JEAN MICHEL FRODON speaks to Woody Allen=20 about his new film Mighty Aphrodite
When you begin a new script, do you know in=20 advance how the narrative is going to work=20 out?
“Yes, always. If you just have a good idea=20 but don’t develop it, you end up with a 20- page script, and you’re forced to spin it=20 out artificially. Writing is more fun than=20 prowling round the room asking yourself:=20 “What story am I telling? Where is it all=20 going to lead?” But it’s something you have=20 to do. I need to know where I’m going more=20 than how I’m going to get there.”
Are you aware of the broader themes you=20 deal with in your films, irrespective of=20 the story line?
“No. I discover them when the shooting=20 stage is over. Only then do I realise that=20 this or that underlying idea has taken=20 shape, and that I need to go on working on=20 it during the rest of production.
The basic idea in Mighty Aphrodite is that=20 anyone who adopts a child is bound one day=20 to wonder who its real parents are. On the=20 whole, people don’t really want to know,=20 but it’s something they think about.
I thought it would be funny to show someone=20 getting obsessed with the problem and=20 becoming more and more appalled by what he=20 discovered. The story was getting to look=20 like a Greek tragedy, hence the idea of=20 using a chorus to turn it into a more=20 universal statement about feelings which=20 haven’t changed since Euripides’s time. “
At one point in the film, directing is=20 compared to an awkward attempt at divine=20 intervention.
“Lenny, the character I play, interferes=20 with the life of Linda, the real mother of=20 the child. He behaves a bit like a film=20 director, changing the way she dresses and=20 talks and arranges her apartment, thinking=20 up a partner for her and trying to=20 manipulate her life.
It’s actually debatable whether he’s doing=20 her a favour or not. She’s a prostitute,=20 but isn’t unhappy about it. She earns good=20 money and spends her time dreaming of=20 becoming an actress. Lenny forces her to=20 assume the conformist persona of a middle- class woman. I think he’s right to do so,=20 because in my view it must be horrible to=20 be a prostitute. But I quite accept that=20 someone might come and say to me: who are=20 you to decide on the life she should lead?”
You interfere with her life doubly, as a=20 character and as a director. The first time=20 it’s a failure, the second a success.
“The second time it’s Fate that interferes,=20 a deus ex machina, in other words God.”
… who is none other than yourself,=20 scriptwriter and director of the film.=20
“Quite right. I was the person who decided=20 it was going to be that way when I wrote=20 the script. But I’m incapable of having a=20 similar influence on my own life – as=20 everyone knows.”
Mighty Aphrodite is more of a “pure”=20 comedy than your preceding films.
“I’m delighted when people laugh. I try to=20 make them laugh, but also to go further=20 than that, to make them think. Every time a=20 new movie of mine comes out, American=20 critics say I should stick to being funny=20 and not try to be thought-provoking. But=20 when I made Manhattan Murder Mystery, the=20 American papers said: it’s not enough to be=20 funny. That really amused me.”
You turn out films in very quick=20 succession. Is there link between them?
“Not as far as I’m aware. It’s a question=20 of chance. The choice of a subject may be=20 guided by budget considerations. I=20 sometimes get ideas that would cost $30- million to make (an average Hollywood=20 budget, but much more than Allen’s films=20 cost), but I don’t waste time turning them=20 into scripts. I wouldn’t be able to come up=20 with that kind of money, and anyway I=20 wouldn’t want to. Budgets that size mean=20 there’s far too much financial pressure.”
How did you choose the actors for Mighty=20 Aphrodite?
“I’d seen Helena Bonham Carter in A Room=20 with a View and Howard’s End. I thought her=20 elegance would contrast well with the=20 character I play and with the real mother=20 of the child. The part had been written for=20 an American, but it’s better to have a good=20 English actress than the wrong person.
When it came to choosing the actress to=20 play the part of Linda the prostitute, I=20 relied on experience. Both Broadway Danny=20 Rose and Bullets over Broadway featured a=20 similar kind of dumb blonde.=20
In each case the actress I chose – Mia=20 Farrow and Jennifer Tilly – was a very=20 bright woman. Mira Sorvino, too, is very=20 clever and educated, and I knew she would=20 illuminate the character from within. She=20 invented a voice for Linda, which I=20 discovered on the first day of shooting,=20 just as I discovered Helena Bonham Carter’s=20 American accent.”
Do you also direct actors’ voices?
“No. Generally speaking I don’t direct, I=20 correct. But, as it turned out, there was=20 nothing to correct. Once I’ve chosen good=20 actors who are right for their parts, I’ve=20 done most of the work.=20
They know what they’re supposed to do. On=20 set, they never ask me what I want. They=20 understand and they act.”
Does each film require a specific shooting=20 technique?
“In my case yes. Some film-makers are great=20 stylists, people like Leni Riefenstahl or=20 Martin Scorsese. Whatever the story, they=20 leave their stamp on the images. Other=20 directors, including myself (perhaps=20 because I was originally a writer), just=20 bring the script to life on the screen.=20 Husband and Wives was shot in a completely=20 different way from Bullets over Broadway.=20
The only thing that doesn’t change from=20 movie to movie is the use of long takes.
I’m more at ease when I can shoot a whole=20 scene in one take. And so are the actors.”