Kind of Blue: Paquin Pairs Romance and Politics

Road warriors: Breckin Meyer and Anna Paquin star in Blue State, soon to premiere at Tribeca

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Political ideology is nothing new to relationship comedies, so perhaps it was just a matter of time before the strained culture of George W. Bush-era America informed its first such film. Which, to hear its leading lady Anna Paquin tell it, is only part of the story behind Blue State, one of this year's Tribeca Film Festival premieres and the 24-year-old Oscar-winner's first project as an executive producer. The Reeler recently caught up with Paquin to talk about Blue State's place in the political canon, her work behind the scenes and, briefly anyhow, the mystery shrouding her upcoming Kenneth Lonergan collaboration, Margaret:

STV: They're not letting anyone see the film before the premiere, so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage. But maybe you can go ahead and provide a little background about the story and your involvement.

AP: The film is about a young politically active liberal from San Francisco who makes this drunken proclamation in the last election, if Bush wins, that he's going to move to Canada. And he basically decides after the election that he's going to follow through with it. He's looking for a traveling companion, and he stumbles upon this girl who, for a couple of reasons, is a wildly inappropriate choice, but basically, she's the only chick who answers his ad. He decides to bring her along. It's kind of their story/adventure/road trip to Canada and the various strange things that happen once they get there. Ultimately it's about their developing relationship. So... yeah. I'm not very good at plot summary.

STV: It's perfect. The title and that synopsis implies a narrative influenced by a particular political philosophy or slant. Is that a misapprehension?

AP: No, but the politics are more of the setting for the story. It’s not really an overly political, message-driven film. It's more the context for some humor, if you like, and a situation or a reality that I think a lot of people will be people will be familiar with. I think a lot of people, regardless of which side of the debate they're on, have strong feelings about the last two elections. And it just seemed like the perfect setting for a funny story that ultimately is just about the relationship that forms between these two people. The political slant is just the setting.

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Posted at April 25, 2007 1:30 AM