Filmmaker Interview: SIXTY SIX’s Paul Weiland
By his own admission, British director Paul Weiland has been unfairly accused of “paycheck directing,” of just taking the job. No one can throw that accusation at him for his latest film, Sixty Six, an autobiographical family comedy, based on Weiland’s painful experiences as a Bar Mitzvah-boy-to-be. It’s a long way from his debut film 20 years ago – which still comes up in conversation — the infamous Leonard Part 6. (See our Sixty Six preview.)
Meet In the Lobby:
How much of Sixty Six is truly autobiographical, and how much creative license did your screenwriting team take?Weiland: The actual events did take place, but we wanted to give it a slightly bigger feel. So certain things were changed with dramatic purpose. Like the ending didn’t really happen — it’s what I would have liked to have happened. So, as the director, I could rewrite my history in a way. Why not go for it?
MITL:
In the movie, the older brother is horrible to Bernie (Weiland’s character). When he shoots him with a BB gun while Bernie attempts to go to the bathroom, that sums up their relationship as quickly as possible.
Weiland: Exactly and that gets a big laugh. The funny thing is anything that’s cruel or hurtful seems to get a really big laugh.
In the movie, we made him slightly closer in age to me. He’s actually five years older, so he would’ve been out with girls while all this was going on. At the same time, the bullying did take place and he was a bit of bastard to live with. He never let me touch any of his things. It was a miserable existence (laughs).
MITL:
Casting Eddie Marsan as the dad is just perfect.
Weiland: Eddie (left) was my first choice from the beginning. I had a bit of trouble at first because the studio wasn’t keen to put someone who wasn’t, you know, a big hitter — they were very pleased with Helena (Bonham Carter, who plays Bernie’s mom.) Eddie went off to do something else, but then he came back. It would have been really really difficult to cast someone else without it becoming a cliche.
You should see Eddie in Happy-Go-Lucky. He’s taken the character from Sixty Six and made him a driving instructor. It’s where he shows his anger — my dad wasn’t allowed to show his anger. He’s really terrific. And he’s such a lovely man.
MITL:
I figure you’re the only person to have directed Bill Cosby, Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie and Billy Crystal. It’s like an all-star lineup.
Weiland: I’ve worked with a lot of different people. Some experiences have been fabulous, some experiences turn out not to be as good. 
The working experience with Bill Cosby (on Leonard Part 6) was excellent. It couldn’t have been happier. The trouble is the film was a piece of shit. It didn’t work. And it was basically, you know, my fault, because I should have made the script a bit better.
I recently saw an article I hadn’t seen for years, where Bill Cosby, at that time, kind of blamed me for the film going wrong. This critic — I can’t remember who it was — said, “Hold on a minute. Story by Bill Cosby, idea by Bill Cosby, produced by Bill Cosby… how could Bill Cosby blame the director? If Billy Wilder was directing this material, it would still turn out the same.”
It was really kind of reassuring. Once you do something like that, and now with the Internet, oh my God, it’s with you forever. You can never get away from it.
Here’s the thing: You make your bed, you lie in it. You make decisions and as a director you’re lying on the railway tracks. This year I did Made of Honor. I think the movie’s very good. It researched through the ceiling, it was amazing. But I know it probably wouldn’t get good reviews because it was a romantic comedy with a slightly predictable ending. I don’t care about that — I just like to do things that the public likes.
MITL:
You know when Made of Honor is released on DVD in the US, it’ll probably be Top Ten for at least a few weeks. And those aren’t going to be unhappy viewers just because some reviews were unkind.
Weiland: Exactly. The film’s already taken $100 million worldwide. It was in the Top Ten for six weeks. Someone pointed out that my movies come out against huge blockbusters all the time.
The reason it’s taken Sixty Six two years to get here is because when it came out at home (in the UK), it was released on the same day as Borat. Followed by Bond (Casino Royale). Then with Made of Honor, the same day as Iron Man. You’d love it to all work out and have big huge box office successes every time. Unfortunately, life’s not like that.
MITL:
How much additional work went into Sixty Six since it’s a period piece?
Weiland: Doing a period piece is more expensive. Like finding like a shopping area that looks like it could be in the Sixties is almost impossible. Probably one or two exist, and then you’ve got to take all the street furniture out and whatever.
I knew every detail of the period from my mom, because she never threw anything away. Everything on the set was hers. The front doorbell, the mezuzah on the door, everything. Even the carpet was one I used to walk around on as a kid. I could use all my mom’s stuff. It had all been preserved by plastic covers.
MITL:
Ultimately, what prepared you better for your future: Your Bar Mitzvah or England in the World Cup Final?
Weiland: Well, you know England never got into another final. The reason for that is I put a curse on them because they so screwed up my day. Of course, I would love to see England do well again. I think that would be a good thing for the nation.
As for my Bar Mitzvah… I think when I stand up to make a speech (for Sixty Six) and my mom is in the audience, I have to thank her for screwing the day up or else I wouldn’t have gotten to make the movie.
Marsan photo courtesy Daylife
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Other Posts of Interest
- 2008 Telluride Film Festival “Movies to Watch”
- SIXTY SIX Preview, Trailer, Movie Poster
- Free DVD Giveaway: Indie Documentary CRAWFORD
- Documentary Preview: As Controversial As “Sicko”?
- Filmmaker Interview: Your Mommy Kills Animals
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