The show must go on, in spite of mud, sleet, raing

It's a rollicking tale of adventure and misadventure. It's a voyage of self-discovery and spirituality, of character and characters. It's about braving the elements, battling long odds and ultimately succeeding. And the movie's pretty exciting, too.

Jay Craven's newest feature film, "Disappearances," starring Kris Kristofferson, had its first-ever public screenings recently.

Set in 1932 in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom and based on a Howard Frank Mosher novel, "Disappearances" tells the story of Quebec Bill, a down-on-his-luck farmer and former whiskey smuggler, who decides to go on one last whiskey run to save his farm, and takes his son, Wild Bill, with him. The result is a journey of long odds and near misses, with a big splash of magic thrown in.

The same can be said for the making of the film itself. With life imitating art, "Disappearances" succeeded against long odds, thanks to the perseverance of those involved, the commitment bordering on fanatical faith of Craven, his cast and crew and near-magical 11th hour infusions of cash.

"'Disappearances' is the most challenging film I've ever made," said Craven in an interview in the 30-minute "Making Of ..." film, appropriately titled "Act of Faith." "No one can imagine doing this film on this budget."

The film cost $1.6 million and keeping the project afloat was a constant act of "skating a very thin line," said Craven, who teaches film at Marlboro College and produced the film through his Kingdom County Productions.

Equally difficult was the filming itself. Shot on location in the Northeast Kingdom and nearby Lincoln, N.H., over 27 days in late spring 2005, the work exposed the actors to the dubious charms of mud season in northern Vermont. Up there, April is, indeed, the cruelest month.

"The weather was frequently cold and wet and rainy," said Craven. "There were probably eight all-nighters, mud problems ..."

"Vermont has a lot of crazy weather," said Charlie McDermott, the 15-year-old actor who plays Wild Bill. "Mud season is amazing."

McDermott's online diary of the shooting has this entry: "March 29, 9:13 p.m. On the way to Jay's (Craven's) house we found Kris (Kristofferson) and his car stuck in the mud. We helped push him out."

One crew member recalled in "Act of Faith" a day of filming on Lake Willoughby that began with clear skies and calm water, then turned cloudy, then rainy, then came sleet, followed by wind and choppy water that made it difficult for cast and crew to stay in their canoes. All this before lunch.

Still, on film, it produces stunning results, according to Craven.

"The idea of capturing Vermont in early spring ... we think of it as a colorless time, but it's actually quite beautiful," he said.

Capturing the beauty of the setting was the responsibility of the crew, and Craven marvels at the commitment of his staff.

Cinematographer Wolfgang Held's task was physically taxing and technologically challenging. The film was shot in the wide-format Cinemascope, which is "extremely demanding of focus," Craven said.

Production designer Carl Sprague orchestrated the look of the film and succeeded despite limited resources. Craven is still amazed that Sprague found a way to procure, not one, but two white 1932 Cadillacs for filming.

The crew also included eight of Craven's Marlboro College students and seven Marlboro alumni, and many others.

"It was a great team -- and very committed," said Craven.

Leading the way was Kristofferson, who first agreed to do the film five years ago. His passion for the script was evident from the get-go, and his commitment to the project can be measured in many ways. For one, he agreed to work for Screen Actors' Guild scale ($1,620 per week), far less than he can command. For another, he agreed to do a benefit concert to help the project. And then he threw himself into the filming with great energy and a touch of disregard for his own well-being.

"Act of Faith" shows him plunging, as required, into the icy waters of Lake Willoughby, hoping that only one take would be required. It also shows him icing a knee he injured during filming.

"Kris was just very committed. It was Kris' involvement that brought (Academy Award-nominated acrtress) Genevieve Bujold to the project," said Craven. Bujold plays Cordelia, the other adult influence in Wild Bill's life.

Attempts to reach Kristofferson were unsuccessful, but in "Act of Faith" he desribes what drew him to "Disappearances."

"It had the quality of an old ballad -- half of it's magic and half of it's real," he said.

How the journey began

It was same qualities attracted Craven to the story. He first approached Mosher to film "Disappearances" back around 1985, but at the time, Mosher hesitated to sell the rights to him.

"We weren't quite sure about selling the rights to an independent producer," said Mosher, who instead sold Craven the rights to "Where the Rivers Flow North." "I was delighted with that movie. Five minutes after I saw that movie, I was ready to do 'Disappearances' or any other Howard Frank Mosher novel he wanted to do."

Craven subsequently turned Mosher's "A Stranger in the Kingdom" into a move. "Disappearances" caps a Mosher trilogy for Craven.

"'Disappearances' was the story that first caught my eye," said Craven. "It has humor, adventure, magic realist whimsy, great characters."

It also has something not even Mosher realized was there.

In Craven's hands (he wrote the screenplay), the character of Wild Bill, Quebec Bill's 14-year-old son, comes much more to the fore, and the story focuses on how Wild Bill comes to know his father and how he navigates between his father's free-wheeling, visceral world and the spiritual, intuitive world he's also exposed to.

For Craven, that story line resonated strongly and personally.

"I liked the kid, Wild Bill. I had a father who ran away," he said.

What "Disappearances" also has, in the midst of a fun, action story is a heady dose of what Craven calls "magical realism," which incorporates inexplicable occurrences and fantasy, or, in the case of the film, mysterious legend or folklore, which characters accept at face value and which influences the story. It's a device used in popular films as "Being John Malkovich" and "Like Water for Chocolate."

"'Disappearances' requires audiences to use their imaginations more than my other films," said Craven. "You want the audience to find their own meaning."

"It's a movie that makes you think. It's not a movie that answers questions. It gives you questions," McDermott said.

Craven describes the film as a "populist, magical realist Vermont Western."

Whatever it is, Craven reports generally favorable response from critics and viewers and film festivals in Cleveland, Philadelphia and the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas.

"I think it has the potential to be the best, because it's mainly an action story," Mosher said.

The first public test was in Brattleboro on Thursday.

"It's thrilling. Brattleboro has been really supportive of my work," said Craven, who was eager to see the film on the big 20-foot by 40-foot Latchis screen.