CS Video: Interview with Detachment Director Tony Kaye

It may seem like some time since director Tony Kaye has helmed a dramatic feature, because he’s only released one movie, the abortion doc Lake of Fire, since he directed Edward Norton to his second Oscar nomination with 1998’s American History X.

His new movie Detachment is just as edgy and artistic, starring Adrien Brody as substitute teacher Henry Barthes, who gets a month-long gig at a tough public school where he does his best to try to teach kids who don’t want to learn. At the same time, he’s dealing with his grandfather who is suffering from dementia and takes in a teen prostitute (Sammi Gayle) he thinks he can help. Kaye’s impressive cast also includes Marcia Gay Harden, Christina Hendricks, Bryan Cranston, William Petersen, Tim Blake Nelson, Lucy Liu, Blythe Danner, James Caan and Isiah Whitlock Jr.

In the video interview below, ComingSoon.net spoke with the eccentric filmmaker about the making of the movie, casting Brody and young talent Sami Gayle and his own daughter Betty Kaye in key roles. We also talk a little about his next movie, the entirely unrelated Attachment and discuss what happened with Black Water Transit, a film made under the same conditions as David O. Russell’s Nailed and ended up suffering from the same financial issues that stalled that production. Kaye says that he never actually finished the film but did a rough cut for buyers in Cannes, and though the film is now stuck in litigation, he hopes they’ll get things together to finish it sometime.

Detachment opens in New York City at the AMC Empire 25 and Village East Cinemas on Friday, March 16–Kaye and Brody will on-hand for Q n As after select screenings–and then in Los Angeles on March 23. You can also watch our video interview with Adrien Brody here.