The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

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The Godfather 109 appetite, and you don’t even imagine it can ever live up to part one, and yet, in some ways it does, right? I understand when he says there should’ve only been one movie, that it was complete. I think it’s a miracle they made Part II work. Maybe he’s more referring to the greed, what happened with Part III—we love those people so much, but in many ways it can’t really go on and on and on because the story is complete. It’s like trying to do a follow-up to Oedipus Rex or The Searchers. I mean, there’s a reason that they aren’t serialized. It’s very interesting that it was so hard to make and so hard fought. Even years later Coppola talks about how it was just miserable. Even the death sequence with Brando—he had to talk people into shooting that sequence during a lunch break. Peirce: It’s total testament to his brilliance and his timeliness, particularly if he’s not getting support, and he’s fighting for these scenes. There’s a simplicity and a brilliance to them, and you can tell by the way they’re shot. Let’s take a minute to talk about the casting. The studio did not want Pacino . . . Peirce: Having looked at the outtakes of The Godfather, it was just so clear no matter what you did, the people who he cast—the way he cast them— had to be done that way. The studio wanted James Caan to play Michael. He’s great, but there’s no way, no way, no way. He’s so perfect as Sonny, biting his hand when he’s frustrated. That’s the humor that I just fucking love. It’s so great. The only other thing that I really love, which I think does speak to it being a quintessential American movie: I always love how the Italians are racist against the blacks, the Wasps are racist against the Italians. It’s always wanting to be accepted, right? And Michael thinks if he earns enough money and if he gives money to the right people, he won’t be a wop. There’s something so lovely and deep and American about that, particularly because it’s a culture that’s such a melting pot. Coppola captured that so beautifully, but with humor. That’s just something I love over and over and over—the outsiders trying to become the insiders.
12 Steve James Harlan County U.S.A. Steve James changed my life. Before I ever met him, his documentary Stevie spurred me to write my previous book, Last Words of the Executed. So it was a particular pleasure to meet him and ask him about the film that made him want to direct documentaries. His choice: Barbara Kopple’s Harlan County U.S.A. Like me, he got to meet the person who changed his life later in his career—but that’s a story best told in the body of this interview. Of Harlan County U.S.A., James says: “I just remember being really struck by it—being really struck by this gritty quality that it had. The raw honesty of it and the access that Barbara was able to achieve.” Steve James, selected filmography: Higher Goals (1993) Hoop Dreams (1994) Prefontaine (1997) Stevie (2002) Reel Paradise (2005) At the Death House Door (2008) The Interrupters (2011) Harlan County U.S.A. 1976 Directed by Barbara Kopple Starring Norman Yarborough, Houston Elmore, Phil Sparks, and John Corcoran 110
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Danny Boyle on Apocalypse Now Kevin
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-P
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Contents Introduction … vi 1 Edga
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Introduction Movies are personal to
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viii Introduction For me, a sevente
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2 Edgar Wright How would you descri
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4 Edgar Wright an extremely gory Ri
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6 Edgar Wright going on. People are
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8 Edgar Wright Wright: The thing th
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10 Edgar Wright And then the deadpa
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12 Edgar Wright when a director has
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14 Rian Johnson How would you descr
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16 Rian Johnson [laughter] So there
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18 Rian Johnson The Godfather, and
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20 Rian Johnson creates the beauty
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22 Rian Johnson Johnson: Oh God, ar
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24 Rian Johnson As a filmmaker it
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26 Danny Boyle Starring Martin Shee
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28 Danny Boyle Boyle: [laughs] It h
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30 Danny Boyle on the ground, they
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32 Danny Boyle shooting schedule; h
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34 Danny Boyle And, as a filmmaker,
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36 Danny Boyle nonsense. But, it se
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38 Danny Boyle Boyle: Oh yeah, it
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40 Bill Condon How would you descri
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42 Bill Condon Condon: Oh, I think
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44 Bill Condon that great ending. I
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46 Bill Condon And then there’s a
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48 Richard Kelly Terry Gilliam call
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50 Richard Kelly access passes to t
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52 Richard Kelly Kelly: It makes it
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54 Richard Kelly they are not seen
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56 Peter Bogdanovich Texasville (19
Page 67 and 68: 58 Peter Bogdanovich How did it cha
Page 69 and 70: 60 Peter Bogdanovich everything the
Page 71 and 72: 62 Peter Bogdanovich And you were p
Page 73 and 74: 7 John Dahl A Clockwork Orange John
Page 75 and 76: 66 John Dahl For example, I would s
Page 77 and 78: 68 John Dahl way around. Art consis
Page 79 and 80: 70 John Dahl Dahl: It’s interesti
Page 81 and 82: 72 John Dahl My only other criticis
Page 83 and 84: 8 Henry Jaglom 8½ Henry Jaglom cha
Page 85 and 86: 76 Henry Jaglom was going through.
Page 87 and 88: 78 Henry Jaglom out of control. A g
Page 89 and 90: 80 Henry Jaglom Over the years, I
Page 91 and 92: 9 Brian Herzlinger E.T.: The Extra-
Page 93 and 94: 84 Brian Herzlinger during the scen
Page 95 and 96: 86 Brian Herzlinger that world brou
Page 97 and 98: 88 Brian Herzlinger You met Spielbe
Page 99 and 100: 90 Brian Herzlinger And he says,
Page 101 and 102: 92 Brian Herzlinger in theaters bec
Page 103 and 104: 10 Alex Gibney The Exterminating An
Page 105 and 106: 96 Alex Gibney one was political in
Page 107 and 108: 98 Alex Gibney There’s one scene
Page 109 and 110: 100 Alex Gibney you’ve had to do
Page 111 and 112: 102 Alex Gibney I would say that th
Page 113 and 114: 11 Kimberly Peirce The Godfather Pe
Page 115 and 116: 106 Kimberly Peirce and he gets him
Page 117: 108 Kimberly Peirce Have you ever r
Page 121 and 122: 112 Steve James later. It’s so tr
Page 123 and 124: 114 Steve James an outsider. She ha
Page 125 and 126: 116 Steve James out there, which wa
Page 127 and 128: 118 Steve James James: Sure. It was
Page 129 and 130: 120 Steve James give-and-take, then
Page 131 and 132: 122 Steve James 28 Up and The Times
Page 133 and 134: 124 Austin Chick Can you tell me ab
Page 135 and 136: 126 Austin Chick Chick: Yeah, I mea
Page 137 and 138: 128 Austin Chick Chick: The very fi
Page 139 and 140: 130 Austin Chick But this does have
Page 141 and 142: 14 Guy Maddin L’âge d’or Guy M
Page 143 and 144: 134 Guy Maddin a movie myself. My m
Page 145 and 146: 136 Guy Maddin It has a great shape
Page 147 and 148: 138 Guy Maddin Maddin: Oh my God, i
Page 149 and 150: 140 Guy Maddin shooting things, I l
Page 151 and 152: 142 Guy Maddin to the way we love.
Page 153 and 154: 144 Guy Maddin see that the spicy,
Page 155 and 156: 146 Michel Gondry How you would des
Page 157 and 158: 148 Michel Gondry You’re right. I
Page 159 and 160: 150 Michel Gondry I think they have
Page 161 and 162: 16 Michael Polish Once Upon a Time
Page 163 and 164: 154 Michael Polish because he was u
Page 165 and 166: 156 Michael Polish I’ve heard it
Page 167 and 168: 158 Michael Polish aspects of filmm
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17 Arthur Hiller Open City Roberto
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162 Arthur Hiller movies like that,
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164 Arthur Hiller hope I put in thi
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166 Arthur Hiller Coburn character
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168 Pete Docter How would you descr
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170 Pete Docter Docter: Yeah, I had
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172 Pete Docter Tatum O’Neal was
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174 Pete Docter meaning of the scen
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176 Atom Egoyan How would you descr
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178 Atom Egoyan It’s been suggest
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180 Atom Egoyan old quote about sto
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182 Atom Egoyan That had a huge inf
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184 Atom Egoyan Bergman was working
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186 Atom Egoyan always find that im
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20 Gurinder Chadha Purab aur Pachhi
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190 Gurinder Chadha blond hair and
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192 Gurinder Chadha My films are fr
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194 Gurinder Chadha Even now, as I
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196 Richard Linklater Raging Bull 1
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198 Richard Linklater I’ve been i
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200 Richard Linklater To see someon
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22 Jay Duplass Raising Arizona Jay
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204 Jay Duplass superbly executed
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206 Jay Duplass camera, similar to
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208 Jay Duplass And Moonstruck is t
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23 John Woo Rebel Without a Cause a
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212 John Woo I was pretty strong—
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214 John Woo —but the role went t
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216 John Woo Mean Streets came out
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218 John Woo Scorsese’s violence
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220 John Woo That’s one of the pe
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24 John Landis The 7th Voyage of Si
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224 John Landis That’s funny, bec
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226 John Landis People have a misun
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228 John Landis completely dazzles
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230 John Landis Casablanca or Citiz
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25 Kevin Smith Slacker For director
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234 Kevin Smith very clever, very f
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236 Kevin Smith place I’d really
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238 Kevin Smith Smith: The benefit
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240 Kevin Smith What was your react
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242 Chris Miller When did you first
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244 Chris Miller at the same time.
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246 Neil LaBute The Soft Skin 1964
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248 Neil LaBute if anyone, is short
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250 Neil LaBute most passionate mom
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252 Neil LaBute LaBute: Yeah, well,
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254 Neil LaBute Such a small portio
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256 Neil LaBute If I remember right
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258 Neil LaBute Lachenay moves arou
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260 George A. Romero The Dark Half
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262 George A. Romero I’ve never h
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264 George A. Romero Pressburger an
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266 Frank Oz How would you describe
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268 Frank Oz Tell me about that dis
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270 Frank Oz There’s a story abou
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272 Frank Oz coffeehouse. That was
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274 Frank Oz know what I’m doing.
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276 Frank Oz It’s amazing how you
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30 John Waters The Wizard of Oz The
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280 John Waters And then, the seldo
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282 John Waters countries—maybe t
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Acknowledgments First, thanks to th
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Index A accidents, on-set, 148-149
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288 Index Coutard, Raoul, 257 Cowar
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290 Index Hoop Dreams, 117, 118, 12
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292 Index My Beautiful Laundrette,
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294 Index special effects, 223, 224
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