The Envelope In Print: The Writer / Director / Cinematographer Issue (December 10, 2008)
December 10, 2008
THE COVER STORY
Ron Howard on 'Frost/Nixon'
It feels as much like a celebration as a wake: There's a scene toward the end of "Frost/Nixon," as Richard Nixon's landmark interviews with talk show host David Frost draw to a close, when the disgraced president sits down at the piano. ¶¶ As performed by Frank Langella and directed by Ron Howard, Nixon is both hopeful and doomed -- he knows his televised clash with Frost isn't yet over, that "victory isn't necessarily at hand," as Howard puts it. It's a dramatic encapsulation of everything that unfolds in Peter Morgan's hit stage play, from which the movie is adapted. ¶ But the scene never happens in the play. ¶ Howard invented it for his film, even getting permission from the Nixon estate so that Langella could play a song the 37th president wrote himself.
December 10, 2008
OSCARS
A female cinematographer may vie for Oscar
Oscar quiz: Who was the first woman to win an Academy Award for cinematography?
December 10, 2008
Screenwriter David Hare on 'The Reader'
Way back in the 1950s, when the world knew of the concentration camps mainly from documentaries, film director Jean-Luc Godard made a famously provocative remark: "If ever a film is to be made about Auschwitz, it will have to be from the point of view of the guards." Clearly, what Godard meant by this was that it would be impossible, on film, to do justice to the suffering of those who died in the camps. No drama, however well intentioned, could possibly be adequate to the events themselves. Spreading the usual hokey conventions of melodrama over this particular subject would be both gratuitous and offensive. So the only way of paying proper respect to the victims would be by trying to explain something of the motives of their tormentors.
December 10, 2008
Stressing the pressures of Oscar season
When asked his thoughts on Hollywood's award season, publicist Stan Rosenfield does not hesitate.
December 10, 2008
RED CARPET REWIND
The angle on Amy Adams
Amy Adams has never had an OMG fashion moment.
December 10, 2008
CONTENDER Q & A
Viola Davis, 'Doubt'
Viola Davis has played roles without names for years. She was Mother in Hospital in "World Trade Center." Policewoman in "Kate and Leopold." Social Worker in "Traffic." She at least got a first name, Eva May, in "Antwone Fisher," but that was all.
December 10, 2008
CONTENDER Q & A
Anthony Dod Mantle, cinematographer, 'Slumdog Millionaire'
"How long have you got, and how can I best guide you in?" So begins a phone call with Anthony Dod Mantle, the British-born cinematographer of "Slumdog Millionaire" on the line from his longtime home in Copenhagen. This blend of adventuresome attitude with a diligent attentiveness may explain why he has forged an ongoing creative relationship with "Slumdog" director Danny Boyle, with whom he has also worked on "Millions" and "28 Days Later," as well as with such demanding directors as Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.
December 10, 2008
CONTENDER Q & A
Eddie Marsan on 'Happy-Go-Lucky's' Scott character
In "Happy-Go-Lucky," Poppy Cross (Sally Hawkins) is relentlessly optimistic in the face of adversity. She quickly finds that opposition in Scott, her driving instructor, played by British actor Eddie Marsan. Scott is a wildly damaged man, living off the fumes of his own bitterness. Obsessed with conspiracy theories, he creates a driving method called En-Ra-Ha, derived from the dollar bill, which he believes proves Masonic control of the United States. It's much funnier than it sounds -- and than his character intends.
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