#INTERVIEW: “THE HOLDOVERS”

By Mr. Will Wong

After winning first runner-up for TIFF ’23 People’s Choice Award, acclaimed Filmmaker Alexander Payne‘s THE HOLDOVERS soon will see a release November 10, 2023. The Film is set is set at a New England prep school where an Instructor (Paul Giamatti) is forced to stay on campus during the Holidays to care for a small number of students with nowhere else to go. He forms a bond with one in particular (Dominic Sessa) and the school’s Head Cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who just lost her son at war.

We were thrilled to be invited to a virtual press conference with some of the key figures behind THE HOLDOVERS, including Payne. Joining us were:

Production Designer: Ryan Warren Smith
Costume Designer: Wendy Chuck
Composer: Mark Orton
Editor: Kevin Tent
Writer: David Hemingson
Director: Alexander Payne

David Hemingson is asked about the inspiration behind THE HOLDOVERS which came from his mind and also one specific moment which stands out most to him.

Hemingson: “Yeah, I mean, you know, it’s kind of like I lived most of that movie and certainly the interpersonal dynamics and, you know, separate apart from the relationship between Paul and Angus, which I think is sort of one of my life experiences with my uncle.”.

“But that kind of King Rat trading at the top of the movie, that starts with the swimsuit and it’s like how much for this weed, that kind of thing.  That kind of dealing in contraband naughtiness is something that definitely resonates for me because you know, it’s part of the thrill of being young where you’re sort of trying to find yourself trying to be adult and that kind of swapping and trading and sort of undercover light misbehavior, let’s call it light misbehavior, reminds me of high school, I think the most.”.

Director Alexander Payne is asked which parts of THE HOLDOVERS in particular take him back to a time when he was in school. He insists that the Film is a period film, but is meant to be a contemporary film pretending it’s 1971.

Payne: “Not necessarily just school, but that period, maybe three things.  First is yes, like Mark Orton, Latin class.  I was four years in Latin class at an all boys Jesuit school in Omaha.  I’m still tight with my friends from Latin class, and there are some in jokes woven into those scenes that only they will get.  Second, I was nine, turning 10 in 1970 to ’71, so I was young, but I had an older brother.  I had two older brothers, one of whom was that exact same year.  He graduated Omaha Central High class of ’71, which I didn’t quite realize until later in the program. I go, ‘I’m making a film about that class.'”‘  And when you’re a much younger sibling, you live a lot vicariously through your older, you know, siblings wanting to emulate them and adopt their taste and so forth.  So I have vivid memories of that year.  And then third, the thing, again, taking it out of school is the movies of that period, because even at that age 9 and 10, I was movie crazy.”.

“And for example, Little Big Man, Arthur Penn’s Little Big Man is featured in the film.  It’s appropriate to the time and the scene in which it’s presented.  But I saw it like four times in the theater when I was nine years old. So it’s not just the school thing, but a lot of contextual things bring us all back, I think.”.

Ryan Warren is asked about the inspiration behind the Film’s unique Production Design.

Warren: “Yeah, I mean, that was a unique challenge because we had to shoot in, you know, five different schools and intertwine them together. But what we got to do and focus on, like Alexander pointed out, was to make it a little bit invisible.  We wanted it to feel natural and never take you out of the scene and always let the story be the star.  And so for us, we always just led with our feeling on that. And so we let feeling and instinct lead the way, and me and Alexander like to spend a lot of time in each of the real environments with the real people that live there and soak a lot of that in and then intertwine that into the work that we do there.”.

Costume Designer Wendy Chuck talks about some challenges of recreating looks of the ’70s.

Chuck: “There’s so many people in this movie, there’s so many clothes, half of which don’t appear on the screen.  But the volumes were just, I would look at my assistant, I’d say, we’ve got to find more clothes.  I’d go down to where the background was being fit and say, we don’t have enough clothes.  I’m sick of seeing this thing.  We can’t put that on anybody.  It doesn’t fit.  And also bodies are now very different too.  So since 1970s, we now have the advent of fast food.  People’s bodies have changed, and especially in Boston, so we don’t have like, tiny, tiny people anymore. So that in itself is something, so we were dealing with the volume.  But I want to second, Ryan and I don’t put people’s clothes on, although I have put on Jack Nicholson’s pajamas and broken them down personally.  But in this one, I want to reference an Easter egg that nobody knows.  Lydia Crane wears a heart-shaped necklace that Reese Witherspoon wore the exact same one in Election.”.

Composer Mark Orton tells us about some of the inspiriations behind the Film’s memorable Score.

Orton: “Yeah, I think, well, in terms of overall blending, I think my first job was really to make sure that nothing I was doing would betray the 1971 feel of it, or 1970 feel of it.  That for me ended up in some places that I don’t get to explore much in scoring.  You know, I’m more doing sort of orchestral stuff or Americana leaning stuff. But about a third of the score is really coming from a band place, like a band that you know, would be playing in that time period, which for me is super fun.  I guess, I have the instruments from that era.  They’re the ones that musicians like me collect old guitars from early seventies, late sixties, amplifiers too.  And I really got to stretch out and do that stuff and to kind of blend in with this fantastic, you know, source score that’s in there. Things like the Almond Brothers, or Cat Stevens, or Bad Finger.  So, that was super fun for me.  And then, on the other hand, I was also, of course, referencing some Christmas.  I upped my collection from two to something like 25 different sleigh bells, and they do find their way in here and there.”.

Focus Features and Universal Pictures Canada will release
THE HOLDOVERS In Toronto on November 3, 2023
& In Theatres Nationwide on November 10, 2023.

#FIRSTLOOK: NEW POSTER FOR “THE HOLDOVERS”

Focus Features and Universal Pictures Canada will release THE HOLDOVERS in Toronto on November 3, 2023 and & in theatres nationwide on November 10, 2023. Today we get a new poster for this TIFF ’23 selection.

Director: Alexander Payne
Writer: David Hemingson
Producers: Mark Johnson p.g.a, Bill Block, David Hemingson
Executive Producers: Andrew Golov, Thom Zadra, Chris Stinson
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, introducing Dominic Sessa
Story: From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, THE HOLDOVERS follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

(Photo/video credit: Focus Features)

#TIFF23: “THE HOLDOVERS” REVIEW

By Amanda Gilmore

Director Alexander Payne is in top form with the delightful Dramedy The Holdovers.

The Film takes place in 1970 over Christmas break at an elite boarding school in small-town Massachusetts. It follows strict Professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) who’s gifted the undesirable assignment of supervising the students unable to return home for the Christmas holidays. Resolved to have the students suffer along with him, he makes them start the next semester’s assignments. However, when only one student remains, the intelligent but belligerent Angus (Dominic Sessa), the two begin to see themselves in each other.

The Holdovers is an intimate, touching portrait of broken, lonely people connecting. Realizing they’re not alone. This is told through three central characters, Hunham, Angus and school cafeteria manager Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). Each of them outcasts and harbouring their own unique melancholy within. Screenwriter David Hemingson and Payne keep the cause of some of their pain a mystery until the end, except for Mary.

She’s just lost her only son in the war. Randolph gives a heartbreaking performance as a mother experiencing her first Christmas without her son.  Randolph’s impeccable comedic talent earnestly shines through creating authentic levity woven within the pain. It’s a successful dramatic turn that will have people knocking on her door.

Meanwhile, Hunham and Angus’s reason for despair remains hidden behind their quick wit and short tempers. Giamatti gave one of the finest performances of his career. He plays Hunham as eccentric yet stern, cruel yet empathetic. Similar to Hunham, Angus has a chip on his shoulder. In his first-ever feature role, Sessa stuns. It’s a performance of a seasoned Actor. He portrays the anguish Angus carries and his desire to be understood.

Overall, The Holdovers is a moving exploration of loneliness over the holiday season with captivating performances and a winning Soundtrack.

The Holdovers screens at TIFF ’23:

Monday, September 11 at 3 PM at Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre

Tuesday, September 12 at 12 PM at Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre

Saturday, September 16 at 6 PM at TIFF Bell Lightbox

Sunday, September 17 at 9 AM at TIFF Bell Lightbox

…

#FIRSTLOOK: “THE HOLDOVERS” TRAILER

Alexander Payne (The Descendants, Sideways) is back with THE HOLDOVERS and teams-up once again with Paul Giamatti! Today we get a brand-new Trailer.

Story:

From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, THE HOLDOVERS follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

Director: Alexander Payne
Writer: David Hemingson
Producers: Mark Johnson p.g.a, Bill Block, David Hemingson
Executive Producers: Andrew Golov, Thom Zadra, Chris Stinson
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, introducing Dominic Sessa

Focus Features and Universal Pictures Canada
will release THE HOLDOVERS
In Select NY & LA theatres on October 27, 2023
In Limited Release on November 3, 2023
& In Theatres Nationwide on November 10, 2023

(Photo/video credit: Focus Features)