Coupled with his stringent examination of his own work, awards season burns Durkin out. I saw that there was not a lot of peace involved in that. My life was quite tumultuous. And I saw that perhaps a steadier life would be more successful regardless of financial outcome. All those people made a big impact on me, but they were more of the daily life things as opposed to an idea of success.
Pulling great performances out of actors is one of his strong suits which he accomplishes simply by creating a comfortable atmosphere on set. He wants it to be a safe, fun place for everyone, and he misses working with a hundred people every day.
It comes as no surprise, then, that casting plays a crucial role in his films. He tells me about one of his mentors, casting director Susan Shopmaker, who collaborated with Nancy Meyers on The Holiday , a film Durkin watches every holiday season. Durkin was working with Shopmaker at the time of filming, and Meyers came to New York to meet with the legendary Eli Wallach.
They all met on the Upper West Side, and Durkin was told to bring his camera. I saw people around me chasing an idea of success, which is very much what The Nest is about. And Nancy tells me to videotape him and the apartment behind his back.
A director he admires, one of his favorites, just did something that he would never do. The story is an interesting look into Durkin as a director, as a writer, and as a person. His last decade has been one of constant change, disappointment, and excitement, with a level of unexaggerated rebirth and reexamination. Watching The Nest, one feels hurtled toward some imminent conclusion that in any other, less thoughtful narrative, would include unspeakable violence or tragedy.
All the signs are there. And yet that violence does not come. He will steal from his friend. He will lie unabashedly before those who know the better truth. Such naked improbity makes the character extremely painful to watch and understand at times.
And yet, there is no repellant quality to it. When I see or read something judgmental, I shut off. As The Nest unfolds, the family reacts differently to their situation. Sam acts out by sneaking cigarettes and inviting raucous local kids over to trash the place. Benjamin is horrified by the expansive, cavernous space, its endless series of rooms, most of them dusty and long since vacated. The home represents something different to each of them, as does thehorse Rory buys for Allison, which she struggles to tame.
The horse centers her in a way the house does not and cannot while also representing uncertainty. A way of making a living. Is the intimacy of family life inherently full of abject terror? The films that made the biggest impact on me were films with an inherent tension to them.
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