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'The Whale' is a Heartwarming Delight: Q&A with Filmmaker Suzanne Chisholm
(Photo: Luna seeking some friendship in Nootka Sound. 'The Whale' has its US premiere Sept. 9 at SIFF Cinema)
Summer in Seattle usually means at least one long weekend trip to the San Juan Islands. People tend to hop among the islands, visit the shops, eat at the various restaurants and basically just try and settle into `island time'.
But not to be overlooked is one of the more popular activities around the Islands: whale watching. Sea sickness aside, whale watching is an incredible opportunity to catch a glimpse of the majestic orca as they go about their daily lives in the Sound.
Now that summer is over, a new film The Whale, which has its US premiere tonight in Seattle, is the perfect way to extend the whale watching season.
The San Juan's boasts three pods of orcas whales as residents - an embarrassment of riches really. And while they hang out in Puget Sound during the summer months these beautiful creatures take off for their own vacation during the winter months traveling as far south as Monterey, CA or north toward Alaska.
In 2001, a young orca named Luna lost contact with his pod and wandered north toward the remote west coast of Vancouver Island. The Whale follows Luna on his precarious journey away from his life blood and support. As the film's narrator puts it: It was like a child lost in the supermarket. He was wandering up an aisle, turned around, and his family was gone.
We quickly learn that orcas are surprisingly similar to us when it comes to social interaction. They crave it, they need it. And more importantly they depend on the network of their family throughout their entire lives.
When Luna finds himself separated from his family there is only one thing that he could do. In the words of Crosby, Stills and Nash: if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.
And in the case of Luna that meant making friends with the residents and visitors of Nootka Sound.
There's no doubt that Luna is an incredibly likable fellow. He captures the hearts of the people and is soon nestling up to boats and the docks playfully interacting with anyone willing to spend some time with him. And there are plenty who are willing.
But there are also others who are not so certain human interaction is in Luna's best interest.
The Whale follows Luna's journey as he searches for ways to create that missing familial bond.
But it also shines a light on our predisposed notions of who we are and how we connect with other lives that share the planet.
You'll run the gamut of emotions while watching The Whale. But ultimately this heartwarming film is one you will not soon forget.
Filmmakers Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit were in town to promote their film. I had the chance to chat with filmmaker Suzanne Chisholm the morning of the films' US premiere. Here's an excerpt from our conversation.
How did you become involved in the making of `The Whale'?
It started out as a magazine article for Smithsonian. We both went out there thinking that this would be a simple magazine story. But it turned into years and years and years of covering it just because there so many twists and turns. We started making the film in the spring of 2004 and just finished it this year. Obviously making a film takes a lot longer than a magazine article.
Did you encounter any resistance from the residents or government officials when making this film?
We were actually in Nootka Sound area filming for two years. Certainly there was a lot of controversy and disagreement over what should be done about Luna.
Many of the people who live in Gold River and Nootka Sound saw that it was impossible to keep Luna away from people. They got to know him pretty quickly and it was clear that being such a social creature he wouldn't stay away.
Basically this is a very complicated story - with not really any bad guy but a lot of good guys trying to figure out the right thing to do.
People should certainly recognize the narrator of your film. Tell us how Ryan Reynolds became involved.
We wanted to bring The Whale to the big screen in the United States and it's essentially much easier, when you have a film on a smaller scale like ours, to have someone well known attached to it. We were cautious about that because in our book Luna is the narrator. He's the most important character here.
We ended up showing a version to Ryan Reynolds and he loved it. He said, let me see what I can do to help - and he eventually agreed to narrate the film. He does a great job and we were grateful to have his input.
Who actually named Luna?
Every year, Friday Harbor has a naming contest for Orcas. When they are born they are given a scientific designation. In this case, before Luna was given a name, he was assigned L-98 which is for the L pod and his birth order.
For the naming contest there was a little girl from Bellingham who wrote in and said that orcas explore the sea the way the moon explores the earth - so they should be called Luna. The name stuck.
What does it mean to you to be having your US premiere in Seattle?
It's so exciting to be having the premiere basically in Luna's backyard.
In the end this film is about emotion. We don't have any particular agenda in what we hope people will do [as a result of seeing the film]. But we just hope that they recognize how amazing this whole experience was for people to learn about these orcas and about animal consciousness and the efforts of one species to reach out to another.
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The Whale has its US premiere Friday, September 9 at SIFF Cinema. It opens in NY September 23. For additional information on the film and for showtimes visit SIFF Cinema.
Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.
By Michael Nank in Arts & Events on September 9, 2011 1:30 PM 1
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