Secret Window (2004)

Director:

David Koepp

Writers (WGA):

Stephen King (novel)
David Koepp (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 March 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The most important part of a story is the ending.

Plot:

A writer is accused for plagiarism by a strange man, who then starts haunting him for "justice."

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Divorce | Dog | Lake | Ups

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Johnny Depp	...	Mort Rainey
John Turturro	...	John Shooter
Maria Bello	...	Amy Rainey
Timothy Hutton	...	Ted Milner
Charles S. Dutton	...	Ken Karsch
Len Cariou	...	Sheriff Dave Newsome
Joan Heney	...	Mrs. Garvey
John Dunn-Hill	...	Tom Greenleaf (as John Dunn Hill)
Vlasta Vrana	...	Fire Chief Wickersham
Matt Holland	...	Detective Bradley
Gillian Ferrabee	...	Fran Evans
Bronwen Mantel	...	Greta Bowie
Elizabeth Marleau	...	Juliet Stoker
Kyle Allatt	...	Busboy
Richard Jutras	...	Motel Manager
Kevin Woodhouse	...	Public Works Guy
Vito DeFilippo	...	Public Works Guy
Sarah Allen	...	Sheriff's Niece
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Isabelle Champeau	...	Photojournalist (uncredited)

Directed by
David Koepp

Writing credits (WGA)
Stephen King		(novella "Four Past Midnight: Secret Window, Secret Garden")
David Koepp		(screenplay)

Produced by
Gavin Polone	....	producer
Ezra Swerdlow	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Philip Glass
Geoff Zanelli

Cinematography by
Fred Murphy

Film Editing by
Jill Savitt

Casting by
Pat McCorkle
John Papsidera

Production Design by
Howard Cummings

Art Direction by
Gilles Aird

Set Decoration by
Francine Danis

Costume Design by
Odette Gadoury

Makeup Department
Nathan J. Busch II	....	hairdresser: New York (as Nathan Busch)
Réjean Goderre	....	key hair stylist
C.J. Goldman	....	special makeup effects artist
Erik Gosselin	....	special prosthetics
Christine Larocque	....	wig maker
Adrien Morot	....	special makeup effects supervisor
Patricia Regan	....	makeup artist: New York unit
Martin Samuel	....	hairdresser: Mr. Depp
Micheline Trépanier	....	key makeup artist
George Tucci	....	special makeup effects artist
Sylvania Yau	....	special makeup effects coordinator
Patty York	....	makeup artist: Mr. Depp

Production Management
Manon Bougie	....	unit production manager
Patrick Legault	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jesabelle Boileau	....	additional third assistant director
Pedro Gandol	....	first assistant director
Linda Perkins	....	second assistant director: New York
David 'Wex' Wechsler	....	first assistant director: New York

Art Department
Real Capuano	....	scenic technician
Martin Chalifoux	....	construction coordinator
Marcel Pierre Dussol	....	props
Denis Hamel	....	property master
Annie Jamison-DeMarbre	....	construction coordinator
Alexandre Juneau	....	set dresser
Raynald Langelier	....	set designer
Brick Mason	....	storyboard artist
William F. Reynolds	....	set decorator: New York
Lucie Tremblay	....	set designer

Sound Department
Coll Anderson	....	sound effects recordist
Michael Barry	....	supervising sound mixer
David Briggs	....	foley editor
Nancy Cabrera	....	foley artist
Tim Chau	....	sound designer
Tim Chau	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tim Chau	....	supervising sound mixer
Ryan Collison	....	foley engineer
Lee Dichter	....	supervising sound mixer
Maxime Ferland	....	boom operator
Albert Gasser	....	sound effects editor
Henry Godding Jr.	....	adr recordist: Montreal
Robert Hein	....	supervising sound editor
Brad Kanfer	....	assistant sound editor
Mathew Knights	....	adr recordist
Sean Landeros	....	sound recordist
Avi Laniado	....	engineering support
Howard London	....	adr mixer
Sylvia Menno	....	dialogue editor
Angela Organ	....	assistant adr editor
Glenfield Payne	....	foley editor
Patrick Rousseau	....	sound
Marilyn Teorey	....	assistant sound editor
David Wahnon	....	assistant sound editor
Deborah Wallach	....	adr supervisor
Akil Wilson	....	assistant sound editor
Keenan Wyatt	....	sound technician
Louise Sinclair	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Manon Boucher	....	special effects technician
Louis Craig	....	special effects director
Mario Dumont	....	special effects floor supervisor
Normand Gobeille	....	special effects technician
André Laforest	....	special effects technician
Philippe Roberge	....	special effects technician
Ryan Storm	....	effects technician
Bernard Guay	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Jacqueline Allard	....	rotoscope
Christopher Almerico	....	visual effects coordinator
Arthur Argote	....	digital compositor
David Bailey	....	digital matte painter
Joseph Brattesani	....	digital compositor
Marc Cote	....	motion control operator
Pierre Couture	....	visual effects coordinator
Pierre Couture	....	visual effects producer
Ron Crabb	....	matte painter
Travis Dutch	....	scanning and recording
Kevin Fitzgerald	....	motion control operator
William Higgins	....	digital effects artist
Lubo Hristov	....	digital matte painter
Nancy Hyland	....	digital compositor
Irene Kassow	....	visual effects editor
Darren Locke	....	pre-visualization: Keyframe Digital Productions
Tom Lynnes	....	CG supervisor
Margaux Mackay	....	visual effects supervising producer
Gray Marshall	....	visual effects supervisor
Craig Mathieson	....	digital compositor
Matt McFarland	....	scan/record manager
Jennifer Mizener	....	visual effects production office coordinator
Jim Rider	....	Flame artist
César Romero	....	digital compositor
Robert Scifo	....	digital matte painter
Craig Shumard	....	motion control technician

Stunts
Marcello Bezina	....	stunt double
Jere Gillis	....	stunts
Karine Lemieux	....	stunt double: Maria Bello
David McKeown	....	stunt coordinator (as Dave McKeown)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean-François Abran	....	electrician
Sylvain Bernier	....	gaffer
Stephane Boisvert	....	generator operator
François Daignault	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Mathieu Décary	....	first assistant camera
Mathieu-Félix Drouin	....	clapper loader
Lukasz Jogalla	....	camera operator
Tom Kerwick	....	key grip: New York
Andre-Pierre Lampron	....	additional electrician
Patrick Lima	....	dolly grip
Kenneth MacKenzie	....	key grip
Pierre Malo	....	rigging electrician
Charles Marcotte	....	electrician
Jordi Montblanch	....	grip
David Reinhard	....	daily second assistant camera
Alain Rousseau	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Stephane Tanguay	....	electrician
Abeille Tard	....	camera trainee
Marco Venditto	....	rigging gaffer
William M. Weberg	....	best boy grip: New York
Jonathan Wenk	....	still photographer
Barry Wetcher	....	still photographer: New York

Casting Department
Lee Genick	....	extras casting
Andrea Kenyon	....	casting: Canada
Gabriel Lavina	....	casting assistant: Montreal
Ed Lewis	....	casting associate
Wendy O'Brien	....	casting associate
Randi Wells	....	casting: Canada

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rosalie Clermont-Bilodeau	....	assistant costume designer
Roseann Milano	....	wardrobe supervisor: New York
Lyse Pomerleau	....	costume supervisor
Leah Yananton	....	costume assistant: New York

Editorial Department
Steve Bowen	....	digital colorist
Adam Geiger	....	assistant editor
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter
Berenicci Hershorn	....	assistant film editor
Jordan Lindblad	....	editorial production assistant
Chris Regan	....	color timer
Will Reichel	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
Nancy Allen	....	assistant music editor
Joseph S. DeBeasi	....	music editor: temp score
Julie Eidsvoog	....	music preparation
Bruce Fowler	....	orchestrator
Suzie Katayama	....	music preparation
Blake Neely	....	additional conductor
Suzana Peric	....	music editor
Mark J. Petracca	....	music consultant
Michael Riesman	....	conductor
Michael Riesman	....	music scoring mixer
Alan Elliott	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Steve Kempster	....	score mixer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Vincent Brabant	....	driver
Bertrand Calmeau	....	driver
Alexandre Juaneda	....	transportation captain
André Michaud	....	driver

Other crew
Randall Balsmeyer	....	title designer
Liza Bambenek	....	unit loader: New York
Melanie Bergeron	....	key set medic
Lisa Marie Blair	....	photo double: Maria Bello
Mathias Bocquillon	....	assistant: Mr. Depp
Jeff Caron	....	location assistant
Robert Cavalluzzo	....	assistant location manager: New York
Jean-Philippe Collin	....	stand-in: John Turturro
J. John Corbett	....	title designer
Jen Cox	....	first assistant accountant
Christi Dembrowski	....	assistant: Mr. Depp
Kim De Pietro	....	location manager
Yves Desjardins	....	travel coordinator
François Doré	....	police liaison: Sûreté du Québec, Montreal
Émilie Dussault	....	assistant: Mr. Swerdlow (as Emilie Dussault)
Marjorie Hamel	....	production assistant
Buck Holland	....	assistant: Mr. Depp
Alan Jacques	....	projectionist
Marc Julien	....	set production assistant
Steve Leblanc	....	truck production assistant
Julie Mongeau	....	assistant: Mr. Koepp
Nico Muhly	....	midi supervisor
Helene Muller	....	production coordinator
Hélène Müller	....	production coordinator
Len Murach	....	location manager
Janice Naehu	....	assistant: Mr. Koepp
Will Reichel	....	assistant: David Koepp
JP Sarni	....	office production assistant: New York
James Smith	....	assistant: Mr. Polone
Romy Stutman	....	assistant: Mr. Polone
Sophie Tessier	....	production assistant
Deana Vinciullo	....	production assistant: New York
Martin Williams	....	safety rigger
Christian Biron	....	assistant location manager (uncredited)
David H. Kramer	....	adr loop group (uncredited)
Jason Messeri	....	set production assistant: New York (uncredited)
Bill Timoney	....	adr voice group (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Grand Slam Productions
• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Pariah Entertainment Group
• Pariah Entertainment Group

Distributors

• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)
• Buena Vista International (2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (2004) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Film (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films AB (2004) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2004) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Italia (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Nordisk Film Distributors (2004) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Prooptiki (Greece) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures
• Columbia TriStar Films (2004) (Spain) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (Argentina) (VHS)
• My Network TV (2007) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Nelonen (2007) (Finland) (TV)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic (2004) (Finland) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Pacific Title (opticals)
• Maestro FX (mannequins: Karsch & Greenleaf) (as Maestro Studio F/X)
• Lifemaker Inc. (mannequins: Amy, Ted & Chico)
• Gray Matter FX (visual effects)
• Camera e-Motion (motion control)
• Intrigue (special effects)
• Keyframe Digital Productions Inc. (3-D pre-visualization)

Other Companies

• Big Film Design  titles
• Citè du Cinema  location services
• Concept & Creation Mordicus  construction
• DeLuxe Laboratories  color timing
• Pacific Title  opticals
• Pivotal Post  Avid editing equipment provided by
• Sound One  post-production sound services
• Sylvia Fay/Lee Genick & Associates Casting  extras casting New York

Also Known As:

Secret Window, Secret Garden (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence/terror, sexual content and language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | France:U | Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | South Korea:15 | Japan:U | India:UA | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-11 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB (DVD rating) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Philippines:R-13 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40120) | Greece:K-17

Filming Locations:

Bromont Sur Le Lac, Québec, Canada

Company:

Grand Slam Productions

Trivia:

While Johnny Depp is looking to a mirror, you faintly hear him whisper, "When Sister Veronica found out about the windows she withdrew the school from the competition". This is a line from Rosemary Woodhouse's first dream in Rosemary's Baby (1968).

Goofs:

Continuity: After Mort gets out of his car to confront his wife and her lover at the motel, he closes the car door. It is both heard and can be seen in the rear view mirror. When he returns to leave a moment later, the car door is open.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mort: [voiceover] Turn around. Turn around. Turn the car around and get the hell out of here. Right now. Don't go back. Do not go back there.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

Soundtrack:

Get Down

A movie for writers, by writers, about writing.

"The only thing that matters is the ending. It's the most important part of the story. And this one, is very good." This line, from the short story by Stephen King, and repeated with such muted insanity by Johnny Depp, is Secret Window in a nutshell.

A lot of people didn't enjoy this movie, because the ending is clichéd and predictable, but I loved the rest of it because of it's true subject matter.

The movie is about writing and the insanity of writers. For those of you unfamiliar with the process...imagine spending months or even years of your life working on a painting that you yourself can never see. You become so close to what you create that you have no idea if it's any good, and the growing doubt of your own ability along with the fear of wasting so much time and effort will most definitely have you pulling your hair out.

That's what Secret Window captures so perfectly. It's obvious Stephen King knows exactly what's going on in Mort Rainey's mind, and Koepp, a successful and busy screenwriter, probably connected with the material for the same reason.

Early in the movie, Mort walks around his house on a typical day when he's working on his latest novel. He does nothing. Sleeps. Talks to his dog. Then finally sits down at the typewriter and writes a single paragraph. He then reads it, realizes it's bad writing, and deletes it. But he does it with a SMILE. And he goes back to sleep happy, because he DID something on that day.

That's the world that Mort Rainey, as a serious writer, lives in. Completely obsessed with trying to paint a blind masterpiece, and scared to death of failure. So you can imagine that when Mort finally completes something that he's proud of, it goes down as one of the great days in his otherwise nervous and stressful existence.

And King has magnified the situation, by stripping our writer of everything else that might make him happy. Mort's personal life is a complete mess. His wife has left him for another man (a subplot staged with perfect awkward bitterness), he has no friends and is living alone in a cabin in the woods. So Mort is a writer and nothing else. The only thing he has left is the hope of his latest novel. And that naturally takes all his effort and gives him nothing but stress and doubt in return. So the only thing that can possibly be keeping him going is his previous work. The satisfaction that comes from having climbed the mountain in the past and created something that truly makes him proud.

And THAT is when the horror begins. Our villain appears, and accuses Mort of plagiarizing one of his previous stories. (If you've followed my description to this point, your stomach should turn a cartwheel at this moment.) Shooter threatens Mort's life, and Mort is left trying to find an original copy of the story to prove to his stalker (and perhaps himself) that he does have a shred of value as a human being.

And of course, as the story goes on...we get a full exploration of the affects of immersing yourself in a fictional world. It goes on to show the paranoia and madness that can come from men when they don't have the steady influence of reality to keep them anchored.

The ending of the story is very predictable and cliché, but I can forgive it, because it is a total natural for this material. Secret Window is a perfect examination of the inner madness that exists in people who create subjective art for a living. Depp's performance is pitch perfect, and people who understand the situation will most likely love this.

If you aren't, however, you won't be able to identify.

7.5/10