Film Review
You May Not Be From Texas But Y'all Are Gonna Love 'Deep in the Heart'
By Linda Dove
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"That's right, you're not from Texas, but Texas wants you anyway" goes the Lyle Lovett song as the credits roll at the end of Stephen Purvis's new feature. Stephen is an ex-sound editor, ex-picture editor, ex-Texan who's produced and directed 'Deep in the Heart', a movie as quirky as an armadillo. Four years in the making, it's peopled by an unpredictable parade of oddball characters from the Lone Star state. There's Coach Carruthers yelling at his losing football team and Sayrah overwhelmed with well-wishers' pies after her husband's death, all observed by Amanda Root and Kenneth Cranham as a British documentary crew. And in the background is the tragedy of a murdered tree - yes, tree, the Treaty Oak in Austin.
Developed from the play 'In The West', which was itself inspired by an exhibition of Richard Avedon's photographs, 'Deep in the Heart' has a wonderful soundtrack with songs by such Texan luminaries as Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, as well as Lyle Lovett. Many Guild members worked on the movie, including supervising sound editors Dave Whittaker and Michael Chock (who even hunted down native Texan birdsong for authenticity) and Ron Bartlett and Larry Blake who mixed the track at Weddington Productions. Picture editors were Robert Potter and Folmer Wiesinger.
Stephen Purvis has now joined a distinguished list of editors becoming directors, from Robert Wise to Stuart Baird. Making a movie independent of the studios is not easy though. "You have to be really driven to do it," says Stephen. "It was always my dream to direct." Does he have any advice for other Guild members secretly aspiring to make a movie? "Make it for the least amount of money possible," Stephen advises, "way under half a mill. That way, if you sell it, you can make your money back."
He also advises getting "name" actors - Amanda Root was in Zeffirelli's 'Jane Eyre' and starred in 'Persuasion', and Kenneth Cranham was in 'Under Suspicion' and played the Inspector in 'An Inspector Calls' on Broadway. Other actors in 'Deep in the Heart' were in the original play as well as having extensive film backgrounds, and their experience is evident in the convincing way they inhabit their characters.
This is his first feature but Stephen isn't a novice either, having directed and produced the six-hour 'Adventures of the Old West' series for the Disney Channel and the 'Combat at Sea' series for A&E. It's a long way from sound editing at Lorimar, where this writer knew him, and an inspiration to anyone with dreams of directing.
Reprinted from
The Motion Picture Editors Guild Newsletter
Vol. 18, No. 1 - Jan/Feb 1997
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