Casey Affleck’s film “Company,” starring Nick Nolte and Adelaide Clemens, utilizes a minimalist shooting style and focuses on interconnected stories across different time periods. The film will premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival.
The vital act of storytelling drives Affleck’s “Company,” with the film exploring themes of grief, regret, and forgiveness through narratives spanning 1975, 1953, and 1903. The cast includes Nick Nolte, Adelaide Clemens, Ben Mendelsohn, Scoot McNairy, Emily Alyn Lind, Caylee Cowan, and Atticus Affleck.
Much of the film features intimate two-person or single-person shots. Nolte, who plays Tom, an old man living in isolation, describes Affleck’s direction as intentionally intimate, noting, “When Casey sets up the camera, you know by the angles that he’s shooting from that it’s going to be much more intimate.” The film’s premise involves Tom encountering a young woman, Alice (Cowan), collapsed in the snow and her subsequent telling of a story set in 1903.
Nolte was drawn to the project because of its delicate script. “It was the script, and it was so delicate,” he said. “It had these silences and gaps, and the storytelling was obvious. I just found that intriguing. It wasn’t like any script that normally comes in. You know, it was one of those special ones.” He clarified that his character isn't necessarily a hermit, but rather someone who “wanted to not be with humanity in general,” describing him as “a reclusive” and “a trapper.”
Adelaide Clemens, who plays Rebecca in the 1903 segment alongside Scoot McNairy, highlighted the power of two-shots and the importance of skilled professionals in executing them. “As I’ve gotten older, and I’ve worked more in the industry, I’ve started to learn the power of a two shot,” Clemens stated. She and McNairy portray a couple who, like Tom, rescue a young person from the snow. Clemens described working with Affleck as “what you dream of” because of his experience as an Oscar-winning actor.
Clemens explained that the film’s framing allowed for powerful scenes where actors used their entire bodies to tell the story. “We tell this whole story from the shins up. It wouldn’t be executed in the way it was if we didn’t have Casey trusting us.” Atticus Affleck plays Caleb, who intrigues Rebecca with tales of his travels and philosophy, creating tension between them.
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