Viggo+David 4Evah

[przed]

I've been a bit quiet lately just because it seems like I'm always either busy or tired or both! The busyness is nothing too exciting, just usual life things or taking Ros to activities. She's big on skating, so we've been going skating most days we have nothing else on. The tiredness is because of the busyness, and because I stupidly keep staying up too late to watch something or read something or write something.

But I did do one awesome thing last night that's a bit worthy of a post.

Lightbox, the film fest's year round home, has been doing conversations with David Cronenberg as part of a big retrospective and exhibition they're doing on him. (This has resulted in crazy things like this picture of Jeremy Irons and a mugwump from Naked Lunch.) Last night, they finally had Viggo Mortensen in for a talk, and then he and Cronenberg introduced a screening of A History of Violence. (The Sweetie gets major bonus points for noticing immediately when they'd scheduled this, and getting tickets for me and a couple of friends.)

It was amazing.

The two of them get along really well for a start--Cronenberg always shows up at Viggo's film fest screenings, even if it's not his film, and they usually snog on stage—which meant lots of joking around about how Cronenberg first asked Viggo to star in A History of Violence because he was cheap and available. And also malleable, they added later. Joking aside, they're also both really smart and articulate, and they're thoughtful about the work they've done. So they're not just fun, they're fascinating to listen to, and it's clear how much working together for them is a true collaboration.

One of the most telling anecdotes Cronenberg told was about talking to another director who told him that Viggo had given him notes, and said it like it was both unthinkable and horrendous that an actor would do such a thing. Cronenberg told him, to paraphrase, "Look, not every actor wants to do that or can do that, but if you have an actor with a good brain who wants to contribute that way, why wouldn't you listen to him?" It made me want to hug them both.

Comments

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

I love that movie. This must have been great to see.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten quite how fab a movie it is. And it was wonderful to see it after the two of them introducing it, talking about how they developed the character, and how William Hurt's performance kept cracking Viggo up, amongst other things.

[moonlightmead.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that does sound both awesome and interesting - how great that you were able to be there (thanks, your sweetie!)

Lucky for Viggo that he is working now and not any earlier, I suspect. I'm just imagining the reaction of, say, John Ford or Alfred Hitchcock to the idea that an actor had a suggestion. The 'other director' of the anecdote was probably quite restrained by comparison!

[przed.livejournal.com]

I suspect Viggo wouldn't have been an actor if he'd been around in the Classical Hollywood period. He'd have more likely stuck with the painting or photography or poetry. (He is pretty good at all of the above. He'd be annoying if he weren't also a really sweet guy.)

It's interesting that you mention Hitchcock, though. Cronenberg talked a lot about his working method. He said most directors these days heavily use storyboards and pre-visualization videos, and compared that working method most closely to Hitchcock's, where the actors are just pieces moving through their preconceived notion of what the film is. In contrast, he doesn't storyboard at all. He prepares heavily, working with the script and researching background and character, but when he gets on set he likes to work with the actors before figuring out how to block the scene and where to place the cameras. And it sounds like he encourages input from whoever wants to give it. (At an earlier talk I saw during the retrospective with his production team for A Dangerous Method they all pretty much said Cronenberg hires them and lets them work within their own area of expertise with little interference. He sounds like a completely sane sort of guy to work with/for.)

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

Sounds absolutely fascinating! Thanks for sharing those highlights! Your Sweetie is awesome for spotting it and getting tickets!

[przed.livejournal.com]

It was a brilliant night. I don't absolutely require that my favourite actors be smart and articulate, but it's so very nice when they are. *g*

And three cheers for the Sweetie for looking out for me.

[dorinda.livejournal.com]

I've been keeping this post open in a tab for aaaages, intending to say something, and then I don't know it's like January fell on me like a rock and here we are, almost February. Hmm.

Anyway, first I wanted to say I really enjoyed your mentions of the talk--I love Cronenberg and Mortensen both, and am amiably jealous of you getting to see them. Plus, I wondered if you had read this piece by Cronenberg that I saw going around lately--it was published in the Paris Review, but was originally written as an introduction to a new translation of Kafka's The Metamorphosis:

http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/01/17/the-beetle-and-the-fly/

I found it smart and thoughtful and very Cronenbergy in its themes and concerns.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on feeling like January fell on me like a rock.

Thanks for the link. It sounds very much like Cronenberg talks, very smart and with certain very specific obsessions. I got to the exhibit associated with the retrospective, and the very best thing in it was a room with a bunch of video screens that played clips of interviews of Cronenberg from the full range of his career. It was sort of like stepping into Cronenberg's head for 10 or 15 minutes, and fascinating to see that he was as smart and unafraid of controversy in his twenties as he is now that he's 70.

The big guy says thanks for the link too. He's the really big Cronenberg fan in the family. I stay away from some of the ickier films, but he used to retrospective to fill his Cronenberg cinephilia card and has now seen all of his features on the big screen.