The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

Recommendations

Info

15 Michel Gondry Le voyage en ballon … 145 16 Michael Polish Once Upon a Time in America … 152 17 Arthur Hiller Open City … 160 18 Pete Docter Paper Moon … 167 19 Atom Egoyan Persona … 175 20 Gurinder Chadha Purab aur Pachhim and It’s a Wonderful Life … 188 21 Richard Linklater Raging Bull … 195 22 Jay Duplass Raising Arizona … 202 23 John Woo Rebel Without a Cause and Mean Streets … 210 24 John Landis The 7th Voyage of Sinbad … 222 25 Kevin Smith Slacker … 232 26 Chris Miller Sleeper … 241 27 Neil LaBute The Soft Skin … 245 28 George A. Romero The Tales of Hoffmann … 259 29 Frank Oz Touch of Evil … 265 30 John Waters The Wizard of Oz … 278 Acknowledgments … 284 Index … 286
Introduction Movies are personal touchstones. They provide soundtracks and wallpaper for our memories, and sometimes they become part of our own histories. For these directors, the films in this book are much more. They provided a spark that illuminated the rest of their lives. They inspired whole careers and, as the book title suggests, changed lives. What made this project so entertaining wasn’t just talking about film— although I, like most cinema lovers, can do that endlessly. The best parts of these interviews are not just about the movies themselves but also about the impact they had on each director’s life. For instance, John Woo’s story of how Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets almost made him a Catholic. Or how Kevin Smith was convinced, convinced that no other movie but Slacker could have made him a director. In these many conversations, I found not one but two directors who told me about their adolescent quest to find brief cinematic nudity on arts channels—only to have their lives transformed by the movies Persona and L’ âge d’or (hint: both directors are Canadian). Still other interviews took unexpected turns—including Michel Gondry’s thoughts about death and how he’d like to die, given that his cinematic hero was killed while working on a film. There are great stories of directors meeting their heroes, as in Kimberly Peirce’s tale of meeting Francis Ford Coppola, and these connections turning into enduring friendships. We hear of Michael Polish loving Once Upon a Time in America so much that he later hired one of the film’s stars—James Woods—to star in his own masterpiece. Throughout this project, I was able to gather directors from across the cinematic landscape. Oscar-winners include Danny Boyle, animator Peter Docter, and documentarian Alex Gibney. I’ve also tried to reach across genres and generations, with conversations with veteran filmmakers such as Arthur Hiller and Peter Bogdanovich, and relative newcomers such as Brian Herzlinger and Jay Duplass. Some were long-winded, others pithy, but almost everyone wanted to keep talking about their love of the films that shaped them. Only two filmmakers refused to stick with one movie. You (and the table of contents) know who you are. vi
Page 1 and 2: Danny Boyle on Apocalypse Now Kevin
Page 3 and 4: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-P
Page 5: Contents Introduction … vi 1 Edga
Page 9 and 10: viii Introduction For me, a sevente
Page 11 and 12: 2 Edgar Wright How would you descri
Page 13 and 14: 4 Edgar Wright an extremely gory Ri
Page 15 and 16: 6 Edgar Wright going on. People are
Page 17 and 18: 8 Edgar Wright Wright: The thing th
Page 19 and 20: 10 Edgar Wright And then the deadpa
Page 21 and 22: 12 Edgar Wright when a director has
Page 23 and 24: 14 Rian Johnson How would you descr
Page 25 and 26: 16 Rian Johnson [laughter] So there
Page 27 and 28: 18 Rian Johnson The Godfather, and
Page 29 and 30: 20 Rian Johnson creates the beauty
Page 31 and 32: 22 Rian Johnson Johnson: Oh God, ar
Page 33 and 34: 24 Rian Johnson As a filmmaker it
Page 35 and 36: 26 Danny Boyle Starring Martin Shee
Page 37 and 38: 28 Danny Boyle Boyle: [laughs] It h
Page 39 and 40: 30 Danny Boyle on the ground, they
Page 41 and 42: 32 Danny Boyle shooting schedule; h
Page 43 and 44: 34 Danny Boyle And, as a filmmaker,
Page 45 and 46: 36 Danny Boyle nonsense. But, it se
Page 47 and 48: 38 Danny Boyle Boyle: Oh yeah, it
Page 49 and 50: 40 Bill Condon How would you descri
Page 51 and 52: 42 Bill Condon Condon: Oh, I think
Page 53 and 54: 44 Bill Condon that great ending. I
Page 55 and 56: 46 Bill Condon And then there’s a
Page 57 and 58:
48 Richard Kelly Terry Gilliam call
Page 59 and 60:
50 Richard Kelly access passes to t
Page 61 and 62:
52 Richard Kelly Kelly: It makes it
Page 63 and 64:
54 Richard Kelly they are not seen
Page 65 and 66:
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 and 118:
108 Kimberly Peirce Have you ever r
Page 119 and 120:
12 Steve James Harlan County U.S.A.
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
Page 169 and 170:
17 Arthur Hiller Open City Roberto
Page 171 and 172:
162 Arthur Hiller movies like that,
Page 173 and 174:
164 Arthur Hiller hope I put in thi
Page 175 and 176:
166 Arthur Hiller Coburn character
Page 177 and 178:
168 Pete Docter How would you descr
Page 179 and 180:
170 Pete Docter Docter: Yeah, I had
Page 181 and 182:
172 Pete Docter Tatum O’Neal was
Page 183 and 184:
174 Pete Docter meaning of the scen
Page 185 and 186:
176 Atom Egoyan How would you descr
Page 187 and 188:
178 Atom Egoyan It’s been suggest
Page 189 and 190:
180 Atom Egoyan old quote about sto
Page 191 and 192:
182 Atom Egoyan That had a huge inf
Page 193 and 194:
184 Atom Egoyan Bergman was working
Page 195 and 196:
186 Atom Egoyan always find that im
Page 197 and 198:
20 Gurinder Chadha Purab aur Pachhi
Page 199 and 200:
190 Gurinder Chadha blond hair and
Page 201 and 202:
192 Gurinder Chadha My films are fr
Page 203 and 204:
194 Gurinder Chadha Even now, as I
Page 205 and 206:
196 Richard Linklater Raging Bull 1
Page 207 and 208:
198 Richard Linklater I’ve been i
Page 209 and 210:
200 Richard Linklater To see someon
Page 211 and 212:
22 Jay Duplass Raising Arizona Jay
Page 213 and 214:
204 Jay Duplass superbly executed
Page 215 and 216:
206 Jay Duplass camera, similar to
Page 217 and 218:
208 Jay Duplass And Moonstruck is t
Page 219 and 220:
23 John Woo Rebel Without a Cause a
Page 221 and 222:
212 John Woo I was pretty strong—
Page 223 and 224:
214 John Woo —but the role went t
Page 225 and 226:
216 John Woo Mean Streets came out
Page 227 and 228:
218 John Woo Scorsese’s violence
Page 229 and 230:
220 John Woo That’s one of the pe
Page 231 and 232:
24 John Landis The 7th Voyage of Si
Page 233 and 234:
224 John Landis That’s funny, bec
Page 235 and 236:
226 John Landis People have a misun
Page 237 and 238:
228 John Landis completely dazzles
Page 239 and 240:
230 John Landis Casablanca or Citiz
Page 241 and 242:
25 Kevin Smith Slacker For director
Page 243 and 244:
234 Kevin Smith very clever, very f
Page 245 and 246:
236 Kevin Smith place I’d really
Page 247 and 248:
238 Kevin Smith Smith: The benefit
Page 249 and 250:
240 Kevin Smith What was your react
Page 251 and 252:
242 Chris Miller When did you first
Page 253 and 254:
244 Chris Miller at the same time.
Page 255 and 256:
246 Neil LaBute The Soft Skin 1964
Page 257 and 258:
248 Neil LaBute if anyone, is short
Page 259 and 260:
250 Neil LaBute most passionate mom
Page 261 and 262:
252 Neil LaBute LaBute: Yeah, well,
Page 263 and 264:
254 Neil LaBute Such a small portio
Page 265 and 266:
256 Neil LaBute If I remember right
Page 267 and 268:
258 Neil LaBute Lachenay moves arou
Page 269 and 270:
260 George A. Romero The Dark Half
Page 271 and 272:
262 George A. Romero I’ve never h
Page 273 and 274:
264 George A. Romero Pressburger an
Page 275 and 276:
266 Frank Oz How would you describe
Page 277 and 278:
268 Frank Oz Tell me about that dis
Page 279 and 280:
270 Frank Oz There’s a story abou
Page 281 and 282:
272 Frank Oz coffeehouse. That was
Page 283 and 284:
274 Frank Oz know what I’m doing.
Page 285 and 286:
276 Frank Oz It’s amazing how you
Page 287 and 288:
30 John Waters The Wizard of Oz The
Page 289 and 290:
280 John Waters And then, the seldo
Page 291 and 292:
282 John Waters countries—maybe t
Page 293 and 294:
Acknowledgments First, thanks to th
Page 295 and 296:
Index A accidents, on-set, 148-149
Page 297 and 298:
288 Index Coutard, Raoul, 257 Cowar
Page 299 and 300:
290 Index Hoop Dreams, 117, 118, 12
Page 301 and 302:
292 Index My Beautiful Laundrette,
Page 303 and 304:
294 Index special effects, 223, 224
show all

The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?