Note: To avoid repetition, my interviews with the directors with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are designated as HFPA.
INTRODUCTION
3. For a discussion of the new approaches, specifically gay and queer studies, see Corber and Valocchi (2003) and Hanson (1999).
5. See Doty (1998) for the importance of different interpretations.
1. PEDRO ALMODÓVAR
2. Quoted in Besas (1985:216).
4. Quoted in Kinder (1987:35).
5. Author interview with Almodóvar, Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), Los Angeles, October 19, 2004.
7. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 17, 2002.
11. Almodóvar, production notes for Volver.
12. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 19, 2004.
15. Mackenzie (2002): 155.
16. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, September 19, 2006.
17. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, September 29, 1999.
19. Rouyer and Vie (1988:72).
24. Pasolini was assassinated in 1975; Truffaut died in 1984, Tarkovsky in 1986, and Kieslowski in 1995.
26. “Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!” 1991. New York Post, December 17.
28. Agustín, Almodóvar’s younger brother, has been the executive producer of his films ever since 1988 and is the only person to appear as an actor in small parts in all of his movies.
29. Alberich and Aller (1984).
31. The division of Almodóvar’s career into phases is based on my criteria and doesn’t follow other classifications, such as those of Allenson (2001) or Smith (1994).
34. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 17, 2002.
36. Francia and Perucha (1981).
38. Most of Almodóvar’s characters have already met randomly or by coincidence, sometimes as children and sometimes as adults, in private or public spaces.
39. See, for example, Gary Giddins’s review in the Village Voice, January 23, 1990. As noted, Almodóvar’s films were not released in the United States in the chronological order in which they were made.
40. La Religieuse has been adapted several times for the big screen—most notably, in 1966 as The Nun, directed by French New Wave leader Jacques Rivette and starring Anna Karina and Liselotte Pulver, and in 2013 as The Nun, starring Isabelle Huppert.
42. Francia and Perucha (1981).
43. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, December 14, 1991.
45. “All About My Mother.” 1999. New York Post, December 17.
46. Almodóvar, in production notes for Matador.
49. Paul Berenson. 1993. “Gender Bender.” Time Out.
51. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 16, 1995.
56. Almodóvar’s commentary for the DVD editions of Matador and Law of Desire.
57. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, November 15, 1988.
59. Almodóvar, in production notes for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
60. Pauline Kael. 1988. “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.” New Yorker, November 18.
61. Almodóvar, in production notes for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
62. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 19, 2004.
64. Tie Me Up! generated a lot of stir due to the controversy that arose when it was slapped with the rating of NC-17, the kiss of death at the box office.
65. Rouyer and Vie (1988).
66. “Tie Me Up.” 1990. New York Times Magazine.
67. Author interview with Almodóvar, Berlin Film Festival, February 10, 1990.
68. Mildred Pierce is one of Almodóvar’s most favorite Hollywood films and inspired several of his own films. He said that High Heels is a melodrama with a parallel film noir story, like Mildred Pierce. Haynes remade the 1945 film into a TV mini-series (see chapter 3).
70. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, September 29, 1999.
71. Rape is a theme that appears in more than half of Almodóvar’s movies.
72. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 19, 2004.
73. Paul Smith. 1996. “High Heels.” Sight and Sound X (February).
74. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 17, 2002.
75. For comparisons of Live Flesh and the source material on which it is based, see Smith (1994).
76. Author interview with Almodóvar, Cannes Film Festival, May 17, 1999.
77. Gender role-play is theoretically developed by Judith Butler in her poignant 1990 book Gender Trouble, though I doubt that Almodóvar has read it.
78. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, September 29, 1999.
81. Almodóvar, quoted in Smith (1994:176).
82. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 17, 2002.
85. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, September 19, 2006.
86. Author interview with Almodóvar, Cannes Film Festival, May 12, 2004.
88. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 19, 2004.
89. The box-office gross of Bad Education in 2004 was less than half that of All About My Mother or Talk to Her.
90. Almodóvar, production notes for Volver.
92. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 19, 2006.
93. Almodóvar, in production notes for Volver.
94. Author interview with Almodóvar, Cannes Film Festival, May 18, 2006.
95. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, September 19, 2006.
96. Almodóvar, in production notes for Volver.
98. Almodóvar, in production notes for Volver.
99. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, September 19, 2006.
101. Author interview with Almodóvar, Cannes Film Festival, May 18, 2006.
102. Almodóvar, in production notes for Volver.
103. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, September 29, 1999.
104. Wesley Morris. 2013. “I’m So Excited Review.” Grantland, June 28.
2. TERENCE DAVIES
1. Davies, in production notes for The Deep Blue Sea.
2. Author interview with Davies, Cannes Film Festival, May 20, 2008.
3. Quart (2009). This is the best analysis of this documentary.
5. Michael Koresko. 2014. Commentary: The Long Day Closes: In His Own Good Time. Criterion DVD Collection.
6. Johnny Ray Huston. 2008. “Miserable to Be Gay: Terence Davis.” San Francisco Bay Guardian, February 20.
8. Jim Ellis. “Davies, Terence.” In An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture.
12. Paul Farley. 2000. Distant Voices, Still Lives. London: BFI Modern Classics.
14. Author interview with Davies, Toronto Film Festival, September 12, 1992.
15. For excellent analysis of the score, see Thomson (2007).
16. Rene Pol Nevils and Deborah George Hardy. 2001. Ignatius Rising. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
17. Stephen Holden. 1995. “Neon Bible,” New York Times, October 2.
18. Barry Walters. 1996. “Neon Bible.” San Francisco Examiner, July 10.
19. “Interview with Terence Davies.” 2002. Time Out.
20. Rob Nelson. 2001. “The House of Mirth,” City Pages, February 21.
21. Review of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. 1905. New York Times, October 15.
22. Scott Marshall. 1996. “Edith Wharton on Film and Television: A History and Filmography.” Edith Wharton Review.
23. Jeffrey Meyers. 2004. Introduction to The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. New York: Barnes and Noble.
24. Mildred Pierce as a screen type and Mildred Pierce as a classic woman’s film and a quintessential film noir have inspired and/or are referenced by all five of the book’s directors. Haynes has actually remade the film as an HBO mini-series in 2011.
25. Review of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. 1906. New York Times, March 3.
26. Davies’s commentary for the DVD edition of Of Time and the City.
28. Author interview with Davies, Cannes Film Festival, May 20, 2008.
34. Davies, in production notes for The Deep Blue Sea.
35. Author interview with Davies, Toronto Film Festival, September 2011.
36. David Denby. 2012. “Deep Blue Sea.” New Yorker, March 26.
37. Author interview with Davies, Toronto Film Festival, 2011.
39. Davies, in production notes for The Deep Blue Sea.
41. Terence Davies. 2011. The Deep Blue Sea. London: Nick Hearn.
42. J. Hoberman. 2012. “The Inner Light of Terence Davies,” New York Times, March 23.
43. Author interview with Davies, Cannes Film Festival, May 2008.
3. TODD HAYNES
1. Wyatt (1993), has written the most thorough analysis of Haynes.
3. Kruger (1987:107–108).
4. For a discussion of the New Queer Cinema, see Levy (1999:chap. 12).
6. Author interview with Jennie Livingston, Toronto Film Festival, September 12, 1992.
14. Although Homo is partially inspired by Genet’s The Miracle of the Rose, Haynes has also acknowledged the influence of two other Genet novels, Our Lady of the Flowers and The Thief’s Journal.
15. For a good analysis of the film, see Jane Giles. 1991. The Cinema of Jean Genet: Un chant d’amour.
16. Jonathon Green and Nicholas J. Karolides, eds. 1990. Encyclopedia of Censorship. New York.
21. Author interview with Todd Haynes, HFPA, Los Angeles, June 1, 1995.
23. Manohla Dargis. “Endangered Zone: With Safe Director Todd Hayness Declares His True Independence.” Village Voice, July 4, 1995.
27. Next to Far from Heaven, Safe is Haynes’s most critically acclaimed film, currently holding an 84 percent approval rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website.
28. Luis Buñuel has served as an influential figure for Almodóvar in terms of surreal and irrational narratives and for Haynes, who borrowed the idea of different actors playing the same part from the Buñuel’s 1974 The Phantom of Liberty.
29. Author interview with Haynes, HFPA, New York, March 2011.
33. Author interview with Kate Winslet, HFPA, New York, March 2011.
34. Author interview with Haynes.
35. Haynes, in production notes for Mildred Pierce.
4. GUS VAN SANT
3. Author interview with Van Sant, Toronto Film Festival, September 10, 1991.
4. Graham Fuller. 1994. Interview Magazine (June).
14. Kristin McKenna (1989). Los Angeles Times, December 7.
18. Pauline Kael. 1989. New Yorker, October 30.
19. Peter Rainer. 1989. Los Angeles Times, December 1.
21. David Ansen. 1989. “Drugstore Cowboy.” Newsweek, October 23.
22. Peter Travers. 1989. “Drugstore Cowboy.” Rolling Stone, October 19.
23. Fuller, Interview with Van Sant, My Own Private Idaho (1993).
26. Paul Andrews. 1990. Seattle Times, September 9.
28. Author interview with Van Sant, Toronto Film Festival, September 8, 1989.
29. Terrence Rafferty. 1991. New Yorker, October 7.
32. Interview with Van Sant, Premiere Magazine, October 1991.
36. Limitations of space do not permit me to discuss those features.
38. John Powers. 1995. “To Die For.” Vogue, September.
40. Janet Maslin. 1995. “To Die For.” New York Times, September 27.
41. Emanuel Levy. 1997. “Good Will Hunting.” Daily Variety, December 11.
42. Author interview with Gus Van Sant, HFPA, Los Angeles, November 29, 2000.
43. Emanuel Levy. 2000. “Finding Forrester.” Daily Variety, December 15.
44. Author Interview with Van Sant, Locarno Film Festival, August 7, 2002.
46. Author interview with Harris Savides, Los Angeles, August 6, 2009.
48. Author interview with Van Sant, Cannes Film Festival, May 2005.
50. It took Van Sant a whole decade after the death of Cobain, who was found dead at his Washington home on April 8, 1994, to come to terms with this painful event and make a film about it.
51. Sam Adams. 2008. Los Angeles Times, March 9.
52. For a good discussion of the documentary, see Levy (1999:chap. 12).
53. Justin Chang. 2011. “Restless.” Daily Variety, May 13.
54. Matt Damon appears in a small part in Finding Forrester.
55. Author Interview with Van Sant, HFPA, New York, December 10, 2012.
57. D. K. Holmes. 1989. “Gus Van Sant.” Pacific Northwest, August.
2. Frank DeCaro. 1994. “Diving in New Waters.” Newsday, April 11.
4. Waters, quoted in Ives (1992:15).
9. Time Out New York, April 1997.
10. James Egan. 2011. “Where Will John Waters Be Buried, March 9, 2010.” In John Waters Interviews, ed. James Egan. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
12. Michael Franco. 2007. “Love and Frogs: Dating John Waters.” PopMatters, February 14.
16. “John Waters Interviews Little Richard.” 2010. The Guardian, November 28.
19. Fields and Lebowitz (1973).
29. Fields and Lebowitz (1973).
31. Waters’s commentary in the documentary I Am Divine.
36. Hoberman and Rosenbaum (1991).
48. Rex Reed, quoted in Levy (1999).
49. Michael Musto. Village Voice.
50. Janet Maslin. 1977. “Desperate Living.” New York Times, October 15.
53. Author Interview, HFPA, Los Angeles, July 27, 2000.
59. James Grant. 1994. “He Really Can't Help Himself.” Los Angeles Times, April 10, 1994.
61. Roger Ebert. 1998. “Pecker.” Chicago Sun-Times. September 25.
62. Peter Stack. 1998. “Pecker.” San Francisco Chronicle. September 25.
63. Roger Ebert. 2004. “A Dirty Shame,” Chicago Sun-Times, September 24.
64. Waters’s comments for different DVD versions of Cecil B. Demented.
65. Michael Franco. 2007. “Love and Frogs,” PopMatters.com.
66. Author interview with John Waters. 2003. Provincetown, MA, June 19.
69. Luaine Lee. 1994. “John Waters Weirdness Runs Deep.” Daily News, April 12.
72. Nina Metz. 2010. “John Waters Loves Christmas,” Chicago Tribune, December 3.
CONCLUSION
1. Personal conversation with noted Canadian film critic Robin Wood, who has discussed this aspect in his work.
2. Author interview with Almodóvar, Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), Los Angeles, October 19, 2004.
7. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, September 29, 1999.
8. Author interview with Van Sant, HFPA, Los Angeles, August 1, 2003.
11. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, September 29, 1999.
12. Rouyer and Vie (1988).
16. Anneke Smelik. 1998. “Queer Studies.” In Oxford Guide to Film Studies. New York: Oxford University Press.
19. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 19, 2004.
20. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, September 19, 2006.
23. Author interview with Almodóvar, HFPA, Los Angeles, October 19, 2004.
24. Celestine Bohlen (1998), in a New York Times interview with Pedro Almodóvar.