SXSW 2011: Interview with Aaron Rottinghaus, Director of 'Apart'

Aaron Rottinghaus's romantic thriller, "Apart" had its world premiere at SXSW 2011. Inspired by actual case studies of the very rare, but very real psychotic condition of ICD (Induced Delusional Disorder), "Apart" is "Romeo & Juliet" meets "Momento."

The condition arises when two individuals who share a deep emotional connection, usually through a traumatic experience, will have shared hallucinations. This Texas based production boasts arresting performances in Josh Danziger's debut and Olesya Rulin. It also features the talents of Joey Lauren Adams. The film's powerful cinematic representation of emotional distress was a force to be taken in awe.

When Josh Danziger came to you with the idea for "Apart", did you have any hesitations?

Not especially. I had been trying to find a backbone for a script about star-crossed lovers and nothing was sticking. When Josh came to me and told me about Induced Delusional Disorder and we did some research regarding that condition, I found that it dovetailed nicely with the themes I wanted to explore.

These characters don't trust anyone, was this something you noticed in the case studies?

Yes. There is a deep level of paranoia involved in these cases and I found that they would often end with the two people suffering from the disorder feeling like the world was against them. They end up isolating themselves, which is when the trouble starts. When we were finishing up the film, the whole Randy & Evi Quaid story hit and they were diagnosed with the same condition as Noah & Emily in the film. It was another example of this strange paranoid tragedy that the sufferers of the disorder built for themselves.

The film is about the deep connection torn apart between Noah and Emily, did you do anything on set to get a certain performance from Olesya Rulin and Josh Danziger? Or did Olesya and Josh do anything as actors to develop a bond?

I just made them hang out as much as possible. I think I told Josh at one point that if he wasn't on set, he needed to be with Olesya, doing regular kid stuff: going to the mall, going to grab a quick bite to eat, those kinds of things. The first day she was down in Texas the three of us went and rehearsed away from everyone else. Then we bounced around town, took pictures and just talked about everyday things, not about the film. I tried to keep it as light as possible for as long as possible, so that when it came time to film the tough emotional scenes that had to deal with loss, they would be able to find that in themselves about each other. And luckily Josh and Olesya became fast friends and I know that they opened up a lot to each other during the brief time they had together. By the end of production, they were very good at being the support for each other.

The film uses chilling editing and sound design to create a visceral experience of mental and emotional spaces. This is difficult to do; what did you keep in mind when creating the conveyance of emotions?

When shooting and then in the editing process, I wanted to find those beats where we could hold on a shot and let the characters live in the moment for as long as we could. Let them be as emotionally honest as possible; let's see them think, see them deal with their sense of guilt and grief. I wanted to really take advantage of those moments. What you have to keep in mind when attempting to have these drawn out emotional beats is that there is a big difference between being poignant and being boring. So it becomes a lot about gauging reaction, showing the film to people and seeing if the emotions you intended are coming across or if you are just holding on a shot too long and boring an audience to tears. And you know, you have to be wary of the times where you can go crazy with the editing, because that creates a wildly different emotional response, but you have to make sure that the scenes where this is occurring don't feel like they were flown in from another movie. As far as sound, I just wanted to be as organic as possible. I asked Peter Lago, our sound designer, to use conventional sounds that were part of these characters' surroundings and as things unravel, warp them as much as you can. He was able to get into the heads of these characters and imagine how they would hear things during their delusional spells. Again, you want to be as honest as possible. Is this a sound that these people might actually hear or is it something that plays as just sound design.

Director Danny Boyle noted Nicolas Roeg's "Don't Look Now" as a benchmark of visceral cinema, which you also note as an influence. What is about that film that really gets in your head?

It's the way that the film deals with loss. It's an honest look at a couple fighting their way through an emotional tragedy. It's not all that concerned with being a horror movie. Yes, it's a thriller and at the end it IS thrilling, but it takes it's time and draws you into a story about an ordinary couple dealing with their grief. A lot of films tend to forget to do that or are more concerned with just being cool or just being scary. If you care about the characters, if you can tie yourself personally to a film; the thrills become much easier and you are more willing to pay attention. "Don't Look Now" does a great job of making you care about the characters and the story; you have so much invested in them. At the same time it has a kind of hazy visual sense that is almost benign. It lures you in that way and then flips everything on its ear as the story goes along. There is a strange calm to a number of the visuals and you don't realize until the end that you are looking at something malevolent. The film's use of motifs, something as simple as the color red, was very instrumental in the creation of our film.

Is there anything on your plate now that we should be keeping an eye out for?

I want the next thing to be a film that isn't so emotionally draining. I've got a heist script that a friend and I have written that I'm really excited about, a chance to do a 180 from Apart, a kind of throwback to those great 60s & 70s crime films. I love those films, they have this gritty quality that you don't find a lot of today. I'd love to do that and shoot it on film before film goes the way of the dodo.