Brian Danelly gets Saved! - March 2004

Saved!

In his directorial debut, Brian Dannelly manages to take on not only modern Christianity, but also involve teen pregnancy, homophobia and . .Mandy Moore. Set in a modern Christian high school, his film, Saved!, is both subversive and also affirmative, deeply satirical of religious conservatism but also pro-spiritual as well. At a time when religion is such a hot topic of conversation (and big money at at the box office), Saved! is sure to ruffle more than a few feathers, which is just fine with the Dannelly...

As a filmmaker who just made a very satirical film about religion, how do you feel about coming out just after "The Passion of the Christ."?

BD: I think it's great, and I think we'll get a lot more attention because of it. I think we sort of represent the other side, which is good. The only people who don't seem to like the movie are the real evangelicals and fundamentalists, and they really shouldn't like it anyway.

It's good that it's coming out at a time when people are so interested in the topic and there is so much dialogue happening about religion and popular culture..

BD: Exactly, and I think Saved! is actually a very kind movie, as opposed to "The Passion", which is totally brutal.

I know making this movie was a real labor of love for you, how did this project get started?

BD: Well, I had gone to a catholic elementary school, a jewish summer camp, and a Christian high school, so when I was in film school it came time for me to write my script, and that was around the same time as Columbine, and I was intrigued that all those kids were so super religious. When I was in a Christian school, it wasn't nearly so mainstream as it is now. Bush was also coming into office and I just thought that there would be a way to address all these various issues by setting it in a high school, and that we'd be able to get away with more by setting it in a high school. We basically just wanted to make this mainstream John Hughes-esque movie with subversive undertones.

And you had to really fight to get the movie made?

BD: Yeah, well it was a series of false starts, money falling though, stuff like that, and then a week before we were supposed to start shooting, the actress who was suppose to play Hilary Faye dropped out, which is when Mandy Moore got involved and we were finally good to go. It was definitely a labor of love.

This movie really does take on every convention of teen movies and turns them upside down.

BD: Well, we really tried, and it seemed like people might really be drawn in to the message of the movie if they could relate to all of the classic teen movie iconography­the prom, the cute boy, the bad girl...

There's even a "dressing up" montage scene, where people are trying on clothes, which I personally love.

BD: Absolutely. And the showdown at the prom, which is essential.

And how was working with this cast?

BD: Amazing. Mandy Moore is so great, and Mary Louise Parker was so great. Everyone just had a great time doing it. We had so much fun.

The movie not only takes on religion, but a multitude of other issue as well. It really bites off a lot...

BD: God, I don't know what we were thinking! But it just seemed like, why not? We represent everyone, there's the handicapped person, the jewish girl, the gay boy. . . just about everyone is covered. It's a subversive movie, but in the best sense. That's why I wanted to become a filmmaker, because you can nudge the mainstream. Film can do that. You can affect people's ideas on things. I don't want to beat people over the head or anything, but you can open doors to different ideas, and you can give people just a little push, you know?

Saved! stars Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Jena Malone, Macaulay Culkin, and Eva Amurri.

- T. Cole Rachel