‘Labor Day’ a departure for Oscar-nominated director Jason Reitman
Posted Sep 6, 2013 2:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Jason Reitman says he had to “re-learn” the art of movie-making for his new film “Labor Day.”
Screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, ‘Labor Day” features Kate Winslet as a depressed single mother who becomes romantically involved with an escaped convict, played by Josh Brolin.
The languid love story is a stark departure from the rapid-fire wit that characterized the director’s previous efforts, including “Up in the Air” and “Juno.”
Based on a novel by Joyce Maynard, “Labor Day” is set to hit theatres later this year.
Reitman says he has made all of his movies with the same team, but that “Labor Day” felt as though they were attempting something totally new.
He called the experience “terrifying.”
“We’ve made four movies together prior to this and they were all humorous, dialogue-filled, very modern in their shooting style, cutting style,” he said Friday during an interview at the festival.
“This is a very classically told film and it was strangely like making our first film together again.”
Reitman said he was looking forward to showing “Labor Day” during a festival screening at Toronto’s Ryerson Theatre on Saturday night.
The downtown auditorium is where he likes to debut his movies, and the director says he keeps the Ryerson audience top of mind during the filmmaking process.
“While I’m making a film, it belongs to me, but once it plays in the Ryerson, it doesn’t belong to me anymore, it belongs to them. And they are the audience that I frankly think about while I’m making a movie. (I think): ‘how will they respond in that theatre?'”
The Toronto International Film Festival runs until Sept. 15.
