February 12, 2012

Deborah Kampmeier Stirs the Pot with Hounddog

by Mallory Potosky | Published September 18, 2008

(Page 2)

MM: You mentioned “poisoning of the spirit,” which brings me to a question about all of the snakes in the movie. Robin Wright Penn’s character is bitten, but Dakota Fanning’s character is able to live among them. Does it have something to do with the resilience of spirit?

DF: Exactly. Charles talks about snake medicine people, which is what Lewellen is, and that their initiation comes from getting and living through many snake bites: Poisons of the body, poisons of the mind, poisons of the heart, poisons of the spirits. They are able to turn these bites, these poisons that can kill you, into something powerful and good. That’s what Lewellen does and that’s the lesson of the film—you have to take those things that can poison you and turn them into something positive for yourself. I think Lewellen is bitten metaphorically, not literally, but she also goes through a transformation from the snake bite, where she is able to embrace herself. As Charles says, she’s able to put her arms around herself since her mother never could.

I think the church has done to snakes what it has done to female sexuality, which is make them evil and dangerous. But in other cultures and religions, the snake has a very different meaning, especially in female-based traditions. It’s a very sacred animal and it holds a very sacred energy. So that’s the snake that I’m bringing into this film, not the Judaic-Christian or Freudian snake.

MM: In the South, in the 1950s, there was certainly this other movement for freedom going on. Obviously this is a movie about this girl’s freedom but why did you choose to set it in this time? Did it have something to do with the Civil Rights movement, or was it significant in other ways?

DF: I set it then because I wanted it to be Elvis’ music she was obsessed with and I wanted it to be the blues that led her to a truer voice. Elvis had this huge financial success with “Hound Dog” and this woman, Big Mama Thornton, who originated the song and went to number one with it, died in poverty. I grew up in the South and it’s a world that’s very mythic in my imagination. That period worked but I also like the mythology of the Elvis story. Black people have survived centuries of collected trauma. Black music is the absolute embodiment of expressing sorrow and rage in an attempt to tell a story, and be healed by the telling of it. I think there’s an identification between Charles and Lewellen in terms of the repression of their spirits. Growing up in the South, I know people keep talking about the cliché of it, but there really is that kind of relationship that happens [there].

MM: Were you always interested in casting Dakota Fanning?

DF: No, you know, I wrote this film before she was born. (laughs)

MM: But after you saw her? She’s known for being this peppy little doll with blonde hair.

DF: I wasn’t sure. I had been trying to make the film for so many years and then someone said, “What about Dakota Fanning? Can we give her the script?” I said, ‘Yeah if you want, but there’s no way we’ll be able to get her.’ And I sent the script off, forgot about it and continued trying to get the money. It’s been 12 years in the making so it’s just been a continual process. Two months later, I flew out to meet her and the moment I met her, I knew she was perfect. I knew she could do it, I knew she had the depth to do it. There was a connection she and I both shared. We understood each other on a deep level. She’s young, but she understood. She and I loved Lewellen. I think [Dakota’s] gift, because she’s so talented, is the depth of her presence. I felt that the moment I met her. We took each other by the hand and we walked into this world together; we went through it together and didn’t let go until we got out the other side. It was an extraordinary experience.

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Comment by Henri on 12/31/08 at 2:18 pm: Hi,are you Donna I met in Nice several years ago, friend of Lisbeth MacGrath..? maybe...so finaly you are in movies action, but did you realize your own movie ?
best rgds and please enjoy times coming. Henri
Comment by tim habeger on 10/01/10 at 9:28 pm: this is a real film from a real person. too bad that doesn’t seem connect to critics. wonder why?
Comment by صور on 12/21/10 at 3:03 pm: thank you very much
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Comment by صور on 12/21/10 at 3:04 pm: thank you very much
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