|
Sunday, August 15, 2004 --
1:15 PM
The witness, who was a catch-all crew member and had a small role in the victim's
film, was interviewed at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Office. The
interview was conducted by Detectives Armstrong and Murphy and was
recorded on a portable tape recorder with the witness' knowledge and
consent.
- TA = Detective T. Armstrong
- SM = Detective S. Murphy
- AM = Alsace Montenado
SM: For the record, please state your name, age, address and
occupation.
AM: Alsace Montenado, 27. I live at 140 South 11th St. in Oxford. I'm a
student at Ole Miss.
TA: Mr. Montenado, at the scene, you stated that you found the victim,
but that's not true, is it?
AM: No, sir. In the heat of the moment, I guess I took credit.
TA: Took credit for what?
AM: For finding him. It wasn't me; it was Katrina who found him. All
these different realities just started blending together.
TA: I don't think it was the heat of the moment, and I don't think it
was a matter of opposing realities. You were protecting her, weren't
you?
AM: I was protecting everybody. Somebody had to do it.
TA: What were you protecting them from?
AM: From him.
TA: Corwin Fitz?
AM: That's right.
SM: What was it about him? Tell us, Mr. Montenado. I know you can
tell me why everyone was staying at that lodge against their will,
working with an abusive, incompetent film director?
AM: He wasn't incompetent.
SM: Was he abusive?
AM: He was... decisive, unyielding. Whatever it took to make it
right. But somehow, his right was off kilter.
TA: Did he hurt them?
AM: Yes. All of them.
TA: Did he hurt you?
AM: He couldn't touch me.
TA: Tell me what he did.
AM: Where do I begin?
TA: When did you first meet Corwin Fitz?
AM: I first saw him at As Seen on TV. I walk into the video store one day,
and there's this guy, who turns out to be Corwin, holding forth
about realism in cinema. Talking about how Robert Altman had found the
key to getting authentic performances out of his actors -- that to achieve
a certain reality in a film, a director has to make the actors see that
they exist and operate in that reality, and the director can accept nothing less.
It sounded like a cool idea to me so when I saw Corwin a couple
of days later over at Bottletree Bakery, I introduced
myself and asked him about Robert Altman. We had coffee, and he told me all
about his film project. He let me look at a script, and I really got
into it. I told him I couldn't really act, but that I'd help any way I
could. I had worked on the set of a Steven Seagal movie and really hated
the experience, so I wanted to see what it would be like on the set on
an indie flick. I wanted to actually have an effect on the final outcome
rather than just fetch hamburgers and take phone messages. He let me
come on as the set designer, but really I was like a stage manager. The
go-to guy. I'm ashamed to admit this now, but several times he asked me
to rough somebody up, and I did it. Of course, nobody got hurt too bad.
TA: Except Fitz.
AM: Yeah.
TA: So who did you rough up?
AM: Mainly Flamé and Mummy. Those guys are just punks. And I sort
of had to put Macy in her place every now and then.
TA: How do you mean?
AM: She'd come storming onto the set crying or throwing food at
Corwin, and I'd have to restrain her. Lock her up in the closet. Tie her
up.
TA: And what about Katrina Brook? Were you ever asked to rough her up?
AM: No. And I never would've either. No matter who said.
SM: Did you get along with Mr. Fitz?
AM: For the most part. We had our squabbles, but for the most part,
yes, we got along. He knew he couldn't do it without me. I'm the one who
kept everyone in order. I'm the one who kept food on the table, by going
out every morning and hunting wild game. I had plenty of good ideas for
the film, and still, he wouldn't let me see the product he was putting
together. He kept everything locked up in the editing room. He wore the
key around his neck, wanted to make sure no one could get in there. That
trust, you know. It just wasn't there. And then the whole time we were
out there, he slowly began to hate all of us. And most notably -- and this
may have been the case from the start -- he hated himself and what he'd
become in his search for greatness.
SM: I sense some resentment.
AM: It's more frustration. He could have been a great artist, but he
was too full of himself. Too full and certain that he was a genius.
SM: But he wasn't?
AM: I have no idea. He's certainly not now, so what does it matter?
SM: Tell us about what happened this morning. Did you hear the gunshots?
AM: No. Honestly, I didn't. I'd had a good deal to drink the night
before, and I was sleeping quite heavily.
SM: But you heard Katrina screaming, right?
AM: Yes. That scream brought me right to life. I just knew he... I
didn't know what had happened, you know.
SM: What did you think had happened?
AM: I... I didn't know. All I knew was that I had to get to Katrina.
And I figured she was in Corwin's room 'cause that's where she spent most
nights.
TA: She slept with him?
AM: I assume. She would go in there with him at night and come out
with him in the morning. I assume they slept together, but I really
don't know. If you ask me, he was holding her captive. I don't think she
was there of her own will. I... I just don't like the way he handled
her. I always knew something wrong was happening there. She didn't want
to be there with him.
TA: That's funny. That's not the impression we got. She said she'd
fallen in love with him.
AM: Bull****. He raped her, you know.
TA: Raped her? How do you know?
AM: I was there. I was filing some stuff away for him in his office.
That's one of the few times I was allowed in there. And I heard it. She
came into his room to talk to him, and he pretty much told her, "You're gonna
have to do better than this if you want to be in my movie." He
said, "I don't think you feel the sexuality in your character." Then he
shut the door, and there was some loud shuffling around, and some
whimpering. She piped up and made some noise, and then the music shot on
real loud. I got pissed and left. Went back to my bunk and went to
sleep.
TA: Why didn't you help her?
AM: I didn't want to be presumptuous. I mean, at the time I didn't
know what the situation was. She may have wanted it, for all I knew. I
didn't want to bust into the middle of what could have been some
psychological sex game. I'm telling you, nothing made sense the whole
time I was at the lodge. Nothing.
TA: When you finally came to Katrina's aid the morning Corwin was
killed, what did you see there?
AM: I arrived at his bedroom, and I remember Katrina was shaking and
bawling, standing there in the middle of Corwin's room. The music was up
pretty loud. I couldn't get her to say anything. She just pointed toward
the bathroom, so I walked in and saw him floating in the tub there. The
shower was on, so I turned it off, just trying to cut down on some of the
noise. I turned the radio off. By that time, Dave and Billy had come around,
and I wanted to keep everyone away. I knew the crime scene needed to be
protected. So I was trying to keep everyone out and keep Katrina in.
SM: Why were you trying to keep her in the room?
AM: To be honest, I thought she had done it. I was in shock, I don't
know. When I finally regained my senses, I called 911.
SM: So you told us you'd found the body because you thought Katrina
had killed him?
AM: I don't know. By that time, I figured she couldn't have done it.
She was so upset, I didn't see how she could have. But who knows.
SM: Why would she have killed Mr. Fitz?
AM: I don't know. Unless his mind games had finally taken their toll
on her. He could really be a slime ball with her. He had her upset,
broken down. He said it was part of the movie, but nothing in my script
suggested that. But then, he was constantly rewriting.
TA: What about Flamé? Do you think he could have done it?
AM: No. Flam� is a joke. He wanted to be Corwin. Why would he kill
him?
TA: What about Chuck King?
AM: Yeah, he and Corwin got into it pretty good. Corwin wouldn't let
him come on the set, and that upset Chuckie. He wanted his money back. I
remember he sent faxes threatening Corwin, saying he knew some Memphis
boys who would fix him. It didn't bother Corwin, though. He laughed at
it.
TA: And what about the girl we heard about, Helen Troy?
AM: I don't know. He ran after her like a madman when she showed up
trying to audition. It's weird because that was pretty simple, but it
was like the straw that broke the camel's back. He just lost it,
completely.
TA: Did he say anything to you about her?
AM: Nothing.
TA: Did he say anything to you about King?
AM: Just kept telling me what an a****** he was. He told me that he
wasn't giving the money back.
SM: Anyone else? Did anyone else on or off the set bother him
particularly?
AM: We never talked about personal things like that. He never gave me
his opinions on the crew. Whenever he talked about anyone on the crew,
it was always in the context of the script. If he talked to me about
Billy, it was about his character, Costa. If he talked about Johnny, he was
talking about Kenny.
TA: Did you play a role?
AM: Yeah, I played Beech in the opening scene. I'm the hitchhiker who
gets tricked into thinking this guy who picked me up shot his passenger
and then made me kill him.
SM: Did he put you through any rigorous motivational techniques? Any
dangerous method acting?
AM: No, I didn't really go in for that. I guess I was naturally
gifted, just fit into the role.
SM: Did you know the film shoot would go on as long as it did?
AM: No, I didn't. If I'd known how it would be, I probably wouldn't
have joined. In fact, now that I know how it turned out, I definitely
wouldn't have joined.
SM: So what made you stay?
AM: I... I just felt I had to rise above it, you know?
SM: No. You're saying it was self-discipline?
AM: Yeah.
TA: I don't buy it. I've never known people put through this much
abuse and humiliation who continue to stick around because it made them
a better person.
AM: You don't know because you weren't there. You couldn't imagine the
sense of perseverance you get in the midst of performance like that. You
can't just throw down your tools and walk off the set because of a
little discomfort and anger.
TA: When people are being abused, they just take it?
AM: Hell, yes! Don't tell me it's not a prominent theme throughout
history. For whatever reason, we wanted to stay and make this film.
Because that's what it was about. It was about abuse and mind games. It
all made sense, and it made no sense at all. We were all in love with
the strangeness and the contradictions. We were performers. We're
artists, for ******sakes!
TA: All right, Montenado. If there are
any more questions, we'll be looking for you.
AM: I'll be around. I've got school to prepare for. I missed
registration for this
semester, so I've gotta get a job of some kind, now that Corwin can't
support me.
TA: Well good luck. See that you stay out of trouble.
Interview ends -- 2:04 PM |
