PARK CITY, UTAH – Producer Christine Vachon is a golden film goddess and by keeping track of her, one keeps track of the indie film work AND break-out film hits and stars. She (and Ted Hope) sat down to interview Elizabeth Olsen (sister of the infamous Olsen twins). She stars in TWO Sundance films (she has, in fact, only been in three films in her entire career — this gal is white hot). The films are MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE and SILENT HOUSE. It’s a wonderful interview with Sundance veterans and a Sundance newbie.
MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE Detail
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Sean Durkin U.S.A., 2011, 110 min.
Haunted by painful memories and suffering from increasing anxiety, Martha escapes an abusive cult and returns home to live with her older sister, Lucy, and Lucy’s husband, Ted. With no other family to lean on, Martha tries desperately to assimilate into Ted and Lucy’s upper-middle-class lifestyle. But nightmares of the cult that brainwashed her into living
as Marcy May prevent her from connecting with the only people who may be able to save her. As Martha’s isolation grows, her severe paranoia escalates. Ultimately, she descends into a dizzying state of panic as the growing fear that she is being hunted grips her every move.
Giving a breakout performance as Martha (Marcy May), Elizabeth Olsen, sister of the famous Olsen twins, exhibits a depth of character reminiscent of a young Maggie Gyllenhaal. A stunning follow-up to his short Mary Last Seen, a 2010 Cannes award-winner, writer/director Sean Durkin’s chilling first feature puts him on the map as a filmmaker to watch.
ExP: Ted Hope, Matt Palmieri, Alexander Schepsman, Saemi Kim, Saerom Kim Pr: Josh Mond, Antonio Campos, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach CoP: Andrew Corkin Ci: Jody Lee Lipes Ed: Zac Stuart-Pontier PrD: Chad Keith Principal Cast: Elizabeth Olsen, Brady Corbet, Hugh Dancy, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson
SILENT HOUSE Detail (which was added late to the festival) Filmmakers Chris Kentis and Laura Lau return to the Sundance Film Festival with their latest feature, Silent House, which will have its world premiere in the out-of-competition Park City at Midnight section.
Following OPEN WATER, which screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, filmmaking duo Chris Kentis and Laura Lau once again confront the face of fear in this enthralling psychological thriller. Impressively captured with a continuous camera shot, SILENT HOUSE tracks the growing panic of its enigmatic lead, Elizabeth Olsen, who’s trapped in an unnerving nightmare. Never ones to be limited by a challenging production, Kentis and Lau mastermind a truly unique horror experience with immediate intimacy and unsettling terror.
Directors: Chris Kentis & Laura Lau; Screenwriter: Laura Lau – A hauntingly choreographed descent into madness based on the Uruguayan film La Casa Muda. Cast: Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Julia Taylor Ross, Haley Murphy, Adam Barnett. World Premiere
