David Spaltro’s “…Around”
Posted by Lucio Maurizi on November 20, 2008 under Coming Soon, Film Festival, Music, New Release, Premiere | 
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And here we have a glowing example of how almost no money, a great heart and a lot of will can turn out to be the ingredients of a very good movie.
This is …Around, a life based story about – says the director David Spaltro – finding home. About a guy who lives a double life and who has to figure it out one way or the other.
…Around portraits some a few years of the life and the struggling of a wannabe filmmaker, leaving New Jersey to study in New York City and running away from his messed up family and, to him, claustrophobic life.
It’s the journey of an eighteen years old young man with nothing in his pockets but a dream to pursue and a goal to achive. Soon the protagonist has to face the consequences of his choice, finding himself in extreme poverty, living in the streets with other more experienced homeless people and in a weird relationship with a girl his age, not revealing to anybody what his real life is.
This life based film could be defined a drama, if we really hade to attach a label to it, but it’s packed with funny moments, real life irony and it’s absolutely an easy to follow and enjoyable journey.
The script is smart and funny, the characters believable, the performances realistic and, sometimes, hard to be considered from “not working in Hollywood actors”.
Although the movie might have some technical flaws here and there, they disappear when melted into the wrapping story, interesting and well defined characters and the dramatic and funny moments of the film.
It’s definitely a must see, according to me. It’s not gonna be the easiest movie to find around, but it will soon be released in DVD. Tomorrow (fiday 21) will be playing at the Tribeca Cinemas at 54 Varick Street in Manhattan. Do yourself a favour and go watch it. You won’t be disappointed. Besides, …Around deserves all the attention it gets.
I’ve met with David Spaltro yesterday for a Q/A that turned out to be a very nice chat with a very smart, interesting and modest man. The guy loves what he does. Here is the little interview:
AS I UNDERSTAND, THE MOVIE IS BASED ON YOUR LIFE. HOW FICTIONAL IS IT AND HOW FAITHFULLY PORTRAITS IT?
It’s 90 per cent true life. The “boring” stuff is what structures the story. I moved at 18. During the first year I spent all my money. The second year I was living on the streets. I’ve been living a parallel life for a while, not telling anybody what was going on.
WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL?
When you first meet people, you don’t tell them. You don’t wanna base a relationship on that. I didn’t know how to break it to the people I knew or how to tell it to people that I met. I was afraid. I didn’t want them to think about me like that and I wanted them to have other feelings about me.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO GIVE YOUR BEST SHOT TO THIS LIFE BASED STORY? WHAT CONVINCED YOU IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO INTERESTING?
I didn’t really. When I finished school I didn’t have a job and didn’t know what I was supposed to do. But you meet people on trains or anywhere else and you tell them about your story and they go: “It’s crazy! Should be a movie”. Finally I had a conversation with a friend and he convinced me to write it down. I started writing a “fake”, creating situations and characters, but it didn’t really work. In 2007 I went to Korea working as an English teacher and there, at one point, I just wrote what happened. It came out naturally.
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO WRITE THE SCRIPT AND, AFTERWARDS FOR THE PRE-PRODUCTION PROCESS?
The idea was problably february 2006. I wrote it in 15 days. It just came out. I found someone to sublet me an apartment. I had one year not being homeless to make this movie. I cut the movie in one month in October. We hired a sound guy, but he did a horrible job. I had six months to get this movie done. He destroyed my plan. And it took another five months to find somebody I could trust to mix the sound. It was supposed to be 5 weeks and it took almost one year.
WHAT ABOUT THE SHOOTING PROCESS?
Our budget was 175.000$. We had 21 shooting days. We had 190 locations all over nyc, at least three location movings a day. The staff was always ready and did a great job. We used the most of every penny, building locations out of nowhere. When I first sat down to do this, it was, probably to prove something to myself, my friends, myfamily and whatnot. Then, the crew became my family and I had another, better reason to do it. I wanted to repay them, somehow, for the incredibly hard work they put into this project.
IN THE MOVIE THERE ARE MANY RELATIONSHIPS THAT SEEM TO HAVE A VERY STRONG EFFECT ON THE PROTAGONIST’S LIFE, BUT, TO ME, THE MOST CONFLICTED AND MAYBE TORMENTED ONE IS THAT BETWEEN HIM AND HIS MOTHER. DOES IT REFLECT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR OWN FAMILY?
I think this kind of issues are always there. Sometimes more accentuate than others. I think the mother doesn’t hate the kid. She hates her own life and she doesn’t wanna accept it. He feels the same way. They are very much alike. They are a mirror to each other. It’s a strange relationship that never developed properly.
REGARDLESS THE SUCCESS THE FILM MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT HAVE, IS THE SATISFACTION OF COMPLETING YOUR WORK ALREADY A FAIR PRIZE, ACCORDING TO YOU?
Absolutely. You have to ask yourself: “why are you really doing this?”. If you are sincere to yourself you’ll never be disappointed. Of course you don’t do it ONLY for the sake of it. You wanna get known, raise something out of it, maybe, but make sure that you’ll have to see through a lot of horrible moments. Sure, there are great moments as well, but it’s very hard going thorough the whole process.
IF YOU COULD GIVE AND ADVICE TO EVERY OTHER POTENTIAL PROFESSIONAL FILMMAKER OUT THERE, WHAT WOULD IT BE, BESIDES NEVER GIVING UP, OF COURSE?
The best advice is be honest with yourself and think deeply about what you wanna do. Because of all the stress and problems involved, it can be very difficult. Sorround yourself with people you trust. If they like you, they are gonna give you more than you asked them, they’re go an extra mile and you’re gonna need it. Treat them wit respect.
I NOTICED A SUDDEND CHANGE OF PACE IN THE MOVIE BY THE END. FOR THE WHOLE FIRST TWO ACTS THERE WAS ALWAYS A THICK VEIN OF IRONY. BY THE END THIS IRONY HAS BEEN REMOVED LEAVING THE FIELD TO THE DRAMA. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO DO IT?
I don’t think I set it out and I feel it’s still there in a more subtle way. In the mother scene, there is still something in the “favorite moment of your life” moment. The story follows the protagonist and his feelings. He’s not getting a break, but he still has something. When he loses this something he crashes. He can’t even laugh at himself and movie follows the same path.
WHERE DID YOU FIND THE BANDS THAT YOU USED FOR THE SOUNDTRACK?
We didn’t have any music. The sound guy was supposed to compose a score. He was gonna bring some friends. We had nothing when he screwed us over. I knew many of these bands. I just wrote them. They were great and so were their agents. Even the ones with albums out are still underground and they are in the same boat I am.
WHO’S THE TARGET OF THIS MOVIE? WHO DO YOU MAINLY WANNA SENT A MESSAGE TO?
People who work or wanna work in film of course, but also anybody who feels that “this place” doesn’t belong to them. Anybody who feels that they can achieve something. If you wanna do something and you don’t give up, you make sacrifices, you will get what you want at some level.
WHAT WILL YOUR NEXT STEP BE? ARE YOU ALREADY PLANNING ANOTHER MOVIE OR YOU’LL WAIT TO SEE WHAT THE RESPONSE TO …AROUND WILL BE?
I’m writing, trying to have at least aother idea to propose to whoever might be interested. It’s always better to be prepared. I’ll try to work the field and show people that I’m capable of working in this business.
WHAT IS THE BEST PART, ACCORDING TO YOU, OF BEING A STORY TELLER?
I love the idea of getting people’s attention. It’s a form of connecting with them. When you have a story to tell, there is no better way to be sending a message and connecting with people.
IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY?
Again, cast and crew were great. Rob, the protagonist, did a great job. He’s from Alabama. He’s a friend of mine and he was cast eight months before the shooting and he worked extremely hard to get the accent, the behaviour and even the moves right. But, even though they don’t get as much praise as he does, without the support of the other artists like the homeless guy and Molly, he couldn’t deliver the same message.
Cast:
Rob Evans
Molly Ryman
Marcel Torres
Berenice Mosca
Ron Brice
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