The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

22 Rian Johnson
Johnson: Oh God, are you kidding? That’s what we do! [laughter] It’s funny,
but at the same time it’s painful. It lays bare the deeply rooted motivation
behind telling these stories, doing this work to frame moments and tell stories.
That’s another thing that I think is remarkable about the film. On the
one hand, it gives the impression that it’s outside of that; it’s trying to genuinely
be honest. It’s like a frog dissecting itself on the table. It’s being very
brutal about a lot of moments.
At the same time, it gives me that romantic thrill, that romantic rush
that a good romantic comedy does. It somehow manages to appear to be
above that dishonesty of a traditional romantic comedy, but in the same
way, it emotionally fulfills it. By the end, it leaves you very hopeful about
love. In this particular relationship between these two particular people, it
somehow manages to have them broken up by the end of it and yet leave you
hopeful about love. Maybe that’s as perfect as it can get in real life.
Historically this film is important for another reason. It took home four
Academy Awards: Best Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay,
and Best Picture. Why do you think so few comedies win Best Picture?
Johnson: That invites speculation about what award shows tend to value in
films, which I don’t think I want to get into.
But that’s what I’m interested in. What did this film overcome?
Johnson: I almost feel like this film was able to make people forget it’s a
comedy, even though it’s very funny. It’s about the feeling I was left with at
the end; it wasn’t a laugh at all. It was being genuinely moved, feeling laid
bare. Maybe that gets to the heart of it: it moves you. Also, the craftsmanship
of it is undeniable, along with the innovative nature of the way it told
its story. It all adds up to a very effective love story. If it hadn’t won those
Oscars, it would have been seen as one of the great tragedy, mystery, shakeour-fists-at-the-Oscar-people
moments in film history.
You talk about some of the other rules that it broke, and I want to point
out a couple: the use of split screen. Not only the use of split screen, but
the two halves of the screen interacting even when there are decades
between them.