In the age of cell phones, pagers and instant messaging, who would take the time to write a letter anymore? A film director like Tod Williams, as a fervent reader, has always appreciated the power of the written word.
When Williams first read John Irving's best-selling novel "A Widow For One Year," he knew instinctively that the first one-third of the book would make a compelling film. But instead of quickly arranging a power meeting with Irving's agent, Williams decided to put pen to paper and craft a more personal, thoughtful appeal to the author. He explained in careful detail how he thought Irving's novel should be adapted for film and how he would go about doing it. It was an unorthodox approach in a business that's known for instant gratification, but one that ultimately paid off.
Irving and Williams recently appeared together at the 9th annual Nantucket Film Festival, where they celebrated the Northeast premiere of THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR, the film Williams adapted from Irving's novel. Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers conducted a Q&A session with the author and filmmaker following the screening.
Irving explained to the audience, "When directors and screenwriters are interested in adapting my novels, they typically want to meet with me right away. I was pleasantly surprised that a director took the time to write me a letter-and a well-written one at that. When I saw that Tod could write, it raised my confidence level in him immediately. I invited him to meet with me at my Vermont home to discuss the project."
Once they met, Irving's confidence in Williams only increased, and he gave the greenlight to the 35 year-old director, whose only feature-film directing credit up until that point was the critically-acclaimed THE ADVENTURES OF SEBASTIAN COLE. In previous films that were adapted from Irving's novels, Irving often wrote the screenplay himself. In fact, in 1999, he won an Academy Award for his screenplay adaptation of "The Cider House Rules." This time around, Irving was perfectly comfortable handing the screenwriting duties over to Williams. However, when Travers addressed the issue of ownership, Williams quickly dismissed it as a non-issue.
"There has never been any question in mind-this has always been John's story. My focus has always been to stay true to the story and respect his vision. That's why from the very beginning I knew this had to be a completely collaborative process between John, myself and the producer. No decision was made during the entire filmmaking process without each of our input and consent. Even the name of the film was a decision we made together," said Williams. The film's title comes from the name of a children's book, written by Jeff Bridges' character in the film.
Throughout the four years it took to make the film, Williams continuously consulted Irving, asking for his input on casting process, the adaptation and even editing. In fact, Irving spent the most amount of time in the editing room and found himself drawn to the post-production process.
"I found that editing is more akin to writing a novel than a screenplay," explained Irving.
Considering Irving's role in the editing process and Williams' dedication to the story, it comes as no surprise that the finished film doesn't stray far from the novel-in story or dialogue. But because Irving's novel is over 700 pages and breaks down into three acts, Williams decided to focus on just the first act which, Irving says, "stops at a natural point of closure." In the book, the focus in this first act is on Marion, the bereaved wife. In the film, Williams decided to focus more heavily on Marion's husband Ted and the unrepentant, uninhibited way he deals with the tragedy.
THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR takes place over one summer and is set in the sunny, breezy beach community of East Hampton, New York. It tells the story of a Marion and Ted, a married couple irrevocably driven apart by the tragic death of their teenage sons. Jeff Bridges plays the role of Ted Cole, a famous children's author who is quickly ravaging his reputation by heavy drinking and preying upon lonely, middle-aged housewives. His pattern with these women is always the same: He offers to paint a portrait of them (in the nude), seduces them, and then ultimately degrades them.
While Ted is loud and outspoken during this awkward period of mourning, his wife Marion (played by Kim Basinger) is despondent and numb. Her despair is so overwhelming, she lacks the capacity to care for her young daughter Ruth (played by 5 year-old Elle Fanning, sister of Dakota Fanning), who is emotionally left behind by her distracted parents.
The only thing that seems to bring life back into Marion's wounded gaze is the arrival of a teenage boy, Eddie O'Hare, who comes to the house for the summer to serve as Ted's assistant. Although the boy takes the internship hoping he'll learn something useful about writing, he quickly finds himself in the role as Bridge's errand boy, taxi driver, and pawn. Eddie's disappointment quickly fades, however, when he meets Marion and is drawn to her quiet, luminous beauty.
When Marion walks into Eddie's bedroom and catches him in a sexual act involving her underwear, she is neither flattered nor surprised. Instead, she chalks it up as being "funny"-as something that teenage boys must do. An intensely physical affair with the boy ensues. But because Marion is so lost in melancholy, she is unable to see the impropriety of her actions.
THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR marks the second time Bridges and Basinger have played husband and wife in a film. They first appeared together in the 1987 feature film NADINE. According to Williams, Bridges and Basinger took two very different approaches to their characters.
"Jeff was his own production unit. He wanted to learn everything he could about his character, constantly asking about the script, even consulting the wardrobe department. He was also very into rehearsing," Williams explained. "Kim was the opposite of Jeff. She preferred to approach the scene raw and didn't like a lot of rehearsals. Often times, her first take was the one we used in the film."
Although Basinger has established herself in films such as L.A. CONFIDENTIAL for which she won the Best Actress Oscar in 1998, Williams had always thought of her as the "archetypal blond bombshell." But his perspective of her quickly changed once they were on the set. "I'm not sure what Kim was going through at the time, but whatever it was, she was in the perfect mindset to play the character of Marion."
Similar to her performance in L.A. CONDIDENTIAL, Basinger's hooded, piercing blue eyes help her character convey more than words ever could. She has the unique ability to both project strength and reveal shades of vulnerability. While Marion has become an introvert, Ted is happy to let it all hang out-literally and figuratively. He walks around fully naked for the world to see, or dressed in a bohemian ankle-length tunic, refusing to let the tragedy hamper his arrogant, gregarious personality.
Although the relationship between Ted and Marion is barren and irretrievable, there is a sense that this couple still understands each other on some level; that they respect the opposite ways each has chosen to process their sons' deaths. The acting in the film runs from highly charged to powerfully understated, sometimes comical, but always intense. One of the most important supporting roles in the film is "played" by the couple's house and the East Hampton back-drop. The sun-dappled rooms of their spacious home, coupled with the calming blues and greens of a summer by-the-sea, serve both to temper and frame the dysfunction that hangs heavily in the air.
In a festival that featured mostly low-budget independent films-many of which were shot on DV then transferred to film-the Hollywood-caliber production values of THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR provided welcome visual relief. The rich, saturated tones proved why still nothing compares to 35mm. And yet, production values aside, the film still felt right at home at the Nantucket Festival, a venue that has always celebrated the craft of screenwriting-especially screenwriting for independent film. Irving's character-driven story is laced with dialogue that feels both poetic and real, giving the actors plenty to sink their teeth into. And as "open and shut" as the ending may seem, there are more questions posed than answered. The audience is left to consider the clues and details, and to guess for themselves what else might be looming behind the door. In fact, when Ted finally reveals to Eddie that writing is all about the details, it is obvious that he is offering this advice to the moviegoer as well.
Overall, as big as THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR feels with it’s A-list talent, it's still a very personal film-not surprising considering the project began as one director's heartfelt letter.
THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR opened nationwide on July 14.