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The indie western Rust was filming in fall 2021 when the worst imaginable happened: a prop gun used by Alec Baldwin was mistakenly loaded with live ammo and discharged in his hands during a rehearsal. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed by the shot, and the same bullet hit and injured writer-director Joel Souza. Against all odds, the cast and crew rallied in 2023 to finish the film, something Halyna’s family said they very much wanted. So now, after a long and tragic journey, Rust is finally out in theaters. As I said when the trailer was released, I want to see this movie to honor Halyna. The Guardian ran an interview this week with Souza, and it was apparent how affected he still is by what happened on set. The article covers a lot of ground, here are some parts I found especially noteworthy:
Tensions with Baldwin before the accident: During the first round of filming in 2021, there were disagreements with Baldwin over the nature of his character. One of Souza’s stipulations for returning was that everyone on set had to fall in line with his vision. “It’s not that I’m standing there with my foot on anybody’s neck,” he says. “But there were fights I needed not to have. That was the only way I could get through this.” And so he found himself back on the set of Rust, directing the actor who had shot him in the shoulder. “I was a mess going in and a mess coming out. The crew carried me through. My family carried me through. Emotionally, I was all over the map.”
Women can’t shoot westerns?? Souza had insisted from the start on a female cinematographer, which is how he met Hutchins. “The agencies throw male candidates at you, but I know there are a lot of women coming out of the American Film Institute. Then somebody told me, ‘Women can’t shoot westerns.’ And I thought, ‘F–k you. I’m going to stick that up your ass and only look at women.’”
Souza didn’t waste time watching Baldwin’s reality show: He may have been able to save Rust but he had no control over what Baldwin did next. The actor attracted derision earlier this year for his ill-timed reality TV show, which showed him and his family soldiering on in extreme luxury. This paper called The Baldwins “unnecessary” and “distasteful”. Souza didn’t watch it. “I think I was busy hitting myself in the face with a frying pan that night,” he says.
Tributes to Halyna in the credits: She is second-billed after him in the end credits: unheard of for a cinematographer, and likely a contravention of guild rules. … The film is also dedicated to Hutchins, and features her name in the credits in Ukrainian as well as in English. “I wanted to include that for her mother,” says Souza. The dedication is accompanied by a line that became a mantra for Hutchins after setting up every shot: “How can we make it better?” Souza says: “She was asking, ‘How can we improve this shot?’ But I found it to be even more profound than that. If you apply ‘How can we make it better?’ to every aspect of life, one small act at a time, then maybe this place can finally live up to its potential and its purpose.”
“I think I was busy hitting myself in the face with a frying pan that night.” That just did me in. It’s funny and salty and I will absolutely be stealing it and putting it in rotation. Also, good on Souza for championing women cinematographers, which continued with the DP who stepped in to finish Halyna’s work on Rust in 2023, Bianca Cline. Hollywood is still so backwards in many ways. It’s not like cameras are held up with dicks, for Pete’s sake. Anyway, this won’t be an easy watch on so many levels — the movie is literally about the fallout of an accidental shooting — but I’m committed for Halyna. And from everything we’ve seen so far, the imagery she composed was stunning. What a needless loss. How can we make it better? I’d think a good place to start is seriously restricting access to guns and ammo, but what do I know.
