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Back in
the Game
Tony Kaye’s
last feature
was 2011’s
“Detachment.”
Eric Kohn
Indie Eye
Staging a Comeback,
Demons Controlled
Director Tony Kaye is back at work with a new tale
of American outrage, ‘Stranger Than the Wheel’
Tony Kaye is preparing for another
comeback. Almost 20 years
after his angry debut, “American
History X,” the notoriously
difficult British-born filmmaker,
63, is making headway on an ambitious,
self-financed movie called “Stranger Than
the Wheel.”
Studios may have written him off years
ago as a flustered eccentric, but Kaye
remains a rare breed — an outlaw artist
working through one hurdle after another,
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beaten but not broken, and always ready
to rise again. While virtually every American
studio movie reflects some kind of
compromise, truly unfiltered creative
visions are rare.
At a time when we could use more committed
independents like Kaye, we don’t
hear from him nearly enough. That’s about
to change, and while his characteristic
brashness is still evident, he says he has
learned a bit of restraint.
“We’ve all got demons inside of us,” he
tells me from his home in Los Angeles.
“I’ve gotten rid of mine — or got them
under control.”
Kaye’s reputation was made with “American
History X.” Reviews of the skinhead
drama were good, but his clashes with the
studio and star Edward Norton dominated
headlines. It took nearly a decade to complete
his next feature, the acclaimed abortion
documentary “Lake of Fire.” His third
effort, “Blackwater Transit,” fell apart when
production company THINKfilm collapsed
into bankruptcy.
Then came the 2011 Adrien Brody vehicle
“Detachment,” which was marred by
mixed reviews and more disagreements
with financiers.
“Listen, Tony is a visionary,” says Kaye’s
producer, Raymond Makrovich. “You either
understand that and accept him for that, or
you shouldn’t be dealing with him.”
Kaye has delivered achingly real portraits
of America’s fractured communities,
from the aggressive racists of his debut film
to the feuding radicals on both sides of the
abortion debate in “Lake of Fire” and the
furious teachers struggling to fix the broken
public-school system in “Detachment.” His
new film is set to arrive in the wake of an
election steeped in a uniquely American
kind of outrage — even when he’s not telling
overtly political stories, Kaye’s filmmaking
speaks to the zeitgeist.
“There are some people who don’t really
fit into the Hollywood structure,” says Piers
Handling, CEO and director of the Toronto
International Film Festival, who met Kaye
nearly 20 years ago. “Tony’s one of those
guys. He’s a renegade, an outsider — not
unlike Orson Welles.”
“Stranger Than the Wheel,” written by
Joe Vinciguerra, is the story of a young
man who struggles to reconnect with his
estranged father. “It’s a kind of serial drama
about isolation, alienation, and alcoholism,”
Kaye says. Even if the director hadn’t lost his
father recently, he would identify with the
character’s alienated state.
Last fall, Kaye announced on Facebook
that Shia Labeouf was attached to
star as the young lead in “Stranger Than
the Wheel,” the fancifully named Faunce
Bartelby. Labeouf has since left the project,
replaced by Evan Ross (“The Hunger
Games”).
Kaye has been shooting test footage, and
production is expected to get underway
later this summer. Kaye’s goal is to get the
picture finished in time for the fall festival
circuit. Impossible? Maybe not for someone
so committed to making movies exactly the
way he wants.
“I’ve got something marvelous here,” he
tells me of his new project. “Don’t worry: I
want it to be a hit.”
Eric Kohn is the New York-based deputy editor and
chief film critic at IndieWire. He also manages the
CriticWire Network of professional film critics.
JUNE 14, 2016 VARIETY.COM
30
Lifelines
Born
Alex Liakos Keim, publicity
manager at Disney
Channel, and Mike Keim, director
of guest services at the
Chamberlain West Hollywood,
welcomed a son, Rory
Alexander (right), May 21
at Cedars Sinai.
Chris McLaughlin, director
of publicity and social media
at Warner Bros. Television,
and Kaylie McLaughlin welcomed
a son, Tyler Vinh
McLaughlin, May 19 at
Providence Saint John’s
Health Center in Santa Monica,
Calif.
Kris Tapley, awards editor of
Variety, and April Marie Tapley,
a graphic designer, welcomed
a son, Foster Wayne, June 2
at Glendale Adventist.
Wed
Seana Diemer and Stephen
Iwanyk were married May
28 at the Four Seasons Los
Angeles. The bride is a creative
executive at Grey Matter
Prods. The groom is a producer
at Tongal.
KAYE: PICTURE PERFECT/SHUTTERSTOCK