How a director known for drama made ‘White Noise,’ the strangest disaster movie of the year
Toby Leonard Hamilton is a director whose work has always reflected his love of drama. So much so that he has been called a classicist and a “characterist.” Which is why it was a pleasant surprise when his 2011 directorial debut, White Noise, which he wrote, is a tragicomedy about the lives of real people who have no idea that their lives are being made up entirely around them and the camera. And so it was that a man whose work has always mirrored that of his love of tragedy, was asked to direct a disaster. It’s a disaster that somehow managed to be both of a disaster and a comedy.
White Noise is the story of a man and a woman, both looking for a place to live, who wind up trying their luck at the same time. The first is a young man, Matt, in the process of moving into a big house in the suburban wasteland of London. The woman is a pretty blonde girl, Alice. Together, she and Matt try their luck at living together when they both realize that there is more to living in a small apartment than just sleeping in the same bed. And that they are both going through a very specific psychological process.
A man trying to move his life forward while still trying to avoid another man
The film takes place entirely in Matt’s small apartment. It’s a comedy with the horror of life in the suburbs. It’s a tragedy with the humor of the situation. It’s one that will leave viewers with a sense that they could feel the horror of their lives and yet laugh about it.
The characters have a very realness about them. Even Matt is only going through the motions of trying to move forward in life. He has his own sense of humor in the character, but is forced to be patient with Alice. She becomes the object of his obsession and his sense of justice. Matt