Page 3 - Making Work News Today

We were all sitting around... ..and had a nude model, and everybody was quietly drawing away, and i looked around the room, and i thought, what is happening in this room is something that we never experienced for one split second at the royal academy of dramatic art. really creative work is happening, everybody in the room is looking at something thats real and finding an organic, truthful way of expressing it, which we didnt do as student actors. it was all mechanical and superficial and inorga...

And to cut a long story short, he was impossible to direct. hed say, "oh, a directors just a chairman." id say, "why dont you move over there on that...?" hed say, "why? "i could move there, i could move anywhere." and so... at this point, id already... and weve talked about this, id already formulated notions about... because i wanted to write and direct and id formulated notions about other collaborative ways of making work. and this experience, much though i felt... think the play is great an...

That we never experienced for one split second at the royal academy of dramatic art. really creative work is happening, everybody in the room is looking at something thats real and finding an organic, truthful way of expressing it, which we didnt do as student actors. it was all mechanical and superficial and inorganic, and therefore, dull. and that revelation, in that moment, in the life drawing class — that, you know, absolutely resonated with notions that i had on the go, in a primitive for...

That person they know, and then we meld them together and the character is created. but of course, the two famous myths about what i do with actors is, one is that the actors come with ideas, and the committee is formed as to what the subject, thats not the case at all. in fact, its very — its essential that they... ..when i say to an actor, participate in this piece of work, this play or this film, we cant talk about a character, because there isnt a character. you and i are going to collabor...

Thought about films was, wouldnt it be great if you could have a film where the characters in the film were like real people, not like actors? and the other thing, which is of far, far less significance, or of no importance at all, is that watching westerns, you know, because of the nature of the number of frames on a length of film, the wheels on the, on a vehicle or a stagecoach would go around backwards. yes. and i used to think, sit there thinking, "when i make films, theyll go round the rig...

You have explored social issues, whether thats unemployment in meantime, or back street abortion in vera drake, or class and race in secrets and lies, do you regard yourself as a political film—maker? yes, i do. i mean, i think that my films, with the arguable exception of peterloo, which is obviously about the peterloo massacre and is, without any question, a simple statement about democracy, i think my films must be understood to be implicitly political, rather than overtly political. you on...

Rather than overtly political. you once said, im going to quote you here, "i know i return endlessly to the same preoccupations, "but im not always aware of it initially." what are those preoccupations, do you think? well, i mean, if you look at my films and plays, you know, about how we live, relationships, work, responsibility, surviving, secrets and lies, you know, the stuff of living really. class? and class, yes. its funny, its interesting, i didnt put that instinctively at the top of the l...

But it was there that i had a really seminal experience as an artist. we were all sitting around... ..and had a nude model, and everybody was quietly drawing away, and i looked around the room, and i thought, what is happening in this room is something that we never experienced for one split second at the royal academy of dramatic art. really creative work is happening, everybody in the room is looking at something thats real and finding an organic, truthful way of expressing it, which we didnt ...

Against the eunuchs, a play by david halliwell. youve described this experience as a life—changing experience. why? because... david halliwell, who was a close friend and a very talented guy, hes no longer with us, but he wrote the play so that he could play the main character, malcolm scrawdyke, and to cut a long story short, he was impossible to direct. hed say, "oh, a directors just a chairman." id say, "why dont you move over there on that...?" hed say, "why? "i could move there, i could m...

Are used to go to the movies, i used to watch westerns, from the earliest age, i remember there were two things, one major thing i always thought about, wouldnt it be great if you could have a film where the characters in the film were like real people, not like actors, and the other thing, a far less significance, or no importance at all is watching westerns, because of the nature of the number of frames and the length of film, the wheels on a vehicle, a stagecoach would go around backwards, an...