SABLE — AuAfter a decade of expatriate life in Italy, Ben Savage returned to his Adirondack roots to write and direct a film based loosely on his experiences abroad.
In Italy, he earned a living teaching English and with his own translation company. While living in Florence and Turin, Savage frequented art-house cinemas. He was inspired by the aesthetics of European directors to make his own films.
MINIMALIST MOVEMENT
"Pastorale," the Italian word for pastoral, is a non-linear, character-driven story that shifts between reality and dreams. Dave MacCallahan (Tanner Knight) returns to the United States after a decade in Italy. The first two weeks, he stays with his parents (Susannah LeVon and Mike Fevola) before relocating to a motel and finding work at a small newspaper.
"Dave has a series of dream sequences where certain elements of his reality are presented to him but in a warped fashion," Savage said. "For example, in one scene, he sees someone swatting a fly. When he goes to a job interview, he sees someone swatting a fly."
"Pastorale" is a film of contrasts: life in Italy and life in these United States, an international city versus small town, a foreign language and mother tongue.
The cast includes James Di Salvatore (Al, a newspaper editor) and Paul Riker (Stan, a reporter).
Savage shot the Dogme-95-esque film with a Canon PowerShot.
"It has a nice, rustic effect. It's nothing very special."
His influences include David Lynch ("Mulholland Drive" and "Inland Empire") and Lars von Trier ("Breaking the Waves"), the Danish director who wrote the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" with Thomas Vinterberg ("Festen").
"You avoid very high special effects, even use of tripods. It's a very minimalist kind of movement to break away from the Hollywood-type movies," Savage said.
SECOND SCRIPT
Shooting started at the end of May.
Arnold's Grocery in Keeseville, Betty Beaver's Truck Stop in Lewis and the old J&J Rogers Company in AuSable are among the location sites. The film features many nature stills from Elizabethtown to Split Rock Falls.
"We're almost finished with the video part," Savage said. "It all depends on the actors' schedules. You don't have them around 24/7."
With two scenes done weekly, the process has been moving along without much delay.
"The main actor, Tanner, is my assistant director. He's been a great help."
The film will be edited on Adobe Premiere.
"My friend, Paul Riker, he's a musician pursuing his doctorate in music," Savage said. "He knows about audio programming and equipment. Once that's done, we have a product and will submit to many film festivals and get local showings at the theater in AuSable and other places."
Savage is at work on a second script.
"A bigger production," he said. "We'll see. We've been very lucky to have volunteer actors and people enthusiastic for making this movie. If there hadn't been this big enthusiasm from the actors, the movie would not have been done. We're very grateful to them."
E-mail Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
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