A couple weeks ago, my uncle Kevin back home in Portland sent me this article in the Portland Sentinel about native son Gus Van Sant's filming his next film, Restless (still "untitled project" according to IMDb; apparently neighborhood papers in Portland, Oregon, have better info than major, supposedly encyclopedic websites), in our former neck of the woods, North Portland. And not just anywhere in North Portland, but at Holy Redeemer School, where I went for eight years and you for three (if I remember correctly).
Knowing the transience of online information, I'll give you the lowdown in case the story's not available for long. Apparently, Gus was looking for a parking lot, and someone associated with the production, who has a kid at Holy Redeemer, suggested our alma mater. I'm sorry to say that it doesn't sound like the parking lot gets a lot of screen time, since they were only filming there one day (Veterans' Day, when it would be child-free), or which members of the cast were present. Speaking of the cast, it includes Mia Wasinkowska (from Tim Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland), Jane Adams (terrific as Joy in Todd Solondz's Happiness, one of my all-time favorite films—seriously, what does that say about me?), Chin Han (the evil Chinese businessman who gets shanghaied from Shanghai (I couldn't resist) by Batman in The Dark Knight), and Henry Hopper (Dennis's son). It's being produced by Van Sant, Ron Howard, his lovely daughter Bryce, and Hollywood über-producer Brian Grazer. Whether this means Restless will be one of Van Sant's more mainstream films, or one of his quiet, moody art-house works, remains to be seen.
Attached to the article is a video (by the looks of it, made using someone's phone) with an interview with Holy Redeemer's principal, as well as some shots of Holy Redeemer Church and the crew's trucks and equipment on Portland Boulevard (a.k.a. "Rosa Parks Way"). Obviously, I think this is pretty cool, especially since last year saw Wendy and Lucy (directed by Kelly Reichardt (Old Joy) and starring Michelle Williams), significant parts of which were filmed on Lombard Street just a few blocks down from our respective houses; in fact, my dad used to work at the store where a good deal of the film takes place, where Wendy's car is parked and she meets the security guard. Who knows, maybe before we know it the Saint Johns Bridge will be as cinematically iconic as the Brooklyn Bridge in Woody Allen's Manhattan, or the Kenton Paul Bunyan statue as memorable a landmark as the Hollywood Sign.
More on Restless in particular and the North Portland film industry in general as events merit.
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