My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
Encyclopedia
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? is a film
directed by Werner Herzog
and produced by David Lynch
, inspired by the story of murderer Mark Yavorsky. Herzog describes the film as "a horror film without the blood, chainsaws and gore, but with a strange, anonymous fear creeping up in you."
The film was conceived and written in 1995, but Herzog and co-writer Herbert Golder
were unable to find anyone to produce it. David Lynch eventually became interested, and production was planned to begin in the Summer of 2008, but was postponed in favor of Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
. Filming began around San Diego, California
in March 2009. It was nominated for the Golden Lion
at the 66th Venice International Film Festival
, the first time that two films in one year by the same director were nominated.
) driving with his partner Detective Vargas (Michael Peña
). They receive a call and drive to the scene of a murder. As they push their way through the crowd at the crime scene, they see Brad McCullum (Michael Shannon
) leaving with a coffee cup. Inside the house, the detectives find the body of Mrs. McCullum (Grace Zabriskie
), who has just been stabbed with an antique sword. At the scene are the neighbors and chief witnesses, Mrs. and Miss Roberts. The detectives soon realize that they had just seen the murderer leaving the scene.
The Robertses tell the detectives that Brad was disturbed, and had changed when he went to Peru
recently. In a flashback we see Brad in Peru preparing for a kayak trip on a raging river. Back to the present time, the police have learned that Brad has taken two hostages in the house across the street. The police surround the house, and Brad's fiancée Ingrid (Chloë Sevigny
) arrives. Ingrid talks to Havenhurst about Brad's trip to Peru, saying that Brad's friends all drowned on their kayak trip, which Brad had decided at the last minute not to take part in; he later claimed that the voice of God had told him to stay behind. Several more flashbacks follow of Brad and Ingrid in Brad's bedroom, talking with Mrs. McCullum, looking at nearby houses, having dinner. Back in the present, Brad demands pizza for himself and the hostages, along with a car for transportation to Mexico
.
In another flashback we see Brad in rehearsals for a Greek tragedy directed by Lee Meyers (Udo Kier
). As the pizza is delivered to Brad, Lee arrives at the scene of the crime. Lee talks with Havenhurst about Brad, and we flash back to Lee and Brad visiting Uncle Ted's ostrich farm. Brad convinces Uncle Ted (Brad Dourif
) to give him the antique sword which would be used in the crime. Brad uses the sword in more rehearsals for the play, in which he plays the part of a man who kills his mother, who is played by his fiancée Ingrid. Brad becomes disruptive and is eventually kicked out of the production, but still travels to Calgary
with Lee and his mother to attend a performance. We see some footage of Brad at Machu Picchu
, and then at a Central Asia
n market.
A SWAT team arrives to take command of the hostage situation, and the detective talks further with Ingrid and Lee. We see a flashback to Brad and Ingrid's trip to Tijuana
, after which they go to Bob Wilson Naval Hospital
to "visit the sick in general". Brad buys several pillows at the hospital gift shop. Then Brad and Ingrid walk in Balboa Park
, and Brad gives away his bag of pillows, keeping one, and leaves his basketball in a tree.
Back at the crime scene, Havenhurst interviews Miss Roberts, who had witnessed the crime. In a flashback to the scene just before the murder, we see the Robertses sitting down with Brad and his mother for coffee. When Brad steps out, his mother tells Mrs. Roberts that Brad has just tried to smother her with a pillow. Brad gets his coffee cup, and then goes to his car and returns with a baseball bat and the sword. He hands the bat to Miss Roberts, saying "kill me before I do it". She does nothing, and he draws the sword and holds it in front of his mother. Miss Roberts tells detective Haverhurst that Brad stabbed her, though we do not see the crime on camera.
Ingrid and Lee talk to Brad, urging him to release the hostages and surrender. Ingrid realizes that Brad's hostages are his two pet flamingoes, and the SWAT team moves in and arrests Brad. As Brad is led into the car, we see shots of running ostriches. The final shot is in Balboa Park, where a young boy resembling Brad picks up the basketball.
. Golder was inspired from a young age by Jules Dassin
's A Dream of Passion
, about an actress playing Medea
and a woman who enacts Medea's crimes in her real life. Golder heard about Yavorsky's case and began a relationship with him that would last several years, conducting a series of taped interviews which would be used to write a screenplay. In 1995, Herzog joined Golder in the last of these meetings.
Herzog described Yavorsky, then living in Riverside County, as "argumentative". Yavorsky, living in a trailer, had erected a shrine to Herzog's film Aguirre, the Wrath of God
. This concerned Herzog so much that they did not meet again. Herzog, however, was impressed with Golder's project, and told Golder that he wanted to work on the film. The two returned to Herzog's home immediately to finish the screenplay. Herzog said, "you're not leaving until it's finished, and you're not staying longer than a week."
Golder and Herzog decided immediately that their film would deviate significantly from Yavorsky's true story. Herzog decided that they "should not connect much to the real man", and that they would focus on the poetry of Yavorsky's madness rather than the clinical facts of his case. Several lines of the script were taken verbatim from records of Yavorsky's case, but Herzog has stated that "About 70 percent of the script is false ... loosely made up." Notably, Yavorsky's name was changed, and the entire hostage situation was invented (Yavorsky surrendered immediately and took no hostages). Herzog said “I wanted to do something intelligent where an audience would know three minutes into the film, would know what had happened. An elderly woman had been killed with a sword. Secondly, you would know who the murderer was. And finally you would know where he was. From then on, you do not know what is going to happen one moment after another.”
The film's development stagnated for many years after its writing, when Herzog and Golder were unable to find anyone willing to produce it. The production eventually began in the late 2000s at a meeting with Herzog and filmmaker David Lynch
. Herzog and Lynch both expressed a desire for, in Herzog's words, "a return to essential filmmaking" with small budgets, good stories, and the best actors available. Lynch immediately asked "do you have a project?" and Herzog told him about My Son, which began preproduction immediately.
The main location for the shoot was a real home in Point Loma, San Diego, near Yavorsky's home. Actors Shannon and Zabriskie appreciated filming so close to the story's actual setting, while producer Eric Basset said that the choice of location was for financial reasons, and Herzog says that it was simply "a matter of convenience". Their location was very close to San Diego International Airport
, which made shooting difficult at times. Crewmembers were stationed on the roof with binoculars to alert the crew about flights, which would disrupt the sound recording, as Herzog insisted on using only production sound for the film.
Other scenes were shot on the Urubamba River
in Peru
, a favorite location of Herzog's which appeared in his earlier films Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo
. Herzog originally set the scenes at the Braldu River
in the western Himalayas
, where the real life Yavorsky had had a life-changing trip, but for safety reasons did not wish to film in Northern Pakistan
.
One sequence was shot in a market in Kashgar
, Xinjiang province, China
. Not wishing to endure the lengthy process to obtain shooting permits in China, Herzog went to Kashgar with Shannon and producer Basset on tourist visas to shoot the scene "guerrilla film style" . They brought a small digital video camera which they used to film Shannon wandering around in a crowded outdoor market, in a scene with no narrative ties to the rest of the story.
The film was shot on the popular RED ONE digital camera. Herzog related his frustration with slowness of the camera in interview with DGA Quarterly, saying "It's an immature camera created by computer people who do not have a sensibility or understanding for the value of high-precision mechanics, which has a 200-year history."
Rotten Tomatoes
, based on 35 reviews. Jeff Shannon of the Seattle Times called the film "One of Herzog's quirky misfires," while Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
said the film "Confounds all convention and denies all expected pleasures, providing instead the delight of watching Herzog feed the police hostage formula into the Mixmaster of his imagination."
was released on September 14, 2010.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
and produced by David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
, inspired by the story of murderer Mark Yavorsky. Herzog describes the film as "a horror film without the blood, chainsaws and gore, but with a strange, anonymous fear creeping up in you."
The film was conceived and written in 1995, but Herzog and co-writer Herbert Golder
Herbert Golder
Herbert Golder is a professor of Classical Civilization at Boston University. He has a Ph.D. in classical languages and literature from Yale University....
were unable to find anyone to produce it. David Lynch eventually became interested, and production was planned to begin in the Summer of 2008, but was postponed in favor of Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is a 2009 American crime drama film directed by Werner Herzog and starring Nicolas Cage.-Overview:...
. Filming began around San Diego, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in March 2009. It was nominated for the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
at the 66th Venice International Film Festival
66th Venice International Film Festival
The 66th annual Venice Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, was opened on September 2, 2009 by Baarìa - La porta del vento. International competition jury, led by Ang Lee, awarded Leone d'Oro to Lebanon...
, the first time that two films in one year by the same director were nominated.
Plot
The film begins with Detective Havenhurst (Willem DafoeWillem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
) driving with his partner Detective Vargas (Michael Peña
Michael Peña
Michael Anthony Peña is an American film and television actor. He is probably best known for his roles in the films Crash, World Trade Center, Observe and Report, 30 Minutes or Less and Tower Heist...
). They receive a call and drive to the scene of a murder. As they push their way through the crowd at the crime scene, they see Brad McCullum (Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon (actor)
Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
) leaving with a coffee cup. Inside the house, the detectives find the body of Mrs. McCullum (Grace Zabriskie
Grace Zabriskie
Grace Zabriskie is an American actress. She has appeared in many popular American films but, she is best known for her work in television. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks, Seinfeld, and Big Love.-Early life:Zabriskie was born in New Orleans, Louisiana...
), who has just been stabbed with an antique sword. At the scene are the neighbors and chief witnesses, Mrs. and Miss Roberts. The detectives soon realize that they had just seen the murderer leaving the scene.
The Robertses tell the detectives that Brad was disturbed, and had changed when he went to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
recently. In a flashback we see Brad in Peru preparing for a kayak trip on a raging river. Back to the present time, the police have learned that Brad has taken two hostages in the house across the street. The police surround the house, and Brad's fiancée Ingrid (Chloë Sevigny
Chloë Sevigny
Chloë Stevens Sevigny is an American film actress, fashion designer and former model. Sevigny gained reputation for her eclectic fashion sense and developed a broad career in the fashion industry in the mid 1990s, both for modeling and for her work at New York's Sassy magazine, which labeled her...
) arrives. Ingrid talks to Havenhurst about Brad's trip to Peru, saying that Brad's friends all drowned on their kayak trip, which Brad had decided at the last minute not to take part in; he later claimed that the voice of God had told him to stay behind. Several more flashbacks follow of Brad and Ingrid in Brad's bedroom, talking with Mrs. McCullum, looking at nearby houses, having dinner. Back in the present, Brad demands pizza for himself and the hostages, along with a car for transportation to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
In another flashback we see Brad in rehearsals for a Greek tragedy directed by Lee Meyers (Udo Kier
Udo Kier
Udo Kier is a German actor, known primarily for his work in horror and exploitation movies.-Early life:...
). As the pizza is delivered to Brad, Lee arrives at the scene of the crime. Lee talks with Havenhurst about Brad, and we flash back to Lee and Brad visiting Uncle Ted's ostrich farm. Brad convinces Uncle Ted (Brad Dourif
Brad Dourif
Bradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
) to give him the antique sword which would be used in the crime. Brad uses the sword in more rehearsals for the play, in which he plays the part of a man who kills his mother, who is played by his fiancée Ingrid. Brad becomes disruptive and is eventually kicked out of the production, but still travels to Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
with Lee and his mother to attend a performance. We see some footage of Brad at Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for...
, and then at a Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
n market.
A SWAT team arrives to take command of the hostage situation, and the detective talks further with Ingrid and Lee. We see a flashback to Brad and Ingrid's trip to Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, after which they go to Bob Wilson Naval Hospital
Bob Wilson Naval Hospital
Naval Medical Center San Diego , also known as Bob Wilson Naval Hospital and informally referred to as "Balboa Hospital", is a technologically advanced Navy medical treatment facility. Located within the grounds of Balboa Park in San Diego, the hospital has played a role in the history of San...
to "visit the sick in general". Brad buys several pillows at the hospital gift shop. Then Brad and Ingrid walk in Balboa Park
Balboa Park
Balboa Park is the name of several municipal parks or neighborhoods, including the following:* Balboa Park, San Diego, California, United States* Balboa Park, San Francisco, California, United States...
, and Brad gives away his bag of pillows, keeping one, and leaves his basketball in a tree.
Back at the crime scene, Havenhurst interviews Miss Roberts, who had witnessed the crime. In a flashback to the scene just before the murder, we see the Robertses sitting down with Brad and his mother for coffee. When Brad steps out, his mother tells Mrs. Roberts that Brad has just tried to smother her with a pillow. Brad gets his coffee cup, and then goes to his car and returns with a baseball bat and the sword. He hands the bat to Miss Roberts, saying "kill me before I do it". She does nothing, and he draws the sword and holds it in front of his mother. Miss Roberts tells detective Haverhurst that Brad stabbed her, though we do not see the crime on camera.
Ingrid and Lee talk to Brad, urging him to release the hostages and surrender. Ingrid realizes that Brad's hostages are his two pet flamingoes, and the SWAT team moves in and arrests Brad. As Brad is led into the car, we see shots of running ostriches. The final shot is in Balboa Park, where a young boy resembling Brad picks up the basketball.
Production
The film was conceived long before it was eventually produced. The script began as a project of classics scholar Herbert GolderHerbert Golder
Herbert Golder is a professor of Classical Civilization at Boston University. He has a Ph.D. in classical languages and literature from Yale University....
. Golder was inspired from a young age by Jules Dassin
Jules Dassin
Julius "Jules" Dassin , was an American film director, with Jewish-Russian origins. He was a subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, and subsequently moved to France where he revived his career.-Early life:...
's A Dream of Passion
A Dream of Passion
A Dream of Passion is a 1978 Greek drama film directed by Jules Dassin. The story follows Melina Mercouri as an actress playing Medea who seeks out a mother, portrayed by Ellen Burstyn, in jail for murdering her own children.-Awards:...
, about an actress playing Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
and a woman who enacts Medea's crimes in her real life. Golder heard about Yavorsky's case and began a relationship with him that would last several years, conducting a series of taped interviews which would be used to write a screenplay. In 1995, Herzog joined Golder in the last of these meetings.
Herzog described Yavorsky, then living in Riverside County, as "argumentative". Yavorsky, living in a trailer, had erected a shrine to Herzog's film Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Aguirre, the Wrath of God is a 1972 West German adventure film written and directed by Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski stars in the title role. The soundtrack was composed and performed by German progressive/Krautrock band Popol Vuh...
. This concerned Herzog so much that they did not meet again. Herzog, however, was impressed with Golder's project, and told Golder that he wanted to work on the film. The two returned to Herzog's home immediately to finish the screenplay. Herzog said, "you're not leaving until it's finished, and you're not staying longer than a week."
Golder and Herzog decided immediately that their film would deviate significantly from Yavorsky's true story. Herzog decided that they "should not connect much to the real man", and that they would focus on the poetry of Yavorsky's madness rather than the clinical facts of his case. Several lines of the script were taken verbatim from records of Yavorsky's case, but Herzog has stated that "About 70 percent of the script is false ... loosely made up." Notably, Yavorsky's name was changed, and the entire hostage situation was invented (Yavorsky surrendered immediately and took no hostages). Herzog said “I wanted to do something intelligent where an audience would know three minutes into the film, would know what had happened. An elderly woman had been killed with a sword. Secondly, you would know who the murderer was. And finally you would know where he was. From then on, you do not know what is going to happen one moment after another.”
The film's development stagnated for many years after its writing, when Herzog and Golder were unable to find anyone willing to produce it. The production eventually began in the late 2000s at a meeting with Herzog and filmmaker David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
. Herzog and Lynch both expressed a desire for, in Herzog's words, "a return to essential filmmaking" with small budgets, good stories, and the best actors available. Lynch immediately asked "do you have a project?" and Herzog told him about My Son, which began preproduction immediately.
The main location for the shoot was a real home in Point Loma, San Diego, near Yavorsky's home. Actors Shannon and Zabriskie appreciated filming so close to the story's actual setting, while producer Eric Basset said that the choice of location was for financial reasons, and Herzog says that it was simply "a matter of convenience". Their location was very close to San Diego International Airport
San Diego International Airport
San Diego International Airport , sometimes referred to as Lindbergh Field, is a public airport located northwest of the central business district of San Diego, California and from the Mexico – United States border at Tijuana, Mexico...
, which made shooting difficult at times. Crewmembers were stationed on the roof with binoculars to alert the crew about flights, which would disrupt the sound recording, as Herzog insisted on using only production sound for the film.
Other scenes were shot on the Urubamba River
Urubamba River
The Urubamba River is a river in Peru. A partially navigable headwater of the Amazon River, it rises in the Andes to the south-east of Cuzco near the Puno Region border, where it is called the Vilcanota River . In the Sacred Valley, between Písac and Ollantaytambo, it is also called the Wilcamayu...
in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, a favorite location of Herzog's which appeared in his earlier films Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo
Fitzcarraldo
Fitzcarraldo is a 1982 film written and directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski as the title character. It portrays would-be rubber baron Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an Irishman known as Fitzcarraldo in Peru, who has to pull a steamship over a steep hill in order to access a rich rubber...
. Herzog originally set the scenes at the Braldu River
Braldu River
The Braldu River is located in the Himalayan range and runs off the K2 Mountain.- Kayaking :The Braldu is considered to be extreme white water. The first attempt to kayak the river was a British expedition led by Mike Jones. It was on that expedition that Jones lost his life trying to rescue a...
in the western Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, where the real life Yavorsky had had a life-changing trip, but for safety reasons did not wish to film in Northern Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
One sequence was shot in a market in Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
, Xinjiang province, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. Not wishing to endure the lengthy process to obtain shooting permits in China, Herzog went to Kashgar with Shannon and producer Basset on tourist visas to shoot the scene "guerrilla film style" . They brought a small digital video camera which they used to film Shannon wandering around in a crowded outdoor market, in a scene with no narrative ties to the rest of the story.
The film was shot on the popular RED ONE digital camera. Herzog related his frustration with slowness of the camera in interview with DGA Quarterly, saying "It's an immature camera created by computer people who do not have a sensibility or understanding for the value of high-precision mechanics, which has a 200-year history."
Critical reception
Reviews for My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done have been mixed, with the film garnering a 50%, or 5.9/10 rating, on review aggregatorReview aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services . This system stores the reviews and then uses them for purposes such as: creating a website for users to view the reviews, selling information to third parties about consumer tendencies and creating databases for...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 35 reviews. Jeff Shannon of the Seattle Times called the film "One of Herzog's quirky misfires," while Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
said the film "Confounds all convention and denies all expected pleasures, providing instead the delight of watching Herzog feed the police hostage formula into the Mixmaster of his imagination."
Release
The film premiered at the 2009 Venice Film Festival on September 5, 2009. After a very limited festival and theatrical release, a DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
was released on September 14, 2010.
Cast
- Michael ShannonMichael Shannon (actor)Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
– Brad McCullum - Grace ZabriskieGrace ZabriskieGrace Zabriskie is an American actress. She has appeared in many popular American films but, she is best known for her work in television. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks, Seinfeld, and Big Love.-Early life:Zabriskie was born in New Orleans, Louisiana...
– Mrs. McCullum - Willem DafoeWillem DafoeWillem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
– Detective Havenhurst - Chloë SevignyChloë SevignyChloë Stevens Sevigny is an American film actress, fashion designer and former model. Sevigny gained reputation for her eclectic fashion sense and developed a broad career in the fashion industry in the mid 1990s, both for modeling and for her work at New York's Sassy magazine, which labeled her...
– Ingrid - Loretta DevineLoretta DevineLoretta Devine is an American stage, film and television actress known for her roles on Boston Public, Grey's Anatomy, and Eli Stone. She also provided her voice for the stop motion animated television series The PJs. Devine is a NAACP Image Award and Emmy award winning actress.-Early life:Devine...
– Miss Roberts - Irma P. HallIrma P. HallIrma P. Hall is an African American actress who has appeared in numerous films and television shows since the 1970s. She is best known for playing matriarchal figures the films A Family Thing, Soul Food and The Ladykillers....
– Mrs. Roberts - Michael PeñaMichael PeñaMichael Anthony Peña is an American film and television actor. He is probably best known for his roles in the films Crash, World Trade Center, Observe and Report, 30 Minutes or Less and Tower Heist...
– Detective Vargas - Brad DourifBrad DourifBradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
– Uncle Ted - Udo KierUdo KierUdo Kier is a German actor, known primarily for his work in horror and exploitation movies.-Early life:...
– Lee Meyers - James C. Burns – Swat Commander Brown