Catching Up With... Azazel Jacobs

Momma's Man is the story of Mikey, a grown man from California who visits his parents in New York, who still live in the apartment where he grew up, and for some reason, seems reluctant to return home to his wife and child.

For such a small, unassuming film, Momma's Man boasts a strong pedigree. Writer-director Azazel Jacobs is the son of legendary experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs; the film was shot largely inside the amazing, compact New York apartment of Ken and his wife Flo; and the film shares producers with Half Nelson and Sugar, two films at the forefront of what's been called the "New American Realism" by the New York Times. [Half Nelson topped Paste's list of the best films of 2006, and both Sugar and Momma's Man were two of our favorite finds at this year's Sundance festival.]

Jacobs has made two previous feature films, but they were so little-seen that his third is being greeted by the resounding applause of critics discovering a strong new talent. After making his first film, Nobody Needs to Know, Jacobs told me that he began the project with two dreams: 1) to change the world, maybe, and 2) to show his work to Joe Strummer. When we met up to talk about Momma's Man, I asked him what motivated this third project.

Jacobs: Well, I began writing initially before Sundance 2005. I'd just started doing the first draft, and it stemmed from just being at my folks' house and waking up and finding coffee and breakfast waiting for me and thinking, "Why did I leave this place?" And I went home and started writing, and it started shifting into something else.

And then I [went to Sundance] in support of my friend's film Wristcutters, and saw Half Nelson. And there was something in Half Nelson that I really wanted in Momma's Man. I just knew that the people involved in that weren't involved in it for any other reason than trying to make something important for them.

So I knew one of the producers, Alex Orlovsky, slightly, and wound up talking to him after the screening...and then I sent him the first draft of Momma's Man.

Paste: You mention that you were inspired just by being at your parents' house. Did you live there, too? Was this your house at one point?

Jacobs: Yeah, I was there until at least 18 years old, and whenever I go back to New York I'm usually up in that bedroom staying there. The place was an incredible place to be raised in. You know it's almost been made to shoot in.

Paste: Yeah, it's better than any set that you could construct.

Jacobs: Yeah, absolutely, and before casting my folks, really preserving this home was the top thing that I wanted to do.

Paste: Did casting your parents take some convincing, or were they eager to do it?

Jacobs: No, definitely not eager. It did take some convincing. I think it was just saying, "All right, are you sure you want some actors laying in your bed and being in your kitchen and just being in the house?"

But they got interested and had a good time with it.

Paste: And you were able to include a little bit of their work, too. Your dad's films show up a few times.

Jacobs: Yeah, I mean that was written into the script, and I really... I love his work, and I wanted to be part of it. It's my way of kind of attaching myself to what he's doing and trying to figure out how it can fit into my world. You know, those weren't in any way editing afterthoughts; they were part of the story from the beginning. I wanted those as blocks to kind of build with.

Paste: So with all of these personal details, it begs the question of how autobiographical the story is.

Jacobs: Yeah, well, there are a few similarities, obviously, besides shooting with my folks and in the loft, I do live in California, and I do go back and I stay in this place. The old best friend is my old best friend, and that's his mom, and that's his parents place, and that's his father's paintings.

But there are a bunch of differences. I have a sister that was extremely influential for me growing up, and I think it's clear that Mikey's an only child. There was a point in my life growing up when I was embarrassed of the house and of my folks, and when I was writing Mikey I took that as a point to keep going. What if I stayed that way and my push against them was to be as regular and normal as possible?

But I think the biggest difference is that Mikey could never make this movie with his parents. The movie itself is a testament to what my relationship is with them.

Paste: Yeah, your parents are such a tender presence in the movie; it's clear that you have, or I would assume you have, a strong relationship with them and a lot of respect.

Jacobs: Yeah, absolutely. And their caring about this film is really important to me, that they respect and appreciate it.

For me, [Mikey] is looking for what wrong turn, what situation... Was it the first girlfriend that he was mean to, should he have stayed with the guitar, should he have done this thing? Or what about his old best friend, should he have stayed best friends with his old best friend?

In the end, it's not what wrong turn he took but what he can do at this point. When he leaves, for me he's heading back home, but he's on a different path home.

Paste: It's such a beautiful final shot. It's almost a dad's eye view.

Jacobs: And my dad came up with that shot.

Paste: He did?

Jacobs: Yeah. So you see the [child's] blocks continuing over into Mikey's world. That was something that he came up with, which I'm so thankful for.

Paste: Yeah, it's beautiful, it's a bridge from the character's past...

Jacobs: And just the fact that the motion is the same... That is all by chance, and I don't know if you caught it, but the last thing the baby says, he turns and says "Da." That baby's dad walked in, and he just noticed. That's exactly the type of accidents I'm hoping for whenever I'm shooting.