'Trouble' in mind: Q-and-A with director Michael Knowles

"The Trouble With Bliss" opens Friday at the Village East Cinemas on Second Avenue at East 12th Street. The movie is based on the novel "East Fifth Bliss" by former East Village resident Douglas Light, who lived at 343 E. Fifth St. for several years.

"Dexter"/"Six Feet Under" star Michael C. Hall plays the title character in this darkly comic tale about 35-year-old Morris Bliss who's stuck in a state of inertia.

[Michael C. Hall]

Morris longs to travel, but he never leaves the East Village. He doesn't have a job and he lives with his widowed father (Peter Fonda). For good measure, he starts a relationship with the 18-year-old daughter (Brie Larson) of his former classmate (Brad William Henke) and tries to avoid his over-eager neighbor (Lucy Liu). Anyway, trouble.

Director Michael Knowles and his cast and crew filmed around the neighborhood during the spring of 2010. (We covered some of this here and here.)

[Hall with Michael Knowles]

Knowles answered a few questions for us via Facebook ...

Why was the novel "East Fifth Bliss" something that you wanted to adapt into a movie?

There were a a number of reasons I wanted to adapt "East Fifth Bliss" into a movie. The first was that I laughed a lot while I was reading it so I thought it would be fun to make into a movie and share with as wide of an audience as possible. Second, I loved the overall message, which to me was basically "live your life. Stop putting things off and do what you say you're gonna do." This is a story and a message that, if told well, can really resonate with most people.

I also felt that we could make a great movie from the novel because of how unique the characters, humor, tone and world Doug had created were.

Morris is a bit of a sad sack, yet you find yourself rooting for him. How did you strike a balance to make a character that moviegoers will ultimately find likable?

Naaaaaaa. Morris is.... Okay, yeah, you're right, he is a bit of a sad sack but he never complains about his life or feels sorry for himself. On some level, Morris is living a life of Bliss. He, for some reason, has accepted his life as it is and it isn't until things start happening to him that he realizes that he as been a bit rudderless for the past 20 years or so. I think that since Morris doesn't feel sorry for himself it makes it easy to like him ... and he is on the receiving end of a lot of jokes in the novel as well as the movie.

How did you find the experience filming in the East Village?

I loved filming in the East Village. Before I moved to Los Angeles 4 1/2 years ago, I lived in New York for about 13 years and 11 of those years in the East Village. So for me it was perfect to come back and film in a neighborhood I knew very well.

Any memorable moments from the shoot?

There was one night that we were filming in front of the Blue & Gold Tavern on East Seventh Street and we knew it was supposed to rain. So we had to get the scene shot as quickly as possible. As soon as we started rolling, firetrucks came around the corner with the horns and sirens blaring —and it started to pour. We cut and I remember standing under this tent we had set up and watching three firetrucks come to a stop right where we were filming.

Turns out a neighbor had called the fire department on some neighbors who were barbequing on the street nearby. The whole scene was funny since it was so far out of our control. Ultimately, after a handful of starts and stops we did manage to get the scene shot. The whole cast was a bit punchy from being up all night. It was magical.

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Also, folks from the movie will give a few EV Grieve readers a free set of tickets for any screening of "The Trouble With Bliss." We've never done this kind of thing before, so ... the first few people to send EV Grieve an email this morning can get the tix. Just need your name. We'll pass on your name and email to the publicist who will make it all official from there. Well, wasn't sure what to expect with this. But several people quickly sent along an email for tickets...more than the allotment. Thanks for the interest!

Previously on EV Grieve:
About the building that inspired the novel "East Fifth Bliss"

Q-and-A with 'East Fifth Bliss' author Douglas Light

[Photos Courtesy 7A Productions]

Movie version of 'East Fifth Bliss' has a March 23 release date

We spotted this poster on First Avenue this morning... We're glad to see that "The Trouble With Bliss" has a release date — March 23 at the Village East Cinemas on Second Avenue.

The movie is based on the novel "East Fifth Bliss" written by former East Village resident Douglas Light, who lived at 343 E. Fifth St. for several years.

Michael C. Hall plays thirtysomething Morris Bliss who "watches as his life comically unravels after he enters into a relationship with the daughter of a former high school classmate." The movie co-stars Lucy Liu, Brie Larson, Peter Fonda and, we hope, Slum Goddess, who served as an extra in scene filmed at the Blue and Gold.

We pointed out some of the filming around here back in the spring of 2010... in Tompkins Square Park, Seventh Street, 13th Street, among other locations...

There's a "Trouble With Bliss" Tumblr here with more photos and info...

And we'll have more later on all this...

Previously on EV Grieve:
About the building that inspired the novel "East Fifth Bliss"

Q-and-A with 'East Fifth Bliss' author Douglas Light

East Fifth bliss? Looking at the new apartments at 343 E. Fifth St.

Last March, I wrote about 343 E. Fifth St., the apartment building between First Avenue and Second Avenue that inspired the novel "East Fifth Bliss" (and coming soon to a theater near you...).

The gut renovations of the former railcar apartments are apparently done, and some of the dorm rooms units are on the market from our good friends at 9300 Realty/Croman Real Estate Inc. Let's take a look at what's available starting March 1.

To help attract the usual high-paying, quick-turnover renters in the market for three- and four-bedroom apartments, they'll even toss in a free month's rent.

There are all sorts of stories about the tenants — many of whom lived here for decades — being forced out here. A lot of it was hearsay, of course.

Last March, "East Fifth Bliss" author Douglas Light, who lived at 343 E. Fifth St. for several years, told me in an e-mail:

"My wife actually ran into an old tenant from there ... and he was telling her some wild stories about $250k buy-out offers (which he turned down, of course), arson by the building owner (to flush-out the remaining hold-outs), and the police cuffing and perp-walking the owner out of the building. As for the validity of the stories I can't say. This is the same guy who believed my wife was a spy that the owner planted in the building to keep tabs on everyone."

Anyway, speaking of the movie — starring Michael C. Hall, Lucy Liu, Peter Fonda and Slum Goddess — it's done. You can watch a trailer for it on Facebook. The dramatic comedy was filmed around the neighborhood, so there's plenty of locations to recognize...

Previously on EV Grieve:
About the building that inspired the novel "East Fifth Bliss"

Q-and-A with 'East Fifth Bliss' author Douglas Light

Wrapping up 'East Fifth Bliss'

Entertainment Weekly featured a shot from the upcoming "East Fifth Bliss" in its current issue...

The movie stars Michael C. Hall ... not to mention our very own Slum Goddess ... I asked Douglas Light, the former EV resident who adpated the screenplay from his novel, for an update...

"The movie is coming along very well. They're doing all the technical stuff now like color correction, sound, scoring. It looks really good. Everyone is pleased. Shooting to have it completely done by Sept 1."

Previously.

"East Fifth Bliss" actually filming on East Fifth Street tomorrow

We've seen them on First Avenue... 13th Street... Seventh Street and Avenue B... Previously.

"East Fifth Bliss" on Seventh Street

Earlier today, the "East Fifth Bliss" crew did a little filming on Avenue B (and in the Park?)... Melanie got her picture taken with "Bliss" lead Michael C. Hall.



With a rental truck and maybe a van or so... what a difference between this and the "Smurfs" logjam from Thursday...where tractor-trailers lined Avenue A for blocks... (And we had "Smurfs" reports from all over the City, like this one from Midtown Lunch.) And we're still getting reader mail about the "Smurfs" shoot, like the amused residents who were told to wait for several minutes... and when they were "released," the PA said robotically, "Sorry for the inconvenience. We will only be here for two more hours."

It was 11 p.m.

Michael C. Hall and 'East Fifth Bliss' filming on Seventh Street (right now!)

This afternoon, the small 'East Fifth Bliss' crew was camped out on Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, providing some entertainment for shopkeepers and passersby who stood around and watched...





From our vantage point hiding behind a truck and dumpster, we spotted lead actor Michael C. Hall standing by a cab. We also found a decent bookshelf. But we left it behind.




Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with 'East Fifth Bliss' author Douglas Light

About the building that inspired the novel 'East Fifth Bliss'

'East Fifth Bliss' filming on First Avenue today

"East Fifth Bliss," based on former East Village resident Douglas Light's novel, films today on First Avenue and parts of 12th and 13th Streets... And Slum Goddess will be an extra for scenes being filmed next week...




And Peter Fonda has joined the cast ... playing alongside Michael C. Hall, Lucy Liu and others...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with 'East Fifth Bliss' author Douglas Light

About the building that inspired the novel 'East Fifth Bliss'

Q-and-A with 'East Fifth Bliss' author Douglas Light

"East Fifth Bliss," the first novel by former East Village resident Douglas Light, is being adapted into an independent film by Michael Knowles. The filming starts this month in the East Village. "Dexter"/"Six Feet Under" star Michael C. Hall plays the title character of this darkly comic tale. Per the description: "At age 35, Morris Bliss is clamped in the jaws of New York City inertia: he wants to travel but has no money; he needs a job but has no prospects; he still shares a walk-up apartment with his father. Enter Stefani, an 18-year-old girl in a catholic school uniform, and Morris’s once static life quickly unravels... 'East Fifth Bliss' follows Morris as he confronts the intricate and often confusing aspects of relationships, family and identity."

Douglas shared some thoughts on the East Village and the film with me via e-mail.


Did the idea for the character of Morris Bliss specifically come out of your experience of living in the East Village?

It did. The building I lived in from 1995 to 2004 was a shabby, walk-up tenement on Fifth Street off of First Avenue. About half of tenants there where people who’d entrenched themselves in their places for 25-plus years. They paid ridiculously cheap rent, a few hundred dollars a month. The other tenants were more transient. A year, maybe two tops. Their rent tapped over $2,000 a month, which the landlord would kick up every time someone new moved in.

While some of the 25-plus year tenants truly struggled to cover their rent and get by, the majority seemed to have simply locked themselves into their places, and lifestyles, out of apathy. Beyond exerting the minimal amount of effort to stay aloft, they had no goals, only vague long-term plans they never acted on.

Morris was launched with this type of person in mind.



You lived in the East Village for nearly 13 years. Why did you decide to move to a different part of NYC? Was there a defining moment -- a point that you know that you had to leave?

The things I once found endearing about the East Village started to irritate me. Nothing specific, no one incident or event. It’s probably true of everything. You just get to a point where you say, “All right, I’m ready for the next thing.” For me, Washington Heights was that next thing.

Do you ever miss the East Village?

Definitely. I have to say, though, I’d be hard pressed to find the EV I miss. A lot of the old haunts have closed, the people have moved on. But that’s what makes the EV, and NYC in general, so vibrant. It’s always evolving, reinventing itself — not always for the best, of course.

I really fight the urge to say, “Oh, I remember back when…” It makes a person sound old. Nostalgia isn’t so much a pining for the way the city once was, but a pining for the way we once were.

In the book, Morris drinks at the Homestead (called the Homeplate in the novel) on First Avenue, which, of course, is now closed. Will the film have a look more of, say, 1995 East Village rather than the present day?



I envision the film set in NYC circa 1995. I’ve spoken with the director, Michael Knowles, about it and his thinking is the same. I don’t see him loading the streets with ’93 Ford Tauruses or anything, but the overall look and feel will be more mid-nineties than 2010.

What would you like people to take away from the book/movie?

I hope people come away thinking, “Wow, this Douglas Light knows how to tell a great story.”

Previously on EV Grieve:
About the building that inspired the novel "East Fifth Bliss"

[Bowery image via 1996 from Alex at Flaming Pablum]

About the building that inspired the novel "East Fifth Bliss"

Page Six had an item yesterday titled "Michael C. Hall's East Village movie searching for his character's apartment."

As the item notes:

"Fifth Street Bliss," with "Dexter" star Michael C. Hall, starts filming in the East Village next month. Director Michael Knowles, who adapted the novel of the same title by Douglas Light, has brokers looking for an apartment where Hall's unemployed character, 35-year-old Morris Bliss, lives with his widowed father. Brie Larson, 20, of "The United States of Tara," will play the sexually precocious 18-year-old daughter of a former classmate who ends Bliss' inertia. The movie also stars Lucy Liu and Michael Rapaport.

The brokers will not be able to use the building that inspired the book: 343 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Why? The building's remaining residents were allegedly booted last September for a fancy makeover...





Author Douglas Light lived in the East Village for nearly 15 years, including a long stint at 343 E. Fifth St.

In an e-mail, Douglas told me:

"My wife actually ran into an old tenant from there ... and he was telling her some wild stories about $250k buy-out offers (which he turned down, of course), arson by the building owner (to flush-out the remaining hold-outs), and the police cuffing and prep-walking the owner out of the building. As for the validity of the stories I can't say. This is the same guy who believed my wife was a spy that the owner planted in the building to keep tabs on everyone."

In the book, one of the longtime residents of the building, Sofar, never leaves his apartment.

From the book:

"Sofar is an anchorite, confined to the worn rooms of his small space. He lives on delivery, never leaves the building, paranoid that the moment he steps outside, he'll be booted from his rent-stabilized apartment.

His fears are well-founded.

The last time he stepped out, his place was broken into and Hambone was dognapped. Everything was left a mess.

It was Hatfield, the then-owner of the building, that broke in. He desperately wanted Sofar out, wanted his rent-stabilized apartment back."

In this case, fiction becomes reality, perhaps.

I talked with Douglas more about the book and the East Village. Look for that interview later this week.

And here's 343 E. Fifth St. today...work in progress...