Daddy Longlegs tells the story of Lenny (Ronnie Bronstein, director of Frownland), who kidnaps his two boys (Sage and Frey Ranaldo) out of desperation. The movie is based on an episode from the childhoods of directors Josh and Benny Safdie. Here are Josh and Benny talking about both their experience and Daddy Longlegs on Campbell Brown last January:
According to the Summer 2010 issue of Cinema Scope, the Safdies kept notebooks titled Go Get Some Rosemary (the film’s original title) where they would collect their childhood memories. Later, they wrote a 45 page script “that had every scene from the movie in it”. The Safdies were helped along by their father/former kidnapper, who gave them 300 hours of home movies from their childhood.
You can learn more about Daddy Longlegs and where it’s playing by going here. Meanwhile, two of their earlier shorts, We’re Going To The Zoo and I Think I’m Missing Parts, are available for viewing for $1 at MUBI.
