INTERVIEW: ‘Maine’ finds two people navigating life on the Appalachian Trail
Photo: Laia Costa stars as Bluebird and Thomas Mann stars as Lake in the Orion Classics’ drama Maine. Photo courtesy of Orion Classics / Provided by Katrina Wan PR with permission.
The new indie film Maine, from writer-director Matthew Brown, follows two people trying to figure out life and love while trekking along the Appalachian Trail. The movie, which is now in theaters and available on VOD and Digital HD, stars Victoria’s Laia Costa and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’s Thomas Mann.
Costa plays Bluebird, a Spanish woman, who leaves behind her spouse to hike the trail alone. She’s searching for peace and solitude, but her journey is interrupted by Mann’s character of Lake, a young American hiker. They bond with each other and form a connection, but their future, much like the trail, has many twists and turns.
“Most of my movies start with a setting, so I knew I wanted to tell a story on the Appalachian Trail,” Brown said in a recent phone interview. “Then I was looking for what the story was going to be about, and then as things happened in my life, the story kind of figured itself out from there. I fell in love with a girl, and it didn’t really work out too well. I think I spent a lot of the writing process trying to understand why it didn’t work out and understand how I can be a better partner next time.”
Maine is Brown’s second cinematic effort, after the acclaimed In the Treetops. For this one, he had to get creative on where the filming would be accomplished. The Appalachian Trail is well-protected and regulated by the National Park Service, so shooting on the actual trail was a no go.
“They’re pretty strict about filming on the Appalachian Trail, so most of it was really, really close to the Appalachian Trail,” he said. “We were in a lot of state parks and specifically Grayson Highlands State Park. That was where we spent a lot of our time … kind of all over the Virginia highlands. We would find foot trails or little fishermen paths right by the trail and shoot on in.”
Brown cast the film after seeing the actors’ work in other projects. Specifically, he was impressed by Costa’s performance in Victoria. He instructed his team to reach out to her, and the actor was quickly signed up. Similarly, Brown enjoyed Mann’s performance in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.It was pivotal to find the right performers for the movie; most of the narrative weighs heavy on their shoulders.
“I like to tell really behavioral stories, so a lot of it is told through the body and these small little habitual things,” he said. “I took some acting classes in college, and I think that’s really where I learned how to direct — not by filmmaking or directing classes. That’s what really excites me on the day is talking to another human and seeing how all of our experiences can inform the decisions that the characters make, and then thinking about what decision is most interesting and the most playable and that’s going to tell the story the most effectively. So that’s why I do it, to tell a story that relies so heavily on performances. It’s what I always aim to do.”
Along those lines, Maine opens up with many minutes of no dialogue. Brown called it a “very behavioral, animal opening” that mimics the hiking experience outdoors.
“You strip down these superficial layers and really find a very raw primal center to everyone,” he said. “There were a few scenes where we shot it with and without dialogue, but mostly on the day it would feel like, I’m just liking this better right now without words. It just feels right. That was confirmed in the editing room.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Maine, written and directed by Matthew Brown, is now playing in movie theaters and available on VOD and Digital HD. Click here for more information.
