Thoughts From A Master

Today my daily glance at the online version of the Toronto Star newspaper, proved to be educational. The most read stories were, of course, stuff about the war on terror, the Toronto Transit Commission raising the price of subway and bus fares and the fact the McDonalds is revamping its look to give itself a sophisticated (I use this word deliberately for my lovely wife Izumi and the always joyful Kelly—who teaches me Japanese and to whom I teach English and to whom I instructed to use the word at least 3 times this week) new look. Though a sophisticated looking McDonalds, with leather sofas, built in fireplaces and pendant lighting may be interesting reading, what I found lower down the page was interesting article about one of my favorite filmmakers, Woody Allen.

The Toronto International Film Festival is going strong until this weekend and like every year it attracts its fair share of big stars. When I attend screenings, I usually like to stay for a conversation with the director after the film. The Q & A’s are always a lot of fun. I was on the fence about seeing Woody Allen’s new movie Cassandra’s Dream at the film fest for the sheer reason that I know it will get general release and I will be able to see it in theatres before Christmas. The only reason I was thinking about going to see it at the festival was that Allen would be there to possibly introduce the film and have Q & A afterwards—a rare public appearance by Woody Allen outside of a New York Knicks game is always a treat. In the end, I opted not to get tickets for Cassandra’s Dream but I am happy that my favorite newspaper was able to post this gem of a story. Basically Woody Allen calls himself a lazy filmmaker. He is quoted as saying: "I'm not a dedicated filmmaker, I'm lazy. To me, making a film is not the be-all end-all of my life. I want to shoot the film and go home and get on with my life… I said to myself after the first film, this is ridiculous, I don't want to work to get a shot and miss the basketball game. I don't want to have to work late, I don't want to have to kill myself on the weekend, I don't want to have to sit through rehearsals endlessly or shoot the extra 10 takes to get the perfect moment."

Allen makes a lot of sense in what he says on a number of levels. First, as a husband and soon to be father I have been conflicted over that past few weeks about future film projects. Yesterday in an e-mail exchange with my good friend Luc I expressed to him my thoughts about future projects. Certainly films are in my blood and I will never be able to put them out of my life, also I a have a creative soul so I will be unable to function without some kind of creative outlet. But making a film takes up a huge chunk of your life, lucky for me, my wonderful Izumi has been my partner and biggest supporter throughout this past year in making Ashita. And honestly, sometimes I have not made it easy for her. Not only was I making Ashita, I had also agreed to film and edit two live shows and a concert. This on top of making a feature film was pushing my limits. There were times when I felt like I was losing my mind. There were times when I wanted to shut down the whole production without caring what the cast and crew would think. I had suffered a depression a few years ago and I could feel another one coming, so I just wanted to stop everything and live a “normal” life. Then the most interesting thing happened. I took a vacation. I went to Las Vegas with my one my best friends Andrew, each year we make it a point to take our annual golf/gambling trip. Andrew is hard working civil servant with three beautiful kids and we’ve been friends since college. Our week in Vegas, full of booze, golf and black jack proved to be a welcome change from costume tests, camera tests, rehearsals and marketing meetings. It was what I needed to recharge my batteries. As it my as my private time with Izumi at the film festival. We are seeing five movies in ten days, we’ve has a date on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and also this coming weekend. We are spending valuable time together. Try not to take this out of context, but the time I have with my wife, my family and my friends is more valuable to me than making my movie. Woody Allen is right. Not that making Ashita is not important or does not mean anything, but too many times in the past did my personal suffer for my movies and it was truly not worth it. I am more than a filmmaker. I am a friend, a husband and soon a father and I cannot picture myself, nor do I want to say, telling my child we can’t play today because daddy has to finish his movie. No… Never. Daddy will play first, then make his movie. I love everyone who’s ever worked with me on any of my projects and I have deep respect and admiration for all of them and I am the first to tell them family comes first. I welcome husbands or wives on set, I will never ask someone to choose my movie over a loved one. I accommodate their needs for family events and personal events, because I would be foolish to think (and I have been in the past) that my film is greater in their lives than their families.

Allen makes another good point, though he hides in it in his quote about being lazy. He says he does not shoot a more than three takes, he does not wait for the so called “Perfect Take”. Again here we see the genius of Woody Allen who is heralded as one of modern cinema’s great directors. He is a man actors line up to work for. I think he makes a point in doing fewer takes, he’s realistic on an independent level. This is something all budding film students should learn. Actor Collin Farrell noted he did as many takes in Allen's latest film as he did in one scene of the film version of Miami Vice. For a big budget movie like Miami Vice it may be okay to got the extra perfectionist route. When you’re working with almost no money or very little time you have to make due with what you got. I am not saying cut corners, especially not with acting. Andy and I were discussing this last week, he complimented in saying: “You get things done.” Which is the first rule of I go by, get it done. Do it well, but if you spend too much time on one shot or one scene, you will lose perspective of the greater picture: The film. Last night I had rehearsal for Fireless, Ashita’s newest story. Leona and our newest movie star Tomoko Takahashi were over to rehearse and they will agree that they way I work is for the bigger picture, if I spend too much worrying about small things, the bigger picture will suffer, which I why I allow actors to change their dialogue and sometimes pick their own costumes. I give them freedom to move about how they like. The way I work with actors is simple, I tell them the overall picture, what the meaning is, what I feel the scene is about and them I let them lose to play and explore, this gives me greater performances from the actors because they have more freedom. I’ve seen far too many directors micro-manage (or micro-direct if you prefer) their actors. They tell their actors to hold a fork in a specific way or tie their shoe in such a manner, now if these things affect the bigger picture then yes do it, but if it’s just a character tying a shoe or eating dinner, than who cares how they do it. What Woody Allen is saying, is instead of trying to get that perfectly framed shot try to worry about the story and the movie instead. Get it done and care about it, but not too much—just enough to make your life fun.

Thank you Mr. Allen.