“Look you believed it because you wanted to believe it. Your true feelings were too gross and icky for you to face,” exhalts J.D. to our leading lady Veronica – in the mouthwateringly anarchic “Heathers” (1988) that, thirty-two years after I first saw it, has not lost any of its bite and power to shock and make you think. What J.D. says might as well be directed to us the audience. What is exciting is what seemed to me as something narrow in focus – simply mining the conventions of the high school movie – in last night’s revisit, it became a microcosm of today’s society dealing with themes of totalitarianism, herd mentality, homophobia and even the taboo subject of teen suicide. Just like Kubrick used black comedy to luxuriate in our fears of nuclear annihilation and made one of the funniest movies ever, first time writer Daniel Waters and director Michael Lehman made “Heathers” into one of the most cynical movie experiences with plenty of wicked laugh out loud moments of discomfort. This subversive film would never be made today.
Victoria keeps a diary while she attends Westerburg High School in Ohio. She’s part of a clique of beautiful and wealthy girls called the “Heathers.” They hold the school under their dominance – and cruelly bully and make fun of the “uncool” kids. Victoria feels uncomfortable about the treatment. “Does it not bother you that everybody in this school thinks you’re a piranha?” she asks the main Heather. J.D. is the misanthropic new student, and he pulls out a gun to the two jocks who harass him. Victoria is awakened by that act of rebellion against the tyranny. “My life’s not perfect I don’t really like my friends,” she admits. J.D. tells her that they can kill Heather Chandler. “Killing her won’t solve anything,” she argues. “I’d say we just grow up – be adults and die.” Veronica thinks it’s a joke, goes along with it – and Heather is gone. J.D. urges Veronica to write a suicide note. Soon, Veronica and J.D. are avenging the powerless – but she starts to understand that she may have simply replaced one problem with another – as chaos replaces dictatorship.
Keep in mind that this movie was released at a time where most audiences were under John Hughes’ spell. Movies like “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club” showed us teenagers with differences and issues that were all neatly resolved in the last reel. “Heathers” is a direct reaction to that world. It’s a revolution. It exposes its high school as a structure that engenders prejudice, bigotry, and intolerance and other syndromes – by simply looking the other way. It tells how terrible extremes are in either direction – and how important it is to develop your own set of beliefs and remain true to yourself.
The film is a satire, and its heightened vision is established from the opening shot with high key lighting and over the top design. Our first entrance to the school cafeteria recreates the barracks in “Full Metal Jacket.” The bright colors in the film start getting darker and richer as the movie progresses – and the movie starts getting darker. Pay attention to how the extreme forces are articulated visually with the constant usage of blue and red throughout the film. Veronica and J.D. are the outsiders and they will remain for most of the time in black clothing. The contrast between the two opposing colors of red and blue will be emphasized even further. There’s a very strong Almodovar influence in its art direction. The script is witty and incisive – many of its lines have become famous. It’s worth noting that the filmmakers wanted to use slang but wanted it to remain timeless – so Daniel Waters created his own vernacular. “It’s very.”
The ensemble is terrific. Although it wasn’t a big box office success at the time, it made stars out of both of its leads, Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. Ryder is so appealing wallowing in angst and regaining her individualism. She was warned not to take the role for it would ruin her career. Shannen Doherty as a mean girl is perfect.
This is a very smart movie – ahead of its time.
Veronica: “I can’t believe it. I just killed my best friend.”
J.D.: “And your worst enemy.”
Veronica: “Same difference.”
Love,
Roger
Available to stream on Netflix and DIRECTV and to rent on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Vudu, iTunes, Microsoft, Redbox, FandangoNOW and AMC Theatres on Demand.
Written by Jeff Nichols
Directed by Jeff Nichols
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Sam Shepard, Michael Shannon, Joe Don Baker, Ray McKinnon, Sarah Paulson, Paul Sparks, Jacob Lofland and Reese Witherspoon
130 minutes
Writer and Director Jeff Nichols on Bringing “Mud” to the Screen
“I remember I was in junior high school and I was going to write a short story about mobsters, or New York mobsters. I think I had just seen a Scorsese film,” Jeff Nichols remembers. “And I told my dad that. And he was like, ‘You haven’t ever been to New York.’ And I said, ‘Nah, but that’s where mobsters live.’ And he basically said, ‘Why don’t you write something about Arkansas?’ “And a window in my mind opened,” he continues, “and I realized all of a sudden that I had access to something that was interesting, that the rest of the world couldn’t write about, because I was the one there…And it just seems like, you have an idea, and it feels kind of fake or false or movie-ish, but when I drag it down to Arkansas and place it there, it starts to feel realistic and grounded and I’m accountable for the realism, because I know these people and these places and I have to get it right. And that’s a good thing, because so many southern films are affectations that it’s good to feel accountable to some kind of realism. I let loose of those reigns a little bit with “Mud,” because I wanted it to feel a little bit more magical, a little bit more like youth and childhood than my other two films. But at the same time, those are just the sections with “Mud” on the island and the boat in the tree. Whenever the kid returns home, it’s pretty darn realistic.” (hollywoodreporter.com)
“…the idea occurred to him when he was a college student in the 90s – “I was just struck with the idea of a man hiding out on an island” – and was fuelled by a book he turned up in his research called “The Last River,” a collection of photographs about shore life along the Mississippi. He says he wrote the script in the summer of 2008, with McConaughey in mind for the lead, but had to ice the project until he could command enough resources – $10m, reportedly – to do it justice…”I needed the river, I needed the boat in the trees, I needed a shoot-out, and I wanted Steadicam. The film had to be fluid and move, to flow like the river. That all added up to more money; I didn’t want to short-sell a big American epic idea. I couldn’t say: ‘OK, screw it, we’ll make it for $2m and figure it out.'”…This, he admits, is not the approach he took to his previous film, the eerie apocalyptic thriller “Take Shelter.” He wrote the script for what became his second film during the same summer as “Mud,” but: “I was willing to slash the budget to under a mill, and just go make it.” He says he gave both scripts to his actor friend Michael Shannon, the undisputed star of his debut film, “Shotgun Stories,” and then lead of “Take Shelter.” “Mike said: ‘Why make ‘Take Shelter’ now, with all that crazy CGI stuff?’ I didn’t tell him at the time that I wrote ‘Mud’ for McConaughey, and I couldn’t talk to him yet; he wouldn’t return my calls.” (theguardian.com)
Nichols on Writing the Role of Mud for Matthew McConaughey
“I was watching “Lone Star” a lot and I liked in that film how he lived up to a legend. He was a myth, that character, and he personified it. And he, and this is through John Sayles‘ writing, became more complex and flawed and interesting. I liked that idea – that we could be rooting for this man because he was likable and kind of funny, but we’re not quite sure of his intentions. I loved the idea that these boys would go spend days with him but then go get information about him from other people. They would never be on solid ground. This whole film is about adolescence and what the transition of adolescence feels like – you’re never quite on your feet…Luckily I didn’t have to have a contingency plan. I was talking this idea out with my wife forever. I’d talk about other actors and other things and she would always say: McConaughey. McConaughey. And I agreed with her. I just knew he was right. That’s why I wrote it for him. Just like I knew Michael Shannon was right for “Shotgun Stories.” You just get these things in your head and you set out to execute your plan and I was just executing my plan. I honestly haven’t had to give it much thought…Because I knew about “Killer Joe” and he came straight from “Magic Mike” and I guess “The Paperboy” was in there somewhere. I wasn’t thinking about those so much, since I had been thinking about this for so long. I would have made this movie whether he had been doing that or not. As long as he’d say yes!” (indiewire.com)
Nichols on the Making of “Mud”
“…To complete “Mud” in under 40 days, Nichols relied on a dedicated, experienced, tightly coordinated team on the set that included Adam Stone, who has lent his expertise, visual talent, and cool hand as director of photography on all three of Nichols’s films. Cas Donovan, 1st assistant director, and Hope Garrison, 2nd assistant director, kept production moving forward through rough terrain, remote locations, shootouts, stunts, snakes and explosions, and the inevitable surprises and adjustments that occur during filmmaking. “Mud” was filmed in 35mm using an anamorphic lens in a 2.40 (widescreen) aspect ratio. Nichols wanted to give the film a timeless look so the story of Ellis and Mud would be the focus. Ellis’s perspective is represented in the production of the film through long lenses: “This is the world seen from Ellis’ eyes. So, Ellis is me. Ellis is whoever is sitting in the seat, really,” says Nichols. Nichols had a vision for how small visual cues would add dimension to his characters. In a script where spoken words are few, he knew these details would provide a path for the audience to connect with the story. Nichols had a clear sense about how things should look and feel, from the fishing gear on Senior’s houseboat to the books on the bookshelves in Tom Blankenship’s house (Sam Shepard had suggested to Nichols that his character was the kind of man who would read “Don Quixote.” Nichols rushed an original edition to the set in time for filming). He even carried out his long-held image of the oyster diver in Galen’s extraordinary welded underwater gear, inspired by his initial public library research a decade earlier. Working closely with art director Richard Wright and costume designer Kari Perkins, Nichols was able to achieve a small-town, timeless look and feel and enhance the wild river setting for “Mud.” Simplicity and authenticity in the set decoration, along with the natural settings on the river and in the towns in Arkansas, were the foundation upon which movement, drama and very intense scenes unfolded. “I knew it was going to be a tricky film to make because all of the stunts and effects are practical,” says Nichols. “Shotgun shootouts, dirt bike scenes, snakes and water and all this craziness.” (coveringmedia.com)
About Writer and Director Jeff Nichols
“Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Jeff has been described by frequent collaborator Michael Shannon as a “smart redneck, which is a rarefied breed”. A teenage punk rock drummer turned auteur filmmaker, Jeff is one of America’s most exciting new voices working in film today. His first film, “Shotgun Stories” garnered several festival awards including the FIPRESCI International Jury Prize at the 2007 Viennale. His next, “Take Shelter” opened to great critical acclaim and won, amongst other awards, the SACD Award for Best Feature at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. The film was also nominated for five 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards including Best Director. “Mud,” Nichols’ third film premiered in main competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and had its North American premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. It was awarded the prestigious Robert Altman Award for the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards. His most recent feature, “Loving,” was ‘In Competition’ at Cannes Film Festival and his leading lady, Ruth Negga was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. In 2016 Jeff directed his first commercial film project for Procter & Gamble, “Strong” which was incredibly well received and has garnered nearly 50 million YouTube views to date.” (www.rattlingstick.com)