Spotlight: John Henry F. Hinkel '12

John Henry F. Hinkel ’12 recently co-directed his first feature film, “The Death of Richard Young,” with scriptwriter Kieran Scarlett. Hinkel and Scarlett, who have known each other for five years, began the project together in December 2007. The production attempts to provide an honest depiction of a family coping with a traumatic experience. After being diagnosed with testicular cancer, the father—Richard Young—begins to question his past and present interactions with his family. Both comedy and serious revelation ensue. “Death” premieres March 6 at the Brattle Theatre.

The Harvard Crimson: Who is Richard Young?

John Henry F. Hinkel: The story is about a father of three, Richard Young, who gets diagnosed with testicular cancer. The film takes place in the week leading up to his surgery. It follows his attempts—and failures—to repair the relationships with his kids and wife, who basically think he’s a dick. The film is a comedy though, and there aren’t necessarily a lot of films that take cancer and comedy and put them together.

THC: Was the film a purposeful attempt to portray cancer in a less serious manner?

JHFH: Kieran and I both thought that a lot of cancer films are a little too melodramatic and aren’t necessarily realistic in their portrayal. So, with “The Death of Richard Young,” we really tried to take this idea and move it in a direction where the misfortune doesn’t weigh down upon everything else. As well, Kieran has had some personal experience with cancer and so the story line certainly takes into account his perspective on the issue.

THC: Would you say that the plot of this film is secondary to the character development?

JHFH: Sure, I think it’s definitely a character piece. It’s a portrait of a family during a time of crisis. The story is more about the family than about the cancer. We delve into the nuances of their lives. They all have their own personal battles, but at the end of the day they’re a family and they come together.

THC: What was the budget of this film?

JHFH: Kieran had the Panasonic HVX camera that we used, and most of the light and sound equipment we got from Georgia State University for free. We were lucky enough to find both professional and nonprofessional actors who were willing to work for free. For one of the scenes we had to have food for the whole family, but we didn’t have enough money to go out and buy a five-person meal. So we went and bought five frozen TV dinners, and we were on such a tight schedule that we didn’t have enough time to heat them. So, we just put them on the plates. They did eventually start to melt. One of the actors took one for the team and actually ate some of the lukewarm food. But if you watch the scene closely enough, you’ll see that none of the characters really eat. They’ll just kind of get a bite of food on their fork, talk, and hold it in the air.

THC: What would you like the audience to take away from the film?

JHFH: No family is perfect, but you can work with your dysfunctions and still have a strong relationship. He tries to make things perfect with his family before he goes under the knife. Despite perfection being largely unachievable, he really starts to open up to his kids and treat them with respect. But I don’t want to make it seem like the cliché of ‘I’m dying and must therefore come to terms with things in my life.’ He’s not going to die. Nevertheless, cancer definitely causes one to question his or her place in the world. At the end of the day, it’s not that he fixes everything, and all is perfect. I don’t know; maybe he fixes nothing.

THC: So Richard Young doesn’t actually die?

JHFH: Well, in the original script Richard Young does die. I don’t want to say that it’s all one big metaphor, but it is sort of metaphorical. There’s a Richard Young at the beginning of the film and a Richard Young at the end of the film, and the two are not the same.

THC: Is this something you’re interested in continuing? What’s your future in film-making?

JHFH: I definitely want to keep directing and working in film. Kieran and I have tossed a few scripts back and forth. But my two main projects are a horror film that actually takes place at Harvard and a Boston kidnapping thriller. I naturally gravitate towards bittersweet comedy, but I’d like to try my hand in some straight drama and straight horror. I’m interested in expanding my horizons.