Rich Mullins: The Ragamuffin documentary by director David Leo Schultz

Wednesday 14th May 2014

Chris Marchand talked to David Leo Schultz, director of the Ragamuffin documentary about the late RICH MULLINS



Continued from page 2

CM: So the character Justin in the film who tours with Mullins - is he a composite character?

DLS: Well what I learned is - and it's the same thing with Jess - the friendship character we named Justin because there was more than one Justin. There were several other friends at different times that he was trying to get to come on the road with him. Going in I wanted to do everything as accurate[ly] as possible but at the beginning the script was so erratic and long because we were trying to fit everything and everybody in. So what you quickly realise if you've never made a movie is you have to focus on what is the main story you're telling. And when you look at anyone's life you realise there's not any one story - there's stories upon stories upon stories. And so what we tell people is this isn't the main story [about Rich Mullins], it's one story based off my eight months to a year of research. And what always stuck out to me was this father/son story. What I felt like was there was this father issue present in all his struggles, that even in all these relationships he's looking for a father. What I saw was that God kept sending him father figures ultimately to point the way to himself.

Now, I'm basically the president of the Nerdy Rich Mullins Fan Club so the last thing I would want to do is leave stuff out or paint him in a false light, but a part of why he is my hero is that he was the dude; he was the one guy in the '80s and '90s, who at least had the largest platform, that was like, "Hey everybody, let's be honest that we're sinners. We have brokenness, we have pain, we have struggles." If you go back and just read his lyrics all of it points to this darkness and this struggle. So when people tell me, "I'm really sad that you painted Rich this [negative] way," I still watch the movie and go, "This is my hero. He's still my hero." Because isn't this the good news of the Gospel: that our righteousness is found in Jesus and the cross?

CM: Do you have any idea of what's next for you?

DLS: Jim Smith, who wrote An Arrow Pointing To Heaven [a biography of Rich Mullins], wrote a book called Room Of Marvels. You should read it because there's a Rich character in there. It's a fictionalisation of his life. We're talking about making that into a movie. And then I have the rights to make a movie about Brennan Manning. But I don't know, my technical day job is to write movies even though I haven't done that for a while. We're talking about doing a comedy, Sundancy type pursuit, kind of like Little Miss Sunshine. But you never know because you could honestly spend six months working on something and then go, "Oh no! This is horrible! Let's start over."

But let me say this, to everybody who's supported us or whatever: all this is is a movie. Some people say, "Oh, it's a Christian movie," and I laugh at that because what I've learned from smarter men then me is that products can't be Christian. A movie can't be baptized, or take Communion, or follow Jesus. So for us it's a simple story of [how] God changed my life through Rich Mullins' story and we wanted to give other people that same opportunity for a whole new generation who has no idea who Rich was. This was never supposed to be the end-all be-all. The best part for us is when we hear people go, "Who was this guy? I want to go look him up and get into his music." For us that's what it was about. When people say to us, "Why did you do this or why didn't you do that?" I go, "Man, I just did the best I could, and if you're mad at me, I get it. And if you're not mad at me, well, maybe you should be!" CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
About Chris Marchand
Chris MarchandChris Marchand is a writer and worship pastor living in Illinois.


 
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Reader Comments

Posted by Valerie a Alexson in MD @ 18:56 on Oct 6 2019

I am a huge follower of Christ and of Rich's life and music. I discovered him really by the DVD about his life but after so much listening to many of his concerts and music I am grieved by the movie. It was as if the people responsible were trying to paint him in a terrible light. So sad to see him so uncovered because His life was hid in Christ, as we all are who are trusting what He did to save us. I never saw him disheveled as he was portrayed and all the addiction stuff and neediness and weakness expressed, was totally uncalled for. I wish someone would make the redemption story for us all to rejoice in. His life was so amazingly one of God's mercy, love and being a trophy of grace. He deserved respect and honor for a life worth lived, all for Jesus. Guess someone missed his Brother's Keeper song. So very sad, Valerie



Posted by Susan Tabor Herring in Homer, Louisiana @ 04:37 on Apr 30 2019

I am the person described in the following excerpt from this article about the movie "Ragamuffin" based on the life of Rich Mullins....

"This was never supposed to be the end-all be-all. The best part for us is when we hear people go, "Who was this guy? I want to go look him up and get into his music." For us that's what it was about"
I have spent the past two months devouring everything I can find about Rich Mullins. I have purchased 11 albums and 127 songs. I have watched more than 200 YouTube videos of Rich. All of this because of a "divine intervention" which led me to watch the movie. Three weeks ago, our Bible study group began reading James Bryan Smith's book "Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven". I cannot thank you enough. I have been introduced to my soulmate who now resides in heaven. My life has been forever changed.



Posted by Ottavio Lo Piccolo in Schenectday, NY @ 15:03 on Jul 20 2017

This man's life inspires me to keep persevering in God's love and mercy. Than you! Great story, film acting, a movie that i will share with my family, friends and students.



The opinions expressed in the Reader Comments are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms.

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