"The time to make up your mind about people is never," says Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) in The Philadelphia Story (1940). In most contemporary films, however, the time to make up your mind is during the opening credits. Characters have become standards, symbols representing a social function or status (lawyer, policeman, student, executive, dad, computer geek, whatever). "No real people, just cops," as Mr. Pink would say (Reservoir Dogs). Actors are judged on their ability to assume the model & reinforce it.
Predictability (dramaturgy) has become the golden calf around which we dance. Having the characters' inner lives justify the plot is too complicated & the superficial movies are receiving all the praise.
For me, the heart of a film's appeal lies in the celebration of character — therefore actor. The essence of filmmaking is to provide favorable conditions for actors to find or create characters, favorable conditions to capture human movement. And, if you're very fortunate, recording a "happening".
As Hollywood players scramble to blow our minds (and blow up their budgets), let me remind them that cinema isn't just about thrills, spills and special effects — it's about telling a story and telling it well.
What happens to your story when you remove the music, fx & clever editing?
Are there any characters there to intrigue, inspire, interest, delight & cause us to reflect & question? No?
Can you make your mind up about a character in a split second? Yes?
There are no golden calves anymore. They've all been sold as Cash for Gold.
What's left is raw authenticity.
This is where art begins.
