Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1126636
86 DGA QUARTERLY Eastwood. Did you see it? Q: I haven't seen it, no. A: He's saying stu about work and family. "I gave my life to work. I should have given it to my family." I was relating, and I was like, "Oh, fuck, I hope my sons are not resenting me." I mean, we have a good relationship, but man, do I work. I'm 56 and I work and work and I'm like, "I've got to change this," and now I'm changing it slowly but still I'm booked. I signed for my two next projects. Q: Did anything change in your career when you joined the DGA in 1996? A: I still have my photographs when I joined. I became a member to do this fi lm called Los Locos (1997) with Mario Van Peebles. Almost nobody saw it. I just feel a part of a great community. And maybe it made me aware of the com- munity more than about directing, you know, to each his own and I'm doing my stuff. But there is something about the Guild in the States that we don't have may- be as strong in Quebec. Q: You won a DGA Award for Big Little Lies. Was that any di erent for you—that experi- ence of getting an award from director peers? A: Yeah, well I mean it's one of the most important if not the most important from your peers and the DGA. You know, di- rectors that I have been admiring since I wanted to do this since I am 18-20, they were part of the DGA. And so when you get in the crowd and you see them, and you get to shake their hand... It's funny how I still feel like a kid or an outsider, and I see my masters and heroes, and now I am part of it, and so it's great. Q: Were there any particular directors that you looked at growing up who inspired you or convinced you that this was something you wanted to do? A: Yes, but it came late. At 20, I took a class by pure laziness called "Cinema and Soci- ety," and the teacher was so good he got my attention for three hours. I've never lis- tened to a teacher like that for three hours in a row. Q: What school was this? A: It was a college in Montreal (Collège Ahuntsic), and I was studying business management. I didn't know what to do, and I was a lost kid at 20. What am I going to do with my life? And then this class changed my life and I went, "Oh, I'm going to try to do this." And I got introduced to all these masters from Europe, from the States and I started to watch PBS and all these films from Capra, from George Stevens. I had an affection for Cassavetes. I also had a thing for Scorsese. And then there's (Wim Wenders') The State of Things and The American Friend and then Paris, Texas... Q: Was there a point in your life when you stopped looking at fi lms as purely entertain- ment and it became more like art? Was that when you were taking these classes? A: Yes, exactly, it changed my way of seeing and watching fi lms. I was introduced to all German cinema, the Soviet cinema from the '20s, and then the Italian cinema and the Japanese. So the whirlwind. I am from a middle-class family. My parents didn't read a lot, and it's something that we, that I, learned late to love. And so, yeah, that was a new experience and a way of considering this as an art form and embracing it. Q: What about any other contemporary fi lm- makers that you followed? A: (Miloš) Forman with Cuckoo's Nest is one of my top five of all time, if not top three, and Coppola with The Godfather. But there's Apocalypse Now also. Q: It's amazing how a lot of these fi lms that you mentioned were made 30 to 40 years ago. And with all this advanced technology we have today, they don't seem dated. They still look magnifi cent. A: True, yeah. I saw recently again The God- father on TV, and I thought I was going to watch 30 minutes... Q: It's the usual thing; you tune in and you can't tune out. A: I watched the whole thing and I'm like "wow." I didn't remember it was that good. Q: I read that you're doing another gig for HBO based on the book Gorilla and the Bird: a Memoir of Madness and a Mother's Love by Zack McDermott. A: There is only the fi rst episode written. The other episodes are almost ready. If you haven't read the book, this is a good read. It is heartbreaking, and it's also beautiful, and it's going to become an important series that not only can entertain but the message is strong. Q: I can't help but focus on the "Mother's Love" part of this title. Motherhood seems to be so important in your work dating back at least to C.R.A.Z.Y., possibly before. Why is that? Did you have a particular relationship with your mother that resonates through your work? A: God, yeah. Wild is for her. Reese (With- erspoon) saw a rough cut of Dallas Buyers Club and she called me and said, ' Would you direct Wild?' I said, 'What's Wild?' [She said], "It's a memoir, it's not out yet, and it's written by Cheryl Strayed." And I just lost my mom when she sent me the book, so I couldn't read the fucking book because I was crying. It is a tribute to mothers, you know. The love of my life was my mother. I mean, come on, Cheryl ate her mother's ashes. I mean, I didn't do it, but I could have. So, yeah, she was an important force, and she's the reason why I'm doing this. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 "Every artist, consciously or unconsciously, at one point tell their own story. I've done it partly with C.R.A.Z.Y. But I guess I do it a little bit in every project."