"Sweet Thing" directed by Alexander Rockwell The NY independent scene of the 80's and 90's was a magical time [Director's Interview Vol.158]

I hope the people who watch the movie make it their own.

Q: The main character's name, Billie, is said to be taken from the singer Billie Holiday, but the Christmas scene features a song by folk singer Karen Dalton. Both women are known to have suffered from alcoholism and other addictions in their private lives and died young.

Rockwell: I think drinking is painful. My father was from the generation that experienced World War II, and I think he tried to forget the memories of the war by drinking. He had painful experiences that only alcohol could drown him in. My parents' generation was full of alcoholics, and adults would drink like they were free to do anything at Christmas.

I find beauty and sadness in tragic characters who can't cope with life. My father told me I was the best thing that ever happened to him, while he was passed out drunk in the boiler room in the basement. It was a powerful experience for me, tragic and beautiful at the same time.

"Sweet Thing" ©️2019 BLACK HORSE PRODUCTIONS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Q: Is there a connection between the real lives of Billie Holiday and Karen Dalton and the film's depiction of alcoholism?

Rockwell: I like to make movies like music, and not to think too theoretically. If John Lennon was sitting in my classroom and I asked him, "What's this song about?" he'd say, "This is Imagine, and it's about world peace, religion, and discrimination." That's an interesting story, but when he starts playing the intro, it's just moving. Art is emotional, and whether it's ugly or beautiful, it speaks to humanity. It's beyond intellectual understanding.

Music is such a beautiful artistic expression that it reminds me of my first kiss, my first time driving a car, or the first time I bought a Van Morrison LP for my birthday. Those memories are my own, and I think the songs are my own. They're no longer Van Morrison or Beatles songs.

I feel the same way about movies, and I think that " The Great Passage " became mine, not Terrence Malick's. It's the same with Billie Holiday's songs. It flowed like the wind and I received it. So I hope that the people who watch my movies will make them their own. I made it. After that, I want them to take it as they like. Art is like a language that everyone can understand, and all you have to do is listen and feel it.

Reason for using townspeople instead of actors