What is The Family?
Heat is building on Scott (The Machinist) Kosar’s script for The Family, his long-gestating project about Charles Mason.
Ryan Kwanten told the press recently that he is going to star and that appears to be true, however, a journalist misconstrued something Kwanten said about Brad Anderson directing. And that’s false.
“First off, my good friend and idol Brad has nothing to do with this film,” Kosar tells Shock Till You Drop exclusively. “I will be making my directorial debut from a script I wrote. The movie won’t focus on the Manson murders. Nor is it a Manson biopic. It’s a family biopic. A movie about a surrogate family of wayward teenagers who, through extraordinary circumstances, came together and were transformed into the most notorious American family of the 20th century. Hence the title.”
Kosar elaborates his film with explore the family unit. “A very unconventional unit, but a family nonetheless. It is not a horror film, though the subject is inherently horrific. The goal is to do, finally, after forty years, the first authentic film about the so-called Manson Family. Unlike other films on the subject, The Family will also spend time getting to know the victims, particularly Sharon Tate, who will be portrayed very sympathetically. I don’t think a responsible movie can be made about this subject without humanizing the victims, which must be done in order to truly convey – as much as a film is able to – the enormity of the tragedy. This won’t be a slasher film, but it won’t gloss over the violence either. It’s a film about an American taboo that has never been dramatized with any balance or accuracy. Bugliosi-based films accurately deal with the prosecution of “the Family.” My film will concern the family itself. Who they were and what their lives were like with Manson.”
Interesting stuff. Of course, we’ve seen plenty of Manson films come down the track over the last few decades – some good, some bad. The Family should certainly deliver something unique given Kosar’s time developing and researching the script.
Source: Ryan Turek, Managing Editor
