Matters of Life and Death is a film about three siblings who lost their parents on 9/11. It is also Joseph Mazzello's directorial debut. Joseph Mazzello's most notable roles as one of the leading young actors of the day are Tim in the 1993 film Jurassic Park and Dexter in the 1995cult classic, The Cure.
On September 11, 2001, David Jennings lost his parents.
There was no warning, no planning, not even a real will. David is left to sort through the aftermath with his siblings, Jon and Emily . None of the three could have ever fathomed the pain they feel, and none of them are quite sure of what to do. When the unthinkable happens, the mind goes blank.
David, an ordinary kid, tries his best to hold his brother and sister together, but he does so without any help. Jon refuses to go to school, watching TV all day on the couch. Emily runs off with her worthless boyfriend, stealing the insurance checks to pay for her new drug habit. David is left alone, trying desperately to deal with his own pain and mend the shattered remains of his family.
Through it all, David does the only thing he knows how to do – just keep going.
This film is not about 9/11 any more than From Here to Eternity is about Pearl Harbor. As a native New Yorker, I've seen a lot of coverage of that tragic event – the global ramifications, the economic consequences, the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq. But rarely, if ever, do I see stories about how that day affected the lives of those who experienced the greatest loss. Wives, husbands, parents, friends, children – they were all taken from their families. Somewhere along the way we missed the reality of what happened that day and how it affected the individual, not the country. I want to tell that story – the story of someone who lost not only innocence and pride, but someone they loved.
Going to school in L.A. for the past four years, I have noticed that some people don't quite get it. Too often I am reminded, "Well, the planes were headed for Los Angeles," as if the West Coast feels left out of the tragedy, deprived of the limelight. I'm from Poughkeepsie, New York, the last stop of the Metro North commuter train from New York City. In my town, there were people that died that day; for many, the commute is now a little lonelier and a little longer than they remember. I want to explore the feeling of that commute, what people go through at work, at the grocery store, at school, or at a baseball game. How are these everyday events different without someone that was always there?
The family in the film is my family – an eldest sister and two younger brothers. Even though my family was blessed enough to be unaffected by 9/11, I still run the scenario over and over in my mind every time they visit me in Los Angeles. What if my parents were coming to see me that day? They would have been on one of those planes. What would I have done? What would my brother and sister have done? These dark, unanswered questions have led to this film, a contemplation of the different ways people deal with death. Everyone has a unique way of expressing their mourning; some ways make it more difficult to recover from the shock and despair of unexpected tragedy.
I hope this film will not only help put closure on my fears, but will also remind the 9/11 families that they are not alone. This nation has not forgotten or ignored the pain they feel. We still care.
If they can find some comfort in that, then I will feel very satisfied with the movie I have made.
Trivia
The film was almost completely financed from just fan contributions. In total, the film cost $90,000 to be completed with around $84,000 of this being from fans. $20,000 came from Joe's own money.
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