Interview: Jared Hess of ‘Gentlemen Broncos’

Posted on November 5, 2009 at 9:08 am

Jared Hess directed “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Nacho Libre” from screenplays he wrote with his wife Jerusha. Their latest film is “Gentlemen Broncos,” about a teenage boy whose story is stolen by a best-selling author. He told me that he has spent part of his Mormon mission in my home town of Chicago and that it was there he first heard the name “Napoleon Dynamite.” I spoke to him about the autobiographical sources of this film, sleeping on the couch, and why things get funnier in hindsight.
NM: You have an outstanding cast in this film. But the one who surprises me is Mike White. I would not have expected to see you work together.
JH: Both my wife and I have been big fans of his work on “Freaks and Geeks” and “The Good Girl” and “School of Rock.” A lot of people might not see our comedic sensibilities matching up, the same things make us laugh. We were both raised in very religious families. There’s a little bit of an understanding there.
NM: Michael Angarano was extraordinary; some of his expressions were so thoughtful and layered.
JH: We spent a lot of time trying to find someone who would be really genuine in the role of Benjamin. He’s just kind of effortless, really believable, super-talented. Every actor has their own process but he’s the kind of guy where we’re on set and he’s chatting and boom! He jumps into it as soon as we’re ready to go. Compared to the other characters in the film, he’s kind of Mr. Normal. But when you see the world that he’s created, you realize that he is strange like everybody else.
NM: And Halley Feiffer is wonderful in the film. Shes the daughter of artist Jules Feiffer and was so terrific in “The Squid and the Whale.”
JH: For that role, we read a lot of people. Again, she had a natural but crazy feeling, that unintentional feeling, unaware of what she is doing to people, trying to take advantage. The hand cream scene was very autobiographical. When my family moved to Idaho, the English and theater kids were going to a Shakespeare festival in southern Utah on a bus. I was crowded onto a seat with a guy who was blowing in a girl’s ear and giving her weird head massages.
NM: Are those real vintage pulp novels in the opening credit sequence? The cover art is amazing!
JH: Yes, they were all real. Those were all real illustrations, mostly from the 60’s and 70’s. The main artist was a man named Kelly Freas.
NM: Are you a fan of that genre of sci-fi?
JH: Yes, though as a kid I didn’t read as much but I loved the covers. All my favorite films were science fiction.
NM: Like what?
JH: “Star Wars,” David Lynch’s “Dune,” which I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about. That was a creepy movie, though. I liked it. “The Explorers.” And then as I got older, I got more aware of the more obscure films. I’m a big fan of the limited resource genre, the ones with small budgets. They’ve got a lot of charm to them. They’ve got big worlds that they’re trying to create but they don’t really have the dough. One guy who was in the Q&A scene, when we were done shooting, he gave me a copy of the screenplay of “Krull.” “Check this out, man, you’re going to love it; it’s a really great read.” He said his new year’s resolution is to read every Philip H. Dick novel. I really wanted to be a special effects guy, a lot of my early films were sci fi related, when you’re a kid you don’t have a script, or the whole idea is cut short.
NM: That’s what you did in this film.
JH: Yes, and the idea that this is from the mind of a 15-year-old kid. This is his epic fantasy; it’s not “Blade Runner.” We’re in the world of battle stags and yeast.
NM: Yes, there is this very fresh, innocent cheesiness in the stories in the film.
JH: We really try and populate our films with authentic people who might not normally have an opportunity to be in a film. We have a lot of fun with it. Like the idea of adults that are still thinking like children. I guess that’s how I am.
NM: This is your first PG-13 film.
JH: Yes, my wife has seven brothers and I’m the oldest of five boys. The body humor aspects of this film are quite prevalent. We wanted to have the kind of awkward body things that happen in his real life influence his work a little bit. It’s quite silly.
NM: How do you and your wife work together when you are writing a screenplay?
JH: It’s fun working with my wife. I slept on the couch a lot, but each time we write it gets better. We’re not really sure who’s responsible for what. We spend a lot of time just talking. The biggest difference is I’m a boy and she’s a girl. On “Napoleon Dynamite,” she was the costume designer, on this one she is the producer. Whenever she’s on set she keeps me in check. We are planning a romantic comedy and she might direct it. I’d like to do a western with cowboys and shoot-outs.
NM: What makes you laugh?
JH: The awkward things that happen, usually in hindsight. You have to have a good sense of humor about the past.

Tribute: Larry Gelbart

Posted on September 12, 2009 at 6:50 pm

Larry Gelbart, one of the most acclaimed and prodigiously productive writers of almost seven decades died this week at age 81. If you’ve laughed since the 1940’s, you almost certainly know his work. He got started as a teenager writing for Danny Thomas’ radio show and went on to work with Neil Simon, Woody Allen, and Mel Brooks on the legendary writing staff of the Sid Caesar show. He went on to co-create the television version of “M*A*S*H,” to co-write the script for “Tootsie,” and to write the Broadway hits “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” (made into a movie with Zero Mostel) and “City of Angels” (now being adapted into a film).

And as this lovely tribute by Bob Elisberg notes, he was also a man of great principle and kindness.

There may have been more renowned writers in a single medium, but his versatility was breathtaking, and so he may have been the most successful and best writer ever in America who wrote in all three major media — the theater, movies and television.

Be sure to read Elisberg’s piece, especially the quote at the end from Gelbart about being a writer.

Here is Gelbart, talking about how television has changed society and how he’d like to be remembered.

Here is my favorite scene from “Tootsie” (second on the American Film Institute’s list of the hundred funniest American films of all time).

And here is the trailer for the hilarious “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”

NPR’s Scott Simon also has a fine essay about Gelbart, describing him as “a great wit, who wrote with great heart.” It’s good to know that we still have another movie from him to look forward to.

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Interview: Marc Fienberg of ‘Play the Game’

Posted on August 27, 2009 at 2:00 pm

“Play the Game” has many elements that are often found in sexy romantic comedies — a hero who thinks he does not want to fall in love and a heroine who teaches him that he does not know what he wants, a pair of couples whose romantic ups and downs complement and balance each other, and the usual comic mis-fires before the happily-ever-after ending. But it also has some very unusual elements: the sexy humor about the romances of the elderly and the fact that the important relationship in the film is between a devoted grandfather and grandson. Another surprise: the grandfather making the Viagra jokes is played by Andy Griffith.
The movie’s title comes from the games played by the main characters in order to maintain control of their romantic relationships.
So I began my interview with writer-director Marc Fienberg by asking him about the worst game he ever played during his dating days.
It was a trick that appears in the movie, “planned spontaneity,” arranging a chance encounter, or what looks like a chance encounter, even though you planned it out meticulously.
I tried to seduce my wife for seven years. Some might call it stalking — any other woman would have called the police. I drove up to Madison after four years and told her I was in town for a consulting gig, even though I was there just to see her. It didn’t work. My friends who helped me develop these tricks of the trade, it worked like a charm for them. I wish I was as suave and debonair as the guy in the movie.
So, despite the “planned spontaneity” ploy, it is not autobiographical?
It is not so much autobiographical, as a reflection of my life. In my case, only three years later, I just put it on the line and told the truth. I took my own advice and it actually worked. Lying in general is not good.
So I’ve heard! It was nice to see Clint Howard in this film, and of course he has that connection to Andy Griffith going back to his guest appearances with his brother Ron Howard on the old “Andy Griffith Show.”
Clint Howard was the first actor to sign on board. I always wanted him for this part. We had actually gone out to Andy Griffith but he said no at first. We were on a short schedule and he worried that he didn’t have time to learn his lines. And he was concerned about the sex scenes. He is a religious man and he wanted to be consistent with his values. But he said he couldn’t stop thinking about it. The bedroom scene showed older people in a nice, honest, realistic light. And very important — he didn’t die in it. There are not a lot of parts for older characters that don’t have them dying at the end. This movie was all about passion and living life to the fullest and holding out hope that there’s love and companionship at all ages and he liked that.
Griffith and many of your other actors have a television background — Liz Sheridan on “Seinfeld,” Doris Roberts on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” Marla Sokoloff (“The Practice”). Was it an adjustment to work on a feature film?
TV and movies are similar enough from an actor’s standpoint. It’s always hard but the actors brought something even I didn’t see.
What’s next?
“The Machine,” more of a family comedy about a young goat herder who dreams of doing bigger things with his life. Then the internet comes to town and he is forced to save his village. I’m also working on another romantic comedy and doing commercials now, too.
How did your own family influence this story?
My grandfather started dating when he was 89 years old. The more time I spent with him, the more I appreciated different things in life and what was important. When you see these vibrant, passionate lives you more easily focus on what matters in the world.
My father was my first inspiration. He was a closet writer. And I had teachers and read authors who have inspired me to follow my passion. Giving up a safe, secure career, the hardest part was taking that leap to a career that had enjoyment and fulfillment and could make the world a better place. I studied business and started a million dollar e-commerce company that got sold. I wanted to make people laugh, affect people. One of the main things that gave me strength was my kids. It was important to have them see me doing something fulfilling, to set an example for them. We realized that our concern about the financial risk of trying to make a career in movies affected me and my wife much more than the kids.
In the movie, the father is the bad influence and grandfather is the good influence. It was when he started working for his father that he started being less honest. And it is when he starts trying to teach his grandfather not to be honest with women that he learns how important honesty — with himself and others — really is.

Interview: Ramin Bahrani of ‘Goodbye Solo’

Posted on August 25, 2009 at 2:59 pm

In 2009, film critic Roger Ebert declared “Ramin Bahrani is the new great American director.” I’d say he’s a great new American writer as well. I heard him speak at Ebertfest (his second time presenting there) and was moved, enthralled, and inspired. Only 34 years old and with just four feature films, he has already had a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art and has been awarded a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship. It was a thrill to get a chance to talk to him about his brilliant film, “Goodbye Solo” (rated R for language, drug use, and sexual references and situations as well as some very sad moments) which is released today on DVD. Cinematical says “it may be the best DVD you rent this summer.” NPR’s David Edelstein said:

So much of a movie’s appeal comes down to whether you enjoy staring at the actors’ faces. In Ramin Bahrani’s “Goodbye Solo,” there are two you’ve most likely never seen before — two tantalizing maps to pore over…It’s a film of overflowing humanism, yet it acknowledges, in grief and wonder, that some things can never be reconciled.

It is the story of Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane), a Senegalese cab driver with a young family and a fare named William (Red West), an old man who once hung out with Elvis and is now alone.

The first thing I want to ask you is how you achieve the extraordinary intimacy of your films, the way we feel we are eavesdropping on real life.

I’ve done the same thing with a plastic bag! My short film opening in Venice has this incredibly expressive bag that I hope you’ll fall in love with.

The most important part of directing is casting. I was deeply involved in casting in all three of my films. Finding the right person for the part, the person you can communicate with, some mysterious qualities that can be articulated in front of the frame — if the performance is not good it doesn’t matter if anything else is good, the camera, the lighting, the music, because the audience will check out immediately. I really like to get to know the actors in advance. We know one another for a few months or at least several weeks before we begin filming. I really like to things not with a lot of cuts, very few cuts; this allows the actors to perform against one other, which they enjoy a lot. It lets them bring their best work.

Then there are little things I like to talk to them about or trick them. Often times the actors don’t really know what the film’s about entirely. For example in “Goodbye Solo,” only William and Solo knew the entire story. Other people only know their scenes.

Is the film completely scripted? It is so natural it feels improvised at times.

It is completely scripted. I oftentimes do not show the actor the script. William and Solo were trained actors but nobody else saw a script. We have rehearsals where they learn what their scene is about. If they want to change certain words because it is easier to say, as long as it is okay with the structure of the film, that is all right. But there is not a lot of improvisation.

Here’s a story. The actress who played the young girl, Alex, had no idea what the movie is about and did not know why they were going to the mountain. When Solo came back alone, she was not at all in anxiety and assumed William had gone home with a friend. As we were rehearsing the final scene, she pulled me aside and said, “Why is he so sad in this moment?” I asked, “Why do you think?” “I think he’s sad because he failed his exam,” she said. I said, “Why don’t you encourage him to pass it?” She was so full of courage for Solo and that enhances his performance and encourages his character and the audience to move beyond what has happened.

What kind of training did you have in film-making?

I never had a class on directing or acting. No one told me how to make film; I just started.

You said you were deeply involved in casting. What do you look for?

People who kind of resemble the part. Souleymane Sy Savane is naturally kind of a friendly, charming guy, also very meditative, very thoughtful. He doesn’t talk that much or that fast or use those terms that Solo does. He talks at a much slower pace. I had to accelerate him so it is really a performance and an amazing one. The first thing is the face, you could just look at those faces for a long time and be engaged. That’s critical. Bergman was very good at finding faces you want to look at for a long time. There’s a mystery to a person’s face that the camera must respect. In literature you can’t look at someone’s face. You can can go into their mind, in theater, poetry, book, music, you see a lot but not the face the way you see it in a movie.

That is why I don’t like to cut when the scene is supposedly technically done. I let it run to see what they are thinking about what just happened, to wait to see what they do. Those are important moments. The people who say “Oh this is slow,” I don’t really believe they think that, I think they’ve just seen too many of the other kind of film.

I remember at Ebertfest you caused a bit of controversy by telling people there not to see some big blockbuster. I think it was “Wolverine.” Do you think people are diminished by watching films like that?

Of course I think that people are diminished by those films. Independent does not mean slow or boring or slow or obtuse or in a museum that no one can understand without a book on semiotics. I think a child could understand and enjoy my films and an adult could enjoy them in a different way.

I was just asked if I want to make a “big film.” I don’t know what it means to make a big film. Someone called “Man Push Cart” a “nice little film.” What does “nice little film” mean? It’s just as big as “Mission Impossible 3.” I actually think MI3 is a microscopic film. It provides nothing to the world or the universe or humanity except an extreme waste of money and talent. It is a massive waste of resources. The reason people think they are big is that they cost a lot of money.

Film is an expensive financial venture, to try to engage the audience in a good story that anyone can understand. Important to keep the budget at a level where you can still do what you want do. If you’re going to spend $80 million you will have to do what they want you to do. You have to ask yourself, “Do I want to be in that position.” I don’t.

So, what do you want to do next?

Of course I want to work with known actors as well as unknown. If Viggo Mortenson wants to play the part, fine, he’s a talented actor. And having him in the film can help get more resources. But these films get caught up in big/small instead of important/important.

“Goodbye Solo” is set in your home town of Winston-Salem. Were you interested in film when you were young?

I was born and raised in North Carolina. I developed an interest in cinema as a teenager. Before that I was painting and drawing, then literature Camus, Dostoevsky, Kafka, Faulkner, then renting “Aguirre, Wrath of God, “The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser.” Herzog, BuÃ±uel, Fellini, Bergman, Rossellini –“The Flowers of St. Francis” was very influential, I love Ken Loach, Kurasawa, these are the ones I really respond to.

What about performers?

The great American actor is James Stewart. You really see that in the Anthony Mann westerns, and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” Not all directors knew how to access what he had to offer, of course Hitchcock did later in “Vertigo,” his qualities of being unnerving and and mysterious and violent. He had the widest range, with all respect to Brando, Newman, Depp. Monica Vitti is in her own category, one of the great female actors.

Now tell me about the plastic bag movie!

It’s premiering at the Venice film festival, a 20 minute film, and it will be online in early 2010. It is about a plastic bag in an existential crisis looking for its maker. It encounters strange creatures, brief love in the sky, and then to be with its own kind it goes to the Pacific trash vortex to try to forget about its maker. I cannot tell you who it is, but the voice of the bag is extremely special. It is not an agenda film, but like “The Red Balloon,” it will make you care about an inanimate object.

Tribute: John Hughes

Posted on August 7, 2009 at 8:13 am

John Hughes, writer-director of some of the most successful and influential films of the 1980’s and 90’s, died yesterday at age 59. Fellow Chicagoan Roger Ebert has a thoughtful tribute, calling Hughes “the creator of the modern American teenager film.” Ebert said:

He took teenagers seriously, and his films are distinctive for showing them as individuals with real hopes, ambitions, problems and behavior.

“Kids are smart enough to know that most teenage movies are just exploiting them,” he told me on the set of “The Breakfast Club.” “They’ll respond to a film about teenagers as people. movies are about the beauty of just growing up. I think teenage girls are especially ready for this kind of movie, after being grossed out by all the sex and violence in most teenage movies. People forget that when you’re 16, you’re probably more serious than you’ll ever be again. You think seriously about the big questions.”

I would add that he showed teenagers with real abilities and understanding as well, and that was what made his characters so believably multi-dimensional. Whether an exaggerated farce like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or a more realistic love story like Pretty in Pink, his teenage characters were self-aware and capable, often more capable than the adults around them. Even the child in Home Alone managed to take care of himself and outsmart the bad guys. So did the star of the underrated Baby’s Day Out, even though he could not walk or talk.

Adam Bernstein of the Washington Post has an astute assessment of Hughes’ contribution:

Apart from some Depression-era fare, movies for and about young people tended to depict them as cheerful, all-American entertainers (Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in the 1940s) or moody, troubled and mumbling (James Dean in the 1950s).

Mr. Hughes struck an entirely new direction when he arrived in Hollywood in the early 1980s after a career that included stints as an advertising writer and a joke writer for National Lampoon. He created films that were distinguished by the very ordinariness in which he captured teenage life: the mini-dramas over class distinctions, peer pressure, serious (and often unrequited) crushes and classroom detention. He set most of his films in suburban Chicago, where he grew up and which he considered “a place of realities” in contrast with the glamour of Los Angeles.

In his films, Mr. Hughes reversed the long-standing view of caring parents and their clueless offspring to create an entirely new caricature of savvy teens and self-involved and hopelessly uncool authority figures, whether parents, principals or receptionists. Mr. Hughes’s young protagonists spoke in perceptive ways peppered with the latest slang, and despite all their differences, they were unified by their need to survive without any help from their elders.

Dana Stevens of Slate has a fine tribute to Hughes but the most touching memories come from Alison Byrne Fields, who wrote to him as a teenage fan of “The Breakfast Club,” and then wrote to him again to object to the form letter response to the first one. They corresponded for two years. He encouraged her and made it clear how important it was to him to hear from exactly the audience he wanted to reach. They spoke by phone once some years later.

John told me about why he left Hollywood just a few years earlier. He was terrified of the impact it was having on his sons; he was scared it was going to cause them to lose perspective on what was important and what happiness meant. And he told me a sad story about how, a big reason behind his decision to give it all up was that “they” (Hollywood) had “killed” his friend, John Candy, by greedily working him too hard.

He also told me he was glad I had gotten in touch and that he was proud of me for what I was doing with my life. He told me, again, how important my letters had been to him all those years ago, how he often used the argument “I’m doing this for Alison” to justify decisions in meetings.

Hughes was gifted as a creator of believable and accessible characters and as a writer of endlessly quotable dialog. And he was a righteous dude.

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and always enjoyed the familiar locations and references in the Hughes movies. “The Breakfast Club” was inspired by detention at my high school (which met not on Saturday but before school, which is how it got its name). I enjoy “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and am fond of “Pretty in Pink” (though I still think Andie should end up with Duckie and Iona is my favorite character) and think that Dutch is one of Hughes’ most neglected films. I’d love to hear about your favorite Hughes movies, quotes, and moments.

Submit a question or comment for today’s Washington Post online discussion of Hughes and his films.

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