LOS ANGELES — When Jessica Chastain first read the script for “Memory,” she was struck by a flurry of unanswered questions swirling around in her mind about issues of love, sex and consent — that might be counter to some audience expectations. for the film.
“Sometimes I think films can be seen as true life lectures,” she says.
But the Oscar winner doesn’t subscribe to that philosophy of cinema. And it was writer and director Michele Franco’s willingness to examine gray areas and leave questions unanswered that ultimately convinced Chastain to star in “Memory,” now in select theaters with a nationwide release set for Friday.
“Memory” follows Sylvia (Chastain), who is hired by the family of a man named Saul (Peter Sarsgaard) to keep her company as she navigates early dementia. Although her caring background is a plus, Saul’s family mostly wants someone to spend time with her—until Sylvia is suspected of developing romantic feelings for Saul.
“It felt like a film that would be impossible to make in the studio system because there would be so many people, especially in the political climate, that we’re coming out of MeToo.” Chastain explains. “Everyone is afraid of making a mistake, of saying the wrong thing.”
Franco instead opted for an independent production and a budget so small that both Chastain and Sarsgaard laugh at the mention of it.
“If you walked past our set, you wouldn’t know there was a movie being shot,” laughs Sarsgaard. “Production design was often in house when we got it. Actors provided many of their own clothes and, in some cases, did their own makeup.
But their performances weren’t hampered by austere sets and minimal dialogue, thanks in part, no doubt, to Chastain and Sarsgaard’s experiences in the theater.
“If you get rid of all the BS, you know, all the extra stuff, and you just go down to the essentials, then you can tell these more complex stories,” Sarsgaard says.
In the film, Saul’s brother ultimately refuses to support the arrangement, telling Sarsgaard’s character that he is not capable of making rational decisions.
“I don’t know what you are doing. I don’t want to know,” the brother tells Sylvia after finding the pair in a sort of embrace while watching a movie.
“When I thought of it as a love story, I knew it was meant to be a forbidden love story. I thought of them almost as teenagers,” says Franco. “I like the idea of broken people challenging society.”
As she contemplates her relationship with Saul, Sylvia is also reckoning with her own past. Although she has said for years that she was sexually assaulted in high school, her family members say she lies and makes holes in her stories — the film’s title is not the only reference to Saul’s condition.
“I was a little surprised about that because I hadn’t developed it as a concept. I started writing and then when I read the outline I knew that ‘Memory’ should be the title because it was about both,” says Franco. . “The way memories can be reshaped or the stories you tell yourself.”
The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is being distributed by Ketchup Entertainment. Heading into awards season, Chastain has already snagged an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Lead Performance.
After signing on, Chastain recommended Franco cast Sarsgaard, whose recent credits include “The Batman” and “The Lost Daughter,” a 2022 Oscar-nominated drama directed by his wife Maggie Gyllenhaal.
“I’ve spent a long time watching Peter’s work and, as an audience member, have been really impressed by what he’s done,” Chastain says. “I didn’t know Peter would want to do it, but I knew he was someone who would bring a lot without vanity. And that was important to me.”
After saying yes to the role, Sarsgaard did extensive research before filming, which he found an enlightening experience.
“When I was preparing for this I talked to two guys weekly on the phone who had dementia, and you’d almost never know they had dementia,” he recalls. “Sometimes there would be signs of it, but it wasn’t constant.”
He said the priority in making the film was not to make light of serious issues like dementia, sexual assault or addiction – and not to make caricatures of people dealing with them.
“The first step to doing that is not thinking of trauma or dementia as a character,” says Sarsgaard. “These are the obstacles that the characters face.”
