Tom McCarthy attended a screening of his new film The Visitor in the new Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield, Dublin yesterday. McCarthy is an actor turned director whose debut film The Station Agent was a small gem that deservedly garnered critical acclaim on the festival circuit.
His sophomore film The Visitor (see trailer below) is about a lonely college professor who has effectively resigned from life until he finds 2 immigrants squatting in his apartment. The trio become unlikely friends and life lessons are learned of course but what makes this unusual for a character based indie movie is its political edge and its acute sense of anger at the treatment of asylum seekers.
McCarthy took part in a lengthy Q&A after the movie, which was chaired by Graine Humphries, head of the Dublin International Film Festival. McCarthy talked at length about his process, which seems to be rather organic, haphazard and unstructured as it turns out as well as his feelings and fears about making such a political movie. According to McCarthy, he never set out to make a 'message' movie but the political element naturally evolved from the characters so he found himself in the middle of an issue, which he now is happy to speak for.
He also spilled the beans on a number of his upcoming acting roles. He appeared to be excited about the work he has done on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones and thinks the results should turn out well. He also treated the audience to an (almost) exclusive by announcing that he had taken on a role in Roland Emmerich's big-budget end-of-the-world blockbuster 2012. The news had been announced earlier that day but it was his first comment on it. He seemed excited about acting in his first blockbuster saying it would give him an opportunity to see all the toys he doesn't get to play with on his own movies.
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