A Better Life: Q&A with Director Chris Weitz
By Anita Glick, DC Film Society Member
This Q&A took place at Landmark's Bethesda Row Cinema on July 15, 2011. Director Chris Weitz discussed the film and took questions from the audience. DC Film Society Michael Kyrioglou moderated.
Chris Weitz most recently directed The Twilight Saga: New Moon and previously adapted and directed The Golden Compass. With his brother Paul, he co-directed About a Boy and American Pie.
Chris Weitz: The script was the best thing I had ever read. It has personal resonance for me. The majority of my family is Hispanic. I recently became a father and I love the father-son theme. This is a film that we thought from the beginning could not help but be political because the moment you turn the camera on the audience sympathizes with any person. And so to show an undocumented immigrant in this light was a considerable task. I wanted to get every little detail correct. All the little pieces, the locations were all carefully researched. Fortunately, we had a tremendous amount of help, starting with an amazing Jesuit Priest, Father Gregory Boyle in Los Angeles who had started a gang intervention program. He founded Homeboy Industries which “assists at-risk and formerly gang-involved youth to become positive and contributing members of society through job placement and training and education.” I went to him and asked for his help. This opened up the world of Los Angeles to us. The gang members in the film are played by guys who are recently off the streets and who now have jobs but they very recently are out of jail. In fact, we hired Father Boyle’s Homeboy Industries people to work in catering, in security and as location liaisons.
The rodeo in the film is a real Mexican Rodeo held in the Pica Rivera Stadium. We were able to shoot during the actual demonstration that you see. This was an actual demonstration. It was a shot we thought we would never be able to get and could not have afforded. It was made available to us because the Arizona law was put into affect while we were shooting. So thanks to that we had a second location unit with thousands of extras.
Michael Kyrioglou: The timing is very interesting. Why did it take so long to make this movie?
Chris Weitz: This movie is over 20 years in the making. The early drafts went through numerous incarnations, the way that independent films do before they get to the screen. If you can believe it, there were moments when Andy Garcia was going to star in it and then Cheech Marin. These obviously would have been very different versions. There are skeletal similarities of this film to De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves. The conceptual idea really dates back to over 20 years ago when a producer had a gardener whose truck was stolen. When the producer said, “We'll report it to the police,” the gardener said, “You don’t understand. I can’t do that, I can’t go to the police,” and he realized he didn’t know anything about this man or his life.
That’s the way living in Los Angeles is. I live in LA but I’m from New York originally, where people live on top of each other and have to deal with one another to an extent. In Los Angeles there is the west side and then there is the east side and there is a migration every morning. People go to mow lawns, take care of the children on the west side. Very few questions are asked about papers, about family or background. This is a timeless, universal situation. My father was a refugee and was able to provide for his family a much better situation than the one he had left.
Audience: Would you discuss your decision to have the main characters speak in English?
Chris Weitz: There is a logic to it. Some kids of Luis’ age side with the dominant culture. Whether they can speak Spanish or not -- they refuse to. They do not want to be identified with the old world; with the un-cool world. We definitely wanted to make sure that the characters that were born and raised in Mexico only spoke Spanish. For me justification for the father and son not speaking Spanish to one another was that it was forced upon the situation by Luis. One of the only little scuffles I had with the studio was over the amount of Spanish spoken. If they could have had it their own way, I think that the whole film would have been in English. There is a certain point after which cable companies will consider a film foreign as opposed to an American film and they will pay accordingly and it is not as much. I can remember a conversation and someone saying, “You are making a movie about a gardener with a guy people have not seen beforehand and now you want everyone to speak Spanish.” There is only so far we can go. This has to be right. It was a more crucial decision to cast Demian Bichir as Carlos as opposed to going with someone like Benicio Del Toro or Javier Bardem. It was important to me that he had to be Mexican and that it be someone that people were not overly familiar with because to make a story about someone who is relatively ignored, not visible and have their face be recognizable to the majority of people watching would have been problematic for me.
Michael Kyrioglou: He is a huge star in Mexico.
Chris Weitz: Yes, he most certainly is.
Audience: Was the ending that we saw the ending through every draft of the script? If not what were the alternatives?
Chris Weitz: There were several alternatives. Nobody had the guts to say, “What if they hugged at the end?” There was the very dark ending that I saw in a script where Carlos disappears for good. I did not believe it. The knowledge that I now have about border crossing is that people will cross and cross again. I believe that he would try and I was not willing to tell the audience whether he was going to make it across that desert or not. Three thousand people a year die trying to cross that desert. But, I thought he would have tried. We do not know where things stand at the end of the movie.
Michael Kyrioglou: The moment that really struck me was toward the end was when they actually let Luis in to see his father It was a great moment but it felt like everyone would be so hard, they wouldn’t care, he’s gone, just go away!
Chris Weitz: Well, it happens. It also happens often that people go to see their family member and they are already gone. First of all, I thought it was really important that they get a chance to speak to one another. And second of all I thought to show a 'moment of grace’ for an ICE officer. I wanted to show these are people doing their jobs and have a heart as well.
Audience:The cast was excellent. Did they have the opportunity to make changes?
Chris Weitz: It was open to the actors to modify the script. Also, we gave the script to ex-gang members at Homeboy Industries and to high school kids in a program at an east LA high school and said, “What is wrong here? What terminology is wrong? What wouldn’t happen?” I’ll give you an example of something that was changed. There was a scene in which (we actually shot it) it meant re-shooting. The scene in which Luis’ friend comes over and is really excited about joining a gang and talking about it like it is really glamorous. When I spoke to Father Boyle and an ex-member of a gang they said that is not really how it works, that’s what is on TV. Usually a kid joins a gang when they feel neglected at school are alone at home, he sees on TV that he is never going to get into mainstream America and he falls into despair and he starts hanging out with the guys he has known all his life. Being a gang member is an identity. It is a way of self definition. I wanted to get those things right: visiting an ICE detention center and talking to detainees, getting all these things right was the key aspect to me -- down to learning how to climb a palm tree and I did it and it is really scary.
Michael Kyrioglou: I read that you were learning to speak Spanish during this process.
Chris Weitz: True! If you did like this film please tell everyone you know to go see it. Go on facebook, twitter, call them on the phone. Thank you.
NOTE: Chris Weitz was kind enough to autograph both a poster and a DVD of Twilight Saga: New Moon. These will be part of next year's auction at DCFS’s Academy Award Party.
A Better Life opened in DC on July 15 and is currently playing at Landmark's Bethesda Row Cinema and AMC Loews Georgetown.
The Turner Classic Movies Film Festival
By Elizabeth Blakeslee, DC Film Society Member
Why go to sunny California for four days and spend them all in the dark? The Turner Classic Movies Film Festival draws thousands of classic movie lovers for just that experience. More than two thousand film buffs gathered in Hollywood on April 28, to meet and greet their shepherd, Robert Osborne, his acolyte, Ben Mankiewicz, and scores of other luminaries at the second annual festival. The festival featured many classic films, some cult favorites, and best of all, a rare opportunity to see them on a big screen.
Photo from the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival website.
The whole festival was conveniently located in Hollywood, on Hollywood Boulevard, with hotels and theatres easy walks between destinations. Everyone attending the festival was incredibly friendly. We all had at least one thing in common so meeting and greeting was easy. The most common question was “What film are you particularly eager to see and why?”
The festival began with a bang at a wonderful cocktail party at the headquarters hotel, the historic Hollywood Roosevelt, built in 1927 and renovated in 2005. The Roosevelt lobby also held a boutique with movie and TCM souvenirs and Club TCM for receptions and other festival events.
The big movie of the festival was a restored print of An American in Paris. The screening was preceded by a real red carpet event with stars parading on Hollywood Boulevard. Leslie Caron, looking spectacular, flew in from Paris and was at the screening, where she was interviewed by Robert Osborne. Caron endeared herself to her enthusiastic audience by declaring herself a fan, amazed by Hollywood Boulevard and the history of the area.
Other stars on the red carpet and at various events included Anne Jeffreys, Ann Rutherford, Mickey Rooney, Tippi Hedren, Jane Powell, Eva Marie Saint, Barbara Rush, and Haley and Juliet Mills.
Peter O’Toole was honored at a ceremony on Saturday morning by having his hand and feet prints immortalized in desert-like sand at Grauman’s. Anjelica Huston and Paula Prentiss were among the many who watched the festivities.
Most of the screenings featured a discussion before or after. Dorothy Herrman, daughter of prolific composer Bernard Herrman, spoke about her father’s work on the films after viewings of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Alec Baldwin interviewed Warren Beatty after the screening of Reds. Another highlight was Robert Osborne’s interview of crowd favorite Angela Lansbury after Gaslight.
There was a variety to please most film fans. The screenings started at 9:00am and ran as late as 1:30am. Thrillers like The Mummy and The Tingler were saved for late night. Went the Day Well? a rarely seen 1942 propaganda film, based on a short story by Graham Greene, proved to be particularly popular. TCM smartly saved slots in the program so that particularly popular films were repeated for those who were not able to get in for the first viewing. Venues ranged from 1100 seats in Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to 177 seat houses in the multiplex next door to Grauman’s.
In addition to screenings, TCM presented panel discussions on topics such as “The Art of the Sequel” and “Dancing in the Movies.” On the Dance panel, Debbie Allen monopolized the conversation so we did not hear too much from tiny Marge Champion, who still looks great at 91. People lined up early to meet Debbie Reynolds at her CD signing event.
Speaking of lines, having to queue up early was the major complaint of festival goers. Long lines were not surprising, given the large crowds and excellent line up of films. There were levels of Festival passes. Only the Spotlight Pass, at $1199 for the four-day event, allowed for priority entry into all screenings. Long lines notwithstanding, the event was so popular that Robert Osborne announced the first annual TCM Classic Movie Cruise from December 8 to December 12, 2011, departing from Miami. The crowd was also tantalized by the promise of another Hollywood festival in 2012.
The full list of 2011 Festival films and events, as well as blogs and photos, is still available on TCM’s website. Information about the cruise is also available.
Calendar of Events
FILMS
American Film Institute Silver Theater
An Alfred Hitchcock Retrospective in three parts which began in February continues in July with Rear Window, Psycho, The Trouble With Harry, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo with more in August.
The popular series "Totally Awesome: Great Films of the 80s" returns for a fifth year. Titles in July are Back to the Future Part II, Tron, The Karate Kid, The Hunger, Blade Runner, The Hitcher, Less Than Zero, Three O'Clock High, The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, Time Bandits, and Altered States; the series continues in August.
"Keeping Up With the Coen Brothers" is a retrospective of Joel and Ethan Coen's films including The Big Lebowski, No Country For Old Men, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Blood Simple, Raising Arizona with more in August.
Elizabeth Taylor, who died earlier this year, is remembered in a series of films. Titles include Father of the Bride, A Place in the Sun, Suddenly Last Summer, Giant, Little Women, Butterfield 8, National Velvet, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with more in August.
Both Arthur Penn and Blake Edwards who died last year (and coincidentally born the same year--1922) are honored with a short series. Arthur Penn's films include Bonnie and Clyde, Little Big Man, and Night Moves. Films by Blake Edwards include Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Pink Panther, Days of Wine and Roses, A Short in the Dark, The Party and The Pink Panther Strikes Again.
"Dennis Hopper: A Screen Remembrance" presents several films from Hopper's long (60+ years) career: Easy Rider, Rebel Without a Cause, Apocalypse Now and it continues in August.
The AFI hosts "NIH Science in the Cinema" a popular summertime program of films with a medical or science related theme. Films in July are Crazy Heart (alcoholism), The Soloist (schizophrenia), The King's Speech (stuttering), and Super Size Me (obesity). Two more in August.
Freer Gallery of Art
The 16th Annual "Made in Hong Kong Film Festival" begins July 8 at 7:00pm and July 10 at 2:00pm with Bodyguards and Assassins (Teddy Chen, 2009). Other films are Fire of Conscience (Dante Lam, 2010) on July 15 at 7:00pm and July 17 at 2:00pm; Overheard (Felix Chong and Alan Mak, 2009) on July 22 at 7:00pm and July 24 at 2:00pm; and The Beast Stalker (Dante Lam, 2008) on July 29 at 7:00pm and July 31 at 2:00pm. More in August.
National Gallery of Art
This summer, the Gallery's preservation festival looks at films from France in "From Vault to Screen: New Preservation from France." On July 9 at 2:30pm is a Cine-Concert: "Poetry in Motion--The Scientific Subject" a program of short silent films with piano accompaniment by Andrew Simpson. On July 10 at 4:30pm is another Cine-Concert with Stephen Horne on piano to accompany His First Film (Jean Kemm, 1926). On July 17 at 4:30pm Phil Carli accompanies Crosswords (Michel Linsky and Pierre Colombine, 1926) and Marital Bliss (Robert Saidreau, 1922) in another Cine-Concert. The series concludes in August.
"Film-Makers' Co-op at Fifty" is a series of five programs looking at the work of the Film-Makers Cooperative established in 1961. On July 16 at 4:30pm is the Washington premiere of Sleepless Nights Stories (Jonas Mekas, 2011); on July 23 at 4:30pm is "Jonas Mekas: Personal Record" with filmmakers Jonas Mekas, Ken and Flo Jacobs in person to show a collection of short films. On July 24 at 5:00pm is "Ken Jacobs: Recent Works," another collection of short works with the filmmaker in person. On July 30 at 4:00pm the Co-op's director M.M. Sera will be present for "A Co-Op Omnibus," a program of short films. On July 31 at 5:00pm is Flaming Creatures (Jack Smith, 1963) shown with Lupe (Jose Rodriguez-Soltero, 1966).
Art films in July include Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, The Mistress and the Tangerine (Marion Cajori and Amei Wallach, 2008) on July 3 at 2:00pm and 4:30pm; passages from James Joyce's "Finnegan's Wake" on July 16 at 2:00pm and July 30 at 12:30pm with an introduction by Ann Horton-Line and Michael Kerbel; and the Washington premiere of How to Make a Book with Steidl (Gereon Wetzel and Joerg Adolph, 2010).
National Museum of the American Indian
On July 2 at 7:00pm and July 3 at 2:00pm is Kissed by Lightning (Shelley Niro, 2009), about an artist grieving for her late husband.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
On July 21 at 6:30pm is Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942) and on July 28 at 6:30pm is Curse of the Cat People (Robert Wise and Gunther von Fritsch, 1944), both shown as part of the exhibition "To Make a World: George Ault's 1940s America."
National Museum of Women in the Arts
On July 19 at 7:00pm is A Healthy Baby Girl (Judith Helfand, 1996), a documentary about the filmmaker's battle with cancer caused by her mother's use of the drug DES. Judith Helfand will be present to discuss the film. This is the second in a series of documentaries about environment and healing to complement the exhibit "Susan Swartz: Seasons of the Soul."
Washington Jewish Community Center
On July 19 at 7:00pm is "Coffee--Between Reality and Imagination" (2010), short films by Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers centered around the theme of coffee. Held at the Dupont Circle Hotel.
Goethe Institute
"Pushing the Boundaries" is a series of three sports films by Pepe Danquart. On July 5 at 6:30pm is Hell on Wheels (2004) about the Tour de France and on July 11 a 6:30pm is Home Game (1999-2000) about an ice hockey team from East Berlin.
National Geographic Society
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hiram Bingham's discovery of the "Lost City of the Incas," several films from Peru will be shown. On July 9 at 1:00pm is Camino a la Escuela (Humberto Saco, 2004), a short documentary about a school in the Andean highlands and Hananpacha (Carlos and José Vallejo, 2009), about the Peruvian antiplano. On July 9 at 3:00pm is Inca Mummies: Secrets of a Lost World. Two films with dance demonstrations are on July 17 at 3:30pm Danzak a short film with a live demonstration of the Scisssors Dance and on July 17 at 1:00pm is Soy Andina (Mitchell Teplitsky) about Cynthia Paniagua who traveled to Peru to study dance. Both the film's subject who will give a dance demonstration and director will be present to discuss the film.
French Embassy
On July 26 at 7:00pm is the DC premiere of Sarah's Key (Gilles Paquet-Brenner, 2010), starring Kristin Scott-Thomas.
The Japan Information and Culture Center
On July 20 at 6:30pm is Hula Girls (Lee San-il, 2006), based on a real event in a coal mining town. On July 22 at 6:30pm is the anime film 20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope (Yukihiko Tsutsumi, 2009).
The National Theatre
"Dial H for Hitchcock" is this summer's theme at the National Theater. On July 18 at 6:30pm is Vertigo (1958) starring James Stewart and Kim Novak and on July 25 at 6:30pm is Strangers on a Train with Farley Granger and Robert Walker. More in August.
National Institutes of Health
This film festival promotes understanding of science, health, and medicine. Films with a medical science theme are screened, and an expert on the subject provides a commentary and leads an audience question-and-answer period. See AFI above for this month's titles.
Artisphere
A Sidney Lumet series of films includes Twelve Angry Men on July 6 at 8:00pm, Network on July 13 at 8:00pm, Serpico on July 20 at 8:00pm and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead on July 27 at 8:00pm. Artivist is an all-day program of award-winning documentary films shown on July 9 starting at noon and continuing all day. The "Spooky Movie Film Festival Summer Series" includes Audie and the Wolf, a reverse werewolf story, shown with Broken Springs, a cannibal zombie film--the double feature is on July 9 at 8:00pm. Another double feature is on July 23 at 8:00pm El Monstro del Mar, from Australia and Dark Souls from France.
Screen on the Green
This popular outdoor film series on the Mall starts July 25 with In the Heat of the Night (Norman Jewison, 1967) starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. Films start at dusk, between 8:30-9:00pm. Bring a blanket to sit on.
National Archives
As part of the exhibit “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” is Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) on July 16 at noon. A double feature of two classic films The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936) and The Land (1942) is shown on July 27 at noon.
The Avalon
This month's "Greek Panorama" film, is Sirens in the Aegean (Nicos Perakis, 2005), a comedy, on July 6 at 8:00pm. The July "Czech Lions" film is I'm All Good (Jan Hrebejk, 2008) on July 13 at 8:00pm, a comedy set a few years after the Velvet Revolution. The "French Cinematheque" film for July is Love Crime (Alain Corneau, 2010), a thriller starring Kristen Scott-Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier on June 20 at 8:00pm. On July 27 at 8:00pm is this month's "Reel Israel DC" film The Little Traitor (Lynn Roth, 2007), set in 1947 Palestine and starring Alfred Molina.
The Corcoran
On July 18 at 7:00pm is Bill Cunningham New York (Richard Press, 2010) about the legendary New York Times photographer.
Italian Cultural Institute
On July 6 at 6:30pm is The Bandit of Tacca del Lupo (Pietro Germi, 1952), set 1863, just after the unification of Italy.
Wolf Trap
On July 30 at 8:30pm is Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1943) with the full music score played live by the NSO.
Atlas Performing Arts
Several summer film series will be at the Atlas this summer. "Gay 101" includes My Beautiful Laundrette on July 7, Paris is Burning on July 14, The Kids Are Alright on July 21, and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on July 28. All are at 8:00pm. "Musicals" includes Funny Girl on July 1, Dreamgirls on July 8, Chicago on July 15, Hair on July 22, and My Fair Lady on July 29. All are at 8:00pm. A "Family Series" includes An American Tail on July 2, E.T. on July 9, Chicken Run on July 16, and Babe on July 23. All are at 5:00pm. The "Spike Lee" series includes Inside Man on July 3, Four Little Girls on July 10, Get on the Bus on July 17, Clockers on July 24 and Crooklyn on July 31. All are at 4:00pm.
Sixth and I Synagogue
On July 21 at 7:30pm is Wet Hot American Summer (David Wain, 1981) held at the Capitol Skyline Hotel.
Reel Affirmations XTra
Reel Affirmations Xtra is a once-a-month screening held at Landmark's E Street Cinema. Tickets are $12. On July 7 at 7:00pm and 9:15pm is Gun Hill Road (Rashaad Ernesto Green, 2011).
The Jerusalem Fund
On July 6 at 6:30pm is Shooting Muhammad (Francesco Cannito and Luca Cusani, 2009) about a Palestinian student studying in an Israeli university.
For the Benefit of All Beings
On July 10, 12 and 14 at 6:30pm is For the Benefit of All Beings: The Extraordinary Life of His Eminence Garchen Triptrul Rinpoche. The director, Christina Lundberg will be present at all three shows for Q&A after the film. The screenings are at the U.S. Navy Memorial, 701 Pennsylvania Ave.
FILM FESTIVALS
