Copperhead

Ron Maxwell is the director of the upcoming film "Copperhead," which is due out this summer. "Copperhead" tells the story of one family's struggle with faith, freedom, and the idea of fighting during the Civil War.

How did you learn of the term "Copperhead" and how does it specifically apply to the film?

Maxwell: The term actually comes from the fact that the Copperhead is a Southern snake; Northerners would wear a copper penny as a badge of honor. It became the most used term in the North for those against the war. It's not that they were pro-slavery; they simply did not want to participate or believe in the Civil War. I didn't actually read the novel that the movie is based on ("The Copperhead"). The author wrote a lot about where he grew up; I call him the Charles Dickens of upstate New York.
I'd heard the term years and years ago but wasn't focused on it, referred to anti-war Democrats in the North during the Civil War. I knew more layers of that history, that certain U.S. elected representatives were very vociferous in their opinions about the war. In 1862, the zenith of the Copperhead movement, they were elected mayors, leaders … Lincoln may have been defeated in the fall of 1862 had there been a presidential election in the fall of 1862.


What role does faith play in the film?

Maxwell: The Biblical world permeates the time frame. It's central to the film. This community is a wholly Christian community; we're not specific about what denomination holds precedence, but you can tell it's a church that is simple and rural. You find out right away that faith is crucial to the community and arguments run through the movie about Scriptural interpretation. The subtext is: What is your responsibility as a Christian? Abner, the lead character, is the kind of guy who lives out his faith; Gee, his rival, preaches it. It's up to the viewer to see where he or she may fall along those lines.
Do you live out your faith or do you preach about it? Believers go through this process their entire lives: one moment they're trying to win people over and another they are simply living their lives, without really "preaching." Faith was pressed to the forefront during the Civil War. There are three scenes in the church, showing just how important the building and faith itself was to this community. People would use their Scriptural interpretation to advocate for their stance either for or against the war. Today, liberation theologists find justification for war in their theology. In summary, faith runs through the whole movie, helps drive the story. In the film, someone who is anti-war is seen as the enemy; he is obstructing the great crusade to go free the slaves. He is willing to dehumanize his enemy and call him a Copperhead (or snake) in order to free the slaves and end slavery. All of these men are trying to do the right thing as influenced by the Bible and their teachings, so it's up to the viewer to judge who is right or wrong … if there has to be a right or wrong belief.

Director Ron Maxwell is no stranger to epic filmmaking. Gettysburg and its prequel, Gods and Generals have established him as one of the country’s foremost interpreters of that complex, lethal, heroic period in American history. But with his upcoming film, Copperhead, he turns the lens from the battlefield, to the homefront, examining the affect of the war on those who live far behind the front lines.

Mike Parker – It’s the sesquicentennial of the War Between the States, bringing all things Civil War related to the forefront of the American consciousness. Do you expect that to help propel interest in your new film, Copperhead?

Ron Maxwell – I certainly think the timing makes it appropriate to do another Civil War film. The challenge was to find a story that would take me in a different direction. It takes years to make a film so you want a story that will keep you motivated. When I was making the other two films, one of the main themes I was exploring was, ‘Why do good men fight?’ The men on both sides of the war were good men, people you would like to have as friends, ethical, moral, good men, who chose to go into this inferno where they are risking their lives and taking other lives.

With Copperhead I was interested in the other side of that coin. ‘Why do good men choose not to fight?’ I find that question profoundly intriguing. I wasn’t concerned with the warmongers or exploiters. Of course there were cowards and shirkers. I grew up during the Viet Nam war, and I knew people who fought and I knew people who protested; good people on both sides of the issue. How do we sit in judgement of people for making deeply-seated moral choices?

I came across this novel called, The Copperhead, about a Northerner who chose not to fight. The story breaks new ground in the popular culture. The war was not just North vs. South, or Slavery vs. Freedom. That is a far too simplistic view of the war. Abner Beech, the story’s protagonist, loves the United States. He is a patriot who believes slavery is abhorrent, but he doesn’t believe war is the answer. In a practical sense, he is a farmer. If all of the young men go off to war, there will be no one to work the fields. In that day and age, unless people were in church on Sunday, they were always working. There was no time to do anything else. He certainly doesn’t want his son to go to war. But, it wouldn’t be an interesting story if the son didn’t enlist. Then as now, fathers are mismatched with their sons, true to life.

Parker – I was a huge fan Gods and Generals and Gettysburg, but those were epic Civil War films, more on a scale with Gone With the Wind. I understand Copperhead is a more intimate film. Did that make it easier or more challenging to film?

Maxwell – At the heart of all great battlefield epics, there are intimate moments. Without them, the films don’t work. when I was prepping Gettysburg I studied a lot of epic war movies. If you are going to make a battlefield movie, you’ve got to do it on an epic scale. Your audience just demands it. But you better have strong characters that people care about, otherwise the big spectacle gets boring real quick. There are huge challenges with that kind film. The scale of production support that is required is huge. Just getting clean water and feeding all of the re-enactors is huge.

In Copperhead, the war is there, but it is off-screen. Instead, this is a domestic epic. It has an epic feel to it, because the war is always present. No one escapes.

Parker – Story should always trump message in a movie, at least from my perspective, yet most movies contain a message. Is there a message you are trying to convey in Copperhead?

Maxwell – With a capital ‘M,’ no. Film is much better at posing questions than answering them. If we try to answer questions, we devolve into propaganda, and today’s sophisticated audiences can see right through that. The great films ask the hard questions. They provoke you. But they have respect for their audiences and allow you to make your own decisions later. I try very hard to not make a statement. I want the characters to be true to themselves and speak the way they would speak. Our challenge is to take our generation to them, rather than bring their generation to us.

Message with a small ‘m,’ maybe... between the lines. Hopefully people will leave the theatre, look at their neighbors, and take a second look and say, ‘I might disagree with these people, but these are my neighbors and I have to live with them. Maybe I should just look at the human being rather the judging to quickly.’

Oh bene bene.
Attenderemo foto di Francois e Augustus dal red carpet