'Lost on a Mountain in Maine' Movie Teaches Valuable Lesson about Unconditional Love
At first glance, you would never think a movie produced by Sylvester Stallone could evoke such powerful emotions about the ability to love unconditionally. After all, he is best known for Rocky, Rambo, and a bevy of action-packed movies fueled by adrenaline.
But when you stop and really think about it, most of Stallone’s movies are about underdogs triumphing against all odds. How many times have we seen his most iconic character, Rocky Balboa, get up off the mat and punch his way to glory. Or how about his portrayal of John Rambo, an intensely-flawed character just trying to do what is right for his country.
Thus, when all things are considered, it is not much of a stretch to think that Stallone would produce a heartfelt movie about a 12-year-old boy fighting to survive in the relentlessly harsh wilderness of northern Maine. Rambo it is not, but a triumph of the human spirit it is.
Directed by relative newcomer Andrew Kightlinger, Lost on a Mountain in Maine (opening in theaters nationwide this Friday) is based on the true story of young Donn Fendler’s fight to survive the treacherous conditions of Mount Katahdin after getting separated from his family during a fast-moving storm. In his pursuit, he finds healing from a seemingly broken relationship with his father whom he might never see again.
I recently sat down with Kightlinger to discuss his untraditional path into moviemaking, why he thinks this story that took place in 1939 still resonates today, and the role that faith plays in Lost on a Mountain in Maine.
As a director, there always seems to be a trigger, a tipping point, or a moment where you say to yourself, “I have to make this movie!” For Lost on a Mountain in Maine what was that moment for you?
It was reading the script and the nugget formed there. I can talk about the father son relationship and the themes of family and hope. But really, the genesis, the spark for me was that I was born and raised in Madagascar primarily. I was a missionary kid. I was the son of Lutheran missionaries and I spent a lot of my time in villages running around in the rainforest, barefoot. So a story about a kid walking through the wilderness barefoot was something I could easily connect with. And so that's the thing that kind of made me jump onto this.
As you just mentioned, you were a missionary kid in Madagascar. Having grown up in that environment, what inspired you to get into moviemaking?
When I was five years old, the movie ET videotape came to us in Madagascar and it was the first movie I ever saw. And it evoked a feeling in me that I have carried with me ever since. And I thought to myself, whatever that feeling is, I want to be a part of it. And I feel like I've been chasing it ever since. This movie has gotten me the closest to that, which is being able to affect people in a positive way. And that's kind of where that all came from. We moved back to the United States when I was 12, and settled in South Dakota. I felt movies and theater were my way of understanding American society, integrating, and assimilating.
Because I was a pretty wild kid and French was my first language, I was African for lack of a better word. And it was an adjustment period. Entertainment and movies were my entry point to the culture. And I ended up becoming accepted, but it also fostered this obsession with cinema that I couldn't let go of. Probably like kids in Maine too. Most don’t say, ‘I want to be a film director.’ How do you do that? So, I just started making movies with my friends and eventually I went to film school at Boston University. Eventually, I just started making a lot of small, low budgeted movies in South Dakota and figured out who I was as an artist. Eventually, it led me to Los Angeles. And then it led to this project.
Let's dig into the movie a little bit. This true story actually took place in 1939. Why do you think this story still resonates with readers and viewers all these years later?
Because it's about something very fundamental and it's a triumph of the human spirit. As you know, Sylvester Stallone obviously had a hand in this movie. And why is Rocky an enduring movie franchise? Not only the original, but there's been seven or eight sequels by now. It's because people just love to see a human triumph. And I think that's why this book has been so popular. It’s because it's not only a human doing this, it's a child, which is even more impressive. The reason we made this movie is to kind of carry the torch for Donn Fendler's values. If you believe in something enough, you can do anything. And that's what I hope this movie brings for kids.
As you mentioned, this movie was produced by Sylvester Stallone. At first glance, this doesn’t seem like the type of movie that he would get involved with. What do you think drew him to this project and what drew the two of you together as a team?
I think what drew his company and him to the project was the underdog story. Rocky is one of the original underdogs. And he had never made an underdog story about a kid before. So that was their entry point into the movie. It's not an action film, but it's still at its core about something that he really believes in. Then, I think when they were searching for a director, they were searching for that underdog mentality as well. They wanted to find somebody that nobody knew yet, and that was capable of directing a film. It was about giving a kid a chance, for lack of a better word. That's how this movie came to me. And I had to interview for it, just like any other job. My final interview for this movie was actually being flown to Maine and hiking the actual Mount Katahdin. That was my final interview.
That was part of your interview process?
Part of the interview process was hiking Mt. Katahdin.
Oh wow!
This was a way of seeing if I was able to understand the wilderness aspects of what the shoot was going to be, which they already saw in a previous work of mine. But also they wanted me to understand what Donn Fendler went through to some degree, to understand the place, to understand Maine, and what makes that place special. So, I went there and I immediately felt it. I was in awe of the topography and in awe of the journey. And that sort of kicked everything off.
This movie is adapted from the book of the same name. As a director, what types of beats and moments from the written word are you looking for to bring its essence to the big screen?
A great question. Survival movies are a dime a dozen. There's a ton of them out there. What makes this movie unique is that I like to call it an “emotional epic”. It's that thread between the parents and the child. This isn't just an adaptation of the book itself. It's also an adaptation of his (Donn Fendler) family's story. And we've pulled from archival footage, interviews with the family and with people that were there at the time of his rescue. This is to fill in the blanks and expand on this idea of the triumph of the human spirit and this idea of a community coming together to help people in a time of need. I think in the end, my goal wasn't so much to get the facts right, even though I think a lot of them are pretty accurate. The broad strokes are accurate, but it was more of, are we doing justice to Donn Fendler's legacy in the end? And are we telling, are we hinting, are we hitting on the things that matter to him? Those things are family, hope, and faith. Ultimately, I think we've achieved that.
It is through this ordeal of trying to survive, that main character Donn Fendler grapples with the notion of never seeing his father again, even though they have a broken relationship. This type of situation is very prevalent in a lot of people’s lives even though the circumstances may be less severe. What important messages does this movie convey about the strained dynamics between father and son?
Great question. That is definitely one of the reasons I wanted to make this. I have a great relationship with my father. I should preface that because I don't want people psychoanalyzing my relationship with my dad. Family has always been a really important thing for me. Having grown up in South Dakota, I realize family is important. I thought there was a power and a simplicity to making a movie about two people that just want to say, I love you, and they can't. In the end, they find a way through this big ordeal to do it. I love complex movies. I love all kinds of movies but I just wanted to make a movie about something really simple that audiences could relate to that was universal. And that is the power of love.
In this movie, we have a 12-year-old kid trying to stay alive in the unforgiving wilderness of Northern Maine without food, proper clothing, or even knowledge of being in that area. The circumstances are dire yet somehow he comes out on the other side. What role does faith play in Lost on a Mountain in Maine?
It's a fascinating question. I was a missionary kid and a Lutheran. So faith has been a huge part of my life. As a director, faith always finds its way into my movies, whether I like it or not. Having grown up multiculturally and also having parents who were fairly ecumenical thinkers. I wanted to make a movie that could work for anybody, but without spoiling too much, there's obviously a spiritual being in this movie. And that being can represent whatever you want. It can be mother nature or it can be God. And to me, in moments of weakness, we have to lean on something bigger than ourselves. We need to rely on a higher power in order to push forward. I hope that that's what people get out of it.
I hope that somebody who's Jewish or Muslim, whatever, doesn't matter, maybe they're agnostic and don't believe in anything. I hope they come to this and still get a charge of, ‘Oh yeah, yes, you need that higher thing to push you forward.’ This is what my experience has been. My parents were going to villages where people were practicing animism. And yet they found a way to connect through talking about Jesus. Ultimately it's about humanity and we have this common bond.
After audiences have had a chance to see Lost on a Mountain in Maine what would you like to see people get out of the viewing experience? What is your greatest hope for the film?
I believe that in every movie people should come out feeling redeemed in some way. Maybe you could take that Biblically if you wanted to, but I just mean it from a human perspective. My hope is that people are reminded that family is everything. And when we're in tough situations, where do we lean? We lean on family and our faith. And if this kid can do it, you can get through the hardest things as well. And you don’t need to be alone in the wilderness. You could be struggling with addiction. You could be in a fight with a parent or something like that. This kid can do this. We can do it too.
WATCH A TRAILER FOR LOST ON A MOUNTAIN IN MAINE:
