Stunning and viscerally reflective of reality, King Baby is one to watch at this year’s Belfast Film Festival. The surrealist dissection of patriarchy and nuanced exploration of masculinity is an interesting experience all around.
The film by Kit Redstone and Arran Shearing follows a game taken too far by two men acting as servant and king to a very desolate kingdom. As a wooden queen is introduced into the mix, the story takes a dark and insidious yet very organic turn. Their antics lead to acts of violence and eventually, their absolute ruin. Full of allegories and uncomfortably funny moments, King Baby is based on a play written by Redstone alongside actor Neil Chinneck. Chinneck also takes on the role of the servant, opposite Graham Dickson’s king. The directing duo marvels at the limitations of a small budget and they use the given parameters to firmly underline the themes explored in their piece.
King Baby is more than just a satirical look into masculinity and criticism of patriarchy as it highlights in a hauntingly clever manner, the very different forms toxic male behaviour can take. Who better to explore such a topic than Redstone and Shearing? While they both have very different perspectives, they are similar in their creative vision and passion for critiquing toxic masculinity. Redstone comes from a theatrical and performance background. On the other hand, Shearing has twenty years of experience within the film industry. He has worked on titles such as Wonder Woman 1984 and The Crown as part of the production crew. Their very different creative backgrounds and varying perspective on the male experience as a trans and cis filmmaking duo add further depth to their collaborations.
The Indiependent caught up with the two directors to talk about how King Baby first came to be, finding the right setting that perfectly encapsulates the themes of their debut feature, and which other films they are excited to see at this year’s Belfast Film Festival program.
Do you mind just giving us an introduction to this strange yet very riveting film and what people can expect when they go and see it?
Kit Redstone: The film is about two men who are playing a game of King and Servant in the ruins of a crumbling castle. They are enacting a kingdom without any subjects, and they’re playing a game which becomes so serious that it becomes their reality. Everything changes when the king desires a queen and the servant carves a mannequin out of wood and then the king marries her. From there, the power dynamics start to shift and the film starts to dissolve into paranoia, megalomania, madness, and ultimately, death. It’s a very playful allegory on the patriarchal structures that govern our world: right from the top with the world leaders, down to families and civic life.
I believe, Kit, this is based on your play with Neil Chinneck, who also plays the Servant in the film. Do you remember where the original concept for King Baby came from? What inspired the script and the making of this feature?
KR: I’m a transgender man so I’m particularly interested in gender identity and in particular, masculinity. I wanted to explore the theme of masculinity but through a very playful lens—through a very allegorical, satirical lens. In doing so, I wanted to explore my own masculinity and work out some of the struggles I had with the hypocrisy between the obvious bullying, patriarchal masculinity, and a kind of softer masculinity which at times can be just as insidious as its more obvious counterpart. The play was always meant to be sort of poor theatre where poor meets content, and in which the stripped-back world of our castle and the items in it feed into the story itself, and that poor theatre approach feeds into the film as well. We were embracing and revelling in the limitations of one location, two characters, and some curated objects.
And if you don’t mind, can you tell us how the two of you first met and what sparked this need to create and collaborate?
KR: Arran and I first met about—I think it was about twelve years ago. We had mutual friends. Arran’s first feature Forgotten Man—he had asked me to play a role in it which I did. Then I was touring a show in Canada, where he’s from, and he came to see my play. Afterwards, we had this amazing creative talk about making work together. We decided to experiment with collaborating over a project which is our next film called How Dare You. It’s a sort of satirical horror about queer erasure. Weirdly, King Baby wasn’t our first project but our second project. Because it kind of thrived in its financial limitations, we were able to, in some extent, self-finance it. That’s the story of how King Baby came to be. Since we’ve started writing together, we have developed such an amazing co-writing and co-directing partnership. We just flourish together, and our work is always better when we work together.
What was the dynamic like on-set working with people who were very all-in and very onboard with the over-the-top antics of the film while still exploring quite nuanced themes?
KR: It was incredible. I felt, right from the start, everybody was in it for the passion of the project. Everybody got it and understood what we were doing and how we were doing it. There was this real feeling of complicity—from the crew, the cast, to the production team. It really was a beautiful thing. We were all stuck together on top of this mountain for three glorious weeks of shooting and I just can’t even begin to express what a joyous experience it was and how lucky we were. We didn’t have a day’s rain—one day’s rain!—and it just seemed that nature had kind of conspired to help us tell this story.
Speaking of nature and filming on the mountaintop, as well as microbudgets, how did you decide on where to film and how to transition the setting from stage to screen? Tell us about the process of coming by this specific location for this one-set feature?
Arran Shearing: The location for us was part of the movie becoming more expensive. We intended to shoot for a smaller budget than we did, and then we found the location. We just had to shoot it there because it was sort of thematically perfect for what we were doing. It was in the south of France, and our executive producer lives in a small village. It was always the plan to bring a few people—a few technicians from Vancouver, Canada, a few actors from England, me and Kit—and just make a small movie in the forest behind her house. She was on a hike and she came across this castle location for the film. She sent us photos of it and it’s obviously as spectacular as it is. We had to shoot there! In order to do that, the budget was however much money we needed to get there: to get to the castle and do the film properly. I think, because a lot of the financing came from personal places, it was just about trying to do the most with the least. But basically, the location inspired us to try and do the best film that we could.
With the small budget and the minimal cast, we see this very interesting thing within the film in which both characters assume each other’s roles, giving the audience a flavour of how the other actor might’ve played that character. What are your thoughts on having that little glimpse into how that dynamic might’ve played out if the casting were reversed?
KR: The actors really had to exercise their acting chops in the way they had to swing from one role to the other. I think that part is what makes it a compelling film despite the small cast and the one location; it’s the constant twists and turns. As soon as you get settled in one dynamic, the dynamic switches. It was these very clockwork changes that we were just positive would make this film work. It rested on them; it’s such an acting piece where their skills as actors were so integral to the success of the film. There was nowhere for them to hide; they’re relentlessly there, they’re relentlessly on-screen, and they’re relentlessly having to take the mantel from each other over and over again.
AS: To add to that, there was a very specific vision and we had ten days of rehearsals with the actors which was led by Kit. We were very concerned about the organic feeling of the shift from king to servant and servant to king. I remember, part way through shooting, when I got a midnight phone call from Kit saying, “It’s too abrupt when the Servant takes the mantel from the King. It just happens too quickly and we need to add a scene.” All of a sudden, part way through shooting, we’re writing a scene to make sure that, that transition feels real and earned. It’s something that we just paid close attention to from the writing, the rehearsals, down to the shooting to make sure that, that worked. I agree with what Kit said about the way how that works is the way that the whole film works. Meaning, it’s engaging because of these turns.
KR: It feeds into the theme in a sense where we’re talking about the problems of patriarchy not only resting within the brutish, autocratic leaders, but also with the softer kind of masculinity. Of wanting to critique that contemporary masculinity as sharply as we would with the alternatives, demonstrating that we can see these obnoxious elements in so many different iterations of masculinity.
AS: The softer masculinity is performative but it hides the same potential for rage and violence as the sort of more overt, buffoonish masculinity that you see in the king.
And tackling these very critical themes, having the perspective of both a trans man and a cis man, was that very important in your collaboration to make the film as authentic and as representative of these subject matters that you’re touching on and expanding on as it possibly can be?
KR: Yeah, I think so. Arran and I, in our work—we have like three projects that we’re working on together, one that we’re shooting next year, another one which we’re outlining at the moment—all of them are really about identity and masculinity. For very different reasons, we’re incredibly passionate about exploring masculinity, critiquing it, and highlighting the way in which the rest of the world is sort of subjugated to this patriarchal structure. As a trans man, I wrestle all the time with my own masculinity and I realised that I’ve looked to men my whole life as guidance for how to behave. Some of that problematic masculinity is tied up within me and it’s something I have to work through.
AS: For me, I was raised by a single mother and I’ve sort of grown up with an acute awareness of the impacts of men on the world around us, and the kind of structured injustice of it which is really counterintuitive to the way that I was raised. My mom’s a lawyer and did advocacy law. So, it’s just natural for anything that I want to spend my time on to reflect my values. I have a hard time writing a film that doesn’t have my values baked into it. Part of the reason Kit and I get along and why we just want to keep writing and writing is that we’re extremely aligned in the way that we view the world, critique the world, and want the world to be a better place. Ultimately, even if King Baby is a harsh critique, what hopefully comes out of it is some understanding on how we can do better than what we’ve got. King Baby’s about what we’ve got.
KR: I would add to that, even though our passions are about exposing injustices and finding ways to critique them, we’re also aligned in our creative vision. That is to do this in a really tongue-in-cheek, playful and accessible way where it’s fun and it’s humorous. But the humour starts to turn as you understand the implications of the behaviour we’re highlighting.
With that thought of doing it in a fun and playful manner, and going back also to the weight the actors’ had on making this film work, was there any room at all for them to improvise? Or were you strict about them keeping to the script?
KR: We were utterly strict about them keeping to the script; we were very deliberate. Apart from some stuff that were edited out, when we finally looked at it in the edit, nearly every line was scripted. There were a few brief moments in the kind of looser montage where there was a little room for script improvisation. But other than that, it was like clockwork.
AS: I will say too, though, which is kind of impressive from the actors—we’re extremely strict with the dialogue, and the movement within the scenes are written, and of course we block them and we shoot them—that there were all these opportunities for small beats to be brought out and teased out of these moments between dialogue and scripted action. The actors found every opportunity to strengthen the theme, strengthen the idea behind the scene, and strengthen the characters. They did it in quiet and subtle ways that didn’t stray at all from the script. The richness of their performances just blew me away.
Aside from the obvious laughter and fun times that people are going to take away from this film, what else do you hope audiences come out of the theatre feeling and learning from the experience of watching King Baby?
KR: Personally, I want people to really question how complicit we are as a society when we uphold that behaviour, and how numb we are to the really intricate ways in which patriarchy affects men and women and serves no one. It creates an environment of fear, competitiveness, and it seeps into every aspect of our lives. Also, just to take responsibility for allowing the men around us to behave badly—for being complicit in that behaviour. For laughing! Part of the comedy of our film, the intention is for the audience to laugh until it becomes quite uncomfortable to laugh; that the behaviour of the men doesn’t change, but the way that we see them changes. It becomes less and less funny as we hurtle towards our climax.
AS: I think that’s perfect. That’s exactly what we felt when we were writing and it sort of carried through. One of the accomplishments of our film is that the intentions in the writing stage survived the brutal process of making the film. In the end, what we’ve ended up on screen is what we intended, and it’s exactly what Kit said.
I think it’s really interesting, Kit, what you said about laughing until it becomes uncomfortable to laugh because it just viscerally reminded me of this recent clip of Saoirse Ronan with Paul Mescal and Eddie Redmayne in which they had an interview at The Graham Norton Show and they’re talking about self-defence and they were laughing. That’s basically what the feeling is like of watching your film and I applaud you for that.
KR: Thank you so much! I found that interview really interesting. Particularly as while she’s sitting there, there’s a man talking over her and taking up space and dominating the room. It was such a beautiful example of the very subtle, insidious ways in which a woman is constantly silenced. Given this moment to encapsulate it, so clearly and so sharply, but she could barely get a word in edgeways.
AS: I would say the insidiousness of it is in the way we’re socialised, you know? I wouldn’t necessarily accuse everyone at the roundtable of being insidiously upholding patriarchy and white supremacy. It’s just that we’ve been so socialised in these ways that it just ends up playing like this all the time in so many interactions. That it’s so normalised until somebody speaks up for themselves in the way that she does, which is great.
This film of yours will be showing on Saturday, the 9th for the Belfast Film Festival. Will you be there in person and have either of you seen the program? Are there any films you’d love to see at the festival?
KR: No, unfortunately. Because I’m in LA and Arran’s in Vancouver, it’s just not financially viable for us to go. We wish we could go, but travelling to festivals has been tricky.
AS: I was actually just in Belfast a couple of weeks ago—or maybe a month ago—working on a new sort of Game of Thrones show that’s filming there. I had the best time! Like, I absolutely adored the city so I’m really gutted because I just had a taste.
KR: They’re such champions of the film, and we can’t wait to hear how the screening goes and read any press attached to it.
AS: Kit and I really like to—when we can—sit in the screening room with the audience. Because we do find that it’s so nuanced the way that the audience reacts at any given screening at all these different countries. We learn so many lessons being in the screening room with the audience that we will take with us for all of our work moving forward. How things land, how the jokes land, which cultures understand which jokes.
KR: And as for the program, I just looked at it and there seems to be a collection of work by trans filmmakers with Ultra Dogme. If I were there, I would be excited to see that.
AS: I looked at the lineup too and was really excited by it! I’m honoured to have our film play alongside such a thoughtful selection. ‘William Friedkin in Focus’ is exciting! I just watched Sorcerer for the first time the other week and was blown away by the absolute insanity of every second of that film. I’m most sad to miss all the amazing Irish films they’re programming. I was at the Prishtina Film Festival in Kosovo a month ago and one of the great joys of being there was seeing all the domestic films that I could only see by being there. I would love to have been able to do that in Belfast too! Kit and I had dinner with Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel who directed Armand. Our films both played at Edinburgh and we went to a drag king show at the Fringe Festival together. I would have loved to see Halfdan’s film in Belfast! Paul & Paulette Take A Bath is another one. I know someone who reps that film and have been excited by all the attention it’s getting and I’m dying to see it.
And after this endeavour, what’s next for both of you—individually or collaboratively?
KR: Together; there is no individually. We are locked and loaded together. I was telling you earlier about the satirical horror which we’re going to shoot next year. That’s set in the States, it’s a bigger budget and a slightly more ambitious project. There are multiple locations and lots of actors! We’re also working on a western film about a trans cowboy, which again is quite ambitious.
AS: As King Baby sort of finishes its more active life, it’ll hopefully roll into making the next film. The next film is actually the first project that Kit and I worked on together, and it was sort of optioned right away and was lingering in financial limbo for a couple of years. We were so fed up waiting to make our film. That is why we made King Baby which was any money that we could get anywhere so we could make a film now, instead of waiting for permission to make a film. However, the film that we were waiting for permission to make is coming up next and I think Kit and I will spend a bit of time over the winter writing the western film which is pretty far along.
Interview conducted by Mae Trumata
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