9 questions with director David Kaplan

I recently had the opportunity to review a DVD of the short films (which includes a young Christina Ricci in a leading role) of independent filmmaker David Kaplan. In addition to that review, Kaplan provided me with a chance to interview him via email. The following are the questions and answers from the director, perhaps best known to the public for his major feature film Year of the Fish.

Upcoming films for Kaplan include a comedy featuring actors from Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and famed Bollywood star Naseeruddin Shah which is in post-production currently. In pre-production (and thus likely for 2010) is the film Play, in which Kaplan directed and co-wrote.

I hope you enjoy the insights and thoughts the interview brings up, as well as taking the time to see the Little Red Riding Hood collection of short films now out on DVD.


Michael Vass: What led you to focus on short films, and then fairy tales for your work?

David Kaplan: There's something wild, unruly and deep about fairy tales. Their imagery seemed perfectly suited for film. Short films are simply more affordable than feature films and therefore easier to make.

Michael Vass: How did you come upon Christina Ricci, and the other actors in the film?

David Kaplan: I had already worked with Christina at the Sundance Institute's directors' workshop. She seemed born to play the part of Little Red. Not only did she have an uncanny resemblance to the famous Gustave Doré illustration of the tale, but she also had a sparkling intelligence in her eyes necessary to embody this clever young girl. The other actors were friends or were found through auditions.

Michael Vass: Why did you choose to have so much of the film shorts devoid of sound?

David Kaplan: They're not devoid of sound. They have music, sound effects, narration.... I chose not to have sync-dialogue in Little Red Riding Hood because it made it more storybook-like, which gives the audience a certain nostalgic comfort at the beginning, a feeling which is gently subverted as the film progresses.

Michael Vass: In each film there is a subtle but definite sexuality. They each border on the taboo, in their own ways. What inspired that direction?

David Kaplan: Fairy tales explore some dark shadows and truths of the human experience. Even though we think of them as innocent children's stories, I always felt they were much more complex than that. As Djuna Barnes notes in Nightwood,

“Children know something they can't tell: they like Red Riding Hood and the wolf in bed!”

Michael Vass: Do you have plans for a full length feature film? If so, will you be expanding on these film shorts or a new idea?

David Kaplan: Yes, I have several feature projects in the works. A couple are fairy tale adaptations. In fact, my first feature film, Year of the Fish is an adaptation of an old Chinese fairy tale. It played in theaters last year and will be released on DVD soon.

Michael Vass: Is the concept of introducing sexuality in a unique and subtle manner something you want to include in all your films, or was it just something that you found compelling for this short material?

David Kaplan: It really depends on the particular film. For example, the last feature film I made is a mainstream comedy about Indian food and cooking (it's in post-production) - not a lot of dark, offbeat sexuality in that one :)

Michael Vass: Since the success of your shorts at multiple independent film festivals have you found mainstream Hollywood more interested, or less?

David Kaplan: The shorts are very useful as an introduction to Hollywood. They got a lot of doors open for me.

Michael Vass: Do you have an ultimate wishlist film that you would like to make? If you could film any style of movie, with any actor/actress, what might you do?

David Kaplan: Yes, there are quite a few wishlist films I'd like to make. But that's a secret unless you're willing to finance them.

Michael Vass: What are some of the films and directors that inspired you?

David Kaplan: Charles Laughton's Night of the Hunter, Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Murnau's Sunrise, Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon, Neil Jordan's Company of Wolves, and of course Cocteau's La Belle et la Bete.

DVD Review: Christina Ricci in Little Red Riding Hood

The title sounds so innoucuous. I’m sure that many are thinking that this has got to be a mistake on my part. That it must be a audio book review. But I’m not mistaken, and you will be surprised. And you will understand why this is a Chicago International Film Festival Silver Hugo Award winner.

Little Red Riding Hood and other stories, is 3 short films each based on a short story from fairy tales. In total the entire collection of films, made by director David Kaplan, are only 30 minutes long. But I bet you just can’t watch them once.

Little Red Riding Hood is the first story on the DVD. Likely this is because it stars Christina Ricci in her teen years. But the story is hardly the thing of childhood memories. It does effectively set the tone for each of the following stories though.

In each of the short films we are introduced to unique takes on old ideas. We have sexuality introduced in a manner that has you questioning if it was the director’s intention, or just your own inner thoughts making a leap. We get a mixture of ballet, Black and White film, acting, silent film, represerntative characters, puppetry, and a touch of nostalgia among the various stories.

The Red Riding Hood is my favorite. It is sweet and tempting while being new and a bit whimsical. It’s visuals are not breath-taking, but simply further engross you to the action around you. Very little detracts from your observation, providing a voyueristic pleasure on top of everything else. Chrisitna Ricci is perfect, with a coyness and yet intensity in her eyes that just hits the mark.

Little Suck-a-thumb is completely in a different direction. From the sweet and even playful temptation we go t o color and an experience that may just strike you hard. In this short film we get to see a bit of a homage to Nosferatu and the old silent horror films. We are presented a tale with strong homo-erotic undertones.

The story takes a major back seat to the acting, as by the time you are getting the opening lines we are thrust calmly into the crux of the story. There is a gentleness and seduction going on that plays well to the sudden and well placed soundtrack of Ave Maria (a favorite song of mine that I never imagined would fit such a film). By the end we are left with a stroy that hits on views of morality, sexual preferences, and orientation without ever being graphic, lewd, insulting, or shocking.

The last story, The Frog King, is my least favorite of the 3. It too is in Black and White. But unlike the initial which had a narration, this is strickly old school silent film. The look is grittier as well. Darker scenes match a tone that seems ready to explode with danger at any moment. And the payoff left me scratching my head.

We travel this journey with a very young actress, into a place that I’m not sure of. Again sexuality comes up, and again it is a take on it that is far from the mainstream. But this story is unsettling. It’s harsher and less defined. It is more open-ended and questionable.

It’s not the acting that will throw you, but the direction and the story itself. I normally don’t listen to the commentaries of most DVD’s but I sought out this one to hopefully gain greater insight into the story. Sadly there was nothing in the commentary that really helped me out. Other than to hear David Kaplan explain that this was his least favorite as well.

Speaking of the extras of the DVD, there really aren’t any. This is a straight forward DVD. You have the 3 short films, the commentary of each film, a commentary on the folklore by scholar Jack Zipes, and it’s over. Considering there is only 30 minutes to it all I can’t say I’m surprised, though I was hoping to see a blooper real or extra scenes that were deleted – especially for Frog King.

All in all, I liked the DVD. The short trip it takes you on is worth the time and money spent. And as I said in the beginning, you will likely watch it over more than once. If that is not a sign of a worthwhile purchase, in a world of highly forgetable and poorly created revisionist and/or sequel laden films, then I don’t know what is.