Huffington Post talked to director Bill Guttentag, who has two films showing at Tribeca: Live!, a dark satire he wrote and directed about reality television, which stars Eva Mendes and will world premiere at Tribeca, and Nanking, a documentary Guttentag directed about the Japanese occupation of Nanking.
What's it like to premiere your films at the Tribeca Film Festival?
I always felt New York would be the perfect place to premiere Live!. The city is home to an enormous amount of media power and influence - which is a theme of this movie. And beyond that, the New York crowd is incredibly sophisticated and sharp - and I'm hopeful that they will respond to our film.
Do you watch reality TV? What do you think of the genre?
I watch some, and I was the showrunner on the series Law & Order: Crime and Punishment which ran for 3 seasons on NBC. We were dubbed the "Real-Life Law & Order", and our series followed district attorneys in and out of the courtroom as they tried cases in San Diego. Around our offices we would say we were the only "real-reality" show on network television. There are a number of good and fun reality shows out there - but to me, they don't feel particularly real.
How did you come to direct two seemingly different films, a scripted mockumentary on reality TV and a documentary on the horrors of Nanking?
I feel fortunate to have directed both of these films. Making films is, of course, an intersection of art and commerce. The timing of when you make a film is determined by both creative and economic factors, and these all lined up in a short time frame for two films. There are many in the industry who work on multiple projects, and I guess, I am part of this as well. Besides, my father always told me - "If you want something done, give it to a busy person."
How did they differ to make?
With Nanking, I was dealing with true events of almost unimaginable scope and tragedy - as well as extraordinary heroism. It is also an important historical event, and because of this I felt a great responsibility to keep the film extremely accurate and honest to the events. But I also wanted to tell the film in an innovative way - part of the conceit of the film is it includes a stage play that features actors (including Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway and Jürgen Prochnow) speaking words taken from letters, journals and other primary sources. These readings are woven into the film along with interviews with Chinese victims, Japanese soldiers, and historical footage. Whether this weave works is something for the audience to determine - but it felt to me a fresh and dynamic way of telling the story. I also aspired to be innovative in Live!. It's shot entirely in a documentary style - never breaking the form. I used a documentary crew and we strove to keep it very real. Lots of films (including many that I admire) don't feel very real to me - the hair and makeup are too perfect, the dialog unnatural, etc. Here, every day on the set, in every scene, the actors, the cameraman, and all of my collaborators on this film, kept asking ourselves does this feel true to life? - and if not, we went back and did additional takes until it seemed like the real thing.
Do you have a preference between scripted and documentary films?
I love working in both. Documentaries have enormous power. If someone asked me to do fictional telling of the Rape of Nanking - I'm not sure I could ever achieve the power, drama and heartbreak of the interviews with Chinese survivors that we did. And in my series Crime and Punishment, when the jury came back with their verdict, and prepared to read it to the court, there was incredible dramatic tension - a rape or murder defendant would either be sent to jail for decades, or walk out of the courtroom a free person. That's drama. Further, making documentaries over the years, has given me the opportunity to meet truly extraordinary people all over the world - and many times you just shake your head and think - I'm getting paid to do this with my friends? In fiction, I love the chance to create the scene, create the story arc - and to work with great actors. I wrote the script for Live! and one of the most pleasurable things that can happen to you as a writer/director is to film the scene and see the words you wrote interpreted by the actors in such a way that they play far better, and have greater impact and meaning than the way you wrote them.
Who or what do you look to for inspiration?
As corny as it sounds, I look to reality as inspiration. No stories are as powerful, emotional and meaningful as the real. As Mark Twain said - "When in doubt, tell the truth." For Live! the film that I looked to most for inspiration was Francois Truffaut's Day for Night. It comments brilliantly on movies - their power, secrets, and magic - while also speaking to much larger things. To me, it's one of the most amazing films ever made.
Other than your films, what are your plans for Tribeca?
I lived in New York for years (now I live in the San Francisco Bay Area) and it's fantastic to come back to New York with these films . The panels look great, including one which features the star of our movie - Eva Mendes. As for the parties, almost everyone you interview will be more glam than me. After all, I frequently do what could be the least glam commute in Hollywood - San Jose to Burbank airports.
What are your favorite parts of New York?
Seeing friends, the food, and life on the streets. I used to have an office at 42nd and 6th and would sometimes take the long walk home to the Upper West Side, going through midtown, the park, multiple neighborhoods, and as I did, I would often think just how lucky I was to live in a city as great as New York.
Photo from www.tribecafilmfestival.org
