The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

76 Henry Jaglom
was going through. It was the most autobiographical film ever made, yet it
was universal because he was telling about issues that all people deal with. I
recognized that, even at the age of twenty.
Was there a particular scene or line?
Jaglom: From the moment it began. I wear a hat. And people always comment
on the fact: Why do you wear a hat? I know that somewhere deep
inside, all I can tell you is it has something to do with Mastroianni wearing
that hat, which he only wore because Fellini wore a hat. I remember thinking,
when I came home, “Oh, I need a hat.” I mean, it was that superficial at
that level, because I was twenty and trying to find a sense of myself. It also
defined me because the issues he was looking at, how to take his life and
turn it into a film, and feeling the impossibility of that task.
I was always amazed at Mastroianni, and that one gesture of looking over
his glasses defined that whole character. It’s almost like he’s genuflecting.
That’s a great image. For me, the ultimate image is: He’s that young boy
in a white band uniform, leading all the characters in his life on this circular
parade. He’s got in the background, this meaningless space station thing
that he’s never going to make. The young boy is just leading all the characters
in his life. He’s just showing us who he is, and how it happened. As I
saw it over the years, it became a deeper and more profound film for me, as
I started to live my life and had events to deal with. I’m rather amazed now
when I see it, that I felt that at twenty, because it’s a very grown-up film in
a lot of ways.
Can you articulate that? Anything specifically that you realized upon
subsequent viewings?
Jaglom: At twenty, I did not understand anything about the relationship
to women in that film, or the need to be the center of attention and
finding the person who’s going to solve the problems. I didn’t understand
anything about the moviemaking process. I had never been on a movie
set, let alone directed a movie. The fact of everybody coming at you with
their idea of what you should do, and telling you who you should be, and
you’re completely overwhelmed by it. The whole essence of the film was
something that just . . . I was stunned that I understood it at twenty. It’s