Tom Kalin Interview On Directing 'Savage Grace,' Julianne Moore

Tom Kalin is the director of the art house classic Savage Grace, starring Julianne Moore, the psychologically disturbing film based on the gruesome murder of Barbara Daly Baekeland by her own son,and their incestuous relationship. The horror of the story is what grabbed Kalin's attention. “I was drawn to the scary challenge of this epic narrative,” he told Uinterview exclusively. “The world of these characters collides elegance and violence.”

Kalin, a noted director, producer and screen writer, is also a professor of experimental film at the European Graduate School in Switzerland. His films have focused on gay issues and AIDS, and he is considered a leader of the New Queer Cinema movement. Previous projects by Kalin include his debut independent film Swoon in 1992.

For Savage Grace, Kalin tried to find the human side of his characters despite their monstrous acts. “We were all more interested in showing these characters as humans,” he told Uinterview. “Deeply flawed, but human.”