Posts
2011, 05-13:
Review of film: “BEGINNERS” + Q&A With MIKE MILLS, Writer – Director of the film
When I tell you the PLOT of this film, your initial reaction is likely to be that, it’s very “farfetched” & hard to “BELIEVE” ... But, the amazing thing is, it’s essentially based on a TRUE story...
... The yarn is narrated by its lead, Oliver (played by EWAN McGREGOR)... As he relates, his parents met & got married in 1955, & stayed married for 44 years before his mother died..
... His father Hal (eventually played by CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER) worked with literature books for an educational facility...
... His mother Georgia (MARY PAGE KELLER) was the one he spent most of his time with as he grew up... We “meet” young Oliver (played by KEEGAN BOOS) when he’s around 8, & his “free-spirit” Mom has taken him to a modern-art type museum where her antics cause them to be kicked out...
... As Ewan grows up, he becomes a graphic artist, doing “line” drawings of various persons, considers doing a series of “SAD” people, etc... As he goes thru life, he relates having previously had 4 “serious” romantic relationships with women (all of whom he puts in drawings)...
... In time, we learn that, 6 months after Ewan’s mom died, his dad Chris announced to him to him that he was GAY & had been all his life-- which Mary had known before they’d gotten married...
... Ewan is quite taken “ABACK” at the news-- but, as a very good son, ACCEPTS the news calmly. He’s even very supportive when Chris decided to live OPENLY as a gay man and works to try to find a LOVER... Ewan (when requested) tries to help Chris get the new clothes he wants to be more “with it”, etc...
... Chris eventually finds a lover, a considerably younger (35-40 -ish) guy named Andy (GORAN VISNJIC, from “E.R.”). Since Goran makes his dad happy, Ewan readily “ACCEPTS” him & Chris’ other friends...
... Not long after “coming out”, Chris develops a bad case of cancer, & Ewan uncomplainingly works to help CARE for him at home & in a hospital...
... After a while, Chris PASSES AWAY, & Ewan takes care of his dad’s dog “Arthur”... He tends to “TALK” to Arthur as if he’s a person who can “understand” him-- tho Arthur keeps “responding” just with “looks” & cute “SUBITITLED” responses...
... One day, after going to a costume party (dressed as Freud), Ewan chances to meet a cute woman named Anna (MÉLANIE LAURENT), who, rather than talk to him, keeps writing NOTES, claiming she has “laryngitis”...
... Little-by-little, they keep growing CLOSER to each other, & we see numerous “encounters” between them...
... Above, I have given you a very summarized, “linear” description of the plot... But, that its NOT the way it’s shown in the FILM: the plot keeps switching BACK & FORTH between the main “touchstones” of the story— Ewan’s time as a KID, his life with finally-outwardly-gay CHRIS & his friends, & his own stages with MÉLANIE...
... The movie has a lot of warmth, a good deal of gentle humor, and a bunch of very good ACTING throughout...
... I found the constant flash-backs & flash-forwards thru the 3 main “timeline” events a bit DISCONCERTING: while it was easy to know what “period” you were IN, for me, it tended to be a periodically “DIFFICULT” way to get to “KNOW” the characters & their lives (& to “understand” the storyline as I described it above)... But, that was the way the director chose to “develop” his people...
... All things considered, mainly because of the way the basic story is a fascinating exploration of the human condition, I am rating the film at 7.5 out of 10 stars...
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Q&A With MIKE MILLS, Writer – Director of the film
Before the film, RICHARD KNIGHT of WINDY CITY TIMES introduced the writer / director of the film, MIKE MILLS. Richard commented to Mike that, “I’ve been trying to meet you for like 5 YEARS now!...”, & it was a pleasure to have him there...
... Mike said, he appreciated that, & yes, he’ll happily be back after the film to hold a Q&A. He said, he greatly enjoys talking to people about his work, & stated to the audience that, “If you want to stay, I’d LOVE to TALK to you!...”
... Seeming to truly take pleasure in interacting with the public, he said, he’d like to shoot a little VIDEO (with his small digital camera), & asked if we’d please WAVE to him briefly, which we did...
... When the film was finished, Mike and Richard RETURNED for the promised Question & Answer session...
... To a question from Richard about how “autobiographical” his new film was, Mike said-- well, his parents married in 1955, they were wed for 44 years [until 1999] at which time his mother died...
... Then, after that, his father at age 75 said, “Michael-- I’m going to—” get together & TELL him something, after which he announced to him that he was GAY...
... Soon after that, his dad involved him in his trying to OPENLY live that way, &, for 4½-5 years, he’d lived a “very, very gay” lifestyle... In time, his father developed a cancer & died in 2003...
... So, the basic story is ALL autobiographical!...
... His mother DID know that his father was gay BEFORE she married him, & decided to go forward with it anyway. Possibly she hoped to “change” him in some ways, but, that’s not fully clear... In any case, she & his dad did having a LOVING relationship (per his Dad’s words), & they “had wonderful unheard [by Mike] arguments about love”...
... Mike himself wasn’t really privy to the “private” discussions between his mom & dad, tho both were very “GIVING” people to him as he grew up...
... There are some differences between his own life & the MOVIE he made: he has 2 older SISTERS, which he didn’t put in the film as it might be distracting & could invade their privacy...
... When he was around 18, his older sister made an “offhand” comment that “Pop was GAY—”, but, “We didn’t ever [really] DISCUSS it—” further...
... After their mother died, his Dad came “OUT” & wanted to have his kids know & accept that. After the news, “He became so emotionally ‘ALIVE’... He had a NEW life he didn’t have before...”
... Mike told his dad he wanted to make a MOVIE about his life, & even interviewed him on tape a bit for it... Then, around 6 months AFTER he’d died, Mike started WRITING about his Dad’s life...
... As to the section about his OWN romantic relationships, Mike indicated that he’d put some of that in the movie, partly based on a lot of people he knew, & working to write “about [the] DIFFICULTY in love” between people...
... To a question from the audience, Mike said yes, it seems clear his mother definitely KNEW about his father’s “early” life of being gay: “It was all the crazy & COMPLICATED--” type things people sometimes get involved in... He feels his dad wasn’t really BI-sexual, just gay with some ability to have hetero relations...
... Mike remembered a situation where his dad’s best friend died & how deeply UPSET his dad was at that situation...
... One person in the audience commented on how tonite’s movie comprised a fascinating interweaving of events & circumstances concerning the HISTORY of the gay movement in the 20th Century, & they’d thus found the film “very moving & INSPIRATIONAL”’, which Mike very much appreciated hearing...
... When asked about the cast, Mike said he felt [now-81-year-old] Christopher Plummer was just “PERFECT” for playing the 79-year-old father who was an art director (just as Mike’s real dad was)...
... As to being able to GET Chris for the film, Mike commented that, because of his own [low] “status” in the industry, he’d consider himself “lucky if I could get one MEETING” with a person of Chris’ stature (rather than any “audition” or the like)...
... So, he was thrilled when Chris was willing to TALK to him about the movie, & especially at how “Christopher had NO qualms about playing a gay man—”, &, in fact, seemed to RELISH having such an unusual and meaty role!... Further, rather than being sort of “stiff”, Chris instead turned out to have a really fine sense of humor!...
... Chris wanted his role to be with “not a drop of self-pity”, & Mike was HAPPY to have the character of his dad played that way... As Richard commented, there was thus “no time to deal with a sadness...”
... Mike was asked how he was able to get EWAN for the film. He said, he in-effect had someone who was able to speak to Ewan about the role, & he very much LIKED the role offered to him. Mike commented, “These two guys are really SWEET men—” as people...
... As to Ewan, “For a straight male star, he’s very OPEN—” as a person, & proved to be a very GENEROUS man. Mike kidded, that, also, he felt that “He’s handsome enough to PLAY me--”, to which the audience laughed...
... Overall, there was like 1 week of rehearsal. He’d shot CHRIS’ story scenes in proper chronological order, & then shot the scenes of Mélanie’s relationship with Ewan in various order. As to Ewan, he kidded some more, “God, do we look ALIKE!”...
... Mike said, the world of Hollywood people can be so “strange” at times, citing how at one point he was out & JOAN COLLINS came up to CHRIS & said seductively, “we’re not gonna be in pink again, are we?!”...
... He related a TRUE story about the making of the film: He gave Ewan $ 300 of his own money to go with CHRIS to buy a SCARF for Chris at Barney’s that they felt would fit Chris’ role as his dad having come “out” as gay...
... Well, Ewan was happy to go & do that... But, while at the store, Chris saw some “skinny” JEANS he liked, and felt he’d look GREAT in them. It turned out that Ewan agreed to BUY them for him, & it cost liked $ 900 for the jeans, which Ewan had to pay out of his OWN money since Mike had just given him $ 300!...
[... Later, I found the above incident was related in WRITING from Mike to members of the Landmark Theatres Film Club members, since that chain intends to show the movie at various of their locations...]
... Mike answered some questions about Mélanie and the Jack Russell terrier DOG which was really named “Cosmo” & was trained by the same person who’d trained a similar dog for the “FRASIER” TV series... Overall, the dog behaves like “a very old soul”, looking at you “right in the eyes”, which he felt was perfect for the role...
... Mike felt MÉLANIE did a FINE job. He has some friends who are very knowledgeable about international relations, & one of them MENTIONED Mélanie to him. He saw her work, felt she’d be very good for the role, & hired her...
... Mike was very pleased he’d cast her: “That woman is amazing, just going off her ENERGY!... She’s ‘UN-careful’ as an actress, which is very RARE—” in the way she sort of goes with her “gut” ideas rather than worrying about doing or not doing certain things...
... A man in the audience commented about the movie that, “It was BEAUTIFUL!” & finely captured the “plight” of a graphic designer like Ewan was supposed to be! Mike thanked him for the remarks, & said, he himself WENT to graphics arts classes. He told how Ewan actually DID some of the artwork you see him draw in the movie...
... Mike was asked about the “party” scene where Ewan 1st meets Mélanie. He said yes, he was costumed as Freud, & her character was supposed to be JULIUS ROSENBERG!... He personally lives in Los Angeles, & there are a number of costume parties that are held there...
... So, he invited various FRIENDS to join in that scene, including Lou Pucci who plays a “magician”... The idea of writing NOTES to communicate was actually something that’d happened to LOU— he’d had a problem with his throat, was told by a doctor to not talk for a while & thus he’d ended up communicating with a girl via NOTES he wrote out. So, Mike ADAPTED that idea for the movie!...
... When asked, Mike said, he shot the movie in 2009, over a period of 31 days, with the 1 week of rehearsal in the middle of that... It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in October of 2010...
... To an audience member’s comment about liking the oldtime music, Mike was PLEASED to hear that, & related how he’d inherited his PARENTS’ record collection, which is where he got the ideas for the music. His MOM used to play Jelly Roll Morton music + others, like he used in the movie, especially as part of “Oliver’s” (Ewan’s) story...
... A lady in the audience commented that she found the scenes of Mike as a boy to have “a pervasive kind of LONELINESS”... Mike kidded at one point. “My ‘therapist’ is right around the CORNER—”... Seriously, he said, he’d hoped such scenes would come across that way generally...
... Host Richard pondered about the possibility that, “Your ‘therapy’ was on the SCREEN?!...” Mike spoke about how having his “dad” actually “come OUT” on the screen may have been a bit of “therapy” in retrospect...
... A guy commented on how “unusual” the film is, & wondered how he’d gotten FINANCING for such a project... Mike responded that, “Financing can be a god-damn DRUG--!”, & especially was that way when he started trying to raise funds around 2007-08, with the economic meltdown then...
... He thought that the fact the film was about a 79-year-old GAY guy would be a huge turn-off for getting financing. But, to his surprise, that element was a “POSITIVE” for a number of people, because it “stood out” as a possible “draw”, & a Hollywood guy very much LIKED that factor best...
... What proved to be a “hard” sell was the “COUPLE” relationship between Ewan & Mélanie!... But, eventually, in time, he was able to GET enough backing to make the movie...
... Mike commented that, he honestly feels that “It’s an HONOR to show my film in a theater like this—”, & share things with an audience...
... To a person in the audience who wondered about why he’d left the relationship with Ewan & Mélanie end sort of “up in the AIR”, Mike stated that, “I LOVE that it ends where it does—”, he didn’t WANT things to be too “laid-out” for the audience (in part because life doesn’t usually “work” that way)...
... A young lady commented on what she felt were very interesting CAMERA ANGLES he’d used in the film, with the numerous close-ups helping helping it feel all the more “PERSONAL” to her...
... Mike appreciated her comment, & he said, “There are so many others I LOVE that DO that—”, such as the film “HOWL” about Allen Ginsburg, Woody Allen’s “ANNIE HALL”, etc...
... He spoke of how he used “concrete DETAILS” in telling his story, & he tries to “reach out” with what he does...
... He’s considering working on a NEW project, but for now, he’s enjoying showing this film to audiences around the country; he’d been to 10 or so cities with it recently... It was fun, tho even the “2nd” one was already sort of a “BLUR” in certain ways...
... The film opens nationally on Friday June 10th [tho his web-site, mikemillsweb.com , lists it as being June 3rd], & Mike feels “It’ll live or die out of grass-roots WORD-OF-MOUTH—”, & he hopes we’ll tell OTHERS about it...
... After the formal Q&A, I spoke to Mike a bit, remarking on how I’d enjoyed the film. To my asking, he said, the film took like 1½ years to write, & then like 3½ more years of “ADDING” & trying to improve things all the way thru the FILMING process-- yes, in-effect working to “TWEAK” it as much as possible!...
... Mike was nice enough to agree to my request to pose for a photo in a better-lit area, & I wished him WELL with his intriguing project...
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