Rory Culkin delivers an electrifying performance as ‘Gabriel’, a vulnerable and confused teenager longing for stability and happiness amidst an ongoing struggle with mental illness. Convinced that reuniting with his old girlfriend holds the answer to all his troubles, Gabriel risks it all in a desperate and increasingly obsessive pursuit, testing the limits of his compassionate family as his inner demons begin to close in around him.
For your first feature, what made you decide to make a film about a teenager with mental illness?
I just got fascinated by the character. I never really set out to make a social issue movie. I just wanted to create an authentic portrait of this kid struggling for a universal goal – love, a feeling of belonging. And the idea that he was inherently blocked from achieving something so basic really sparked something in me.
Why was Rory Culkin right for the title role? What did he bring to the character?
He has an incredible ability to build an interior life for a character and really inhabit it. Gabe is buried in his own head throughout the movie, and Rory was able to dig deep into the internal and trust that the external would work itself out. The audience is seeing these jagged little moments when his internal life breaks through to the outside world, and it’s amazing to watch. Plus he’s just riveting on screen.
What makes New York City the right setting for this film? What appeals to you about shooting in New York?
The setting has a huge effect on the lead character and his story. He spends time with his family upstate, which is objectively this peaceful, inviting environment, but for him it’s something entirely different. He feels trapped and threatened and needs to escape to find his own way. He runs away to the city, but quickly gets overwhelmed in the way that only New York City can assault your senses. He’s got to fight through what for him is this brutal landscape to find his own peace. I always loved the idea of the city acting as a kind of gauntlet, a threshold that Gabe has to overcome to achieve his goals. I think that’s how a lot of people experience the city.
Growing up in New York, I’ve always thought of stories set here, and making my first film in the city was a dream come true. Once we were actually shooting, we really fed off the energy of the city. It was exciting.
Gabriel is not the most sympathetic of leads, and you yourself have said that creating a sympathetic protagonist is not high on your list of goals. What is high on that list? What do you look for in a protagonist? What fascinated you about Gabriel?
I think you hit on it with the word ‘fascinated’. I think an audience experiencing fascination with a character is much more interesting and complex than experiencing sympathy. I like characters that are true to real life, and can challenge an audience. People are scary, lovely, idiotic and kind all at the same time. I’d much rather see someone like that on screen, than someone who I simply liked.
And I think Gabe’s complexity is what really compelled me. He comes across to other people in such a different way than he sees himself, and that creates an inherent tension that I found really intriguing. It also makes the audience’s perception of him evolve over the course of the story, which is a type of storytelling that I’ve always loved. He’s basically an unreliable narrator.
In your opinion, why is Tribeca a natural destination for the world premiere of ‘Gabriel?’
It’s a New York movie through and through. Everyone who worked on it, acted in it, invested in it – all New Yorkers. So it’s a thrill to be able to premiere the film in its hometown. I’m also so excited by the programming at the festival the last few years, so it’s an honor to be in the company of some of the films that have premiered at Tribeca.
Read the interview at IndieNYC.com
David@IndieNYC.com
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