What's Your Story
One of the things about movies is they don't happen fast -- they take a long time. Shooting "Two Weeks" took the better part of two months. The post production (putting it all together) took 10. But getting the cast and financing together to pay for it took over a year. And writing it took 6 months. So what's that...almost 3 years of my life? Sounds about right.
One of the most interesting things about spending three years on one project is that you have a pretty good idea from the early on how people will react to the finished film which, if you do it right, is a better, more fully realized, deeper version of the screenplay.
The reaction to this film from the beginning has been this: People want to tell their stories.
After one screening in Seattle, I heard about the woman who didn't really know her brother until she spent his last 7 days by his bedside, when he was dying of aids. The woman whose sisters-in-law descended on her mother's house while she was dying and made off with the antiques. The man whose mother refused to talk to him about the fact that she was dying-but knew, and left him 15 pages of notes on how to live. Some funny stories, some sad, some with lessons, some horrifyingly pointless. But all of them very personal and fascinating.
At the Hamptons Film Festival last month, a woman in the audience said that she had never talked about what happened when her brother died, and she was amazed at how similar “Two Weeks” was to what happened to her. Others in the audience agreed.
It turns out that end of life is something that happens to everyone. And lots of people want to talk about it—but it’s such a private and scary subject, they think they’re the only ones.
It’s been great for me to find out that we’ve created a film about an experience common to many, many people. And it’s been great, I think, for people who’ve been through it to realize they’re not alone.
What's your story?
One of the most interesting things about spending three years on one project is that you have a pretty good idea from the early on how people will react to the finished film which, if you do it right, is a better, more fully realized, deeper version of the screenplay.
The reaction to this film from the beginning has been this: People want to tell their stories.
After one screening in Seattle, I heard about the woman who didn't really know her brother until she spent his last 7 days by his bedside, when he was dying of aids. The woman whose sisters-in-law descended on her mother's house while she was dying and made off with the antiques. The man whose mother refused to talk to him about the fact that she was dying-but knew, and left him 15 pages of notes on how to live. Some funny stories, some sad, some with lessons, some horrifyingly pointless. But all of them very personal and fascinating.
At the Hamptons Film Festival last month, a woman in the audience said that she had never talked about what happened when her brother died, and she was amazed at how similar “Two Weeks” was to what happened to her. Others in the audience agreed.
It turns out that end of life is something that happens to everyone. And lots of people want to talk about it—but it’s such a private and scary subject, they think they’re the only ones.
It’s been great for me to find out that we’ve created a film about an experience common to many, many people. And it’s been great, I think, for people who’ve been through it to realize they’re not alone.
What's your story?
4 Comments:
This movie is similar to what my family is going through. My dad is currently in the final stage of Leukemia...I wish he was as coherent as Sally Fields character.
When we leave the hospital my sisters and I, if the elevator is empty, will jump just as it goes down. It's kind of a way to release and laugh...temporary freedom.
I am counting down the days this movie comes out, and taking a family trip to the movies.
Steve,
Americans are afraid of the subject of death. Rarely will people prepare early such as making a Living Will (what you want done for you should something happen and you can't make those decisions for yourself such as: being intubated and put on a ventilator; getting blood transfusions; being resuscitated using cardiopulmonary resusucitation (CPR) or an AED (automatic defibrillator), cardiac medications to revive you; do you want life support, dialysis and for how long? People should do this and can change it easily or revoke it but it should be done starting at adulthood. No one is invincible, nor is anyone sure what lies ahead for them. Making a Living Will and for that matter a regular Will (leaving your baseball cards or some treasure or something from your estate that you don't realize you have) is important AND does not mean you are giving up, setting up a self-fulfilling phrophecy or are morbid, it means you are realistic that stuff happens when you least expect it.
Your film may jump start some conversations about death, dying and life. Hope it does!
I'm so happy to have heard about this movie. I'm writing a book about my mom's last twenty-four days. It was an amazing time for me spiritually and with the family. But it probably didn't look that glamorous on the outside. My mom was as tight-lipped about feelings when she was dying as when she was living. But for me, I experienced a lot of love and light, along with a lot of tears and sorrows. It was a huge gift to go through that precious experience. I encourage everyone to embrace it, don't back away--it's a once in a lifetime when your precious mother's life is at its end. Mary
By chance I saw this movie at Blockbuster. My mother died almost 7 years ago suddenly. She had been sick for years but you could not tell by looking at her. I had sworn I would take care of her as long as she needed. She had told me over and over again she would not let that happen. The night I got the call she had died put me in a state of shock because she had been fine when I had seen her hours before. I even had a message on my answering machine she had left a short time before she died. I have to say thank you for this film because I was finally able to cry for my mother. We were best friends with a clear line she was still my mother and tried to tell me what to do. It is hard to know which way is better to die, suddenly without having the chance to say goodbye or having to time to say goodbye. The only regret I have is not spending more time just sitting and talking. She never stopped and that made it hard to finish conversations. I learned very young you should always tell the people you care about you love them before you hang up the phone or leave, it may be the last time you see them. As my mother always said, "give your roses to someone when they are alive because once they are gone it is too late."
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