“And I think that they all give me an opportunity to let people develop empathy for someone maybe they hadn't thought about before.”Īfter filming concluded, the cast and crew got matching blackbird tattoos - a testament to how “enamored” they were by the film and each other, Michell says. “The films that I do I choose because I like the story and the company that I'll be keeping,” she says. Regardless of what field a person works in, she believes there are opportunities to pay attention and make a difference. As a storyteller, she feels compelled to help people hear stories they might not otherwise. Susan Sarandon as Lily and Sam Neill as Paul in "Blackbird." (Parisa Taghizadeh, Courtesy of Screen Media)įor Sarandon, there’s no separation between her well-known political activism and her work in Hollywood. Despite the decision not to include the song in the film, the title kept coming back up.Ĭast and crew competed to win a crate of champagne in a title competition that received thousands of entries, he says, but no suggestion worked as well as “the enigmatic ‘Blackbird.’ ” The film features multiple instances of blackbirds singing, including a solo right before the credits to represent the “the spirit of Lily” and the film, he says. The original script included Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird” but the song was later cut, Michell says. Most people who choose euthanasia are not depressed, Michell says, but they’re instead often competent, controlling people. “They don't want to be a burden and they can't surrender to having their very most personal needs taken care of by other people.” “I think that the control issue is very important to some people,” she says. Lily needs to remain in control of her body- and that’s something ALS would completely take away from her, Sarandon says. A family photo is taken in "Blackbird." (Parisa Taghizadeh, Courtesy of Screen Media) Sarandon says she would fear leaving her family with unresolved issues during a chaotic time. Lily, the matriarch of the family, is also revealed as its architect who asks for a “normal, lazy Sunday” on her last day with them. She also points to the long history of doctors using morphine as a form of assisted suicide, which happens often even though few people talk about it. The specifics of dying from a disease like ALS are “terrifying and complicated,” Sarandon says. Meeting these two individuals greatly impacted Michell’s feelings about the film.
In doing research for the film, the team connected with a woman with ALS and a medical specialist who treats people with the disease, he says.
#Shoot lilly or.not layers of fear 2 full#
“And that Lily has done something full of joy and full of life.” “I think it's hard to come out of watching this particular example of euthanasia without thinking that it's a glorious death, that she's made the right choice and her family have made the right choice,” he says. He points out that the word euthanasia means “good death” in Greek. The film delves into a topic with many layers including the choices individuals have in their mortality, how loved ones grapple with that mortality, the dynamics of family trauma and suicide - a “difficult debate” that Michell never planned to take on in his films. The revelations aren't always easy to take.”
“And COVID-19, I think, has given that opportunity to rediscover your children or your parents, although I hear a lot of instances where people are driving each other crazy. “Some incident like what happens in the film gives us the opportunity or exacerbates the circumstance where suddenly, we realize we don't know our parents the way we thought we did,” she says. “Blackbird” is about whether parents and children know each other as well as they think, Sarandon says. When families are stuck in the same place for a few days over holiday weekends, he says, for example, odd and exciting things can happen. A lot of families are “glued together” right now because of the COVID-19 pandemic, says director Roger Michell.
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