INDIE FEST PUTS EYE ON JT LEROY
Neva Chonin
Sunday, January 30, 2005

For writer JT LeRoy, bringing the painful story of his life to the screen was part catharsis, part social mission.

"I like to comfort myself to think that there is a destiny, that it isn't just luck that I wasn't killed or didn't kill myself," he says over the phone from his San Francisco apartment. "You survive, and it's your job to tell the story of those who didn't."

Survival forms the core of the film based on LeRoy's autobiographical book, "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things," which opens the seventh annual San Francisco Independent Film Festival on Thursday at the Castro Theatre. Under the auspices of director-star Asia Argento, the movie faithfully reflects the episodic, hallucinatory nature of a traumatized child's memories, while portraying life's horrors with an unflinchingly realistic eye.

Like its source book, "The Heart is Deceitful" follows LeRoy's child protagonist-avatar, Jeremiah, as he's yanked from a stable foster home and submerged in the lunatic world of his drug-addled mother, Sarah (played by Argento). Sexual and psychological abuse ensue at the hands of an eclectic cast that includes Peter Fonda, Winona Ryder, Michael Pitt and rocker Marilyn Manson.

To say that "The Heart Is Deceitful" has received mixed reviews is an understatement: Critics at the Cannes and Toronto film festivals were polarized on the film's merits, and audience members fled from its grueling scenes of abuse. LeRoy is disappointed by the reactions, but not surprised.

"It's a hard f -- book and a hard f -- movie," he says. "I read 'Sarah' (LeRoy's 2000 debut novel about working as a gender-muddled, truck-stop child prostitute) for a year after I published it. I couldn't touch 'The Heart is Deceitful.' "

After watching the completed film in a theater for the first time, LeRoy retreated to a bathroom and wept. "It was like Sarah directed this movie," says LeRoy, who famously avoids being photographed. "I felt like I was in a test tube after the screenings, answering people's questions. It was painful. But Asia was like a kung-fu master. She handled the most f -- up questions with grace and humor; she didn't let them in. She's tough."

Argento, known primarily for her role in the Vin Diesel movie "XXX" and her lineage as the daughter of Italian horror auteur Dario Argento, has needed all her toughness in defending her adaptation of LeRoy's second novel. Reviewers have reviled her nonlinear narrative and criticized the film's dearth of sympathetic characters. More than a few dismissed her portrayal of the manic Sarah as a Courtney Love retread.

LeRoy figures many of these critics are hobbled by generational bias. "When 'A Clockwork Orange' came out, people just couldn't get it," he says. "I think it's the same with Asia and this movie. Julianne Moore played a '50s repressed-mom archetype in 'The Hours' and 'Far From Heaven,' and people didn't look at her and say, 'Oh, she's being Sylvia Plath.' Then there were the '60s and '70s liberated-mom archetypes. And now there's my generation: My mom was a punk rocker and took drugs. They're seeing a new archetype, and it freaks them out."

Argento encouraged LeRoy to participate in making the film, from selecting costumes to scouting sets to casting. At times the process proved difficult for a 24-year-old still coming to terms with his history. He recalls, "We were filming at a truck stop, and to get to the bathroom I had to walk across this huge empty lot. I hadn't been in a truck stop since I worked at one over 10 years ago. I was crossing, and I was flashing back, and I felt like I was in my past, because it looked the same and it felt the same. So the only way I could get to my present was to walk toward the lights where they were filming my past -- in the present. It was like being in a mirror in a mirror in a mirror."

Promoting "The Heart Is Deceitful" is only one of LeRoy's projects. He's developing the critically acclaimed "Sarah" into a film, and recently published the novella "Harold's End," about a junkie street kid's misadventures with his pet snail, luminously illustrated by Australian artist Cherry Hood. (A 6 p.m. reading of "Harold's End," featuring a lineup of local celebrities, precedes Thursday's screening of "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things," at A Different Light Bookstore, 489 Castro St.) LeRoy is also planning a children's book and a third novel and writing lyrics for his surprisingly effervescent pop-rock band, Thistle LLC.

"When I tell people I have a band, they just laugh," he says, "because writer bands -- there's not exactly a great track record, you know?"

This week, though, his heart belongs to Argento and her confounding, elegiac film. "I think it's such an important movie because this s -- is real for a lot of people," he says. "It's hard to ask people to have empathy for a child abuser or a bad mother. The film tries to show why Sarah is the way she is."

It's also an opportunity for LeRoy to understand his tumultuous past and the improbability of his own survival. He thinks a sense of destiny -- whether reflected in text or on celluloid -- might have something to do with it. "No matter how bad it got," he recalls, "there was something inside me that recognized the cavalry was coming."

SEVENTH ANNUAL SAN FRANCISCO INDIE FEST.

Thursday through Feb. 15. . General tickets $9; matinees $7. Opening Night Gala tickets are $20 and include a 7:30 p.m. screening of “The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things.” Tickets and discount festival passes are available at www.sfindie.com and from Naked Eye Video, 607 Haight St., San Francisco. (415) 820-3907.

While many have tried to tackle the idea that “growing up is hell” few have been as daring, effective or brutal as Asia Argento’s second feature film “The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things”. Based upon the autobiographical short stories of J.T. LeRoy, Argento presents an uncompromising view of one boy being thrust into a world he (or anyone else for that matter) does not belong.

At the age of seven Jeremiah (Jimmy Bennett) is taken from his foster home and returned to the care of his mother Sarah (Asia Argento). Pining for the love of his foster parents, Jeremiah runs away from his new home only to end up at a police station. As he waits to be picked up the officers give him some ice cream; that this will be the kindest gesture given to Jeremiah throughout the film says volumes. As Sarah bounces from vile boyfriend to vile boyfriend Jeremiah is repeatedly abused both physically and mentally by his mother and whatever significant other is with her at the time. After Sarah skips out on Jeremiah, leaving him with pedophile Emerson (Jeremy Renner), Jeremiah is found and placed in the custody of his overly religious grandparents (Peter Fonda and “Flash Gordon’s” Ornella Muti). Several years pass and as the older Jeremiah (played both by Dylan and Cole Sprouse) begins to accept his harsh, sterile home life he is kidnapped by his mother and her new boyfriend Kenny (Matt Schulze). That Jeremiah’s life only gets worse from here is an understatement as he and his mother spiral further and further downward in society.

While this film might sound virtually unwatchable it is in fact one of the best movies this year. In order to understand the success of “THIDAAT” it is important to realize what it is not. This is by no stretch of the imagination a Lifetime original movie type of film, the events are depicted openly and in such a way to provide maximum impact. This is not, however, to say the film is overtly graphic. In a story filled with beatings, psychological abuse, pedophilia and drug use, very little is shown and the most disturbing material is implied using effective directional flair as provided by Argento. Having been dressed as a girl by his mother because she always wanted one, Jeremiah begins to lose sight of his own needs and wants and begins to mirror the behavior of Sarah. He seduces her boyfriend Jackson (a down to earth Marilyn Manson) not because of his own feelings but because having studied his mothers self-destructive behavior he believes this is how adults act. The seduction is played out by first showing Jeremiah in drag, pantomiming his mother’s actions and then shifting to Argento playing the role, thus taking the child away and showing the representation of what he wishes to become. By having the scene play out between the confused Jackson and Argento, playing the fantasy version of Jeremiah, Argento as a director manages to make the scene fascinating and not as off putting as it would play out with the child in the same role. This is not to take away from the disgusting nature of the action, only to make it presentable to the audience in an engaging manner.

A film such as this, which is more of a character study of Jeremiah and Sarah than a plot driven film, hinges on the acting and the players rise to the occasion. Whereas the all the young actors portraying Jeremiah do a fantastic job reacting to the horrors around them, it is Argento who steals the show. Sarah is a junkie, a prostitute and has no idea how to take care of a child. When at one point she tenderly holds Jeremiah close and tells him that he’s all she has, the audience is saddened to realize that this statement is true. However despite these extreme flaws in Sarah’s character the key to this performance is that it is so understated. There is no grandstanding, no wire hangers speeches ala “Mommie Dearest”. In her own way Sarah does love Jeremiah but the scary part is her love is nowhere near good enough for him. In a scene late in the film, strung out and exhausted Sarah collapses on a lawn and Jeremiah throws his arms around her, telling her he’ll protect her. While appearing emotionally exhausted Sarah kisses him and seems to accept his comfort. This vision is both tender and terrifying. While it is a momentary connection between mother and son, we the audience know that Sarah will not reform and in the very next scene she is verbally berating him once more. Sarah and Jeremiah have a symbiotic relationship that is anything but healthy yet it is all either of them have.

Argento and her many boyfriends are villains of the highest order but are also all three dimensional characters. Human frailty is on display throughout this film with all the adults suffering from various cases of jealousy, anger, ignorance and most of all weakness. These are not demons with horns and pitchforks that torture Jeremiah but weak adults who are too stupid or lazy to resist their own base urges. This does not account for their behavior, they should all be held accountable for their terrible actions but at the same time the audience can see that these monsters are all too human.

Finally the direction of Argento must be commended because while a level of flair is apparent it never overwhelms the film. Expanding on the potential shown in her first feature “Scarlet Diva”, Argento demonstrates the directional maturity that is vital to this material succeeding. Events such as Jeremiah’s vision of grotesque red birds when he feels pain, his use of coal along with his imagination to substitute for toys and the seduction of Jackson are all handled with the right amount of style and pathos. Asia Argento also allows quiet moments to seep in, such as when given some money to get something to eat Jeremiah mixes together his cereal with jelly, sugar and ketchup: A mishmash of the niceties he has been denied for so long.

Suffice to say “The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things” is not a film for everyone. If you are squeamish about children being placed in danger then do not see this film. While much less graphically violent then a film such as “Irreversible” the ideas and situations are indeed horrifying. If, however, you are willing to take a dark ride you will be rewarded. Despite the suffering there is a level of hope. This is not a fictional grindhouse film, it’s a true story and Argento rises to the task both as actress and director in telling the painful account in an honest, engaging manner. J.T. LeRoy wrote as a form of catharsis and this film is a testament to his survival.

TORONTO -- Looking to become a bastion of heavyweight, star-filled indie cinema, the Toronto International Film Festival unveiled Tuesday a 328-film lineup that includes 100 world premieres and 81 North American premieres.

Among the 20 high-profile films to receive red-carpet treatment at Roy Thomson Hall are Mike Barker's "A Good Woman," a Beyond Films comedy about Americans in Italy that stars Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson, and Kevin Spacey's second film, Lions Gate Films' "Beyond the Sea," in which Spacey stars as Bobby Darin.

Elsewhere, the festival is hosting the world premiere of Oliver Hirschbiegel's "Downfall," a German thriller about Adolf Hitler's final hours that stars Bruno Ganz, and a matinee gala for John Stephenson's "Five Children and It," a kids' tale that stars Kenneth Branagh and Tara Fitzgerald.

Also receiving a world premiere in Toronto are Bille August's "Return to Sender," which stars Kelly Preston and Aidan Quinn; Jean-Paul Salome's "Arsene Lupin," an adventure tale starring Romain Duris, Kristin Scott Thomas and Eva Green; and Mick Davis' "Modigliani," a biopic about the celebrated painter starring Andy Garcia.

Toronto also has booked gala Canadian premieres for Carlo Mazzacurati's "An Italian Romance," a period drama that stars Stefano Accorsi and Maya Sansa; Walter Salles' "The Motorcycle Diaries," which bowed at this year's Festival de Cannes; and Richard Eyre's "Stage Beauty," which stars Billy Crudup and Claire Danes and comes from Lions Gate Films.

Festival co-director Noah Cowan hailed the Toronto lineup as rivaling any festival slate worldwide. "We have huge confidence in the strength of our lineup," he said. "As usual, Toronto stands shoulder to shoulder with the best festivals around the world."

Elsewhere, Toronto has booked two films by Iran's Abbas Kiarostami, "10 on Ten" and "Five"; Benoit Jacquot's "A Tout de Suite"; Pedro Almodovar's "Bad Education"; Agnes Varda's "Cinevardaphoto"; and "Eros," an anthology of films about eroticism from Wong Kar-Wai, Steven Soderbergh and Michelangelo Antonioni.

Paul Cox's "Human Touch" will make an appearance, as will Wim Wenders' "Land of Plenty," Korean director Im Kwon-Taek's "Low Life," Volker Schlondorff's "The Ninth Day" and the latest film from Jean-Luc Godard, "Notre Musique."

Other highlights include world premieres for Chazz Palminteri's "Noel," John Sayles' "Silver City," Paul Haggis' "Crash," John Waters' "A Dirty Shame," Lodge Kerrigan's "Keane" and Dylan Kidd's "P.S." as well as North American premieres for Todd Soldonz's "Palindromes," Roger Michell's "Enduring Love," Charles Dance's "Ladies in Lavender" and Johnnie To's "Throwdown."

The Visions sidebar will spotlight Michael Winterbottom's "9 Songs," Catherine Breillat's "Anatomie de L'enfer," Philippine director Lav Diaz's "Evolution of a Filipino Family," Asia Argento's "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things" and Jonathan Caouette's Sundance hit "Tarnation."

The Contemporary World Cinema program this year features 58 features from 37 countries, including the North American premiere of Gregg Araki's "Mysterious Skin" and the Canadian premiere of Nicole Kassell's "The Woodsman," which stars Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.

Other CWC titles include Shane Meadows' "Dead Man's Shoes," Carlos Sorin's "Bombon -- El Perro," Frederic Fonteyne's "La Femme de Gilles" and a host of French films, including Ziad Doueiri's "Lila Dit Ca," Robert Guediguian's "Mon Pere est Ingenieur" and the Isabelle Huppert starrer "Ma Mere," from Christophe Honore.

On the documentary front, Toronto has programmed Antoine Fuqua's "Lightning in a Bottle," a film about the lead-up to a historic Radio City Music Hall concert; and Mark S. Wexler's "Tell Them Who You Are," a film about the director's father, veteran cinematographer Haskell Wexler, featuring interviews with Julia Roberts, Martin Sheen, Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda.

In all, Toronto will unspool 253 features and 75 shorts this year. Of that total, 207 features, or 82%, will have their world, international or North American premieres; 68 directors will show off feature film debuts; and 146 features, or 58%, will screen in languages other than English.

On the industry side, Toronto has programmed sessions with Sydney Pollack, Terry Gilliam, Araki, Lukas Moodysson, Bruce La Bruce and Solondz.

And new this year is Talent Lab, an intense three-day program giving 21 emerging Canadian filmmakers a chance to learn from industry veterans Gus Van Sant, Patricia Rozema, Bingham Ray and Michael Ondaatje.

Other Talent Lab guests include Spacey, Guy Maddin, Amos Gitai, Peter Mettler, Caouette, Anne Coates, Dede Allen, Christopher Doyle, Mary Jane Skalski, Roger Frappier, Doueiri and Ted Hope.

Toronto's sales office, the backbone of its unofficial film market, has already registered 650 companies, organizers said, including 37 new distribution and sales companies from as far afield as Japan, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Venezuela.

The festival opens Sept. 9 with the premiere of Istvan Szabo's "Being Julia" and closes Sept. 18 with the Martin Short starrer "Jiminy Glick in Lalawood."

You can read the line up here.

LeRoy spent his early years as a hustler and transvestite child prostitute, and his astounding career has been built on a foundation of writing about his experiences on the street.