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In this darkly hilarious new film, we follow Binew through his somewhat mental existence as his friend and poet Mills Joquin chronicles his final day on earth. Binew is so completely off the sanity charts that his last romps offer up incredible laughs to audiences who enjoy mocking pompous, narcissistic know-it-alls who are really below the reality average. Great scenes with Hot Pockets comic and Conan O’Brien favorite Jim Gaffigan, this is definitely a film for those who like to watch people in a world more than slightly askew. (I’ve already pegged this as a Christmas buy for one of my friends.)

Q: What was your first thought when you read this script?

A: Laugh… Chuckle…Laugh… smurfin! How are we going to get this going.  It NEEDS to be made, but it’s going to be impossible to convince industry people to buy into it…

Q: What was it about this script that you knew you just had to direct it?

A: I knew it was perfect for me and me for it immediately.  I saw this storybook world unfolding around me that was everything I loved.  Life, Death, laughter, sadness… it pretty much had it all and was told in the most original way.  I love thinking outside of the traditional box and The Living Wake exists completely outside of that box.

Q: The movie is hilarious. What were some of the funniest moments off screen?

A: -In rehearsal when Stephen Brian Jones, the Farmer, figured out how he was going to laugh at his duck and then Jesse Eisenburg decided to mimic him.  That moment is hysterical in the film, but when it first just sort of happened, man we all just about lost it.

-Jesse trying to learn how to drive that rickshaw.  Then trying to pull Mike O’Connell around in it.  To his credit, he was a pro by the end of the shoot.

Q: What ended up on the cutting room floor that you wish could have stayed in the final product?

A: There are really a number of great scenes that we had to cut.  The first one that pops in my head is the Landlord scene. Michael Mandel was so amazing and larger than life, but he just couldn’t fit in because of other edits around it that had to be made.  He had probably the funniest line in the movie when he tells a dead K. Roth that he was going to try to stop being a landlord and go back to school to become a dental assistant.

Q: How much of what ended up on screen was planned and how much was impromptu?

A: I would say that about 98% of everything was planned to a “T”.  We really thought everything out well and tried to implement it into the shoot exactly that way.  The most improvising that took place was in the rehearsals where we really played with the physicality of the characters and let the actors’ breath some of their own life into them.

Q: Is it difficult to take a funny script like this and translate it successfully to the big screen?

A: Making any movie is very difficult and I think it is an incredible accomplishment.  Taking a script to the screen is all about visualizing what you want and having a solid grasp on the world you are creating.  From there it’s about being able to vocalize that vision to your cast & crew.  And of course getting the Cast & Crew that has the ability to understand, appreciate and make that vision come to life.  Working with other creative and passionate people is my favorite part of filmmaking.  If you trust your team than the film can only come out better than you could have ever imagined.

Q: How long did it take to wrap The Living Wake?

A: Well, from the first time I read the script to our world premiere at Cinevegas was about four years.  The first two years were spent developing the script and beginning the search for financing. The third year was deciding to make it for what ever we could find and just doing it. And the last year was all of our postproduction elements.

Q: Do you ever worry that people won’t find this movie funny?

A: I don’t think I ever worry about people not finding it funny.  I believe in the film completely and think it is so funny that if perchance someone doesn’t find it funny it’s to bad for them because they are really missing out on a good time.

Q: K. Roth Binew is larger than life – and more than a little mental. Is it hard to bring a character like this to life on screen?

A: Mike O’Connell… That is all I need to say there.  He is larger than life himself and just totally and completely lived his character from beginning to end. For me it was more about making sure he had all of the elements he needed in place to feel comfortable enough to just let it flow.  He is a truly special comedian.

Q: When you step back and think about this film, what is the one thing that sticks out to you?

A: Family.  We really have formed The Living Wake Family throughout this project.  Each and every person that has been involved with the film in any way has added to what we are doing.  The positive energy and genuine love for the film and for each other is something that just doesn’t happen very often.  This was an amazing project for us all and I think everyone will always look back at this as one of our favorite experiences in life.

Q: What are projects are you working on next?

A: I just produced Mark Webber’s directorial debut film “Explicit Ills” starring Rosario Dawson, Naomie Harris, Paul Dano, Tariq Trotter, Lou Taylor Pucci and Executive produced by Jim Jarmusch. 

Directing wise, I have a couple of projects in line. “Kick The Can”, which was adapted from the best selling book of the same name by Jim Lehrer. “Youkali”, which I co-wrote with my wife Rebecca Comerford, has recently been completed and I am looking forward to trying to get it made in the next year or so.

The Living Wake

USA, 2007, 91 min, HDCAM

DIR: Sol Tryon
SCR: Mike O’Connell, Peter Kline
PROD: Ami Ankin, Chadwick Clough, Peter Kline, Mike O’Connell, Sol Tryon
EXEC PROD: Robert Bethge, Charlie Corwin, Justin Leitstein, Clara Markowicz
DP: Scott Miller
ED: Joe Klotz
PROD DES: Michael Grasley
MUS: Carter Little, Mike O’Connell
CAST: Mike O’Connell, Jesse Eisenberg, Jim Gaffigan, Ann Dowd, Eddie Pepitone

Mike O’Connell’s story of a quixotic character living in a small country town is the kind of comedy that clasps you to its bosom … and reeks slightly of gin. It’s the final day in the life of self-proclaimed artist and genius K. Roth Binew (played by O’Connell), the town drunk, fool and, more valuably, dreamer. Binew manages to elevate his drab and somewhat pitiful existence into a fascinating personal mythology, and for his final day enlists his best friend, the unrecognized poet and biographer Mills Joquin, to chronicle his final hours. As the eccentric duo depart on this fateful day—Joquin driving Binew around town on a bicycle-powered rickshaw—Binew hands out invitations to his final party, a living wake, where he will do a short performance. As Joquin, the devoted boy servant who is only of slight help in keeping Binew’s feet on the ground, Jesse Eisenberg delivers the same sort of charming, low-key performance he did in THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, while everything else in the film takes on a sweet but mythic quality. O’Connell acts with confidence, making his comedy look easy, and turning a would-be cult film into one with breakout potential.

Screening Times:

Friday, November 9th 9:15pm
ArcLight Theatre 14

Saturday, November 10th 1:00pm
ArcLight Theatre 13

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