Michael Shannon appears in the superb TV series Boardwalk Empire. He was nominated for an Oscar for a supporting role in Revolutionary Road and should become much better known when he plays General Zod in Superman reboot Man of Steel. But his most impressive performances have been as disturbed individuals in unusual, intense films like William Friedkin’s Bug and US independent film-maker Jeff Nichols’s Take Shelter.
Inside the head of a tormented family man
The US independent cinema scene may be in the doldrums, but Take Shelter, directed by Jeff Nichols, shows that it would be stupid to write it off completely. In May last year the film won the Grand Prix de la Semaine de la Critique in Cannes and in September it also won the Grand Prix at the Deauville Festival of American Film. It is an intense drama that slowly but surely draws the viewer into its ominous, uncomfortable atmosphere. “There was a fear in my life that I felt to be very real,” said Nichols at the premiere in Cannes. “And I had the feeling that that fear also surfaced in the lives of other Americans and I think even in the rest of the world. For me, this film was a way of talking about that fear.”
In Take Shelter, Michael Shannon, who was also outstanding in Nichols’s little-known but powerful first film, Shotgun Stories, uses his characterful features, presence, and acting skills to take us inside the head of Curtis, a tormented Ohio family man. Curtis is plagued by nightmares about an apocalyptic storm. He reckons that either he is going schizophrenic, like his mother, or the catastrophe is imminent and he had better build a shelter to protect his wife and child. Undeterred by the disapproval and revulsion of churchgoers and the public at large, he does what he believes he has to do, watched by a worried wife – another sublime performance by Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life, The Help). In Deauville Shannon offered us the following observations about this sombre exploration of fear, madness, and love of family.
How do you see this strange paterfamilias? Has he completely lost it or is he more normal than we think?
Michael Shannon: I was never interested in approaching Curtis as just a nutcase. I wanted to keep open the whole spectrum of possibilities. One possibility, for example, is that he is plagued by ghastly dreams, which happens to everyone now and then. Of course I was attracted to the film by the opportunity to explore mental illness. But the starting point is simple. Before those hallucinations everyone can understand the man. When Jeff Nichols and I started to talk about the film I had just had a daughter. The idea was to explore the fears of a father who has to protect and look after his family. At the time I could really identify with that fear. Of course, my fear isn’t nearly as great as Curtis’s. But we are telling a story, after all, and so you have to exaggerate to make your point clear.
What role do those terribly threatening visions play?
Shannon: Those visions are exceptionally powerful. But there was no sign yet of those special effects when we were shooting. There was nothing I could react to. I find it very interesting how in this case the special effects raise the scene to a completely different level. The shoots seemed relaxed. There was no sign of horror or psychological-thriller stuff. Through those provocative, terrifying visions, however, you naturally start to think that Curtis is crazy.
In Take Shelter, Michael Shannon, who was also outstanding in Nichols’s little-known but powerful first film, Shotgun Stories, uses his characterful features, presence, and acting skills to take us inside the head of Curtis, a tormented Ohio family man. Curtis is plagued by nightmares about an apocalyptic storm. He reckons that either he is going schizophrenic, like his mother, or the catastrophe is imminent and he had better build a shelter to protect his wife and child. Undeterred by the disapproval and revulsion of churchgoers and the public at large, he does what he believes he has to do, watched by a worried wife – another sublime performance by Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life, The Help). In Deauville Shannon offered us the following observations about this sombre exploration of fear, madness, and love of family.
How do you see this strange paterfamilias? Has he completely lost it or is he more normal than we think?
Michael Shannon: I was never interested in approaching Curtis as just a nutcase. I wanted to keep open the whole spectrum of possibilities. One possibility, for example, is that he is plagued by ghastly dreams, which happens to everyone now and then. Of course I was attracted to the film by the opportunity to explore mental illness. But the starting point is simple. Before those hallucinations everyone can understand the man. When Jeff Nichols and I started to talk about the film I had just had a daughter. The idea was to explore the fears of a father who has to protect and look after his family. At the time I could really identify with that fear. Of course, my fear isn’t nearly as great as Curtis’s. But we are telling a story, after all, and so you have to exaggerate to make your point clear.
What role do those terribly threatening visions play?
Shannon: Those visions are exceptionally powerful. But there was no sign yet of those special effects when we were shooting. There was nothing I could react to. I find it very interesting how in this case the special effects raise the scene to a completely different level. The shoots seemed relaxed. There was no sign of horror or psychological-thriller stuff. Through those provocative, terrifying visions, however, you naturally start to think that Curtis is crazy.
Read the full article in AGENDA, p. 50.
Lees het Nederlandstalige artikel op brusselnieuws.be.
Take Shelter •••
US, 2011, dir.: Jeff Nichols, act.: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, 115 min.
Lees het Nederlandstalige artikel op brusselnieuws.be.
Take Shelter •••
US, 2011, dir.: Jeff Nichols, act.: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, 115 min.
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