Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
I wish I could find a link to the original article that someone forwarded to me, but even though I searched the archives of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and even though I can find tons of Kathleen A. Shaw’s articles, I can’t seem to find the one she wrote on February 8th of this year regarding the plans to shoot WORCESTER COLD STORAGE this spring.
This is the next film by Michael Mann, and that would automatically make it something worth paying attention to in my book. I’m not crazy about this sort of ripped-from-the-headline sort of thing normally. At best, they turn out like THE PERFECT STORM most of the time, sincere and sort of lifeless and slickly produced. Scott Silver, the guy who wrote 8 MILE and THE MOD SQUAD, is actually a Worcester native, so maybe that’s what attracted him to the true story of six firefighters who died in a 1999 fire at the Worcester Cold Storage. Imagine Entertainment is producing the film for Warner Bros, so you know it’s going to be a big movie in terms of cast and production value.
All of this sounds fine, except none of the families involved seem to want anyone to make the film. In fact, they’re vehemently opposed to it, and that raises the question... who owns a tragedy? Here’s a few excerpts from the article by Shaw:
“We are doing it for our children,” said Michelle Lucey, widow of Firefighter Jeremiah M. Lucey. The families were offered money from the movie companies but turned it down, she said. Other movie companies also approached the families about doing a film and they received the same negative response, she said.
Mrs. Lucey, who has given television and newspaper interviews, has emerged as spokeswoman for the families. “We don't want a movie made about us. You would think they would go find someone who wants a movie made,” she said.
Mrs. Lucey, whose sons are 11 and 14, said last night they have begged her to stop the film because they do not want to continually relive the pain and loss. “You'd think they'd at least wait until the youngest child, now 9, was old enough to understand,” she said.
Frank Raffa, president of International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1009, also was not immediately available for comment, but he told the Boston Herald that his union and the families made it clear more than a year ago they did not want the movie made.
Mrs. Lucey said they were invited to attend a meeting at the Beechwood Hotel only a few days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks where they met with James Whittaker of Imagine. “I remember him saying specifically that if even one family objected to the film, it would not be made. It was all or none. I say now, does he even remember what he said?” Mrs. Lucey said. Mr. Raffa also attended.
Mrs. Lucey said the families have moved on with their lives but still live daily with the pain of their loss. ”It starts with that book. Then there is a movie and then a videotape, DVD and on it goes. It's like it is always in our face,” she said. It is particularly difficult for the young children who lost their fathers in the fire.
”We also believe there is nothing good to come from this movie. We'd prefer that a documentary be made on how little equipment firefighters across the country have to fight fires,” she said. “All Hollywood sees is dollar signs,” Mrs. Lucey said.
The film is based on a book that none of the families agreed to be part of, and even at that stage, they were leery of this being exploited and turned into entertainment. I think it’s a legitimate fear, and it makes me wonder why the studio and Imagine and everyone else keeps bulling ahead against the wishes of the families. I mean, if it were just one or two of them, I could see trying to work it out, but it sounds like this is a united front. These aren’t major public figures, either, where their lives are fair game, like a President or a celebrity of some sort.
I’m sure Scott Silver’s script treats these men as heroes. Anything else post 9/11 would be absolute madness, as I think the appreciation people have for firefighters and policemen in this country increased after we saw their response in the face of that tragedy. I’ve always been slightly in awe of the selflessness these men exhibit, and the sacrifice that they’re well aware they may have to make. I’m sure Michael Mann isn’t going to defame these families. Part of the appeal of making a film like this right now would be showing just how remarkable a job they do. But still... if the families don’t want them to make the film, where exactly does Warner Bros. get off pushing ahead with it anyway?
I’ll be curious to see how the dialogue between the families and the filmmakers goes as they get closer to production, and if they actually shoot in that area, there are bound to be issues for the production. In the meantime, where do you stand on this? Is the story fair game for anyone to tell? Or is there a responsibility to the survivors who are affected when the story is told?
"Moriarty" out.
