Behind the Scenes With ‘Benny & Joon’ Director

“How do people affect each other when they love each other and want to do good by each other?”

For film director Jeremiah Chechik, that question is the essence of his quietly affecting 1993 sleeper hit “Benny & Joon.” Sometimes, he adds, they end up obsessively controlling another to the point “where you destroy the thing that you want to nourish and nurture and protect.”

Chechik’s articulate, intelligent and knowledgeable discussion of that process as the film unfolds on a separate analog track is the backbone of MGM/UA’s special laser release on Wednesday of “Benny & Joon: Deluxe Director’s Edition” ($70).

While the film is also available on a fine letterboxed CLV MGM/UA edition ($40), this letterboxed CAV edition on three discs offers a number of pleasures that enhance the film experience. Besides Chechik’s informative comments, there is also another alternate track that includes two pieces of the effective musical soundtrack that were dropped in favor of two songs, including the film’s popular theme song by the Proclaimers (“I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”). On the third disc, there is some intelligent supplementary material including an illuminating discussion and examples of costume, makeup and lighting tests by cinematographer John Schwartzman, a snipped scene that was better left on the cutting room floor, the poorly done theatrical trailer, the Proclaimers’ spirited music video of the theme song, and the amusing mock horror film “The Prom Queen Mutilator” shown briefly on TV during the movie.

Aidan Quinn as Benny, Mary Stuart Masterson as his mentally disturbed sister, Joon, and Johnny Depp as Sam, the odd Buster Keaton-like figure who enters and forever changes their lives, all etch unforgettable characters.

Chechik, who began his career directing commercials, praises the actors for performances so sincere that the honesty of the characters’ behavior doesn’t seem forced. Depp’s tender and affecting performance, which Chechik explains “represents the joy, the existential part of one’s heart,” gains in stature as Chechik explains the actor’s contributions to the film. Depp watched the works of silent film stars Keaton, Chaplin and others for weeks to perfect the adept moves that pay homage to them.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Chechik’s analog track lies in his discussion of the evolution of the film, how it changed from the story of a Los Angeles-based psychiatrist managing a weird young street performer into “a romance on the brink of reality,” as it is subtitled. It’s clear from the director’s discussion how much he cares about his “fairy tale,” its “metaphoric characters” and what they have to tell us about ourselves.

Chechik’s perceptive discussion, improvised haltingly, is particularly effective as the film unfolds scene by scene. This is a laser for anyone who cares about the art and craft of filmmaking.

The choice of music, camera and lighting are among the details analyzed by Chechik and his articulate cinematographer.

This laser production comes up with an original idea enabling the viewer to listen to the lovely alternate score by Rachel Portman as the opening credits unfold, and then to watch the film again as it was released with the Proclaimers’ anthem. A viewer can hear the different moods created by pop song or evocative score and decide which one works better. Who can resist the Proclaimers’ driving music? The decision, however, to use a pop vocal over the love scene instead of Portman’s sensitive music may have been an error in judgment. Watching the scene with the alternative track gives it a power and a poignancy that the pop song overwhelms.

Chechik believes that his movie “is about love.” There’s no better Valentine gift to love, movies and their creation than this handsome laser production, co-produced by MGM/UA’s George Feltenstein and Alan Fisch.