inspired: kenneth lonergan interview

I recently caught an interview with playwright/director/writer/actor Kenneth Lonergan on NPR's program "Fresh Air." Interviewer Terry Gross discussed his film "Margaret," just released on DVD in two different versions: a theatrical release and an extended cut. At one point in the interview, Ms. Gross notes that the two DVD versions differ significantly from one another, not only in scene edits but also in music choices and placement. She inquires about the tedium of this process and the thousands of choices it must have required of him. Here is his reply to that question, along with one further interview question and reply:

KL: "It's very daunting. You can't really do it if you don't have an internal track you're following. And when you lose that track, my feeling - my definition of technique, whatever that means - is to use your conscious mind to slowly and stupidly find its way back to your unconscious mind, where all the really intelligent and interesting and meaningful thoughts and feelings come from. But you can't edit or write line by line. I was listening to a Beethoven symphony at the time I was editing and at one point I was very frustrated, and I was like, 'How does he decide every single note? There are so many notes in the symphony!' And then I thought, 'Well, you dummy, of course he doesn't decide every single note, he hears it in his head, and he writes it down.' And that's where you try to get..." 

TG: "OK, so if you feel that way, it must be very difficult when someone else intervenes or somebody else tries to logically tell you why you made the wrong decision, if you are working from your gut. But then you have to defend it rationally as opposed to intuitively. It can get difficult, right?"

KL: "Yes, and if you haven't found it yourself yet, and that happens, it sometimes can prevent you from finding it for months, whether it's a positive comment or a negative comment. If I'm in the middle of trying to decide whether to include a scene or not and someone tells me they love it, then next time I go back to it, instead of having a private relationship with it, I keep thinking, 'Oh my God, Josh said he loved that scene! It must be very good, I must keep it in.' And the scene maybe should be cut. And of course the opposite happens. It's even stronger if you put in a piece of music and you're not sure about it and someone walks in and says, 'Boy that music isn't doing any favors.' Suddenly that's what you hear in your head. I'm particularly - I don't like to use the word 'defensive,' because I don't think it's accurate or fair - but 'protective' of the material as best I can be, because you have enough of your own bad ideas to wade through without other people coming and joining in." 

I am fascinated by his thoughts on these aspects of the creative process, his belief in finding the most true answers within his own unconscious mind. I have been thinking about this idea a lot since I heard the interview, and I am inspired to continue to dig deeper within my own creative self to discover my answers, too. Do you believe, like he does, that the most true answers are located within, and that this internal process needs protecting?

 

I am definitely curious to see "Margaret," as well as his previous film "You Can Count On Me," after hearing this interview! Have any of you seen it? You can hear the entire interview here.