Dustin HOFFMAN: “Cinema is an insidious form of art for us”

Star guest of the 56th BFI London Film Festival Dustin Hoffman came in an unusual role of a director. His directoral debut Quartet tells the beautiful and touching story of how four opera singers, former celebrities live in a shelter for artists and want to organize an unprecedented concert – they want to sing, as in their young years, the quartet from one of Giuseppe Verdi’s operas.

Hoffman got the inspiration for making the movie from watching a documentary about a real shelter for opera singers. In fact, he began his conversations with the press by mentioning this fact.

The documentary, Tosca’s Kiss, which was one of the inspirations?

“It’s a wonderful documentary, it’s called Tosca’s Kiss. And Mr. Harwood told me about it when I asked him about the genesis. It was made in 1984 and Verdi – rich and successful toward the end of his life – decided to build a mansion for himself in Milan, where he lived. And he stipulated that when he died that opera singers and musicians – because he knew so many who were no more playing in La Scala or anywhere – could live there. You can find it. It’s called Tosca’s Kiss… and is about these retired opera singers and musicians at the Verdi house, which still exists in Milan.”

“I told them to see it and they all ignored it.” (chuckling)

“I ask you why you tried to put on a green T-shirt.”

Because it’s bright and I wanted to draw your attention.

“The same thing about me. In fact, I decided a long time ago, but sometimes it takes you 40 years to get around to doing something. And that’s the truthful answer.”

“Well, this is the first time I directed, and I don’t know if I’ll feel this again, because we all felt it on this movie, crew and cast. You never know when you’re making a movie, no one would say in the middle of Casablanca: this is going to be classic. Lead actors had turned it down, I think they ended up with B-listed actors. You know, you’re always in the tunnel and you can’t see the end of it, but there is one thing in this movie that I don’t think we expected, and I think it was when we decided that the entire cast would be real retired opera singers, real retired musicians, and these people that phone had not rung for them for 20, 30, 40 years, even though they can deliver, but for some strange reason the culture does not call them because of their elderly age. These people in their 70s, and 80s, and 90s came with such verve every day and we’d still be shooting that in 10-12-hour days and that in itself made an extraordinarily special occasion for all of us, it was not a job for the crew after a few days. It took up another tone.”

You had a quote of Billy Wilder on the script which was a kind of an inspirational quote.

“When you’re doing something, you’re trying to pick your audience at the same time, which places yourself into the audience. If someone told me that this is a movie about retired opera singers, on video or DVD, you’re not rushing off to see it. And I knew that we had an obligation to keep energy in it, to try to keep the audience interested. In fact I asked some of the actors to take a look at His Girl Friday, Horward Hawk’s film with Rosalind Russel and Gary Grant, because they talk over each other, there’s great energy. We have to have energy here. This is not about smelling urine. That’s another kind of movie. I have Volker Schloendorff’s interview with Billy Wilder, who agreed to this conversation because Volker spoke German at times. And at one point he says: ‘If you’re going to try to tell the truth to the audience, you’d better be funny, or they’ll kill you.’ And I haven’t forgotten that.”

“No. I finished a film called Last Chance Harvy a few years ago and I became friends with John De Borman. After the film we talked about shots during the film. He said, you should direct. I said: ‘Find something to direct and I will get on the plane.’ And the next day he calls me and says Finola Dwyer, who was the producer of the film Education, sent me a script. They had a director, director fell out. And they asked me to read it and I read it. I jumped in. Sometimes it’s a coincidence, you know, that turns out that way.”

Was there any rehearsal time? Did you have a chance to actually come bond on this movie before you started shooting?

“Let me say right at the beginning that I came in on this movie after Tom Courtenay talked to Ron Harwood about making a movie. And Tom and Albert Finney have been friends since the beginning of their career, they became stars at one and the same time. Albert – with Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, and Tom – The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. They had this 40-odd-year friendship with each other and with Mr. Harwood. So, when I came on in, Albert, Tom, and Maggie were in the cast, then Albert wasn’t up for it, he had to withdraw. So, it turned out the only stars ones I cast were Billy Connolly and Pauline. I was in Los Angeles working and allowed two places on the telephone. I met Maggie once. We talked on the phone, introduced ourselves to each other, and I said to her: ‘Do you have any ideas about…’ Because the first thing you should do as a director – and directors in practice don’t do it – you learn lessons. Why don’t you ask good actors who they think is right for the part? They know better than anybody. And without missing a bit, Maggie said Pauline Collins. I didn’t know Pauline. I haven’t seen Shirley Valentine. I really want to see it. But then I saw the thing that she did with Woody Allen in the film You will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, she was wonderful, you must see her performance. When we talked on the phone I said: you know, the dialogue seemed improvised, she said it was. I’ve improvised every word of it. I said: ‘With Woody Allen?’ She said, ‘Yes. He said, say whatever you want.’ So, that’s how I came into and was locked out, as they say in America.”

“You know, 45 odd years of doing it, so we all of us pile up the things we like about directors and the things we don’t like about directors. And sometimes it’s very similar. I think one thing you have to be aware of if you’re an actor is if you come onto set and you see the director standing there mouthing all the words while the scene is going on – that’s usually a very bad sign! Because it means the director has already shot the scene in his head. He knows exactly the rhythm and the nuances delivered in the line and you’re not gonna dissuade him. Usually those people don’t really even like actors and they can’t wait until they get in the cutting room. And it kind of breaks down into categories: directors like to be surprised and some of them abhor being surprised. And that we learn as actors very early on. As far as directing, we all direct when we’re acting in movies – every single one of us.

“That’s all we do, and you know why? You have to protect yourself. Anyone with a brain who does movies year after year learns they have to protect themselves, because it’s a bastard art form for us, we’re not allowed in the cutting room. That’s extraordinary. So, when a director’s asking for certain nuances, certain colors, and we feel that aphony, but we do it because the director asks for it, that’s the one they pick in the cutting room. And I contend when you see a movie with a bad acting, don’t blame the actor. Blame the guys in the cutting room, because they liked that take.”