Writer/Director William Shockley and Actor Dermot Mulroney talk to The Inside Reel about perspective, redemption and details in regards to their new Western from Quiver: "Long Shadows".
00:34Dollar is a character because you have to, you know, Westerns are not known for showing
00:39vulnerability a lot.
00:41Right.
00:42You know, and this shows it that everybody has flaws.
00:44But you even, I mean, with the sheriff, you know, showing his flaws allows him to, or
00:49the marshal, allows him to understand what this kid is going through.
00:54Uh, the Marcus Dollar character comes out, you know, of a, of a mission orphanage.
00:58He's, he's a child in a, in a man's body in a way.
01:01So he is vulnerable.
01:02He hasn't been through life.
01:03He hasn't, he, he's, he's very quickly going to enter the game of life.
01:07And then you do have a sheriff that has his own tragic past who has an empathetic heart
01:13that convinces a judge to, you know, have sympathy.
01:16And I think that's one of the cool things about this movie that I love is because it's a human
01:21story and we all need to have a little bit more kindness in our heart, understanding,
01:26you know, cause nobody's perfect and everybody struggles.
01:30So if we can all take a, take away that thought from this film, I think maybe tomorrow will be
01:35a little bit brighter day.
01:37Welcome to purgatory.
01:39My mom and pa would kill my horse to eat.
01:42You carry sorrow a mile deep.
01:45I had a feeling you'd be back one day.
01:51Sorry what happened to your folks.
01:54Six years I've been thinking about coming back here.
01:56Might be time for the Mexican to earn some bread and honey.
02:00Marcus, do you want company?
02:05You don't have to do that.
02:08Hey you!
02:09Find her.
02:12You know, redemption takes on different things because redemption is in, is internal.
02:16It's not almost in the eyes of the beholder.
02:18It's in what you think makes you, you know, and that's just sort of an interesting play.
02:23And that carries on to the end of the film.
02:25Before William goes deeper.
02:27I love a moment late in the film where my characters, if you want to call it a moment
02:33of redemption or facing the future, is really told on horseback.
02:39There's a most epic shot or two where our characters re-meet and then part.
02:46And the way William and the Western cinematography and the visual, as we discussed, make such an epic moment where my-
03:00And the tip of your hat.
03:01The tip of your hat was cool.
03:03Ah, gosh, isn't that something too true?
03:05Yeah.
03:06Even that's kind of like full-blown Western icon moments.
03:10Sometimes those things happen and you're aware of it.
03:12And sometimes like that, I'm not even sure I, you know, when I saw it, I didn't recall doing that.
03:17So that's amazing.
03:19Well, keep both eyes open.
03:22Now breathe.
03:24If you want to master anything.
03:29Find your rhythm.
03:31Find your spirit.
03:35That's where the truth hides.
03:36Don't suppose there's any talking you out of this.
03:54Calling the man out ain't a halfway game.
03:59Let's kill or be killed.
04:04Yeah.
04:05Well, you talk about that redemption, but also instinct.
04:07Your instinct in knowing what should play, how it played on set versus how it feels in the editing room.
04:14Because things change.
04:15They do change, but I just have to go back again.
04:18Dermott came, you know, he was Dallas Garrett.
04:21It was so beautiful to not have to think and struggle on my side.
04:25And so what Dermott brought was there.
04:28In fact, he did like the tip of the hat.
04:31Dermott just instinctually, whether he knew it or not, was giving us so much.
04:35There's a beautiful moment in the film where Marcus is learning to shoot and Dallas is teaching him.
04:40And Dermott goes, hey, man, what if I whisper in his ear?
04:43And then I walk behind his back and then whisper the rest of it.
04:46I was like, yeah, I just got goosebumps thinking about it, Dermott, because it was such a beautiful moment.
04:51I hadn't thought of it, but it was so beautiful.
04:54There's a game on the set.
04:55Those are sometimes the best things, you know, that get added to something.
05:00But it's only because of what you already had that that came about.
05:03We knew we were sort of messing with his subconscious even in some ways in those moments.
05:09So in that end shot, I'll reflect on it again, because one of my main goals was to not do what every cowboy actor always does, which is just spur your horse and don't, don't, don't, don't.
05:22And off you go because, of course, it's fun to run a horse.
05:25You don't get to do it very often.
05:27But that one, I wanted to walk, and then I wanted to trot, and then I wanted to run.
05:34So you left it all on camera there, William.
05:37I really appreciate that.
05:38It means a lot.
05:39Yeah.
05:40And in that last piece, Dermott, I mean, he's riding away and he slaps either your leg or the horse, you know?
05:48Yeah.
05:49And I was like, that's so cool.
05:51You know, but it's those little tiny moments.
05:53We haven't been able to compare notes, so forgive us for that, Tim.
05:58No, that's cool. That was cool.
06:00How much we care and how much we put into the movie and how much of it just came at the location and with our instincts and all that.
06:08And you feel that in Long Shadows, for sure.
06:11What did you do in Tucson?
06:13And why are you dressed like that?
06:15Before you know me, I didn't hear what you were thinking.
06:18I took a job playing the piano in a kitchen.
06:22A kitchen?
06:25A kitchen?
06:26What did you think about?
06:29In the music conservatory.
06:32That's a dream.
06:35At least I have one.
06:40Do you know how many nights of insomnia I've had?
06:47I didn't know if I was alive or dead.
06:50And my last question.
06:51And Dermot, we've talked about this before, too, I think, for a couple of different movies, but Sundance movie.
06:56But William, I want you to reflect on this.
06:58The aspect, there's such a, with Dollar's character, but also with your character, Dermot, there's, and even with the Mexican girl, there's a brutality to the intimacy.
07:11But there's also an intimacy in the brutality, especially with the way Dollar goes about his journey, if you will.
07:18Could you talk about that and talk about, you know, that sort of metaphor?
07:23You know, because it's something in the Old West that you get these quiet moments that, you know, basically you're like, this is what we live for.
07:30No, but I always say that, you know, I love Westerns.
07:34I've done a lot of them.
07:35It was such a brutal time, but it was such a beautiful time.
07:39It was such an evil time, but it was such a good time.
07:43And those tactile things, we don't, you know, you're relying on communication.
07:47You're relying on your hands and your horses and your guns and your relationship and family.
07:53So all those, those beautiful elements of that, you know, late 1880s in America, that's why the Western genre is so incredible.
08:01It didn't happen anywhere else on earth.
08:03Right?
08:04No, I couldn't add to either of that other than to say that, the, is it R.T. Ritano or do I have it slightly off?
08:12Yeah, A.J. Ritano.
08:14That's right.
08:15I had the wrong initials.
08:16Yeah, yeah.
08:17Wonderful cinematographer who captured this great location.
08:20But I would add the interiors have so much of that texture you're talking about and so lushly designed.
08:27The color schemes and the lighting in there, the camera work, just makes this movie so rich to watch and encapsulates all that you say in those visuals.
08:36What that gang did to him?
08:38No, don't!
08:39No!
08:40He was fighting demons.
08:41They all fighting demons, wasn't he?
08:43I saw the man and killed my pa.
08:45How can you be so sure?
08:46I'll never forget his face.
08:48Calling the man out ain't a halfway game.
08:51You gonna teach him how to draw?
08:54It's kill or be killed.
09:01We're asking for the grave.
09:03I told you to find them.
09:05I hope I will see you again.
09:07Marcus Taller must and will stand trial for murder.
09:10The aspect when you play the camera.
09:12See westerns you tend to play it.
09:14All actors tend to play a little differently where you're aware of the camera.
09:18But blocking is different.
09:20And the way you interact with the camera is different.
09:22Is it different in a western the way you sort of play to the horse to the blocking?
09:27Or is it normal?
09:29I would jump in and say yes certainly when you're dealing with livestock and some of that stuff.
09:33We have a long walk in the saddle.
09:34But even spinning around on a horse, you know, that's a really collaborative moment on a film set.
09:43Of course, we're so safe around the animals.
09:46But it does come down to a moment where if a camera catches you because you don't know quite where you're going to be when you're in motion like that.
09:53Boy, did they catch a great shot in that opening, that bank robbery of Deadeye Garrett.
10:03So thanks for that one too.
10:05I'm trying to steer you clear from winding up like me.
10:12The more you take, the more it haunts you.
10:16Good and evil walk hand in hand.
10:22In the end, goodness must lead the way.
10:33The more you take, the more you take outside, the more...
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