When asked if she would consider directing another film, Sherman was not quick to say yes, but given the knowledge she has acquired over the past two years, she feels that it would be a shame not to build on her new skills.
"Once you do a film, you learn so much," said Sherman. "It seems like it would be worthwhile to try it again and see if certain things would be a lot easier the second time around."
Theatrical Film
Martin Sherman's groundbreaking 1979 play Bent, about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals, has had thousands of productions in more than 38 countries, yet the playwright never thought it would make it to the screen.
"I thought there were a lot of problems," Sherman confessed in a recent interview and continued by listing the problems: "The play has two distinctly different sections; I use the intermission as a tool, and you don't have the intermission in film, and the second act is very much a theatrical conceit."
Sherman enlisted the help of first-time film director Sean Mathias, who made a name on Broadway with the Tony-nominated West End transport, Indiscretions. For Mathias, who had directed the play for the Royal National Theatre, Bent was the perfect project with which to make his film debut.
"I had this confidence that I had done it and had a handle on it, so when I had ideas I was able to be bold with them from very early on," said Mathias. "I didn't feel I had to prove myself."
Both admitted, though, that adapting a movie from a play is hard work.
"How are you going to take a play which exists within that form and make it into something that is such a different form, where the relationship to the audience is so different?" Mathias said. "The subtlety of a live performances changes each night. Film can't, and no matter where you're sitting in the cinema, you more or less have the same relationship to the film as anyone else."
Mathias' answer was to strive for a more deliberately theatrical approach. He gathered the actors and designers together with himself and Sherman for an intensive four-week workshop in which they used a number of versions of the script--both the British and American stage versions, a previous attempt at a screenplay Sherman had written 17 years before, and a script of the first half of the play that Sherman and Mathias had created together. From this, both a finished screenplay and the concept for the movie itself were born.
In Sherman's opinion, the workshop gave the entire creative team an extraordinary amount of preparation for filming.
"It gave a clarity to everybody's work, which is very hard to find when you're on a set and the camera starts rolling and there are a million things to attend to," said Sherman.
For the casting, which Mathias refers to as "a bit like putting a marriage together," his main focus was to create a balance between the three major characters. He found this balance with British actor Clive Owen in the lead role of Max, Canadian Lothaire Bluteau as Horst, Max's concentration camp "lover," and South African Brian Webber as Max's first companion Rudy. Other smaller roles were filled by Sir Ian McKellen, who was instrumental in getting the play its original run, as Max's uncle Freddie, Rupert Graves as a Nazi officer, and rocker Mick Jagger as the drag queen/club owner Greta.
When asked about the casting of Jagger, Mathias said, "I'd always wanted someone with charisma to play the role, so we talked a lot about rock stars. Martin's idea was Mick. I thought, one, we won't get him, and two, he'll bring such an entourage we won't get him on set. But he was an absolute doll to work with. He was very good-humored and very motivated to be the character, not Mick Jagger, which was great. It made my life a lot easier." BSW