Writer/director Hannah Fidell has been a blossoming indie filmmaker, one that strives on the politics of relationships, both the doomed and destined to succeed. Her breakout A Teacher is a stirring look at the idea of the coupling of a teacher and student in high school. This time around, Fidell has 5 Years, out now on VOD and Netflix, a look at first-love that is threatened by the realities of careerdom and what it means to follow a dream when marriage isn’t immediately on the horizon. The relationship drama swirls around the lives of Mel (Taissa Farmiga) and Dan (Ben Rosenfield), twentysomethings on the verge of finding their footing in life amidst also realizing that first love may not be forever.
After the premiere earlier this year at SXSW I had a chance to sit down with Fidell, Farmiga, and Rosenfield to have a loose and entertaining conversation. I went in without a script and we really had fun digging into the nuance of the film. We specifically touch on what it means to have a film that represents a female in the relationship that is physically abusive and we hear from Farmiga about the character’s reasons for that. We also talk about the role of drinking and even regret and how those play out as themes in the film. Additionally, we touch on the realities of having to move and travel around the country and how that affects their personal lives. Check out out below.
The Film Stage: There have been a number of relationship dramas built around the whole transition from school to work. People build up a bond over time and suddenly someone has the opportunity to further their career in another place. It’s certainly been popular in the indie film market lately. But did you set out to undermine the traditional relationship drama a bit or did you intend to just nail the story beats you wanted really well?
Hannah Fidell: Well, I certainly wanted to subvert a traditional love story. The genesis of the film was that I was asked to do a young adult relationship drama and this is my take on that. So I wanted to do something relatable — everyone has a first love — but different.
One thing I was struck by was how physical Taissa is in the film. You don’t see a lot of these films where it becomes physical when they fight and argue from the female side. Talk a bit about letting go. This isn’t a fight scene like in The Final Girls. This is someone you love but you’re angry with them.
Taissa Farmiga: Yeah, maybe in film and TV we haven’t seen that the female is the abuser. But in real life it happens. Sometimes people laugh it off life, “Well, he’s a guy. He can stand up for himself.” But there’s so many different types of abuse. Physical, emotional. It’s also dealing with being a young adult. You’re still growing up. Your brain is still developing. You’re not fully emotionally developed either. You’re coming into your own and figuring out how to deal with things. I think why Mel resorts to anger is because she doesn’t know how to communicate. It’s easy to snap and get super angry, confused, and hurt. That’s how she is dealing with all of that because she doesn’t have the maturity to realize all of that. It’s the wrong response. She feels guilty afterward but that’s her form of communication in that moment.
So, Hollywood is an epicenter for people making movies and television these days. You don’t have to necessarily shoot there lately, but certainly people move there with the intention of staying connected and close to the action and the real movers. So, with how this film relates to that have you all had to move closer to somewhere and away from people you were close to and how did you cope with that?
Farmiga: I grew up on the East coast in New Jersey and for the past couple of years I’ve been traveling all over the United States and I even had to shoot something in Spain. Yeah, it’s hard. But you find the people that can work with that. Some people need constant connection. But that’s why I try hard when I go home or get to LA. I try to reconnect with everyone. But that’s what is great about social media. You get a quick review of what has been going on with someone. Because out of sight, out of mind. But you can be reminded and call them up when you’re in town. You just have to work with it.
How about you, Ben [Rosenfield]?
Ben Rosenfield: Yeah, that’s part of what made this character accessible for me. It’s sort of the nature of being an actor. In particular you may book a job and it’s last minute and you have to travel halfway across the country for a few months. You don’t get time to prepare for that, really. Yeah, it happens but like Taissa was saying, hopefully you can find people that can accommodate that crazy lifestyle. It definitely informed the performance.
Fidell: I feel the exact same way that these two do. I’ve moved around the country quite a bit and it’s tough. Really tough. But it’s also nice to be around people that understand that you may not be fully present 100 percent of the time.
Farmiga: The other thing is that it’s great to travel and get to try new jobs and experiences and form different types of relationships with them. You get to form a quick, close bond with the crew and they become like family. Certain ones stand out and they become more involved in your life and then you go away but then you may work with them again. It’s nice to feel like you have familiarity all over the country. Like coming to Austin, I have some friends here and I let them know that even though I’m here and free even for a minute I’d love to see them and just say hi.
It’s invaluable to reconnect with people that you care about.
Farmiga and Fidell: Totally.
It is that weird two sided equation where it’s also up to them. Do they care enough to make that effort as well? So yeah, it’s always interesting. On the film again, it kind of revolves around people drinking and the things that you may regret later. That could be in the morning or just a few hours later. Where does that headspace come from? Is it just a reflection on youth? People do stupid things when they’re drunk.
Fidell: Yeah, certainly drinking and doing stupid things in college was my M.O.
[All laugh]
Fidell: It definitely stemmed from a familiar place. But yeah, that’s interesting. As you were saying that I was realizing that is an interesting parallel between the idea of regrets because Dan is stressing that he doesn’t want to have regrets and yet there is a lot of regrettable behavior throughout the film. Maybe that’s the theme of the movie? Regret. Or no regret. Or maybe just a theme but not the theme.
Rosenfield: That’s interesting. I like this movie because there isn’t necessarily a specific theme. I also think it’s a reflection of the age our characters are at. She is 21 so it’s like, “okay, we can buy booze so let’s do it.”
Well, it’s interesting because I don’t know about you guys but definitely when I was in college I probably drank more heavily when I wasn’t 21 than after. Part of that is the inaccessibility thing. You don’t know when you’ll have access to it again.
Rosenfield: Yeah, so let’s just drink all of it.
Exactly.
Farmiga: But also the regrets thing. They’re 20. They’re young adults. And like I said, emotionally they’re still growing. And then you throw in alcohol with that or drugs and that’s they’re gauge in their mind of what is going on and how to deal with it. It’s already altered. And then emotions start flying and it’s just a bad combination.
Rosenfield: I think Dan and Mel’s relationship is at an extreme. Maybe blown out of proportion because of their age and there’s something pure about first love where you aren’t jaded by other relationships. And at that time in your life things are just big; everything is big and extreme.
Farmiga: Oh my god that’s so true.
Rosenfield: It’s easy to go overboard with love, drugs, drinking, and violence and just hurting each other.
6 Years is now streaming on Netflix and available on VOD.