Q&A With Cecilia Peck

Barry Levinson

How did you find Lorenzo Carcaterra's book and what aspect of it captured your attention? Did it lend itself easily to adaptation for the screen?

I thought it did. I was able to immediately jump into it and see how it would translate. It suggested a lot of screen ideas immediately.

It was sent to me in galleys by Steve Golin at Propaganda, and I read it and immediately responded to the mat-erial. It's about so many things. It's hard to simplify. It's about the nature of friendship, about the environment that the boys come from, and systems that don't necessarily work. Those factors all made sense to me.

How long did it take you to adapt?

I write rather quickly. Three, four weeks on most things I do.

Did you make any big changes to the story?

I embellish on certain things; there are scenes that are not necessarily in the book. But primarily, it's a translation of the book.

What were the biggest challenges in bringing it to the screen?

Every movie has its challenges. Here, you have a very large cast, and you have to keep the audience interested and at the same time not confused by all of the different players in the piece. You have a subject matter that at times is difficult, and you want the audience to feel that, while at the same time you don't want to create something that they become disgusted by. So you have to find that line that elicits the emotions that you want.

All of those elements have to be thought through and sharpened how you portray certain aspects in the transition from a book to film. It has a lot of dialogue, but you don't want it to become wall-to-wall talking. So you have to create a certain visual sensibility to the piece that takes us along, that doesn't just wear us out.

How does casting actually work? Actors probably agree to work with you without even reading the screenplay.

No, the material really pulls people in. I think they felt strongly about the story. I think it was also a nice opportunity for a large ensemble cast.

Did you know exactly who you wanted for the roles?

Well, you know who you want and then you have to see which elements work. A name will pop up and you say, Well, that's an interesting idea. It's one of those things that just comes about.

How did you convince Dustin Hoffman to take on a supporting role in the film?

I know Dustin very well. I sent him the material and he responded to the character and thought we could do something with it. It's a small but pivotal role in the movie. He's such a terrific actor that he really makes that role essential to the proceedings.

Does the film project a point of view about the Catholic church or priesthood through the character played by Robert De Niro?

I think it does. You see an extremely compassionate priest who is also a street person.

He can speak their language and he has a real understanding, a very strong connection to them. I think it's very positive, yes.

What look did you and director of photography Michael Ballhaus endeavour to give to the film?

When I read the piece, I first of all wanted a realistic look, and I also wanted an interpretative look, because it is a recollection, in a way. The book is saying, this is my story and this is what happened.

It offered scope for a certain stylistic licence realistic on one hand and yet stylistic, because of the narrator. I look at the piece as three acts. The boys in Hell's Kitchen, the Wilkinson [reform school] period, and the 1981 thing. All three needed a very distinctive look to them. So we began to fashion from that point.

What do you hope this film will leave the audience with?

I think there are a lot of things you can walk away with that stay in your head. It's not about one thing, it is about many things. It is about growing up. It is about environmental influences and how we are taught. It's about the penal system and the judicial system and their flaws and shortcomings; the loss of innocence, and belief systems that are not what they're supposed to be.

There are a number of factors there, but I hate to talk about them at great length because they always sound a bit pretentious.

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