For actor-director-writer Tom McCarthy, a film's politics begins with a good story. It's his answer to one of activist Hollywood's oldest questions: How do you make a movie that appeals to both emotions and conscience without leaving audiences feeling as if they have been hit between the eyes with a stack of propaganda?
It's all about art with a purpose, and done with subtlety, McCarthy says. You never want to impose an issue on a film, rather you want to concentrate on the narrative and the characters, and the effect will follow.
"It's a matter of using humor and drama to put a human face on an issue," McCarthy said in a recent interview.
This week, the 39-year-old McCarthy puts his theory to the test with "The Visitor."
The movie, his second as a writer and director, which opens today in Los Angeles and New York, is about a widowed professor who finds two immigrants living illegally in his New York City apartment. As the professor, played by Richard Jenkins, becomes friends with his tenants, he follows them into the labyrinth of America's immigration system and further into its obscure web of holding facilities and prisons.
The movie shows the audience a legal no man's land where procedures are flexible and rights are virtually nonexistent.
McCarthy learned about the U.S. immigration lockups while screening his acclaimed 2003 movie, "The Station Agent," in the Middle East. He wanted to know more and, when he got back home, started asking questions and visiting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's jails.
What he discovered surprised him: There are more than 27,000 people detained on any given day at more than 330 immigrant lockups. The number of illegal immigrants spending time in detention increased from 95,214 in 2001 to 283,115 in 2006. And about 85% of the detainees are without legal representation.
"Look, I'm no expert on immigration law," said McCarthy, who went to visit several of the facilities, including one outside New York City, where he met a Nigerian man who had been held for three years. "But you have to wonder, could it be handled differently? We need to figure out a way so illegal immigrants don't become the disappeared of our generation. Are these detention centers the new Ellis Island? There are no easy answers, but we have to do better than this."
