“Too much Sugar”, interview with director Robert Greene

Too Much Sugar, by Robert Greene, included in the Orizzonti selection, is a documentary with a peculiar story behind it. We had a chat with the director to know more about it and about his lead character.

A documentary in a collaborative form

Robert Greene explains that the collaborative form  is one he’s been followed and developed  over several films. It started with an encounter with Ryan  and an idea  and one of the best titles he ever heard.  6 kids, 5 different women, in and out of prison since when he was a kid. There was a lot there that needed to be told. So we really wanted to dive in and that’s how we started. And actually, Ryan on screen is a huge persona, he’s interesting, it’s fascinating, is um strong and also kind of very touching.

The rebirth of a man

Robert knows what Ryan is. He’s a guy who went to prison for getting into fights. Most people just write him off. They both come  from similar backgrounds. Robert Greene knows a lot of guys like Ryan. When you meet him, you know, you just know there’s like this kindness and this willingness to try to keep moving forward and be better, especially if there’s a camera present. The camera could sort of make him feel like a hero but also make him understand mistakes that he’s made. It could do both things at once. I think that was, that was what we needed to happen.

The need to become a good man and a good father

Ryan has to be a better father because he didn’t have a father. So he’s like he’s projecting on, on his kids and in his life.  Robert Green knows form personale experience that when you grow up without a father one ends  up making that the focus of your life.  Real fatherhood is making space for other people. And it took a while for Ryan to learn that. The film that has also a kind of therapeutical aspect because on the story of  Ryan’s best friend, AccRite. He lost his kid by murder and  it was Ryan to convince him to use the media of cinema to heal.

Working with non actors

Robert Green knows how much non actors want to do good. in this case though he thinks they’re all really compelling on camera and some of them are quite good actors. The most important thing is to understand that this is coming from a place of dreams. This is coming from a working class family who is using movies and thinking about movies like their dreams. They’re thinking about movies like movies represent a way to have a different life. And so when one understands that, seeing them deliver comedic lines that were written for them,  there’s a yearning in that and a fun in that, that is more preferable than some method acting.

Plot