SLIFF 2014 Interview: Darius Clark Monroe – Director and Subject of EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL

By Tom Stockman | November 16, 2014

EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL screens as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival Tuesday, Nov 18 at 7:10pm at the Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Boulevard) with director/subject Darius Clark Monroe in attendance and to answer questions. Tickets can be purchased HERE

Provocatively returning to the scene of the crime, filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe explores what led him to pull a bank heist as a teenager in Texas in 1997. By interviewing family members, close friends, and mentors, EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL, executive produced by Spike Lee, explores Monroe’s transformation as a joyous childhood gives way to a sobering recognition of his family’s severe financial problems. Their struggles changed Monroe’s outlook on his own life, eventually leading to his ill-considered criminal actions. Years after the crime and his imprisonment, Darius visited his neighborhood for his documentary which creates an intimate and personal journey of reflection and forgiveness. EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL perceptively examines lower-class struggles, the desperation of a teen under pressure, and the emotional impact of that fateful day on Monroe, his family, and his victims.

The Austin Chronicle wrote of EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL:

“How Monroe’s life took a hard right turn, and what he’s done to atone for that sin, is the subject of this moving film — a remarkably honest autobiography of a bad choice and its aftermath, an insightful study in cause and effect.”

Darius Clark Monroe took the time to talk to We Are Movie Geeks about his crime, his film, and his future.

Interview conducted by Tom Stockman November 5^th, 2014

We Are Movie Geeks: Have you been to St. Louis before?

Darius Clark Monroe: Yes, I just left St. Louis yesterday.

WAMG: What were you doing here?

DCM: We had a community screening of EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL after the Missouri history Museum.

WAMG: How did that go?

DCM: It went well.

WAMG: Where did you grow up?

DCM: I grew up in Houston Texas.

WAMG: How old were you when you committed this crime?

DCM: I was 16.

WAMG: How old are you now?

DCM: I’m 33.

WAMG: Tell me about the crime that you committed at age 16.

DCM: I was working part time. I was a full-time high school student and both of my parents have full-time jobs and my stepfather had a part-time job. This was 1996, and after our home was burglarized it began to feel like our financial situation was on a downward spiral. I was the oldest kid, the only son, and I felt like I needed to help. One day my friend Trey and I were watching America’s Most Wanted and there was a story about a small-town bank being robbed not too far from my neighborhood. That’s how I got the idea of robbing a bank for some quick money for a quick fix to help this situation. That was just the state of my mind. So my best friend from next-door and another guy and I all planned this robbery of a bank just outside of Houston in Stafford Texas. We planned it for a couple of months and then we committed this robbery in January of 1997.

WAMG: Were you caught right away?

DCM: I was caught about 3 1/2 weeks later.

WAMG: Was anyone injured in this crime or were any shots fired?

DCM: No.

WAMG: You were convicted. How much time did you end up serving?

DCM: I did three years of a five-year sent sentence in a maximum security prison in Texas.

WAMG: What was life in prison what?

PDCM: Prison was interesting. It’s not like the movies. It’s a place where men, who are not all monsters, are trying to figure out a way to maintain their sanity. It’s a place of crushing, crushing isolation. In the prison I was in at the time they had us picking cotton. This was 1998 and 1999. Prison is what you expect or more.

WAMG: How did your crime affect your relationship with your parents and the rest of your family?

DCM: It put everybody into a tailspin. Even though we were hurting for money, no one expects their child to rob a bank. There is no preparation for how someone can respond to that. It’s something you really can’t prepare for until that happens to you, and then when it happens there are so many emotions and feelings running through your mind. And my family, they were nervous about turning me in. They were conflicted. We all make mistakes and sometimes we’re put in really tough situations where we have to make hard choices. And those choices can have a ripple effect and impact more people than you might expect.

WAMG: Did your mother find some of this bank money in your room, is that what happened?

DCM: No, I gave her the money.

WAMG: What is your relationship like with your mother now?

DCM: We’ve always have a close relationship.

WAMG: Where are your accomplices now?

DCM: Trey is in Houston. He’s married with two sons. He works full-time in an assisted living facility and he also does stand-up comedy. The other accomplice, Pierre, I haven’t talked to since we did an interview in 2007. He chose not to participate in the film because of his religious beliefs. I have no idea what his status is right now.

WAMG: Did they each serve some time in prison as well?

DCM: Trey did but Pierre was never convicted.

WAMG: These people that you apologize to in your film, were they in the bank when you robbed it?

DCM: Correct.

WAMG: And what were some of their reactions to your seeking them out and apologizing to them?

DCM: Their reactions for the most part were extremely positive. I was blown away by the level of compassion that most of them had. But then there were some who are not too thrilled to see me.

WAMG: So some were more forgiving than others.

DCM: Absolutely.

WAMG: Were there any that just refused to talk to you at all?

DCM: Yes, there was one man who politely asked me to get off of his property.

WAMG: Were you surprised at the willingness to forgive that some of these people extended toward you?

DCM: Yes I was. I wasn’t really expecting the response, I just wanted to get this off of my chest and let them know that I was sorry. Their reactions were really inspiring, that people have a place in their hearts to forgive. One of the victims even chose to sit down and give an interview.

WAMG: You’ve recreated the robbery for the film with actors. What was it like filming those scenes? Was it weird?

DCM: Yes, it was very strange, and very emotional. The reenactment almost felt more real than sitting down for the interviews because here I was reenacting scenes from my life. That was challenging but a beautiful experience from a production standpoint.

WAMG: How did you get the idea to turn your story into a film?

DCM: This idea came to me in 10 years after I was released from prison and. At that time I was a graduate student at NYU. I was standing inside of a bank in New York City and I started freaking out because I thought the bank was going to get robbed. I had a panic attack and I was trying to figure out what was going on. I realized that it was all in my head but I really thought that I was going to be a part of another robbery but this time as a victim. I left the bank that day thinking about all the time that had passed. I was moving forward with my life but I had never come to terms with the fact that the people that I had robbed deserved an apology. That’s when I decided I should go back and find these people and say I was sorry. That’s how it started. I talked to my mother, and since my family had never really talked about this, I wanted to know how and why this had happened. That was seven years ago.

WAMG: Have you always been interested in film and film making?

DCM: No, I wouldn’t say I had an interest in film but I always had an interest in storytelling, even before I got in trouble. While I was in prison I thought about how to take the written word and use it in visual form. It was a random day in prison, and I went to the prison library and saw an article about the top film schools in the country and that was when I realized for the first time that you could go to school for film.

WAMG: How did Spike Lee get involved and what was he like?

DCM: Spike was great. Spike has been a film professor at NYU for 16 years. He got involved because I was in his class. It was my third year and I decided to do this documentary as my thesis film. We had a one-on-one meeting and I told him about my ideas for the film, and after a couple of more meetings he offered to executive produce it. He found the idea for my film intriguing and refreshing. He felt it was a story that needed to be told and he came onboard before anyone else   Spike challenged me and pushed me to get it done.

WAMG: Did you watch Spike Lee’s films when you were growing up?

DCM: Oh yes, but I just watched his films like everyone else did. I never thought that I could be a filmmaker

WAMG: How has EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL been received so far?

DCM: It’s doing well I’m excited that it’s playing at the St. Louis International Film Festival.

WAMG: What are your future plans? Do you have some other films in the works?

DCM: Yes, I’m shooting a short film in a couple of weeks in Texas and hopefully I’ll be shooting a feature film this time next year.

WAMG: Good luck with your film and all of your future projects.

DCM: Thanks a lot, I appreciate it.