Читать книгу The Making of a Motion Picture Editor - Thomas A. Ohanian - Страница 10

Partial Credits: The Tempest, Across the Universe, Frida, Titus, Place Vendôme, Mad City, The Apartment, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Fat Man and Little Boy, The Sicilian, Year of the Dragon, Hanna K., Missing, The Cassandra Crossing, The Tenant, Massacre in Rome, State of Siege, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, The Confession, The Army of Shadows, Z, Guns for San Sebastian, The 25th Hour, A Monkey in Winter, Two Men in Manhattan (assistant editor).

I had loved Z but after I saw Missing, I became a real fan. And there I was, on quite a cold night in Paris where Françoise was just delightful in answering my questions. Her mother was a film editor, but Françoise didn’t want to follow in her footsteps—the craft was too time consuming. But she did follow and has such a remarkable career.

TO: Francoise, you are an Academy Award recipient for best film editing for the motion picture, Z. Over a period of three decades you edited eight films for the renowned film director, Costa-Gavras and it is my great pleasure to speak with you, in person, in Paris. Your mother was a very accomplished film editor.

FB: She was an editor and a widow—my father died when I was seven. And she was working, sometime late hours, sometimes during the weekend. And I used to go to the cutting room and I would play with the (film) cores and make splices. And you know at that time you had to scratch the film…

TO: You had to scratch the film so that the glue would adhere to it…

FB: Yes, and so I was going there just to play. When I was a little bit older, I would say to her, ‘If I come, can I do something to help you so you wouldn’t have to stay so late?’ And that was the beginning of mag (magnetic) sound and syncing on mag.

TO: Right. So, you’d come in and sync dailies for her?

FB: My mother would say, ‘Do you want to try cutting?’ So, I learned editing as you learn how to write and read. When I was 18 years old, I said that the one thing that I did not want to do was to have my mother’s job! (Both Laugh)

TO: How funny…

FB: Because I thought you can’t have a private life and I still think that’s true. I wanted to be an architect. In fact, I think that editing is not so far from architecture. My mother was in Italy, editing Barrage contre le Pacifique (This Angry Age) for Rene Clement. There was a person who was doing a documentary who called and I said, ‘Well, maybe I can do what you want.’ And that’s how it started.

TO: But in a very short time, you moved on to your first full picture editing credit.

FB: Yes and I had married the director, Henry Verneuil.

TO: He was an amazing film director and won the National Cinema of France Academy Award and he won a César Award for Lifetime Achievement.

FB: Yes.

TO: I want to show you something. When I got on the plane from the States to come here, my father gave me some newspapers to read. I brought it with me so I want to show it to you. It’s The Armenian Reporter and it had an article about Henry Verneuil…

FB: He was Armenian—his name was Ashot Malakian.

TO: In 1962, you were editing Any Number Can Win.

FB: Yes, in French it was Mélodie en sous-sol.

TO: And then you followed very quickly with Guns for San Sebastian and The 25th Hour. Were you intimidated at all?

FB: When I start a film, even today, I still ask myself, ‘Will I be able to edit this film properly?’

TO: You still have butterflies?

FB: Yes. (Both Laugh) Each film is different and then once you start, it’s easier.

TO: But we’re only talking about seven years and then you start working on Z. And how did Costa-Gavras come into your life? You did eight films with him.

FB: The editor who Costa had been using was not available. And by then I had gotten separated, so I called Costa and said, ‘Well, if you want me, I can edit your film!’ (Both Laugh) And that’s how I did Z.

TO: Amazing. And that you then went on to win an Academy Award for it. The film is as timely and relevant to what is happening in the world today.

FB: Yes.

TO: And it is timeless. Slow motion, flashbacks, flash forwards, the retelling of things from different perspectives a la Rashomon. It’s a narrative feature film, which looks every bit like a documentary.

FB: For each film, I have a different style. To me, it’s the material that you have that provokes or creates the style. The editor doesn’t create the style. It depends on the story you are telling. If it needs to be fast, if it needs to be slower, you stay with a shot longer.

TO: The point of view shots are incredible in Z. For example, when the senator is in the back of the truck and you see his point of view of the gang coming forward. You don’t see a lot of those shots these days. It’s a visceral thing where they’re coming right at you.

FB: Yes, yes. I can tell you that the thing about having the slow motion, fast, not fast—I had a lot of fun, but at that time, there was no machine that could do this. So, I had to decide which frame I would have to ask the lab to print for three feet. And then I was trying to put this frame in for three frames in still and then the next one in motion for this amount of frames and so on.

TO: Sure. You were sometimes step printing but really, you’re describing speed ramping up and down.

FB: Yes. So I wound up with splices on every frame. (Both Laugh) And in the screening room, it was almost impossible to see it because there were too many splices.

TO: Were you editing while he was shooting?

FB: No. He had already shot everything when I started. He had shot in Algeria and they used the lab in Algeria and brought back everything to Paris. And then I started.

TO: Were you working with him at the start or did you work alone?

FB: With his previous editor, he was used to being there and trying things with his editor. And after the first day of working like that with him, I said, ‘Costa, I can’t work like that. I would like to look at the dailies several times with you and you can tell me what you like and don’t like for shots and actors and reactions and then go away.’ But he loves being in the cutting room.

TO: Were you prepared for the reception the film would get or of your possibility of winning?

FB: I was sure I wouldn’t get it.

TO: Really?

FB: I didn’t even hear my name.

TO: Well, here are the films that were nominated that year for Best Editing. Hello Dolly!, Midnight Cowboy, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, and of course, Z.

TO: Did you think you had a chance?

FB: No. Well, Claudia Cardinale and James Earl Jones were the presenters. And she said the names of the nominees and it was in alphabetical order by the film name. And she said, ‘And for Z, Françoise Bonnot’. And then she opened the envelope and said, ‘The winner is Françoise Bonnot’. But it was so close to what she had just said that I didn’t hear it. (Laughs) So, I’m there and the American distributor who was next to me says, ‘Françoise! You’ve got it! You’ve got it!’ (Both Laugh)

TO: That’s great.

FB: So, the editing was the first award for Z and I got up and I didn’t even think to thank my mother who was an editor. I didn’t think to thank my kids…

TO: The blur set in! (Both Laugh)

FB: Yes. I was looking for Costa and I said ‘I want to thank Costa who gave me the opportunity to do that film and to have a great time doing it.’ And that’s it. And then after they take you for pictures. And the next thing—that’s absolutely incredible—is that finally Z gets best foreign film.

TO: I want to talk about The Tenant. It has become a cult film now. It’s an unusual film and of course you edited for Roman Polanski.

FB: It was difficult because I started at the same time that he started shooting. The film had to go to Cannes so it meant having it in English and also in French. So from the start, production said we had to work six days a week. Roman was working five days a week. Roman was the actor and director and every night we would go and see the dailies. And from the four or five takes, he’d say which he preferred. So we would actually go, between his shooting, into the screening room and look at them.

TO: Between his setups?

FB: Yes. And the first assistant would arrive and tell Roman that they were ready. So, after a while, I decided that I was going to choose myself and if he wanted a different take, I would change it. I couldn’t wait. The first time I showed him some cut scenes, he wasn’t happy. And you know, I don’t know how to do, in French we call it a ‘Bout a bout’ (literally translated ‘end to end’ or perhaps as ‘head to tail’).

TO: Rough cut.

FB: Yes, a rough cut.

TO: You want to edit fine…

FB: I want to edit, the first time, as close as I think it should be at the end. Because I think if you don’t, how can you decide, see, and feel if it’s the right rhythm? How do you know if it works or is too slow or too long? And that’s what I did with Roman. And he said, ‘No Françoise, I don’t want you to make so many cuts. Do it with as few cuts as possible and then you can decide if you want to have a close-up.’ And I really didn’t know how to do that. And I thought, ‘I have to be happy with what I’m doing.’ So I worked all-night and then early Saturday morning my assistants and I came in. I had the whole film cut. That afternoon, around 1:30, Roman came in and we went into the screening room. I think we had about an hour and fifteen minutes total by then. And we watched everything, and he didn’t say anything. And, at the end, he stood up and said, ‘Françoise, even my English editor wouldn’t have done that!’ And then he kissed me.

TO: That’s great.

FB: And from that time on, it was great. And you know, it was the same with Cimino. I didn’t know him.

TO: Okay. You first worked with him on The Year of the Dragon and then The Sicilian.

FB: Yes. And I wanted to see at least one set of dailies with him.

TO: And another thing that I wanted to bring up is that these films were after Heaven’s Gate and there was a lot riding on these films for him and there must have been some pressure.

FB: When I arrived in New York, he had shot Year of the Dragon in Vancouver. So there were already 70 reels of dailies.

TO: Okay, so I always try to figure a minimum of nine minutes out of a ten-minute roll. So that’s at least 630 minutes.

FB: Yes, but that was just for two weeks! (Both Laugh)

TO: God bless you!

FB: Yes. (Both Laugh) So I asked Michael if we could look at one scene together. And the next day he said he didn’t have any time and that I should move out to Wilmington to start working.

TO: Okay, this was Wilmington, North Carolina. He was shooting in Vancouver but they were going to use the soundstages in North Carolina.

FB: Yes. And that was the first film where I was just in the States by myself. And then I started hearing all these stories about the editors on Heaven’s Gate.

TO: And you thought, ‘What have I gotten into?’

FB: What have I gotten into? Yes! (Both Laugh) And then Michael says, ‘You go and start editing.’ So, I started and the continuity girl was fabulous. And for every shot, I would have one page and she had written, ‘Michael likes the reading of that sentence, he likes that, he doesn’t like that.’ So I thought, ‘Well, I may as well edit the way I like it, and then we’ll see.’ So, he arrived in Wilmington and I wanted to show him some cut scenes. And he said, ‘Oh, there’s no hurry.’ I thought, ‘He’s postponing! Maybe he’s going to send me back home!’ (Both Laugh)

TO: He probably just wanted to postpone!

FB: Yes. And almost every night I was having dinner with Michael and I asked him when he was going to come and see. And this time I told him that he had to come. So he said, ‘Fine, I’ll come tonight.’ He arrived with ten people around him, sits at the KEM and I showed him a ten-minute reel. He looked at it and didn’t say anything. And then he went back, full speed, and looked at it again. And then he said, ‘How long did it take you to cut that scene?’ I said, ‘This one, three or four days.’ And he turned to all the other people and said, ‘It’s great. It’s great.’

TO: What films did you work on that you thought should have done better?

FB: I mean, the one, to me, is Across the Universe. Because everyone who has seen it calls me. Because I was sure it would have been universal. The Beatles. I just don’t understand why Sony just didn’t do anything to market it.

TO: What have you learned during your editing career that wasn’t so apparent when you started?

FB: The amount of hours. Very often, the non-recognition of what you bring to a film.

TO: Okay, Missing. Critically acclaimed when it came out. Hey, look at this: it opened tomorrow, a day after we’re talking now.

FB: Missing, to me—I mean the performance of Jack Lemmon was so great…

TO: They’re in the stadium, he has a pipe and his voice hitches, it breaks, it cracks. It’s remarkable.

FB: He’s absolutely, really, extraordinary.

TO: I learned that the film was smuggled into Chile so that people could see it. Which is amazing.

FB: It remains a remarkable film. And I think it also helped Americans because it told the story through the eyes of just an ordinary, American middle-class family. And I thought it was such an intelligent way of telling the story.

TO: And this was 16 years before the truth finally was revealed to the world about these thousands and thousands of people who had gone missing.

FB: Yes.

TO: The gunshots that you hear in the distance on Missing are almost a character in the film. They’re ominous.

FB: Yes.

TO: And you don’t have to hear a lot of them.

FB: No.

TO: Sometimes they sound far away. Sometimes they’re a little closer. And as a viewer, you dread hearing those as do the people on the screen.

FB: The woman (Michèle Boëhm) who was doing the effects for Costa was a great sound editor. She worked on many of his films, going back to Z.

TO: We haven’t talked about Frida.

FB: Yes, I loved it. When I was in Mexico with Costa for Missing, I had seen paintings from Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, so I knew about her. So when Julie said she was going to do the film, I was thrilled. She shot in Mexico and even in the (Frida Kahlo) museum. You know, with Julie I did two films about Shakespeare—Titus and The Tempest.

TO: You’ve worked with her four times.

FB: I think she’s a remarkable person and she is so creative. Titus was her first film and it’s just amazing the imagination she has. The visual style is amazing.

TO: Why do you keep editing?

FB: Because I still love doing it. Because I’m probably good at it—yes, I think I’m good at it! (Both Laugh) I still do it will passion. If I didn’t, I would stop.