MERIN: Concerning the tight lid that was put on news coverage of this story so quickly and effectively, do you think film--documentary and truth-based narrative--is gaining influence in how people form their impressions about what has and is happening in the world?
DONALDSON: Yes, I think that’s very true. In my mind, it’s my obligation when telling a story like this--there‘s no way I can know what really happened, but I feel an obligation to be honest to what I understand to be the thrust of the story. I wouldn’t want to make villains of those who weren’t, nor to make a hero of someone who wasn’t or who was cowardly or betrayed people. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to destroy someone’s life if they…I mean, there was one character whose name I was more than happy to change because the things he got up to were--well, they weren’t hurting anybody and his own family were going to be dragged into the press and asked questions if I used his name. And, I thought, why do that? It doesn’t affect my story and using his name will only make someone feel uncomfortable. And the person is no longer alive.
MERIN: I won’t ask who it is. But how much influence did you have in the structuring of the script, which begins with lots of disjointed bit of information up front--in a way many documentaries start out…
DONALDSON: Well, I tried to take everything that was happening--all the different story lines--and weave them together so that they came out connected with each other. That’s what appealed to me--the story’s many dimensions. Michael X never met the bank robbers, but their stories crossed paths. I wanted to get Michael X, the Porn King, the bent cops and bank robbers in the same location--not meeting, but close to each other. So we came up ways to pull them together.
MERIN: You did that quite successfully. The bank itself had a number of, to use your term for them, reprobates using its vault as a repository…
DONALDSON: Well, it’s fact that well over 100 people who had safe deposit boxes in that bank would never identify what they’d had in them--which would indicate they had ill-gotten money or other stuff they didn’t want to reveal to anybody else.
MERIN: Right. But why would they all have chosen that particular bank?
DONALDSON: That’s a good question. There were theories that the bank might have been sympathetic, or the location was good, or people knew people who recommended that bank…
MERIN: As did the Porn King to Michael X in your film?
DONALDSON: Yes.
MERIN: The film accurately establishes the aura of that era. You’ve got the trappings of period cars and costumes and all--but there are other details that nail the time frame in an almost subliminal way for audiences who might remember those times--as a specific example is the Free Angela Davis poster. Were those details in the script you received or did you introduce them?
DONALDSON: That wasn’t in the script. The poster was real. I’d seen those posters in photos of London at the time. Angela Davis was big news there at the time, so I wasn’t just inserting her into the script.
MERIN: What other elements did you introduce?
DONALDSON: Well, the story wasn’t written by me, but I’d say the visualization of it was mine--like the place where the stiff upper lip major worked. He was originally written to be selling legal costumes--robes, wigs and the like. But we looked at a military tailor shop as a possible location, and I thought why couldn’t we just do it in this place as this place. The guy who ran the shop showed me receipt books going back 200 years, with signatures of prince regents and others historic figures who’d signed for their military uniforms. And the bit the major says about “we make uniforms tight under the arms so people can’t raise them to surrender” was--well, the guy who ran the place actually said that to me. And I cracked up and thought that dialogue’s too good, I’ve got to use that. So I did. There was no fact to tie it to the story, but it was the reality of what happened when we went to scout the location. The tailor shop wasn’t part of what actually happened, but I felt it didn’t really matter whether the major was selling legal costumes or military uniforms, and this worked better for our story--and it also gave him that sort of military bearing that was more interesting than his being tied into the legal world.
MERIN: It becomes another piece in the mosaic of this story. Do you think mosaic storytelling--compared to use of a narrative through line--seems more truthful and convincing to audiences?
DONALDSON: I like the mosaic approach. It‘s in vogue of late. Movies like Traffic helped educate audiences to the idea of a multistory movie. They‘re not confused and can keep multiple stories straight in their heads. I think the mosaic gives stories depth and creates impressions that stick with audiences and make them think--and that’s a good thing.
