Austin Film Festival Conversations: Bill Robertson, Writer of ‘Midnight at the Paradise’

Kenneth Welsh as Max in ‘Midnight at the Paradise’.

Midnight at the Paradise is a powerful motion picture about the choices we make, the struggles we find in adulthood and the magic of cinema. It recently screened at the Austin Film Festival and we here at NTG had the good fortune to talk with the film’s writer, Bill Robertson, about its many themes, and more.
John Betancourt: What it was that got you into writing in the first place?
 
Bill Robertson: Um, well, I've been writing for a long time, I think it was kind of a default of nothing else was kind of going the way I planned. So, I think in university, I was supposed to be a doctor or something like that and took all those courses and didn't have too much fun doing them. So, one day I just sat down and wrote a script, a feature script, not knowing anything, except, you know, what we all know, you need a story with a beginning, middle, and then you need characters. I think that the thing that a lot of people, you know, struggle with is theme, like, what's it about? And, you know, I kind of knew what I wanted to say with it. So, I think it is to some degree, it's having a sense that you have something to say, that, you know, is authentic, and you feel as you're just compelled to share with the world. And I think, you know, as most writers will tell you, you know, writing is really hard. Why do it otherwise, unless, you know, you're compelled to do it in some way.
 
But really, the stories that resonate with me the most are ones that, you know, deal with aspects of the human condition, which are, you know, it's not necessarily my experience, but you know, there are fundamentally things that we all experience and it's great to see it through somebody's unique lens and to have those ideas articulated in a way that that, you know, hopefully nourish our spirits, right. I mean, there's no real… that's the thing… how does anybody become a writer? I don't know. They just, they, they just end up wanting to share, and maybe sometimes more than they should, but I think that's where the that's where the craft comes in. You want there to be an element of craft that raises it above the level of Dear Diary, right?
 
John Betancourt: What was it, that inspired you to craft this particular story?
 
Bill Robertson: Well, Midnight at the Paradise, it honestly came from me wanting to make a movie with, you know, everything I think about, you know, storytelling and its importance in our lives and the importance of movies in our lives, too. And I think, you know, I wanted to do something about… the film tells the story of a woman who's, you know, caught between children, a dying parent, she's married, but not sure if she's happy in the marriage, she's got an ex, wondering, you know, a lot of the questions we all wonder mid-life as to what if? What if I’d gone this way, instead of that way. But I also wanted to do something specifically that talked about the role movies play in our lives, and how, you know, we grow up seeing stories on the big screen, there used to be more on the big screen, now it's on any screen, that we, you know, that inform how we feel about love and romance and what a relationship should be. And I kind of wanted to explore that idea for all these characters, you know, what do the movies mean to us? And how do they shape our, our ideals? And, and how is that good? And how is that maybe not so good. So that was, that was the original impetus for it.
 
John Betancourt: Speaking of that, you bring me right to my next question. I'm very curious, because one thing that I really appreciate about the film was obviously not only the classical love to it, but also the fact that you essentially offer thoughts and musings upon three generations of relationships, and I’d love to know what went into the decision to look at the nature of relationships from such a broad scope.
 
Bill Robertson: Well, it definitely was in the design of the script. I think the one other thing I should say in terms of inspiration there, you know… the Richard Linklater trilogy… Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight, you know, I think Before Midnight, the final of that trilogy had just come out as well. And I was inspired a bit by that. But I also knew that I didn't want to just focus on one couple, which is what those films do. So, I really made the conscious choice to, you know, how to, as you just articulated, you know, how do you cover all the bases and so, you know, creating three stages of love? And, and how am I going to represent those three stages of love. And a lot of that is in the Richard Linklater films, but again, it's all through one couple. So, I think it was, it was definitely a conscious choice. It just became what's… how are these three stories related? And you know, what are the complications and it just sort of made sense to make it all happen in one night. And you know, at the center is a character who you know, is the center of all those characters’ lives. And how are they going to ebb and flow over the course of the night?
 
John Betancourt: But I think what's intriguing is that aside from the wonder of movies in this story, I could not help but notice that this is a film that has a lot to say about contemporary love and contemporary relationships, which is something that is coming up often in just all across the board these days. So why do you think now it's potentially the right time to have those kinds of in-depth discussions about what love is? What marriage relations are to us right now?
 
Bill Robertson: Yeah, I mean, I think it is really interesting how it seems to be everywhere. I think it is, maybe, maybe it's just people are living longer. I mean, I think people have said that. I remember, I don’t usually quote Bette Midler, but I remember her saying something about you know, “We used to die when we were 50. So, marriage was not you know, till death do us part was not such a big deal. ‘Cause you weren't gonna be alive that long.” And I always thought yeah, she's right. But there's an element of that. I mean, I think there's an element of, you know, an aging population too, just overall, but I think there's also a there's an interesting, dynamic with the younger generation, which I think they bring a lot to the conversation. You know, people in their 20s right now, I know a lot of them, you know, who have a very, you know, different view of what a long-term relationship would be partly from observation of their, you know, parents and grandparents.
 
But also just, I don't know, whether it's also wanting to be a little bit different from previous generations. But you know, there's a looser sense, there seems to be in general, a looser sense of, you know, what is a relationship. And I think that's contributing. So, I think there's kind of, you know, people contributing at all the stages of relationships to the conversation, but people being, again, just more, maybe a bit more realistic about what's possible, over the course of, you know, a 50-year marriage, and really, the film is about, how do you navigate that? How are you generous with your partner? You know, when do you give up on a relationship? Is one transgression enough to cause the relationship to, you know, fall apart. And really, the movie also, Midnight at the Paradise, was also meant to generate that kind of conversation. And, and it truly does, you know, people come out of it going, “She should not have done that,” or “He should not have done that,” or, “Oh, no, I think that was legitimate.” And again, it's meant to help the conversation.
 
John Betancourt: Now, in coming with the, the movie’s deeper themes about film in general, let's talk about that for a second in respect of what you really want people to take away, beyond necessarily the, you know, what they mean to us? Or rather what else do you want people to come away with regarding an understanding of cinema?
 
Bill Robertson: Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, the other thing is I teach at York University in Toronto, and I taught at Sheridan College for many years, and some of what I, you know, put into the script is, I'm just going to put, you know, all my favorite movies into one movie. So honestly, like, if you watch it, when you say, “What do you take away from it?” I mean, most people, you know, it's a layered film. So, they take away different things. I've had people say, when they watched it again, they were like, “Whoa, I got this or that.” But there really, truly are references to many, many classical films, in the movie, whether you know it or not, somebody who, you know, like yourself might pick some of them out more than other people. But, you know, I did that. I did that partly, again, to reference films that I think deserve, you know, to be talked about still, and yet, you know, the culture has gotten to the point of everything's disposable, and everything, you know, more than 20 years old, is not worth talking about or thinking about.
 
So, to me, I mean, that's, again, a conscious choice I made, you know, Iris, our lead character’s father, who's dying, I made him a film critic, partly again, because of the old conversation of what is a movie, you know, what deserves to be on a big screen or not, these days? And, I also wanted to reference again, what I think are some great films that really, nobody, nobody's talking about anymore. And, like, The Graduate, like I've been teaching for more than 10 years now. And, you know, at first the students all knew what The Graduate was and this year, it's like, “Is that that movie with Mrs. Robinson in it?” Like, one person in the class has seen The Graduate and I think that's, you know, a shame ultimately. So, you know, I think again, it's just another layer of Midnight at the Paradise that if you want to see, you'll see, “Oh, this is a shot that references, The Graduate, or this is a shot that references Sex, Lies and Videotape. This is a beat that you know, represents…” well I'm not going to tell you them all, but there are a lot.
 
John Betancourt: No! Please don't. Because then there's the fun of going back rewatching it so we can find all the references. And you know, actually I think that probably is my favorite line in the whole film is or I should say is my favorite line used is, “Let it be a movie.” I think there’s a real beauty and a real gravity behind that line. So well done with that. I remember when he whispered that at the very end like… that's just… just hauntingly beautiful. That's for sure. Um, the last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to this film?
 
Bill Robertson: Wow. Well, I think any film, you're just proud that it got made. But, you know, I'm, yeah, I'm very grateful to the team that we put together. You know, I did write the script for Liane Balaban. As an actor, she's somebody I've worked with. And I thought I, she deserves a really good role for her mid-career. And she introduced me to Vanessa Mitsui, who came on as director. And Alan Hawco, from, you know, people know him from his multiple, multiple TV roles. You know, it just, I'm, you know, very proud of the team, that we put together and everybody worked on it. Everybody that worked on it, worked on it for much less than they normally would. And, and we shot in Toronto, which is another thing we're proud of, because it would be very hard to shoot this movie right now.
 
The only reason we were able to shoot it in Toronto, downtown Toronto, was there was a pandemic going on. And, and the businesses were all like, “Yeah, come shoot, there's, there's nothing happening here.” But we never would have been able to get a lot of those beautiful locations. If it weren't for the silver lining of the pandemic, which obviously, I wish had never happened. But you know, it's, it's another thing that we're very proud of. So, I think, yes. And to your point, like, let it be a movie, that sort of all just, there's certain things that came together because of this team, and because of all of our actors. Emma Ferreira, Ryan Allen, Kay Trotter is wonderful in the movie, too. You know, up against Kenneth Welsh, it was meant to be an actor's piece. And Vanessa, coming from an acting background, you know, was able to elevate their performances, and they were also invested in the characters, that it made it great. So yeah, I'm a proud of a lot of things. With respect to the movie.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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