Great Directors

Last Summer I was writing a script for a commission application that asked me to look at the work of Robert Altman.  In doing so, I watched 11 of his films.  I didn't get the commission and in retrospect, I don't know if I'm ready to write the play that I wanted to write for the commission.  Interestingly, enough a lot of that research and influence is coming into play in the new play I am writing.  So at some point I will look at Altman's films again.  I especially loved rediscovering The Company and discovering The Long Goodbye.  I have an oral history bio of Bob Altman that I've read three or four times.  Looking at the man's work has given me an appreciation of a certain type of uncompromising creative force.  He's a bit of a spiritual godfather in that way.

Another director I love (along with a lot of the world) is Woody Allen.  I'm exploring his work again, in a much more direct way, for a screenplay I'm currently writing.  Where I looked at certain stylistic choices, motifs and the way that Altman worked, with Woody I'm looking at the films themselves and taking elements from them.

It's also a way for me to look back at my childhood.  As a child, I was obsessed with Woody Allen.  I don't remember how old I was when I saw Annie Hall for the first time, but when I did, I was hooked.  Over the years I have watched:

Love and Death
Annie Hall
Manhattan
Stardust Memories
Broadway Danny Rose 
Hannah and Her Sisters
Radio Days
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Bullets Over Broadway
Mighty Aphrodite
Everyone Says I Love You
Deconstructing Harry
Celebrity
Small Time Crooks
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
Match Point
Midnight in Paris
Blue Jasmine

And there might even be a longer list of the films I haven't seen.  I was having a conversation with a friend last night who said that Woody Allen films were a portal into a world outside of Oklahoma into a New York he aspired to.  I have to say the same thing.  As a kid, I knew I'd live in New York at some point in my life.  I've known this since I was about 8.  And I ended up in New York for six years.  Something about New York seemed magical.  When I arrived, it felt like home like no other place I had ever been.  But growing up in Downey, I had the same experience my friend did.  I looked at his films as an escape from a world that seemed mundane and foreign.  It was also a world that didn't seem to want me.  I belonged somewhere else.  And Woody's films transported me to a place of intellectual discourse and romanticism.

Woody Allen has just been a fixture in my life.  I never knew a world without Woody.  And even though I don't consider myself a filmmaker, the films speak to my soul in a way no one else's films do.  Of course, Annie Hall is my favorite.  But I really loved Blue Jasmine.  And I adore Midnight in Paris, Everyone Says I Love You, Radio Days, Stardust Memories, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Broadway Danny Rose, and Love and Death.

For this project I'm working on, I'm just focusing on a certain period of work.  But it's great to see how the work influences each other.  It's nice to see how it has all kind of changed over time.

I love humor and I love depth.  For me, no one does feeling and comedy better than Woody Allen consistently.  It's all pretty magical.  So to be in that world for a bit of time is a blessed feeling.  I remember having that feeling when I spent a good chunk of the Summer watching Bob Altman's work.  This is kind of how my blog started.  I started talking about the films I was watching.  Bob Altman has an uncompromising vision and a wholly original take as an American filmmaker.  I love that he has this rebellious streak that continues throughout the work.  Some of the material is truly terrible or boring.  But most of it reaches towards something and a good amount of it transcends.  I'm happy to be revisiting the work over time.  I'm glad things are circled back around and now with this new play, I have an excuse again to watch more Altman films.

For now, I'll just have to get cozy with Woody.  And that's okay.

I am grateful for great American films.
I am grateful for true creativity.
I am grateful for my own curiosity.
I am grateful for the library for carrying a lot of these films.
I am grateful for the journey and exploration of some truly great art.
I am grateful for the continued inspiration that keeps coming.