"In this emotional documentary, we meet Chris Schoeck, a pint-sized powerhouse of a personal trainer. He spends his days pushing others to push themselves, but rarely challenges himself. In his mid-40s, he lives alone and admits he doesn’t have any meaningful relationships. But he has one growing passion: bending steel with his hands. Nails, horseshoes, crowbars, he’s building his abilities. When you bend steel, he says, you can do anything."
Over the course of developing, shooting and editing this film, did you learn anything about Coney Island you had not known prior? How has the atmosphere of Coney Island changed since the golden days of strongmen?
Dave Carroll: I was aware of the mythos and history of Coney Island but had never really spent much time there. The amusements, the beach, the food and the people were all relatively distant to me. It was just another place on the outer edge of the city that I would hear about from time to time.
Filming ‘Bending Steel’ changed that, as it required us to be out there regularly. We spent many frigid mornings on the beach catching that early winter light and many hot days on the crowded boardwalk during summer. Those moments galvanized a strong impression of Coney Island for me. Like all lasting impressions it required those experiences to make it personal and real.
It’s hard to say how Coney Island has changed over the years as it seems to be a place that is constantly in flux. There has always been forces that have tried to change it and modernize it, just as there have always been people who want to see it remain the same. It’s a magical place and some balance between old and new has to be struck before it’s bleached clean of its history. The strongmen coming back to Coney Island is a step in the right direction though.
Ryan Scafuro: I had spent a decent amount of time at Coney prior to filming Bending Steel. I remember my grandmother telling me stories about her experiences there when she was younger. So when I first moved back to NY from Boston and was living here as an adult, I tried to head down there whenever I could. As Chris says in the film, “every personality that wouldn’t fit in anywhere else should come here.” There are so many different types of people and characters down there, and that is a big part of what I love about it. It’s a place where anybody can fit in, or NOT fit in and still feel comfortable. I mean it’s a beach town complete with amusements and a boardwalk in one of the largest cities in the world. There aren’t many places like it. As Dave said it’s a community that is constantly in flux, but I think the diversity is something that has stayed the same through the years. And the strongman/sideshow presence is definitely part of that.
How did you initially come across the film’s premier subject, Chris Schoeck? Why did you want to tell his story?
Dave Carroll: I was in the basement of my apartment building doing laundry with my dog, Gizmo. We heard a noise off in the distance. She took off in that direction and I chased after her. We rounded a corner and standing before us was Chris Schoeck. He was in front of an open storage locker. Gizmo went inside to investigate. I didn’t get a good look at what Chris was doing until I went in to pick her up. The storage space was crammed with an assortment of bizarre objects. Nails were bent and thrown in to piles, phonebooks where torn and heaped together, chains hung from the ceiling.
The contents of Chris’ storage space baffled me. I had run in to him before, over the years that I had lived in the building. He would never make eye contact with me when I would greet him in the elevator. He was always awkward and uncomfortable.
I grabbed Gizmo and back peddled away, apologizing for the disturbance. Two weeks later I ran in to him again. I had been thinking about what I had seen ever since Gizmo and I stumbled upon it. I even told some friends about him. I couldn’t help but wonder. So I asked him what was going on down there. The result of that question was ‘Bending Steel.’
I wanted to tell Chris’ story because I found his struggle to be universally relatable. ‘Bending Steel’ was very clearly a metaphor for transformation with far greater implications than just the physical act of reshaping steel. It was about everything in Chris’ life leading up to that moment. He found something in this activity that was slowly changing his life. Everyone is searching for some form of fulfillment in life and it can sometimes come from very surprising places. You don’t have to bend steel to appreciate his struggle.
Ryan Scafuro: Dave and I had been looking for a subject to make short about, just a small project to work on during our free time. When he told me about that first meeting with Chris I was definitely curious. I’ve always been interested in offbeat activities or things that could be considered as a dying artform. The strongman world was a little bit of both. But as we filmed more and more with Chris, more was revealed about his character and the story became much more than just this fringe activity. It became a story about a man finding his place in the world. It became Chris’ story.
Before you had met Chris and begun development of the film, how much did you know about strongmen culture? Was their world at all familiar to you?
Dave Carroll: I didn’t know much of anything regarding strongman culture. I had everything to learn about it, which I felt was an advantage in that it put me in the same position as the audience. Because the film goes far beyond that of strongman culture and focuses predominately on Chris’ personal journal, I wanted to tell the story in a similar manner to how I experienced it, with almost no background info and very little handholding. Subsequently the film unfolds organically, through firsthand witnessing of events as he shares intimate moments with us. These moments and events added both context and subtext to the film.
Ryan Scafuro: Same as Dave, I knew very little to nothing about the oldetime strongmen. We learned as we filmed, and we were learning from people who were immersed in the culture. One of the most exciting things for me about making documentaries is being thrust into a world you would never experience otherwise. That was definitely the case with this film.
What does one’s desire for inclusion/acceptance into niche culture say about our society as a whole? Did you find there are any common reasons that strongmen have taken up this profession over the generations?
Dave Carroll: I think it is not uncommon to feel disconnected from popular culture, even marginalized in some instances. It is second nature for society to operate under demographic consensus. It’s these generic images and ideas of how we are suppose to think and feel that are shoved in to our consciousness under the false pretense of universal compatibility. ‘If it works for some people than it must work for others.’ It’s these distractions that block self-discovery, foster isolation and create disillusionment. Chris was struggling to find his place in society and wasn’t able to find it in conventional places. In many instances he was made to feel bad for previous failures at conforming to standards set by society.
The other strongmen that were in the film seemed to all have similar stories. At some point in their life they felt that they had something to contribute in their own way. This need drove them to strongmanism, a place where improvement requires vast amounts of physical, but also mental, stamina and endurance. Like Chris they were looking for excellence in some form or another. It’s all about self discovery.
Ryan Scafuro: It’s part of human nature to want to feel included or accepted. Like many people, myself included, Chris wasn’t able to find that in traditional arenas. As a youth I found that in the punk rock scene. Chris finds it in the strongman community. It’s a place where he feels comfortable, where he can excel, where he finds approval. I think that has historically drawn people to this world, it becomes a family to them.
Your film has had a very healthy festival life so far. Moving forward, what are your plans to get the film out to the widest possible audience?
Dave Carroll: We plan to continue running the festival circuit for the time being while we make negotiations for theatrical distribution. It’s been a real joy to bring the film to audiences around the world. The reactions to the film have just been phenomenal. People are really inspired by Chris’ journey.
Ryan Scafuro: Word of mouth is crucial for a film like ours. As Dave said, the audience reaction to the film have been amazing. It has been a great experience for us as filmmakers and for Chris as a person. When someone comes up to you after a screening and tells you that the film that you made has changed the way they look at life, it’s overwhelming. We have more festival screenings coming up throughout the summer and fall, and we are all very excited to continue to bring Chris’ story to audiences across the world.
- Interview prepared by David Teich & Steve Rickinson
Read the interview at IndieNYC.com
David@IndieNYC.com
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