We had the pleasure to be invited to Stockholm International Film festival and the screening of the movie Wildcat, where Ethan Hawke directs his own daughter Maya Hawke. Ethan and Maya Hawke attended the screening in person and sat for some Q&A. Ethan said:

The movie business sometimes brings out the best in people and the worst in people and it is important to keep the kid in you, that readiness to perform on the spot, sing and dance, and do what you want.

Well, Ethan certainly has kept the child in him throughout his career, through Dead Poet’s Society, Reality Bites, Great Expectations, Before Sunrise, Gattaca, writing books and directing. The actor received the Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award and even shared that he would be probably shooting a movie in Stockholm next year. Maya Hawke was asked for an advice from a budding actor about what is important when you are trying to get your first roles. Maya’s advice was:

Go to auditions but also create your own projects, get together with friends, make the films that you like.

 

Photo: Stockholm Film Festival

As for the film Wildcat, I have to say I was rather disappointed. For someone who has never heard about the American writer Flannery O’Connor the movie did not offer enough of an introduction in the beginning. You are thrown right into a rather confusing scene with a car and a gun pointed at your or someone’s head.

As you continue watching, you do start to understand more of what is going on and appreciate the scene transitions between Flannery’s fictional stories and her own life. These transitions were skillfully done and the surreal feeling was very well represented. However, the film misses its potential for a masterpiece exactly because the average movie goer will not understand it without the soft introduction into the life of Flannery O’Conner.

 

Photo: IMDB

As for the acting: Maya Hawke is rather unconvincing in the beginning of the movie. Although the appearance – the wig, the make up, the clothes and the dentures do bring Maya closer to how Flannery O’Connor looked in real life, the dentures prevented us from hearing what the actress was actually saying. The Southern drawl did not help that understanding either. I would have to say that all the other actors: Laura Linney, Steven Zahn and Rafael Casal, played their roles much better. I would give this film 6 out of 10 stars. If you do go see the movie, make sure you read a lot of facts about Flannery O’Conner before that.