Devil's Peak Director Ben Young Talks About Working with Billy Bob Thornton and Robin Wright in This Interview

Explicit content warning

07/10/23 • 26 min

On this episode, I chat with WA local Ben Young about his new film, Devil's Peak, which features Robin Wright, Billy Bob Thornton, Hopper Penn, Jackie Earl Haley, and regular collaborator, Emma Booth. It's a thriller set in the Appalachian Mountains and focuses on a family torn apart by drug related crime.

In this chat, Ben talks about working with mother-son relationship with Robin and Hopper, as well as the grounded nature of someone like Billy Bob Thornton. He also gives open advice about finding the right creative path forward as a filmmaker.

Devil's Peak is the opening night film for Perth's Revelation Film Festival on July 12th, with the night kicking off at 7pm at Luna Cinemas Leederville. Visit revelationfilmfest.org for more details.

We've got extensive coverage from the festival taking place this week, with interviews with filmmakers like soda jerk, Robert Machoain, Adam Morris and Myles Pollard. To read or listen to those interviews, head over to thecurb.com.au.

For now, here's a slice of the trailer of Devil's Peak followed by the interview with Ben Young.

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Devil's Peak is the opening night film for Perth's Revelation Film Festival on July 12th, with the night kicking off at 7pm at Luna Cinemas Leederville. Visit revelationfilmfest.org for more details.

For now, here's a slice of the trailer of Devil's Peak followed by the interview with Ben Young.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Robert Machoian Talks About The Integrity of Joseph Chambers and the Modern American Man in This Interview

Robert Machoian is an independent American filmmaker who continues to stun with a body of work that is emotionally shocking, and at times, darkly comedic. His previous film, The Killing of Two Lovers, stands as one of the towering achievements of modern American indie filmmaking, and it's with that strength and the fortitude of low budget filmmaking that he turns the story of a man trying to do the right thing for his family into a darkly comedic tragedy with The Integrity of Joseph Chambers.

Robert collaborates once more with Clayne Crawford, with Clayne playing the titular character. Joseph is a skewed version of David from The Killing of Two Lovers: dedicated to his family and their safety, yet unlike David, he is filled with a pride and misguided machismo that he believes will be enough to support his family in the event that there is some kind of massive event where food or supplies are no longer widely available.

Yet, while on the surface this may seem to narratively be a COVID-adjacent film, The Integrity of Joseph Chambers instead explores the meaning of masculinity in America, and just like Two Lovers, it shows a nation on the precipice of violence. Here, the violence is not delivered with purpose, instead it's a mishap, a soul-breaking act of accidental mayhem.

Integrity sits on the shoulders of Clayne, but it's buoyed by two performances that bookmark the film: at its opening is Jordana Brewster as Joseph's with Tess, where she is given a wealth of character development to work with in a short period of time compared to that famous series she's part of; and then at its close, Jeffrey Dean Morgan portrays a police chief, with Jeffrey delivering a stoic and empathetic performance that closes the film in a devastating manner. In the midst of this is a performance from Michael Raymond-James which is best described as one delivered with a resignation that hints at the desolate future that America faces as it continues to struggle with an epidemic of violence.

To be clear, The Integrity of Joseph Chambers is not a film that explores in depth America's relationship with guns or violence, but rather seeks to recontextualise and examine what the 'modern American man' actually is, and just how is someone who realistically should not own a gun, let alone shoot one, supposed to manage in a society that almost dictates the need to have one.

It's this discussion point that Robert talks about the most in this interview, recorded ahead of The Integrity of Joseph Chambers launch at Perth's Revelation Film Festival. Integrity screens on July 14 and 15, and tickets are available via RevelationFilmFest.org.

Make sure to listen to the previous discussion with Robert, where he talked about being influenced by Kelly Reichardt, on TheCurb.com.au.

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Next Episode

We Get Deep and Meaningful with Frank and Frank Actor Myles Pollard and Writer-Director Adam Morris in This Interview

This interview contains discussion of mental health issues and suicide.

Albany based filmmaker Adam Morris returns to the region with his second feature film, Frank and Frank (or the Valley and the Walrus: Ruminations on the Mystery from Soup to Nuts). This introspective and explorative film follows Frank (Myles Pollard), a faith and financial influencer whose life is in turmoil as he faces a potential divorce as he heads out on a talking tour. In the throes of despair, Frank chances upon a stranger, also named Frank (Trevor Jamieson), and the two quickly become salvations for one another.

Frank and Frank is a film that explores masculine emotions in an open and honest way, with Pollard's Frank struggling to keep the ground under his feet - both figuratively and literally, as we see him try and reconcile with his faith one day by building a backyard crucifix to hoist himself onto, as if that will be the solution to his problems. The two Frank's share hard truths and engage in a soul searching journey together, lifting each other up.

This synopsis suggests that Frank and Frank is a dark, heavy film, and to be fair, it is at times, but it is also reflective of life in the sense that there are frequent moments of lightness and levity to bring a touch of hope to both of the Frank's lives.

In this interview, Adam and Myles talk about their working relationship, what changed in them as individuals during filming, and the joy of working the Great Southern region of Western Australia.

Frank and Frank (or the Valley and the Walrus: Ruminations on the Mystery from Soup to Nuts) has its world premiere at Perth's Revelation Film Festival on Saturday July 15 at 6pm at Luna Leederville, with a follow up screening on July 16 at 5:45pm at Luna SX. For more details, visit RevelationFilmFest.org.

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