Screenwriters on Screenwriting: Susannah Grant

Since I moved to London last year the Screenwriting Lectures organized by the BFI and the BAFTA have always been my favourite moments.
Yesterday I had both the honour and pleasure of attending a lecture by Susannah Grant.
If you don't know this name, well here's a list of some of her greatest works:

Pocahontas (1995)

28 Days (2000)

Erin Brockovich (2000)

In Her Shoes (2005)

Catch and Release (2006)

Charlotte's Web (2006)

The Soloist (2009)

And titles like these couldn't not have awarded her with important nominations such as:

Academy Award nomination for Erin Brockovich

BAFTA Film Award nomination for Erin Brockovich

Edgar Allan Poe Awards nomination for Erin Brockovich

Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards WON for Erin Brockovich

PEN Center USA West Literary Awards WON for Erin Brockovich

Satellite Awards nomination for Erin Brockovich

Writers Guild of America WON

Writers Guild of America nomination for Erin Brockovich

She revealed to be the kind of screenwriter I aspire to be, I felt like she was talking to me and telling me what I've been waiting to hear for years.

First of all, the fact that she, as me, comes from a background in which people prefer discouraging you from your dreams, and from a career in films. Most people I know just look at me thinking:

"Where do you think the film career will take you in life?"

Well, this is what I believe in.

Screenwriters make something out of nothing, they have the ability of making the invisible visible.

Her revelation film was Network (1976) by Paddy Chayefsky. And this is the scene she showed us: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dib2-HBsF08

Going to the movie theatre has been her youth's greatest pleasure, especially because of the love she has for the whole movie-going experience. 

She reminded us that everyone has a unique voice and we don't have to be afraid to spread it: it could be admired by a huge audience, or by a minor one, but it's still our voice, the one and only.

However, the greatest thing that I was expecting to hear was this...

"I write myself into everything. With films is like getting a whole bonus life."

And this is exactly what I've always done since I first held a pen in my hands, and this is what I'll keep doing, knowing that someone who had my own fears and not a lot of support, really made it.

Last, but not least, here's her advice to aspiring screenwriters. Polite Persistence. 

Thank you Susannah, I will keep a note with these two Ps, and remember to look at it when the future gets harder. And this is my thank you:

From how a person talks you can understand she/he is a writer. It couldn't have been more evident with this woman. She was born to tell stories. 

I leave you with some of the best lines written by Susannah:

"Even a pain in the ass needs someone to take care of them."

28 Days

"That's all you got lady. Two wrong feet in fucking ugly shoes."

Erin Brockovich

"I hope you sleep well Mr. Lopez. I hope the whole world sleeps well."

The Soloist

The Observer's Philip French receiving BFI Fellowship

On Wednesday I had the pleasure to attend my first BFI Fellowship ceremony. And this honour is even greater when received by a film critic for his stunning contribution to the film industry.
Philip French, the legendary The Observer's film critic, retired after 50 years at the age of 80. His career had begun back in 1963, and he has been defined as Britain's "greatest living movie analyst."
Not only did he lead one of the best and most read columns of the country, but he is also the author of great books such as:

• I found it at the Movies: Reflections of a Cinephile
• Westerns: Aspects of a Movie Genre 
• The BFI Film Classics on Wild Strawberries

The interview was great, first of all because it was conduced by Mr French's choice of some of his favourite moments in films. You will have the chance to watch them in a few lines.
One of the things I was most pleased with was the relevance he has as a critic especially because he is capable of making connections between films and different forms of art: theatre, literature, etc. which is what I am always trying to do. So I want to thank this wonderful writer, for being another great inspiration.

The first moment Philip French chose is from his favourite genre: the Western. Sequence from the delightful Stagecoach (1939) John Ford's first western after the coming of sound.
Since I couldn't find the sequence, keep reading and it will be explained.
After the clip there was a reflection on the importance of John Ford and this film, quoting the famous words of Orson Welles:

"I prefer the old masters, by which I mean John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford."

(And his statement about watching Stagecoach over 40 times while writing Citizen Kane.)

Also the novel that inspired French's love for films, The Movie Goer (1961) by Walker Percy, quotes the film:

“The fact is I am quite happy in a movie,even a bad movie...What I remember

is the time John Wayne killed three men

with a carbine as he was falling to the

dusty street in Stagecoach, and the time

the kitten found Orson Welles in the doorway in The Third Man.”

The following clip is, in fact, from The Third Man (1949) by Carol Reed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKKq5LPnpIM

The following three moments where then connected to the uncredited cameo appeareances by three of his favourite writers:

1. Raymond Chandler in Double Indemnity (1944) by Billy Wilder (watch out for the man reading the newspaper):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN9THMXxndw

2. Jorge Luis Borges in Performance (1970) by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg , I couldn't find the exact scene but here are a video about the making of the film, and the link to the Borges' reference in it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGmZYKm7FGo

http://www.themodernword.com/borges/borges_film_performance.html

3. Graham Greene in Day For Night (1963) by Francois Truffaut, I wasn't able to find this one either, but here's Philip French's review:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/feb/20/day-for-night-francois-truffaut-review

Mr. French moved then to the British realism, with a beautiful sequence from Secrets & Lies (1996) by Mike Leigh: ( I apologize for the bad quality of the video).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNmJNjJkOpg

I really liked the definition he gave of this clip: "It's an highly cinematic clip." All in long-take as you can see, which makes it so cinematic because, as Mr. French said, "you see the characters reacting to each other."

The clip from The Chess Players (1977) by Satyajit Ray, was incredible, I apologize because I couldn't find it. However, I am glad this meeting basically gave me a whole list of films to watch.

And, then, one of the last clips, the most significant one. It isn't only a film clip, it is a reflection on life, on a life-time career, and also a salute to 50 years of unforgettable words. Clip from A Late Quartet (2012) by Yaron Zilberman.
Watch it, and then you will feel as I felt in the cinema, it really moved me, so I cannot even imagine how emotional and thrilling that moment must have been for Mr. French.
Thank you again for your reviews, your humour, your kindness and honesty. As The Observer's editor John Mulholland said:

"There are readers who will feel that his writings are simply irreplaceable."

I leave you, as he did, with his last chosen clip, which I fortunately found. From Woody Allen's Hannah and her Sisters (1986):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftiIPJky_Vs

Back In London - September Updates

I apologize again for my frequent absence, but I can finally say I'm back in London, the new house is perfect, I'm almost done with moving out, and I'm ready to get the most from the city and tell you everything.
So, first things first.
Next week I will tell you my opinion about Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty, which I'm finally going to see, but also about the new Woody Allen's film coming out tomorrow: Blue Jasmine.

Moreover I'll have the pleasure to attend Q&A with two amazing screenwriters at the BFI:

Susannah Grant (28 September). Do you remember a certain Erin Brockovich (which gained her both BAFTA and Oscar nominations) Or Pocahontas? Without forgetting the Cinderella story Ever After starring Drew Barrymore, 28 Days, In Her Shoes, and many others.
About her writing process:

"I always have a road map. It is an outline that gets revised as I move along. I start with, "How does this movie start? What's the first scene? What's the scene after that? And I bite off a little piece at a time. It's like climbing a mountain. You can't look at the mountain top, you just have to look at the ridge you're on."

Tony Gilroy (29 September). I'm looking forward for this meeting because of my love for thrillers. He is known for the Bourne films, The Devil's Advocate, Proof of Life, Michael Clayton winning him both BAFTA and Oscar nominations.
Quoting the BFI booklet:

He says the films that inspire him must have "a singular voice. You get some really strong point-of-view all the way through. The more concentrated, consolidated and ballsy that is - those are our best films."

Last, but not least, I leave you with a reading advice. I read many good reviews about Marisha Pessls' new book: Night Film. Here's The New York Times review of it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/books/night-film-is-marisha-pessls-new-novel.html

Alfred Hitchcock in the Universal Pictures movies - Palazzo Reale Exhibition

If you have the chance to visit Milan in these days, you must visit Palazzo Reale and its great exhibitions.
Starting with the one dedicated to the Master of suspense: Alfred Hitchcock.

Here's a summary of what you'll find there:

"The exhibition shows seventy photographs and special features from the Archives of Universal Pictures, the American major that produced the films of Alfred Hithcock from 1940 to 1976 realizing for the cinema a series of unforgettable masterpieces. 
The aim of the exhibition is the investigation and the reproduction of the effect of suspense typical of Hitchcock films that, over the years, has terrorized - and perhaps continues to terrorize - millions of viewers.
A photographic story wants to move the audience into the backstage of famous films such as Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963)."

One of the things I liked the most was the presence of the critic Gianni Canova, who follows the visitors through videos in which he appears dressed as Mr. Hitchcock in Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He explains the fundamentals of the film to which the area is dedicated and goes through interesting details about the particular making of some of the scenes. 
There are also many references to Hitchcock by Truffaut, which I had just finished reading (a suggested reading, definitely).

The exhibition also shows some of the original films' posters, or pictures of their promotion.
As Mr. Canova underlines, a persistent element in Hitchcock's films is his duality expressed through the choice of his two favourite actors:
James Stewart the voyeur and lover, what Hitchcock believed to be, his alter-ego, on one side, and Cary Grant, the playboy, the saviour, what Hithcock wanted to be, on the other side.

As mentioned before, four rooms were dedicated entirely to his most famous films
I've been delighted to visit the one dedicate to Rear Window, my Hithcock's favourite, and to see many pictures taken on set during the complex construction of the different apartments used as setting. Considering the characters who were always part of the mise-en-scene were: Fire Escape Sleepers, Composer, Miss Torso, Salesman, Honey Mooners and Miss Lonely Hearts, there had to be at least 6 fully furnished flats on set, without counting Stewart's.

The room dedicated to Vertigo was accompanied by quotes from Kim Novak's speech at this year Cannes Film Festival. 
Follow the link to listen to a part of Kim Novak's speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3J0TozKB9k

In the one dedicated to Psycho I was delighted to listen to Canova defining the film as pure language of film, while analyzing the shower scene.

In the last one, dedicated to The Birds, I was thrilled to see how many ideas this room gave me: first, the information about his technical complexity which is the reason why it took so long to complete it, there are exactly 370 track shots in this film only; secondly, the video wasn't presented by Canova this time, but it showed different directors and scholars presenting the film as the monster film, and making comparisons with more recent ones. The most interesting comparison was with Steven Spielberg's Jaws, it was amazing to see the split screen showing the very similar sequences of the two films, and to think that Hitchcock managed to turn simple and harmless birds into the creatures of a monster film.

The funniest room is the one dedicated to the director's cameo appearances in his films, there was a montage with the most important ones.

Another room was dedicated to Hitchcock's most famous quotes, and another one, the last one, to his films' soundtracks and his collaboration with the composer Bernard Herrmann.
A little curiosity I learned from this room: the song Que sera, sera written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston, was composed in occasion of Hitchcock's film The Man who knew too much (1956).
Here you can listen to the use of the song in the film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afQoTJwgcNs

Last, but not least, film fact of the day: 

Alfred Hitchcock 

66 Films - 487 Homicides 

My Second Day at the Lido

On my second day at the Festival, I had my usual early morning  and arrived at the Lido at 9 am for a walk, and to have time to read Ciak, latest gossips,  and films’ plots sitting in front of the Excelsior hotel.

At 11 I went to see Gravity, which I thought has been realized with the accuracy of a master, in technical terms, but that lacked a little bit in the screenplay, it keeps your attention alive, but, in the end, it left me disappointed. Good film overall, but it certainly isn't 2001: A Space Odyssey or Solaris. 

After a quick lunch I went queueing to see The Art of Happiness (Italian animated film) by Alessandro Rak, of which I had read very good reviews. The standing ovation for the whole crew attending the screening does not need any explanation. It was emotional, great on all levels, modern, actual, and real, the music was original, the screenplay was at a high level, and the filmmaking has nothing to envy to non-animated films.

But the moment I was looking forward to was the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement ceremony prizing William Friedkin, a unique director, in my opinion, who really changed the logic of horror films, and please remember he did not only direct The Exorcist!!

The screening before the ceremony was the restoration of Sorcerer, one of his bests, but often forgotten, films. The emotion started very early once the director and his wife entered the room, and sat a few seats ahead of mine. I just think it is amazing to watch the artists who put heart and mind in a film rewatching themselves or their work.  The characters were so well constructed in this simple, but complex story of the human binomial: good and evil. 

I had never seen someone receiving such an important prize, plus it was Mr Friedkin’s Birthday and he couldn’t be happier.

Follow this link to read Friedkin's acceptance speech: 

http://artbookscinema.blogspot.it/2013/09/william-friedkin-golden-lion-for.html

Right after the ceremony I went out and waited in front of the red carpet to see who was about to come: I had the pleasure to see Mr Friedkin again, the Italian singer Edoardo Bennato, the actor Riccardo Scamarcio, the actress Francesca Cavallin, the Festival’s godmother and model Eva Riccobono, and the amazing Mia Wasikowska, protagonist of Tracks which I was going to see on the following day.

William Friedkin - Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Ceremony

I'm sorry to upload my posts about the Festival so late, but lately I have been having the busiest days ever, and I only have some time today to write.

One of the best experiences I had in Venice was to attend the ceremony for William Friedkin receiving the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

First of all, we had the chance to see a restoration of one of his best films: Sorcerer, which I found amazing, for the way in which he manages to play with the four protagonists and make them hit by Fate especially through the use of the camera.
Here's the director's comment on the film:

"The Exorcist was a story about the Mystery of Faith. Its impact had a profound and unexpected effect on me. I felt compelled after three years of working on all the foreign versions of that film, to direct a film about the Mystery of Fate, about men of no faith trapped in a landscape devoid of morality. The ideal scenario was George Arnaud's novel and H.G. Clouzot's The Wages of Fear. I approached my film, not as a remake, but as a newly conceived version, much as a new production of any classic, such as Hamlet or Rigoletto is not a remake. The main characters are flawed men, condemned to a life of hell on earth, though they desperately cling to existence. Their fate is not in their own hands, but in the hands of an unseen evil wizard, the Sorcerer of the title. If I was able to choose one of my films by which to be remembered, it would be Sorcerer."

The emotion was even bigger because Mr Friedkin was sitting just a few rows ahead of me.

Here is the director's speech which I recorded live in the Sala Grande. 

Due to some technical problems in uploading the video, here is the speech:

"An interviewer asked me today, how important is it to me to win the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival, several interviewers asked me that, I told them what I'll say to you, it's the most important award I could possibly get, with one exception that I'll tell about it at the end of my little acceptance speech. It's important to me because of the great list of filmmakers who have preceded me, and who received this award for works that, I think, will live forever. To be on a list with Charles Chaplin, Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles, in fact Orson Welles won the first Life Achievement Award in 1970 when they first gave the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and it was Orson Welles who inspired me to make movies. In 1949, the Golden Lion was won by H.G. Clouzot, for another film he made Manon, and H.G. Clouzot first inspired this film (Sorcerer). Bertolt Brecht said that "art is not a mirror to be held up to society, art is a hammer with which to shape society." About 45 years ago a very prominent French film critic, André Bazin, asked the question: "What is cinema?". I believe that for 70 years the Venice Film Festival has defined what is cinema, with the choice of films from every country that premiere here every year. The Venice Film Festival even proved that there is life after death, as with this Sorcerer. If it was not for Alberto Barbera, the artistic director of the Festival and my dear friend, I would say my old friend, but he is younger than me, and he looks very young, still handsome as when I first met him, and his wonderful colleague, who was such an inspiration to me, and a friend over the years, Giulia Ballà, and, of course, signor Paolo Baratta, the President of the Venice Festival. I thank you all for giving me this award." 

And the winners are... Venice Film Festival

After accurately reading the Festival's results I don't know if I am fully satisfied.

Since I came back earlier I didn't have the chance to see the Golden Lion's winner 

Sacro Gra by Gianfranco Rosi

Silver Lion for Best Directing 

Miss Violence by the Avranas

 (on which I strongly agree)

Great Prize of the Jury 

Stray Dogs by the Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang

Special Prize of the Jury 

 Die Frau des Polizisten by Philip Groning

On this I slightly disagree, I think this work of art deserved more, in my opinion it was the best film in competition, the story, the directing, the actors, but, especially, the film's layout which required both effort and attention from the spectators trying to fit all the pieces together, as composing a jigsaw.

Best Male Interpretation 

Themis Panou, for Miss Violence

Even though his interpretation was very good I personally preferred the male protagonist, David Zimmerschied in Die Frau des Polizisten.

Best Female Interpretation 

Elena Cotta for Via Castellana Bandiera

Elena Cotta was certainly the best performer in the film, and she deserved a prize. But I didn't particularly liked it, even though many seem to be so enthusiastic about it, I can't get over the stunning performance of Judi Dench, which I can only link to one word: Perfection.

Prize Marcello Mastroianni 

Tye Sheridan for Joe by David Gordon Green as best emergent actor

Best Screenplay 

Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope for Philomena by Stephen Frears

I'm happy that the film managed to win this deserved prize, but I also think it could win more. Fortunately it had a very good recognition winning the Golden Mouse, being the online press' favourite. I'm also sure it's going to shine at the London Film Festival too. Congrats.

Lion Of the Future - Prize for Best First Film 

White Shadow by Noaz Deshe