After three back-to-back “Halloween” movies and another stint in horror with “The Exorcist: Believer,” David Gordon Green was ready to take a break from the genre and return to his heartfelt roots for “Nutcrackers,” starring Ben Stiller and Linda Cardellini. The film follows Stiller’s character abruptly having to take care of his sister’s four boys after a terrible accident.
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“This movie is a lot of things,” Green told IndieWire on the Toronto International Film Festival premiere red carpet. “It’s a comedy, it’s a drama, it’s a horror movie. But for me, it’s a reason to dance, you know, I just wanted to start moving, move my body a little bit, and get out to the farm and kick some pig shit.”
Stiller returns to the screen in his first leading role in over six years. “We’ve been talking about working together for years,” Green said of getting the actor on board. “And so this one just came up really quick and just thought it was the right time for both of us just kind of looking for a little bit of a palate cleanser, [we] wanted to let loose, and make a movie kind of in the shadows.”
This is a sentiment the director really cherishes, especially given his rise to fame as an indie director with the likes of “George Washington” and “All the Real Girls.” “Nobody knew what we’re doing,” he continued of “Nutcrackers.” “Nobody was looking at us, literally. We had a tripod and a 35 millimeter camera and a boom mic. And that was our movie. It was a really small crew and, and just a magical experience of just as I say, just kind of letting loose.”
From an acting standpoint, Green appeared as himself in “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” in 2022. But later that same year, he took on a small, but crucial role for a particular director: Luca Guadagnino. “The idea of experiencing playing a character, particularly in the concept of [‘Bones and All’] — obviously it’s a very small role — but for me, it’s kind of a monumental moment,” he told IndieWire in October 2022.
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At the TIFF premiere for “Nutcrackers,” he reflects on his relationship with the ‘Queer’ director. “The whole reason I’m here tonight is because of Luca, because that movie inspired me to reconnect with my college friend Carrie [Janson], who, these are her four kids. We got together that same weekend when I was out there for ‘Bones and All.’ We go way back. We challenge each other and have a great time working together and spitballing ideas of what’s next together. I always learn from him, but it was cool being on [that] set. And in fact, that set was just down the road from where the Janson brothers live.”
“I learned a very different process than mine, but I like that,” Green reflected of his time working with Guadagnino. “He keeps a very active life with a camera on a tripod and I think that’s really impressive to watch the trust he has with actors. His passion as a filmmaker, it’s just contagious.”
In Kate Erbland’s review for the film, she writes that it “is somehow a classic Green offering and another swerve in a career built on them. But fans of his work, stretching all the way back to his debut ‘George Washington,’ will find plenty of hallmarks here of both his earliest films and his recent studio features. Mostly, it’s refreshing to see Green doing whatever he likes, combining some of his favorite elements (talented kids, keen comedic timing, a country setting, and a genuine warmth that’s hard to fake) to make a new film that feels as good for his soul as the audience’s.”
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