Embed from Getty Images
The indie western Rust was filming in fall 2021 when the worst imaginable happened: a prop gun used by Alec Baldwin was mistakenly loaded with live ammo and discharged in his hands during a rehearsal. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed by the shot, and the same bullet hit and injured writer-director Joel Souza. Against all odds, the cast and crew rallied in 2023 to finish the film, something Halyna’s family said they very much wanted. So now, after a long and tragic journey, Rust is finally out in theaters. As I said when the trailer was released, I want to see this movie to honor Halyna. The Guardian ran an interview this week with Souza, and it was apparent how affected he still is by what happened on set. The article covers a lot of ground, here are some parts I found especially noteworthy:
Tensions with Baldwin before the accident: During the first round of filming in 2021, there were disagreements with Baldwin over the nature of his character. One of Souza’s stipulations for returning was that everyone on set had to fall in line with his vision. “It’s not that I’m standing there with my foot on anybody’s neck,” he says. “But there were fights I needed not to have. That was the only way I could get through this.” And so he found himself back on the set of Rust, directing the actor who had shot him in the shoulder. “I was a mess going in and a mess coming out. The crew carried me through. My family carried me through. Emotionally, I was all over the map.”
Women can’t shoot westerns?? Souza had insisted from the start on a female cinematographer, which is how he met Hutchins. “The agencies throw male candidates at you, but I know there are a lot of women coming out of the American Film Institute. Then somebody told me, ‘Women can’t shoot westerns.’ And I thought, ‘F–k you. I’m going to stick that up your ass and only look at women.’”
Souza didn’t waste time watching Baldwin’s reality show: He may have been able to save Rust but he had no control over what Baldwin did next. The actor attracted derision earlier this year for his ill-timed reality TV show, which showed him and his family soldiering on in extreme luxury. This paper called The Baldwins “unnecessary” and “distasteful”. Souza didn’t watch it. “I think I was busy hitting myself in the face with a frying pan that night,” he says.
Tributes to Halyna in the credits: She is second-billed after him in the end credits: unheard of for a cinematographer, and likely a contravention of guild rules. … The film is also dedicated to Hutchins, and features her name in the credits in Ukrainian as well as in English. “I wanted to include that for her mother,” says Souza. The dedication is accompanied by a line that became a mantra for Hutchins after setting up every shot: “How can we make it better?” Souza says: “She was asking, ‘How can we improve this shot?’ But I found it to be even more profound than that. If you apply ‘How can we make it better?’ to every aspect of life, one small act at a time, then maybe this place can finally live up to its potential and its purpose.”
“I think I was busy hitting myself in the face with a frying pan that night.” That just did me in. It’s funny and salty and I will absolutely be stealing it and putting it in rotation. Also, good on Souza for championing women cinematographers, which continued with the DP who stepped in to finish Halyna’s work on Rust in 2023, Bianca Cline. Hollywood is still so backwards in many ways. It’s not like cameras are held up with dicks, for Pete’s sake. Anyway, this won’t be an easy watch on so many levels — the movie is literally about the fallout of an accidental shooting — but I’m committed for Halyna. And from everything we’ve seen so far, the imagery she composed was stunning. What a needless loss. How can we make it better? I’d think a good place to start is seriously restricting access to guns and ammo, but what do I know.
I’m with him🤦🏻♀️.
💯
I want him to name names re the “women can’t shoot westerns”
Such closed minded backwards thinking.
Just one example: Has that idiot not see The Power of the Dog? Gorgeous, powerful Western written and directed by Jane Campion, with art direction/ cinematography by Ari Wegner, who worked side by side throughout the creative process. Both are incredibly creative and skilled with complete fluency in the history, visual language of Westerns that came before. Won a boatload of top cinematography awards and was nominated for many other awards.
Or going back a few years, First Cow or Meek’s Cutoff by Kelly Reichardt? Or even further back, the many Westerns directed by women in the black and white film era?
Also, the frying pan comment? Perfect!
I watched it so y’all didn’t have to. What’s pretty clear is that they thought Alec was going to prison and needed an income source in place for Troop Baldwin. When that didn’t happen, they soldiered forth with the tackiest, most tone deaf reality show in history, and that’s no small feat. May it forever define them.
“It’s not like the cameras are held up with dicks”!!🤣😅🤣😂🤪😡
Kismet ….I 🥰 U
Well said sir no notes
💯
I think I like this guy. I’d rather hit myself in the face with a frying pan than watch them, too!
If you watch the extras on the dvd of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Katherine Ross tells this brutal anecdote of getting banished from the set, except for her scenes. The director and the cinematographer were punishing her because the camera crew let her look through the viewfinder. The male actors did it all the time but the woman had to be humiliated and ostracized.
I believe every word of that. Women should decorate a movie set, not design it. Amirite? **face palm**
George Roy Hill (director) and Conrad Hall (cinematographer)