When Nora Kirkpatrick set out the story of two couples who head to a remote retreat for New Year’s and find that they don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye on their relationships for “A Tree Fell in the Woods,” she knew it needed to be set in the cold.
“We went to Utah because they still had snow in May and June when we shot and we needed as much snow as we could get,” Kirkpatrick recalls. “By the end of it, we were putting it in trucks from the top of the mountain and driving it back down to our location.”
For Debs (Alexandra Daddario) and Mitch (Josh Gad), two longtime friends, and their respective significant others Josh (Daveed Diggs) and Melanie (Ashley Park), it can feel as if the snow just keeps piling up outside the cabin they share as a bout of infidelity sparks fierce debate about what kind of commitment they have to each other, but while the road closures force everyone to remain where they are, it’s the compassion that Kirkpatrick in her feature directorial debut brings into the house as she sees where everyone stands amidst careers that haven’t gone as planned, old flames that may never have quite died out and never fully becoming the person they thought they’d be for someone else that keeps things warm enough to want to stay.
As resolutions are spoken aloud as part of the holiday tradition, the writer/director observes what’s unlikely to change when the quartet is holding so much back, all coming into the night appreciative of the security they have with their partner, but second thoughts about the person they’re actually with, which Kirkpatrick is keen to clarify can have as much to do about how they feel about themself as them. With such a versatile cast that can move fluidly between comedy and drama, the film elegantly waltzes around a host of rough spots in their relationships in the times when they aren’t literally partaking in dance breaks to honor the seasonal festivities and while they might not always be forthcoming about what their issues actually are with one another, the writer/director finds creative ways to express how the world around them can often take shape around how they’re feeling as florid wallpaper and the occasional apparition floats across the frame.
While Debs, Mitch, Josh and Melanie all feel trapped in a box, Kirkpatrick is shown to always think outside of it, perhaps working on her first feature but clearly investing experience from a host of other creative endeavors from being an early member of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes to getting her start in acting to craft such a lively drama. On the eve of the premiere of “A Tree Fell in the Woods” at the Tribeca Festival, the filmmaker spoke about how she found her calling, what led her into the forest for this particular story and working with such a talented ensemble and letting them show off a different side of themselves.
How’d this come about?
Well, that period of time where we all had a lot of time on our hands a few years ago? I wrote a movie. And I wanted to write something that was makeable because I had directed a lot of TV and a lot of commercials, but I had never directed a feature and I was aware it would be better to keep it a little bit more contained if I was going to try to get financing. I’ve had this story in my head for a long time about the complexities of long-term relationships and true love and how intricate that can be, so I thought this was a great set-up to show how complicated all that is and do it all in one location.
I wanted to represent four very different emotional types, and it was really cool in casting because I left all the character descriptions very open, so it was really about who the person was going to be to inhabit this. But I wanted them all to have very different viewpoints on relationships, what the purpose of them is and how they function in one’s life because I feel like one’s viewpoint of the purpose of a relationship really determines the kind of relationships that you have, how long they last, what they are for and what they mean to you. Then when I was writing it, I felt like I was arguing with myself in that I agree with all of them and disagree with all of them at the same time. It was really fun for me to figure out my feelings about these things through writing how these people felt about it. I love when I can get a good scene with two people with completely opposite viewpoints on the same thing and really let them talk it out, and I feel like we got a lot of great moments like that in this one.
What was it actually like getting the actors in the room for the first time for this?
I was so honored to work with this cast and they are such incredible actors. Most of them have been on Broadway and knew how to handle this level of dialogue because some of the scenes are 10 pages long. But we did a table read and they just brought such a humanity to all these people. I actually ended up adjusting several of the characters – Daveed’s character a lot, because he’s so kind and charming and he brought so much more humanity to that role than I think was initially written, so it inspired me to write these other elements to it that he pulled off so beautifully. But that happened with everybody. They really took it by the horns, and they were so fun. We were having too much fun for the subject matter of the movie.
Were you looking to cast a little bit against type? It was nice seeing Alexandria Daddario do comedy and Josh Gad doing something more dramatic.
I love that too, and I think one of the reasons they were excited to do it is because each of them was getting to show something that perhaps is not what they’ve been known for historically, but I knew in casting each of them that they are deeply capable of both comedy and drama. That’s a really special talent to have as an actor because they can bring out the nature of any type of scene. Ashley Park, who is so funny, got to do these very heartfelt moments, and I feel like they all got to do all the sides, and they just nailed it. I was so happy every day with what they were doing and if we had had any more shoot days, which we had very few, I would have just kept going.
Was there anything that happened you might not have expected but ended up in the film and you really liked it?
There was some lovely stuff when Josh is like dancing with the lamp that we ended up continuing on and shooting that more than I was planning to. There was actually so much more dancing that didn’t end up in the movie, but that was just so fun to make. I didn’t add anything else because we were all so short on time, but I feel like they had moments in every scene where I was surprised and trusted them so inherently because they just really sunk into each character.
You’ve described a production designer as your main collaborator on a set – and you can tell from how well-appointed these rooms in the house are with ornate wallpaper. What was it like to work on?
I have to give an enormous thank you and props to Liam Moore, who was our production designer, because on a very tight budget, he redid the entire space. Every wall was not the wall that’s in that house and not only did he redo it, but because in the script it had said, “This house has not been updated since the ‘70s,” he found wallpaper and curtains from the ‘70s on eBay, so the house smelled like the ’70s. Anytime I would get close to the wall, I was smelling it. He did an incredible job.
You have several scenes as well where characters are in separate rooms, talking to one another and I imagine those had to be filmed separately, but they have a real rhythm to them – is it difficult to keep the energy up and consistent?
There’s a really intense sequence that’s upstairs and downstairs where I’m intercutting between these two things and we did them back to back [during the shoot]. So the first day was all Alex and Daveed, but we shot their whole sequence in one day and then the second day was all upstairs with Ashley and Josh, and we shot that all in one day. So I was guiding them on what the other scenes had felt like and we’re matching tone, but it seemed to work pretty well and then in the edit, we could really fine tune exactly when we’re cutting in between to make that feel on par.
There’s a very light use of special effects that creates a slightly fantastical element that’s really lovely once the characters really start to open up to one another. Was that always a part of this?
It was always noted in the script, “Basically this section’s going to get weird.” But it wasn’t until about five or six months before we shot that I was like, “Okay, now it’s time for me to decide what that is.” And I sat down and I really notated the whole thing out. There were actually more moments that have ended up being cut, but I wanted it all to feel like magic realism, but in a way where it feels like maybe you just looked at it wrong, or maybe your eyes got a little blurry in that moment, but there’s this actual magical thing happening, but it’s not like so magical that their entire world has just shifted. It’s just that they’re having this evening where magic is present, and we don’t even particularly know the source of the magic, but all of these elements together have produced this other thought. When I’ve experienced magical moments in my life, I’m not getting struck by lightning. They’re small moments of magic that you remember forever, so I wanted it to feel like that.
What’s it like to start sharing this with audiences?
I’m so excited to get to show it to people and I’m thrilled to get to show it in New York. This is my first time premiering a film that I directed at a film festival that’s a feature and I love Tribeca and I’m excited to meet the other filmmakers. I’m going to try to go to every screening because I just want to hear where people laugh and where they gasp.
When you’ve had a bunch of artistic pursuits, was directing always the goal?
I’m so obsessed with directing, and it’s interesting that when I grew up, I didn’t, and this is my own fault, but I didn’t know that this was going to be available to me. I grew up in Iowa. I just like didn’t even know that that was an option. So when I got out to California, I started as an actor, but I was always sitting with the directors and I became so deeply interested in it. It’s what I wanted to do and I just had to figure out a way where that was going to be feasible, so that came through writing. Then the first time I got to do it, I just went home and I felt like the happiest kid I could ever. I felt like the happiest version of myself. And I just thought whatever I can do to get to do this as much as I can in my life, I’m going to aim at that, so it is my very favorite thing and a thing that you can never learn too much about. I really love it.
“A Tree Fell in the Woods” will screen at the Tribeca Festival at the SVA Theatre on June 8th at 2 pm and the Village East on June 9th at 5:15 pm, June 10th at 2 pm and June 13th at 8:30 pm.