LANCE OPPENHEIM: SOME KIND OF HEAVEN | INTERVIEW
Buzz’s recent review of Some Kind Of Heaven, a documentary about the curious characters in a Floridian retirement community, was praiseful: “masterfully shot”, “exudes melancholy with flashes of hope”. Lance Oppenheim, making his first feature aged 25, takes plaudits and questions from Carl Marsh.
What drew somebody as young as yourself to, for his directorial debut, choose a project about people at the end of their lives?
I’ve been interested for a long time in telling stories about something I felt was a uniquely Floridian idea. Florida is home to so many folks and, I think, this growing phenomenon of people of the baby boomer age who are essentially isolating themselves from the lives they used to lead and the loved ones they used to have, to uproot themselves into these kind of fantasy bubbles of their own creation. These cocoons.
On your point about the age thing, I had just been dumped by someone I loved very dearly, and felt personally interested in understanding how one starts a new relationship, or even breaks out of one, at that age. How does it all work? Especially in this world that feels like possibilities are endless, and happiness is everywhere – but what happens when you aren’t having the best time of your life? What happens when that dream becomes a nightmare; when that Truman Show boat hits the wall? That was what drew me there, and it motivated a lot of the thoughts behind the movie.
The documentary film is set in The Villages in Florida – why there, and not some other retirement location in the States?
I had grown up knowing about The Villages my entire life. But I saw this article that announced The Villages as not only the fastest-growing retirement community in America, but one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. That was surreal to me! You know, nearly 140,000 people were choosing to isolate themselves from everything and move into the middle of nowhere in Florida, near the swamp. It was this picture-perfect self-contained Disneyland for retirees!
I then went down this rabbithole of looking at all the marketing materials – videos that were evoking images of movies like Blue Velvet or Edward Scissorhands. I was so fascinated by that – people are choosing to spend the rest of their lives in an environment akin to Peter Pan syndrome, to move back to a world that reminded them of their youth. A time that was much less confusing, a time that was filled with discovery and adventure, and a time where they didn’t have any responsibilities.
For me, and I suspect for most British people, it’s pretty alien to see that something like The Villages even exists. It might be a utopian dream, but I can’t get my head around how artificial it seems. What’s the general feeling in the US about places like this, among non-residents?
I think many Florida people knew about The Villages before we made the film, but the context of the place changed entirely after the [2016] presidential election here. I’d say a lot of people who know, or think they know, of The Villages look at it very critically – especially established newspapers and the people in my world.
Liberals see it as incredibly homogenous: it’s like 98.3% white, very conservative, it has a lot of values that feel obsolete and outdated. It also feels like they’re echoing a sentiment of a different America. Maybe Reagan’s America, but also perhaps a kind of fantastical America that never really was.
Were you tempted to make a film that poked fun at a certain ‘type’ of political voter?
I didn’t want to make a film that delighted in making, you know, Trump supporters appear foolish. I just wasn’t interested in that. There’s enough of that already in the landscape, in the media. If anything, I was less interested in denigrating or putting a label on anyone, or straightforwardly exploring politics.
Would you say The Villages is too big, and maybe goes against what it was set up as?
The Villages itself is an entirely self-contained world: you never have to leave there to do anything. It has three movie theatres, and the amenities go on and on and on. When you’re there and experience it up close, it really is like entering a different world. And to the developers’ credit, they’ve created this experience of a place that is not easily replicated and also feels distinctly American – appealing to a very distinct American kind of value.
When people of my generation see the film, I think they find it a terrifying experience to some degree, and I liked that it could be that. I think there’s something hopeful – you can read the movie as optimistic, depressing or whatever you want to read it as.
Personal interpretation is a funny old thing, isn’t it? What’s suitable for one person might not appeal to others…
There are things in life you may not ever really figure out, and just because you grow older doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll grow wiser. I thought something was exciting in that, and it’s also really interesting to think about what happens next once the baby boomers are no longer with us. What will The Villages do? Will they go on to replicate another generation, another era of America?
I don’t think millennials will want to be living in a world that reminds them of the 1950s or 1960s. Maybe they’ll want to live in a place that reminds them of the 2000s or the 1990s. It’s an interesting concept, but who knows.
Some Kind Of Heaven is out now via Dogwoof On Demand and other streaming platforms. Info: www.somekindofheaven.co.uk / www.lanceoppenheim.com
words CARL MARSH