20 Questions and a Song Request: Michael Brody
20 Questions With Writer and Programmer Michael Brody
As Emerson aptly noted, “…a man may be known by the books he reads”; at Alone in the Dark we maintain that we are best known, perhaps, by the films we hold most dear. The format is simple: one fellow cinephile, 20 questions, and a song of their choice. In this installment, I sit down with screenwriter and co-founder of the Crested Butte Film Festival MICHAEL BRODY to talk Tarkovsky, the Polish film tradition, fuck fish, and how SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is far better than you bastards deserve.
Last film you saw- in which city- and with whom?
INTOUCHABLES -two nights ago as part of the Crested Butte Film Series. Saw it with 100 people who sat in the dark and laughed their asses off. A woman said afterward she had never seen the film on the big screen (where do we watch films?) she loved sitting with others, hearing them laugh, getting the jokes, it’s probably an approximation of why we see films- the communal aspect.
As a working screenwriter, you hold the profession in especially high regard- name three screenplays that you wish you had written.
Wait, can you be called “a working writer” if you’re not writing?
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE: I love how they take a cliche “holding someone’s feet to the fire” and visualize it. They bring the cliche to exact visual life and it’s really good and really funny. Plus the film is about writers and a writer’s need to be read and understood. RUST AND BONE: There is not one excess item in that script. Everything put into it pays off later. It is probably one of the best examples of screenwriting I have ever seen. Plus it’s Marion Cotillard and maybe I’d get to hang out with her. Finally, ADAPTATION. Again it’s about writing, and it’s Meryl and Charlie and Chris Cooper who has one of my favorite lines, “fuck fish.”
What was the first film you ever recall seeing in a theater?
I think it was Walt Disney’s SNOWBALL EXPRESS which apparently was filmed in Crested Butte. Next was MARY POPPINS. Do the math and you’ll find out I’m really old.
You hail from Denver- what is your favorite film set in your native city?
Have there been any…? Well, I like DOCUMENT a lot. I recently saw a film at SXSW called LAMB by Ross Partridge. It was filmed in Denver. The Highlands. It was nice to see Denver on the big screen. I can’t think of another. You’ve stumped me. Next question!
Festival programming is arguably an art form. What is your greatest strength- and greatest weakness- as a programmer?
I’d say my strength is that I respond emotionally to the films I watch. If it makes me laugh like ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL, that goes a long way with me. Also if it makes me feel deeply or cry- I love that. My weakness is probably an intellectual one — I don’t know about deconstructionism and I don’t know about the history of film so much — how this film arises from Hungarian national cinema, etc. I don’t always see the metaphors, or the symbolism — but you know what — maybe no one but film critics do. I, and I think others, respond emotionally to what is put before them. That’s the key to me. But I do want to learn about all that other crap. (Laughs)
You are crafting a documentary program that is required viewing for the next President of the United States- name three docs you would deem mandatory for the leader of the free world.
I might have to challenge the term “free world.” And would said leader even be interested in documentary filmmaking? Let’s assume they are and I have their undivided attention for a few hours. I would lead off with a short doc called FLUTTER that we showed at CBFF a couple of years ago. Simply, it is one of the most beautiful and memorable films I have ever seen. I like films that stop me in my tracks and make me question the way I live. Maybe the Paul Watson doc, SEA SHEPARD for one. Maybe FOOD, INC. or Suzan Beraza’s BAG IT. RACING EXTINCTION also. Lastly, that obscure Buneul film LAND WITHOUT BREAD, that pretends to be a documentary and looks like a documentary about the famine in Spain, but is scripted and acted.
You hail from the famed and eclectic University of Colorado Film Department under the tutelage of Stan Brakhage- which of his experimental films resonated most with you?
Well, I went to CU before it became prestigious… Before Trey and Matt and Derek Cianfrance. To tell the truth I really didn’t like Stan’s films much, but I sat through a lot of them… I preferred Stan as a storyteller. He chewed tobacco and spit into a flask and would tell these amazing stories of the New York filmmaking world of the ‘50s, Modigliani, and Kenneth Anger. He just knew and saw so much.
Name a film (which you ruthlessly champion) that it seems only you know about.
ONCE WERE WARRIORS from New Zealand.
Name one “staggeringly brilliant film of contemporary cultural genius” that you will admit to NOT having yet seen.
There are so many… I can’t even watch the LORD OF THE RINGS. Talk about ruining a good book. That just shows how much action takes precedence over story.
The Indefensible Position: You hail SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (mostly cited critically as one of the WORST films to ever win Best Picture) as one of your personal favorites of all time- defend it.
It’s funny as hell. It’s complex. Joseph Fiennes is a terrible actor but they hide it very well. It’s about writing for God’s sake… Gwyneth Paltrow tells Will that she read every word — as a writer that is absolutely the best thing you could ever hope to hear. Hell man, it was written by Tom Stoppard! And when Colin Firth says at the end, “Tobacco. I think there’s a fair future in that…” So good. I’d watch it tonight.
What iconic film scene still haunts you to this day?
A lot of Tarkovsky. The house burning in THE SACRIFICE. Walking with a lit match in NOSTALGIA or was it THE MIRROR? In STALKER how the guy has to intuit where to throw a rock to gauge how to walk through the ruined countryside. Images were THE THING to him- he painstakingly crafted what he wanted to capture on film. It is pure visual genius. A lot of Russian and Georgian cinema that I was lucky enough to see at Boulder and Telluride. Elem Klimov’s COME AND SEE and NO MAN’S LAND. My ancestors are from Russia and Lithuania and were overrun by Germans and Russians time and again. That stuff is just born into you.
Cinema Evangelicalism- The last film that moved you to the point of insisting that all of your loved ones see it?
ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL. Pretty much all the films we show at the Crested Butte Film Festival. That’s the nice thing about programming a festival, what you’re really saying is, Watch this- I love these films. Plus I’m a closet preacher at heart (and also a cop.)
Which actor or actress ALWAYS moves you to smile in the dark?
Audrey Tautou in AMELIE. Charlie Chaplin. Insane Klaus Kinski in AGUIRRE and FITZCARRALDO.
The “Meh Confession”- A critically and culturally acclaimed film that you were supposed to like- but didn’t.
Too many films- they just don’t rock my boat.
Your “anytime, anywhere, stop-what-I-am-doing and watch” film.
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. ADAPTATION. THELMA AND LOUISE.
You wrote, directed, and self financed your first feature, DOCUMENT, in 2009. Who are the up-and-coming Independent Filmmakers we need to be following?
Wait… did you see DOCUMENT? You and forty three others. On the documentary side, Alexandria Bombach. We’ll show her film FRAME BY FRAME at CBFF. Bianca Giaever makes great short narratives. Very funny. Guillame Blanchet out of Montreal makes great stop-action animation. Jazmin Rada- phenomenal. I can’t wait to see what she does next. With narrative features we’re certainly expecting something great from Michael Brody. I like what Noah Baumbach does. Or did. Come to CBFF and you’ll see.
Andrei Tarkovsky in 10 words.
I. Have. Already. Spent. Too. Much. Time. Talking. About. Him. Simply the greatest visual storyteller there has ever been.
In your role as programmer for the Crested Butte Film Festival, you encounter submissions from filmmakers all over the globe- in your opinion, which country’s filmmakers are currently (and consistently) producing the next wave of ASTONISHING films?
Poland has an amazing generation of new filmmakers coming out of the schools there. In fact, the first film that we ever committed to at CBFF was from Poland. Boulder is killing it in documentaries, and to me the best content that is coming out of American universities is coming from Chapman College in Orange County (sorry USC, sorry NYU.)
You are a self-described avid reader- what is on your nightstand (or Kindle) right now?
I like the feel of books so I read books — plus I’m really old school. Right now I’m finishing Bob Dylan’s Chronicles because there’s a Bob Dylan story I want to tell. Some Sherman Alexie short stories. For me, it’s always Cormac McCarthy. I’m a westerner. Yes, his novels always have a high body count (I think the metaphor is, Hey, we all die) but to me, nobody writes better about the western American landscape than he. If I were to make a documentary, it would be on him. Somebody help me out on that.
What three things drastically distinguish the Crested Butte Film Festival from any other American Film Festival?
That it’s programmed by me and a team of film demons… Two, that we’re in a remarkable town that knows how to chill out, live simply and slow down, and thus, we create a very intimate scene for our filmmakers and attendees that is really about depth and connecting because that’s what we’re here to do — connect with people. And three, we just love the shit out of movies and know what’s good and know what we’re just dying to bring to our community. Plus there’s really good rum and you can ride your townie to the theater and no one steals it.
Your song request?
Wah-wah by Eric Clapton & Band. Reasons: 1. I’m old school. 2. It’s George Harrison’s son playing at his father’s wake, with all his friends and if that doesn’t just kill you… It’s like the entire history of rock n roll is on that stage. Plus, the song just rocks, and my god, there’s three drummers and a percussionist! Life and energy and passion. That’s what speaks to me.
When not directing or writing screenplays, Michael can be found in his beloved mountain town programming the Crested Butte Film Festival, which he co-directs along with Jennifer Brody. The 2015 Crested Butte Film Festival runs Sept. 24th- Sept. 27th. You can visit the official site HERE.
Interview by Jack Hanley
