Post Magazine

August 2018

Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1013519

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 17 of 43

www.postmagazine.com 16 POST AUGUST 2018 DIRECTOR'S CHAIR t's fitting that Puzzle, the new film from the Oscar-nominated director and producer Marc Turtletaub, looks and feels like a period piece. While the fast-paced modern world occa- sionally intrudes in the shape of smart phones and rapid transit, the film is centered around the slower, distinctly old-time world of jigsaw puzzles. Starring Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting 1 and 2, No Country for Old Men), Irrfan Khan (Jurassic World, Life of Pi), David Denman (13 Hours, The Office) — and thousands of jigsaw piec- es — Puzzle is a quiet, closely observed portrait of Agnes (Macdonald), a selfless homemaker who has reached her early 40s without ever venturing far from home, family or the tight-knit immigrant community in which she was raised by her widowed father. But that begins to change in a quietly-dramatic fashion when Agnes receives a jigsaw puzzle as a birthday gift and experiences the heady thrill of not only doing something she enjoys, but being very, very good at it. After years of concerning herself exclusively with the needs and wants of her doting and decent husband Louie (Denman) and two sons, Agnes begins to step out of her domestic bubble to pursue her new hobby and ends up meeting Robert (Khan), a wealthy, reclusive inventor and fellow puzzle enthusiast who immedi- ately recognizes her talent and recruits her as his partner for an upcoming world jigsaw tournament. Each day she spends out in the world, puzzling and conversing with Robert, takes Agnes further along on the road to a new un- derstanding of herself and her strengths. With that understanding come new insights and an assertiveness that finds her speaking out on her own behalf and pushing back against the assumptions and routines that have until now defined her role in her family. Ultimately, Agnes will decide for herself what comes next. Here, in an exclusive interview with Post, Turtletaub, whose credits include Little Miss Sunshine and Loving, talks about making the Sony Pictures Classics film, and why he loves post. What sort of film did you set out to make? "The film I think we delivered, about this woman in her 40s coming of age." The subtext — a repressed woman in a man's world who's never had a chance to shine before — seems very timely. "It is timely, but this all came together before the MeToo movement, so that wasn't in the back of our minds. The big appeal for me was the story, and I was really taken by the writing most of all, and we just don't see these kinds of stories much, especially about an older woman finding her voice." Is true that the story also resonated with you in terms of you own mother? "It did, and I dedicated it to her. When I read the screenplay I said, 'I know that woman.' I grew up in New Jersey and my mother just doted on my father and me, and was the ultimate homemaker. It was that generation, but then I think there are still a lot of women out there today who are trapped by obligation or not realizing there's something more out there." Are you a puzzle enthusiast? "No, not at all, and when I first got the script I just thought it'd be the last thing I'd be interested in. But once I began to read it, I soon realized that it's not really about jigsaw puzzles — it's about human beings and passion and where that can lead you, and the whole puzzle of human nature. And it didn't turn me into a puzzler, but Kelly became a big one during the shoot, and we always had a 1000-piece puzzle nearby on the set, and she'd get into it and crew members would join in." What were the main challenges in pulling it all together? "Finding the right homes, particularly the New York house, as it's such an odd space, so when we found it I knew it was the one. The shoot was pretty smooth, and we shot on location in Yonkers and New York City. We had a great DP, Chris Norr, who's worked with Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese and Rob Reiner, and a great crew. We didn't have one argu- ment from anyone on set the whole 30- day shoot, which doesn't usually happen with all the pressures of a shoot. Our latest night was just 11:30pm, and it was a very collaborative process." Where did you post? "Although we were based in New York, we edited out here in LA, although we did a little bit in New York. I really want- ed Cate Haight to cut it, and I wanted a woman editor, because I love her work and the whole story's centered around a woman. And we had another editor, Joe Landauer, who helped out along- side Cate, but she did the lion's share of the work. Then the rest of post was done in New York, at Harbor [Picture Company]. They did all the sound, visual effects, the color and they're so good. I've worked there before several times on films I've produced." Do you like the post process? "I absolutely love it now. But when I started out, I didn't feel that way. The first time I sat in an editing room work- ing on a short I'd directed, I remember sitting there with the editor as he was MARC TURTLETAUB ON PUZZLE BY IAIN BLAIR TAKING ON ALL THE PIECES OF A QUIET DRAMA I Turtletaub, right, on-set

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Post Magazine - August 2018