The David Whiting Story (Trailer)
A genre-defying surreal black comedy which combines actual documentary interviews; staged portrayals of larger-than-life figures Ayn Rand, Mike Wallace, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb and others; telephone interviews and aged newspaper clippings; and the proverbial Google search -- all in an effort to solve several lifelong mysteries: who was David Whiting? (who died mysteriously in an Arizona motel during a Hollywood film shoot), and what was the mythic so-called "Cesar Romero joke"? (which all of the film maker's classmates still remember as being utterly hilarious but which nobody can recall what the joke actually was.)
How did David Whiting die? What led to a tragic phone call in which a father and mother wished their son dead? And why did a friendship with a legendary film critic inexplicably end so horribly? Imagine the classic film Rashomon (which deals with memory and truth) on steroids: a movie about love, betrayal, film history and memory, which playfully challenges your own memory of what you have already seen.
How did David Whiting die? What led to a tragic phone call in which a father and mother wished their son dead? And why did a friendship with a legendary film critic inexplicably end so horribly? Imagine the classic film Rashomon (which deals with memory and truth) on steroids: a movie about love, betrayal, film history and memory, which playfully challenges your own memory of what you have already seen.
"A fascinating cultural collage mixing documentary, fiction, speculation, and repetition in which a supposed suicide during production of a Hollywood movie is surrounded in mystery and connected to Henry James' The Wings of the Dove in a manner remindful of the best of George Landow and Michael Snow." - David Ehrenstein
The film works by accumulation, interruption, mirroring and juxtaposition of a wide variety of situations and materials: staged performance, improvisation, candide reaction, re-creation, "found" footage, phone conversations, photos and film archives. The result: a furious collage, where pacing, attention to details and celebrating actor performances were paramount.
Starring: Woolsey Ackerman, Ashley Morey, Zachary J. Luna, Moronai Kanekoa, Albion Sabani, C. Stephen Foster, Gina Lalli, C. Jerry Kutner, Marcelo Coronado.
And with: Genie Dillard, Paul Miller, John Rosso, Eric Sherman, Wonza Williamson, and Buster the cat.
Written & Directed by Walter Reuben
Produced by Walter Reuben and Andrew Sachs
Associate producers, Woolsey Ackerman, Sean Butay, C. Jerry Kutner
Original Music by Daniel Ring
Cinematography by Andrew Sachs
Film Editing by François Maurin
Assistant Editor, Sean Butay
Sound Mixer, Johnny Karlsson
First Assistant Camera, Matt Kelly
Additional Photograph, Greg Mefferd
Chief lighting Technician, Seva Shybkou
Set lighting Technician, Drew Valenti
87min.