E X T R A S @ M A N J A |
In Need of a Cure: An Interview with Charlotte Sometimes Director Eric Byler
By Thibault Worth
TW: Charlotte Sometimes is a character driven story that follows the relationships between its four main characters. More than any other film I've seen starring Asians, I didn't find myself thinking about the characters' being Asian that much. I felt like they were people whose motivations I wanted to understand. Can you speak to the way the film pushes the boundaries of the usual Asian-American stereotypes we see on American screens.
EB: I didn't set out to push boundaries. Well maybe I did, but I never told myself, or told any of the actors, "We have to do it this way because other movies did it that way. It's true, mainstream films usually misrepresent us, but I don't feel compelled to make artistic choices in reaction to that. It would have undermined everything I set out do. I'm glad people say it pushes the boundaries, but the truth is, we forgot all about them.
TW: Michael, the stoic Japanese-American mechanic is the most tradition-bound of his housemates (his Aunt Margie rebukes him at one point for trying to reschedule their regular Sunday dinner.) At his neighborhood watering hole, he falls for Darcy, a sexually promiscuous drifter who isn't - shall we say - commitment oriented. But Charlotte Sometimes doesn't really strike me as a story about a struggle between traditional versus modern values. What's your take?
EB: It's a part of it, I guess. I focused a little bit on Michael's loyalty to his family because it was one of the traits I liked most about him. He's loyal to his family even though almost everyone is gone-maintaining a home for them to come back to if they choose, or maybe he's hoping to start a family of his own. I don't really like the log line we've been using, about Michael being torn between a restrictive upbringing and his own desires. I didn't write it. The person who did was hoping to make the movie sound good to mainstream audiences. I guess the old world vs. new world is one of the themes non-Asians have come to expect from Asian movies. Some people say non-Asian viewers only go to Asian movies to learn things they already know. I hope that's not true. But I never got around to writing a better log line.
TW: All of the characters with the exception of perhaps Justin struggle with loneliness. This may be over-simplifying things but as I watched the film, I wondered whether the characters' loneliness was a commentary on being Asian in America or whether these characters are just lonely. I ask because you've talked about the importance of making a film about Asian Americans that isn't perceived by the mainstream solely as an "ethnic" film.
EB: All four characters are lonely, but they're lonely for different reasons. This is really working backwards, but if I look at the film we ended up with, I can see how one might say that in each case, loneliness and Asian-ness are somehow linked. It all flows from the sexual revolution, and how mainstream society perceives us.
Michael and Lori are lonely because they can't connect. They're separated by vastly differing attitudes toward relationships and sex. Michael grew up sensing a certain suspicion or dislike from mainstream society. His sexuality is a bad thing-- something foreign and ugly, something to be systematically dismissed. Lori grew up in a world that celebrates and covets her sexuality, which she interprets as acceptance. She knows she will be accepted if she is pretty, or sexy, or sexually active. Lori is encouraged to be more "modern" when it comes to sex, while Michael is discouraged from being sexual at all. No wonder they can't see eye to eye.
Darcy is lonely because she rejects and despises the role that society, both Asian and American society, has prescribed for women. She despises it so much, that she can't trust any man who wants her. And, she can't trust herself if she wants them back. She'd sooner cut out her own heart than become society's definition of a woman. You might say in Charlotte Sometimes she makes that very choice. Justin's loneliness is the easiest to live with, because he doesn't realize he's lonely. Justin is half Asian. I don't know if that makes him half as lonely or twice as lonely. I guess that's the essential question for him, or for any hapa person, certainly for me.
TW: You've said your motivation for storytelling is to "let other people into your world." Which other films and filmmakers have influenced how you draw people in?
EB: My cinematic approach to "Charlotte Sometimes" was influenced by Robert Altman's "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" and "The Long Goodbye," and Tsai Ming-Liang's "Vive L'Amour." The characterization was influenced by Bob Rafelson's "Five Easy Pieces" and Mike Nichol's "Carnal Knowledge." I draw people in by giving them the opportunity to use their intuition.
TW: It seems that Charlotte Sometimes has been more successful that even you had hoped for. Does this mean you will be making another film?
EB: Yes, I'm starting work now on American Knees, a film based on Shawn Wong's novel by the same name.
Thibault Worth is a freelance writer and independent movie buff. He also works for the KPFA Evening News where he can be heard reporting on issues relevant to the cultural diversity of the Bay Area.