Weekend Read: 'Nickel Boys' Director RaMell Ross on the "Epic Banal," Adaptation, and the Power of Cinema
"Nickel Academy doesn't emerge in America's shadow—it emerges in its sunlight."
Back in December, I met up with Nickel Boys’s director, RaMell Ross, to discuss his latest film, Nickel Boys, an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
On Thursday, Nickel Boys was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay for Ross and Co-Writer Joselyn Barnes, as well as the big kahuna, Best Picture.
The film is tremendous; you can read my full review here.
When RaMell (an incredibly cool, smart guy) and I met, we discussed the themes of Nickel Boys, the radical first-person cinematography, some highlight scenes, and more.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Enjoy!
Schmear Hunter: Very nice to meet you, RaMell. And this is going to be a challenging interview because no words we spill can communicate quite as eloquently as the film does. And as you say, "language is servant to the image" in Nickel Boys. But we'll give it a go.
RaMell Ross: Thank you!
Schmear Hunter: This was a radically immersive experience for me. Was it emotionally draining to make, and how did you keep yourself and the cast in a positive mood? Or was everyone carrying the weight of the story?
RaMell Ross: Yeah, that’s a good question because making a film is such a fractured process—we don’t shoot in order, and the technical aspects are demanding, creating a lot of abstraction. I’d say emotionally the writing process was harder than the shooting because you’re so in your head when you’re writing. Working with Joslyn Barnes, our back-and-forths and constant dealing with our imaginations, was like a terrifying ricochet chamber. On set, though, everyone brought joy. We felt the privilege of making a film, especially one with so much meaning, and that carried us through. When things were tough, we had a therapist and an intimacy coordinator, so everyone was well taken care of.
Schmear Hunter: That’s impressive. I want to ask you about the epic banal. You defined it as an "epic moment in something incredibly simple." What moment in the film exemplifies that best? And at its core, what can the epic banal do or reveal?
RaMell Ross: Now that is a good question—not that your other question wasn’t good, but this one (laughs)! Defining the epic banal has been a challenge because it’s an intuitive relationship between metaphor, symbol, and experience. I also want it to remain something that can evolve, not pinned to a specific definition. That said, an example is the brochure sliding down or the balloon hitting the fan. With the brochure—something that happened in my life—you see it fall off the fridge, and it’s silly, but you become enraptured. It’s just physics, this thing being dragged down, and it’s, well...
Ahead, RaMell and I discuss the duality of Nickel Academy, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, and the artistry of Stephen Curry. Want to read on? Consider upgrading your subscription to The Schmear Hunter.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Schmear Hunter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.