A Second Opinion: Tom McCarthy interview

I had the privilege to spend some time with filmmaker Tom McCarthy, BC '88, last week - attending a screening with a talkback of his sophomore film, The Visitor (see my review on Page 8), on Tuesday night and engaging in a private interview with him on Wednesday in the Ritz-Carlton ballroom.

The Visitor, which McCarthy spent one and a half years writing and filmed in a short 28 days on location in New York City, was of particular interest. McCarthy took time out to speak about his writing process and how he developed the story for his new film. He does not recommend following his writing model, as he starts writing with only characters in mind. "Plot? Who needs that?" McCarthy said.

Speaking on how he forms characters for his scripts, McCarthy said, "I think I've always in my mind been very interested in characters that maybe just fall between the cracks a little bit and maybe aren't super extraordinary at least at first glance … I like to find the extraordinary stories in these ordinary people."

The Visitor, which paints the story of Walter Vale, a university professor who has lost the passion for his mundane career and life following the death of his longtime spouse, is no exception. The inspiration for Vale came from McCarthy's own mind. "I was really just interested in a guy that age incredibly cut off and stuck and what would happen … once you've lost your passion for your vocation. … How do you either reinvest in that or how do you reinvent yourself? … I think the older you get, I think it gets even more difficult," McCarthy said.

After finding inspiration in the Middle East, McCarthy also spent time researching for the character Tarek in black communities in the Bronx and Harlem, leading him to write a story about immigration in the post-Sept. 11 context, with Tarek being detained by authorities and taken to a detention center. While some may argue that his movie deals with the issue of immigration with a very political stance, McCarthy argues that it is "almost impossible to tell a story of people living in New York City, where I didn't deal with the topic of immigration."

McCarthy made it clear, however, that he doesn't try to answer the immigrant question for our country in his film, saying, "My job first and foremost is to tell a story." He notes, however, that it is something that our country isn't ready for, acknowledging that the majority of our citizens don't even know that these detention centers exist. He makes his stance clear on how immigrants are treated, though. "This is inhumane," he said.

A free screening of The Visitor will be held at the Arts Fest on April 25, at 8 p.m.