Authors: Hans-Ake Lilja
At some point along the way, the video got bought by Spelling’s video releasing company. I’m not even sure how that happened. I imagine it was that original distributor trying to squeeze a few more bucks out of it. Happily, Spelling did have integrity; they do business in a straightforward manner, so money started trickling in for a few years. It was a pleasure all those years later to track down my Iowa investors and send them checks. That’s all I ever wanted, to see them paid back. It took a while, but at least they got their money. I think I might have kicked in a few bucks of my own, since I was making a good living by then.
Lilja:
Then eleven years later you did
The Shawshank Redemption
, which became a big success and was nominated for seven Academy Awards. It’s also one of the most popular adaptations from a King story. Why do you think that is?
Frank Darabont:
Well, it’s the power of the story, for sure. Steve wrote a humdinger there, he hit that ball right over the fence. It has a tremendous humanity to it, which makes for the best kind of storytelling. I recognized it the moment I read it. And it works gorgeously as metaphor—everybody who sees it can project their own trials and tribulations, and hopes for triumph, into it. I’ve often referred to it as the “Rorshach Test” of movies. People see what they want to see in it, even if they’ve never been to prison. It’s a very potent experience that way, and that’s all credit to Steve King. The man writes deep, and with that story he was writing deeper than usual. All I had to do was translate it to the screen and not screw it up. I’m probably making that sound easier than it was, but the task was made a lot easier by the fact that I had Castle Rock’s complete trust and support. That’s an amazing group of people at that company. Bless their hearts, because the level of trust a filmmaker experiences there is almost unique in this business. If I’d had standard studio interference and meddling on that movie, if I’d spent my time battling to defend my film against executives who wanted everything different, Lord knows how that movie would have turned out. Probably not so well. It would have been some crappy prison movie long forgotten by now. But I had Castle Rock, and they were just the best.
Lilja:
How happy are you with that movie yourself? Is it fair to say that
The Shawshank Redemption
was your big break?
Frank Darabont:
I’d certainly qualify
The Shawshank Redemption
as a big break. You can’t get seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and not suddenly be taken very seriously as a director. And that movie led directly to
The Green Mile
. Hanks, one of my favorite people in the world, saw
The Shawshank Redemption
and rang me up and said, “Hey, love your work, we should find something to do together. If you ever have a script you think I’d be right for, send it to me.” That’s quite a nice door to have opened.
And, yes, I’m delighted with the movie. I watched it again when we had our Ten-Year Anniversary screening and DVD rerelease about two years ago. And with all that time and distance, I was knocked out by how well the movie holds up. (I’m glad I didn’t get the same feeling I got watching
The Woman in the Room
again!) You know, after a decade goes by, you (the filmmaker) don’t really feel like you had anything to do with it, you just kind of sit there and watch the movie on its own terms. It’s almost like somebody else’s movie by then, you just get caught up in the story like any audience member. And I was very pleased with what I saw. It’s that Steve King tale, man, it works a treat. But the thing that really jumped out at me was how great Tim Robbins was. I’d somewhat forgotten that. Everybody talks about Morgan Freeman, and of course, he’s just superb—I always hear how much everybody loves his narration—but Tim really carries equal weight on his shoulders for the movie working so well, truly. Don’t tell him I said that, he’ll get a swelled head.
Lilja:
Then five years later you had another success based on a King book. That time it was
The Green Mile
, which was nominated for four Academy Awards. Why do you think your King adaptations are so successful?
Frank Darabont:
Because when I recognize that a story is great, I try not to mess with it too much. I promise you, that’s not a glib answer. That’s why
The Green Mile
wound up being three hours long. I’m the first to admit that’s not an optimal length for a movie—it’s a lot to ask of an audience to sit for three hours—but if I’d made that movie two hours, it would have cut the heart out of Steve’s story. It would have given us a mangled version.
Lilja:
Just the other day I listened to your commentary track for
The Green Mile
. How hard was it to talk for three hours straight?
Frank Darabont:
That’s when I swore I’d never make another three-hour movie again! Sitting in that recording booth! We joked about that quite a lot. I swear, trying to keep commentary fresh for that long is a challenge. And I’m not one of those guys who just mumbles through a commentary and doesn’t care if it’s good or not, or if there are long gaps of silence. To me, it all has to be right, or I shouldn’t be doing it. The way I figure, if you buy my DVD and are willing to give me three hours of your life to hear what I have to say, I better damn well say something worth your time and money.
So I think I might have set a record for time spent recording a commentary. Call the Guinness Book. The whole process, beginning to end, was about nine months. I don’t mean nine months putting the DVD together, I’m talking nine months recording that commentary track alone. Of course, I wasn’t in there every day, but I did devote every day that I could spare out of my schedule. We should have kept a log of hours to say for sure, but I’m betting if we total it all up it’s about three or four solid weeks of full-time work: recording commentary, working with the editor (giving him endless notes) to lay it in the right way, rerecording sections if they sucked the first time, reediting to accommodate that, going back and filling in all the gaps and silences. I’m told most directors spend an afternoon or two in the recording booth, but I spent the better part of a year. I’m the first to admit that’s excessive, but I figure it’s my time and I want to do the job right. As I said, I owe the listener my best effort.
I have to say, the fine folks at Warner Video were really patient. I’m sure they were tearing their hair out, but they never showed it. At least not to me.
Lilja:
All three King movies you have done so far have been nominated for numerous Academy Awards (
The Woman in the Roo
m was nominated in 1986 as best short film). Do you feel an Oscar-pressure with
The Mist
?
Frank Darabont:
Again, let’s clarify that
The Woman in the Room
wasn’t nominated. That’s a myth. I suppose I could just keep my mouth shut about it and let people think I’m cooler than I am, but that’s just not in my vocabulary. Fair is fair, and it wouldn’t be fair to the people whose films were nominated.
As for
The Mist
, no. I feel absolutely no Oscar pressure, because there’s no way it’ll be nominated for anything! It’s just not that kind of movie! It’s what I describe as a “nasty little gut-punch horror flick,” and those just aren’t on the Oscar radar at all. The only pressure I feel is to get the movie done on such a tight schedule and tight budget—it’s a real nut-cruncher from that standpoint. But I’m taking inspiration from Danny Boyle—he did
28 Days Later
with very limited resources, and that turned out great. He’s my hero.
Well, then again, I suppose there is a slight chance for some nomination in the effects category, who knows? I’m sure my effects will be great, but we’re not nearly as effects-heavy as the films that usually get nominated in that category, like
Pirates of the Caribbean
or something. Café FX will be doing my CGI, and they’re wonderful. My buddy Guillermo Del Toro turned me on to them; they did his effects on
Pan’s Labyrinth,
which is an awesome film! A masterpiece! Everybody must see it! And Café’s work was terrific.
Plus, there’s my pal Greg Nicotero of KNB Effects handling the makeup effects and designing end. Greg and I have been designing Steve King’s “mist monsters” for months now, and having a blast! Greg’s one of my best friends, I’ve known him for fifteen years, and we’re both monster kids from childhood. We both grew up reading
Famous Monsters of Filmland
and seeing every bad black-and-white movie we could—and even some good ones. We’ve talked for years about wanting to design some cool monsters together. Now we’ve gotten our chance, and I think we’ve come up with some fantastic and original designs. Greg’s been just amazing. It helped quite a bit to have the legendary Bernie Wrightson, also a great friend, contributing some design ideas. There’s a reason he’s billed as The Master of the Macabre—he’s awesome. Plus, there are some other artists Greg uses in-house at KNB who contributed some wonderful stuff along the way—like this young guy named Mike Broom. He’s a hell of an artist, and I think he has a big future.
Lilja:
Will your adaptation of
The Mist
make use of the monsters that Stephen King describes?
Frank Darabont:
It’s all about the monsters! First: the monsters from another dimension that want to eat you. Second: the monsters you’re trapped inside with, in this case your friends and neighbors you’re trying to survive with, but who are going crazy with fear and pressure and might prove to be more dangerous than those hungry monsters outside. Like I said, it’s a nasty little gut-punch horror flick, and one of those great pressure-cooker situations that King specializes in.
Lilja:
I know you are working on more King movies and I wanted to ask you to comment on them, if you can. First out is, of course,
The Mist
. I know this one has been in the making for quite a long time and now you’re finally ready to starting filming. Can you tell me your plans for it and when we can expect to see it?
Frank Darabont:
This one will be quite a change of pace for me…literally. It’s a very tight budget and schedule, so it will be the fastest shooting I’ve yet done for a feature. I directed an episode of
The Shield
last year to prepare myself for this…a very fast and loose style, all handheld, very liberating for me in many ways. I’m not aware if
The Shield
has aired yet in other countries, so you may not be aware of it, but it’s just terrific—one of my favorite shows ever, a very gritty police drama with amazing writing and an equally amazing cast. It makes
Hill Street Blues
or
NYPD Blue
look like
Sesame Street
. Its creator, Shawn Ryan, had been after me for a while to direct one because he knew what a big fan I am. Finally my schedule cleared and the opportunity was there, so I grabbed it. Doing the show was liberating, as I mentioned. Directing, for me, has always been a very precise and painstaking approach, like brain surgery. I jokingly call it “delusions of being Kubrick.” Doing
The Shield
changed that aspect of it—it’s very fast and loose, more like playing jazz than performing a precise classical composition. If what you’re used to as a director is more like conducting a huge symphony orchestra performing Beethoven’s Ninth in perfect tune, then suddenly shifting gears into jazz can be wonderful. It’s throwing caution to the wind. You suddenly don’t care if you miss a few notes—in fact, that ragged style is part of the attraction. Same with
The Shield
—all the camera work is improvised as we shoot, rather than thought out by me far in advance. It’s very immediate, very instinctive, very “in the moment.” No time for second-guessing or doing careful math, just go go go, shoot shoot shoot! It’s nerve-wracking to work that way at first, but I got into it very quickly and loved it. My intention is to adopt this style for
The Mist
. I can always go back to conducting Beethoven later, but
The Mist
will be jazz, stylistically different than any movie I’ve done.
Probably the smartest move I’ve made is to hire the team I worked with on
The Shield
to come do
The Mist
with me: the cinematographer, both camera operators, the editor and the script supervisor. Their skills are very honed in this style after five years of working on that TV show, believe me. They’re going to save my ass and make this schedule possible.
Lilja:
I suspect that the cast has been selected, since shooting starts soon. It’s already known that Thomas Jane is in it, but can you reveal any other names?