HIFF
A scene from "Children of Heaven," above, is featured
in HIFF's Spring Film Fest lineup.
Director Lee found focus
By Tim Ryan
in island living
Star-BulletinSTRANGE at how small, insignificant things can drastically alter people's lives. While attending New York University studying international business, Toronto-born Benson Lee would have coffee each morning in a nearby cafe. Stressed out by city life and struggling with courses he hated, he often browsed through the picture book "A Day in the Life of Hawaii," fantasizing about living a more peaceful existence.
"I was so burned out," said Lee, 28, in a telephone interview from McGee's Irish Pub in mid-town Manhattan. "I would use that book everyday to escape; then one day I said, 'What the hell.' " "What the hell" meant moving to Hawaii where he enrolled in the University of Hawaii's Summer Session, followed by a semester at Kapiolani Community College. It was at KCC where Lee decided to become a filmmaker.
His directorial debut, "Miss Monday," will be featured Saturday at Hawai'i Theatre as part of the Hawaii International Film Festival's Spring Film Fest.
Lee made his first film at KCC, a documentary on computer-assisted learning. It's also where he began dating Keiko Takahashi, a food caterer who ended up being "Miss Monday's" executive producer.
"I got my feet wet in Hawaii," Lee said. "It's where I could take time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life."
Lee joined the UH Student Video and Filmmaker Association and made several "guerilla videos." Then one course short of graduation, he left for Paris with "a girl."
Next on the itinerary was London where Lee wrote and filmed "Miss Monday." The film's music also has a Hawaii connection: it was written by Oahu-raised Woody Pak.
"He's the only person in New York who I can speak pidgin too," said Lee, who took the time to answer more questions about "Miss Monday":
What inspired the story for "Miss Monday"?
Part came from when I worked in a sandwich shop in London's financial district, also known as "the city." I was fascinated by the code of conduct that existed in this environment because it was all very new to me.
On the surface, everyone seemed to dress, talk and act the same. There didn't seem to be room for individuality, however. I knew it didn't represent who these people were behind their corporate facades.
My co-writer, Richard Morel, and I were fascinated by the type of stories and experiences that hid beneath the surface. So we created two characters, Roman, a struggling screenwriter trying to develop his main character from a world he knew nothing about, a character we could personally relate to, and Gloria, the corporate type, whom we wanted to explore.
You were an American filmmaker shooting in England? Do you consider "Miss Monday" to be an American film or an English film?
I'd like to believe it is a bit of both. I wanted to see if I could fuse my American sensibility of filmmaking with an English sense of drama.
I tried to make the best from both worlds. In America we're used to seeing English movies that are either period pieces or movies about class conflict. I was influenced by these themes, but I wanted to make a contemporary film in which the characters were the driving force behind the story.
Besides, I had always dreamed of making a film in Europe, and London was going through an amazing revolution in their independent film scene. I wanted to be part of this while I was there.
How would you describe the visual style of "Miss Monday"?
This is a film about a screenwriter's journey out of his cliche-ridden imagination into a more gritty, palpable reality.
In the beginning of the film I use certain visual ideas to illustrate Roman's dilemma of not being able to picture his own character. But as his character evolves the visual style becomes more subjective.
It was important for me that the audience share Roman's point of view as a voyeur. I wanted them to be emotionally involved with Roman's quest so that they can empathize with his revelation about his character and himself.
What's next for you?
I have three screenplays in development that are very different from "Miss Monday" and each other. One is the biography of a very famous singer. The other is a story that deals with a racing subculture in New York City. I'm not ready to talk about the last one, but I will say it's a film that every woman will want to see and every man should see.
