Gutbrain Records

Sunday, 12 March 2005

I'm reading this interesting book, Heaven & Hell to Play With: The Filming of The Night of the Hunter, by Preston Neal Jones. It's basically an oral history, derived from interviews and archival research. In the beginning of the book, Paul Gregory, the film's producer, relates how he's had trouble with Method actors, always wanting to know their "motivation". He asserts that the drama of the moment is sufficient motivation. I think this is often true, but it doesn't devalue Method acting. Different techniques are required for different concepts, different effects.

Reading this reminded me of a few instances of the effectiveness of the simple and direct approach, the "drama of the moment". First I thought of the steel guitarist Don Helms, whose completely satisfying playing on Hank Williams's recordings was directed by, I think, Fred Rose. (I can't find my copy of Colin Escott's Hank Williams biography, so this is from memory.) The instruction was, when Hank sings high, you play low. When Hank sings low, you play high. I don't think anybody could improve on Helms's contribution to this classic music.

I then thought of the great Jacques Tourneur, director of, among other things, Out of the Past, the ne plus ultra of film noir. (I love italics, okay?) He took time out from plotting the lighting and camera angles to counsel Jane Greer on her character's motivation. "First half, good girl," he told her. "Second half, bad."

My third recollection was of a story an NYU drama student told me when I was an NYU film student. It was about Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier filming Marathon Man. The story had Hoffman running around the block to increase his heartbeat and get agitated so he could really project how freaked out he is by Olivier in the scene they were about to film. Olivier asked him what he was up to, and Hoffman explained his activities and told him about the Method. Perhaps genuinely confused but more likely just hoping to damage Hoffman's self-esteem, Olivier reportedly asked, "Can't you just act?"

Now playing as I write this: God is Greatest, a new CD by Mr. Dorgon, and one of his best, available on Tzadik. Check it out!