cigs & redvines possible interview

[modage]

Enjoy.

http://cigsandredvines.blogspot.com/2013/01/exclusive-making-master-with-paul.html

[Frederico Fellini]

Holy shit, man. GREAT JOB!  That was fucking amazing....

Now I need to go watch and listen and read everything he mentioned. Starting with the John O'hara short stories and then "V".

[Neil]

First things first,

Unreal.

Great read.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Fantastic interview! My favorite question was the one about deleted scenes and whether they should be considered extensions of the movie etc. Interesting that he said no. That's in contrast to David Lynch for example... the Inland Empire deleted scenes are called "More Things That Happened."

[Pubrick]

That's in contrast to David Lynch for example... the Inland Empire deleted scenes are called "More Things That Happened."

i think that's one of the only dumb questions on the interview. the movie is what the movie is, there's no alternate versions anywhere.

anything else is just fan fiction.

but if we're comparing delicious apples to rancid oranges then it is also "interesting" to note that, in contrast to Lynch, PTA did not make the worst movie of his career.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Really? I think it's a great question.

It's not "fan fiction" when the filmmaker himself includes deleted scenes on the DVD. When such a deleted scene is presented to us, it at least raises the question about whether it's canon, or canon-adjacent, or not canon at all. Mod's example of there being much more to Becky's story is a perfect example. Should we watch her storyline in Boogie Nights believing that's what ultimately happens, or something that could have happened, or something that did not happen? PTA gave his answer, and obviously other filmmakers feel differently. Definitely an interesting topic.

[modage]

Thanks everyone! And thanks for all your questions in this thread which I re-read several times while trying to come up with the best questions he had not been asked already.

The reason I asked about the deleted scenes for this one specifically is because he actually LED with them in the marketing. Because the Freddie/Dr. scene in the first teaser is so iconic (and not in the film) I was interested to see if he thought these should be considered canon and "more things that happened." Weird to present a bunch of stuff that doesn't actually take place (even in the universe of the characters), no?

[Pubrick]

that's fine and understandable but that's not what you actually asked.

you framed the question about entire deleted scenes and sequences and their exclusion from the actual film itself. that's different from asking if advertising material prepared by the director himself has any place in canon. my opinion on this is YES, it does. but that's entirely different from discussing a whole scene which was never officially released.

a snippet of something, even just an image, is canon if it is prepared by the author as a way to set the tone for the whole piece. every image in the posters is canon, whether they came from an actual scene in the movie or not. likewise, every clip in the trailers is canon.. or rather this should have been the question, as maybe all we needed to see of Freddie waving a gun drunkenly is just that, the image of him doing so, and being an image that was released as part of the promotional material approved for wide distribution by PTA himself, that single image and the impression it makes is an aspect of the film we are allowed to consider.

I plan to expand on the use of alternate takes and fragments of scenes in the promotional material, as i think there was a definite purpose in the way he released them and the footage he used in them. i already covered the basics of structural parallels between the first two teasers in the fanalysis thread, but there's more to it, and while it may not hold as much weight as the footage ultimately found in the film, it definitely holds more weight than entire scenes which we have never seen.

the question he answered is the one you asked, not the question you think you asked.

[Cloudy]

Making this a series with the rest of the crew/cast was an amazing idea/opportunity. Have fun, and thank you!

[md]

Congrats on the exclusive.  Its always nice to imagine PTA's soft spoken voice during these interviews, and maybe it just ended to soon,  but I found the interview slightly disappointing.  Maybe its because we've been so spoiled in the past with the funny and charming younger PTA interviews (I'm talking BN and Magnolia days), but I can't help but feel that PTA is just being polite when he's answering these questions.  Never mind the poor grammar and mild stream of consciousness, as that has always been his style,  (see http://www.aintitcool.com/node/5949) but his tone is seemingly obligatory, in the fashion of "letting the film speak for itself".   I guess that's just the way the page's age, but it would be great if he surprised us with a DVD commentary for IV. 

In regards to the Slow Boat to China references, I noticed on song's wiki page, that it was featured in Peter Greenaway's 8 1/2 Women - a film about a father and son relationship.  It could be a stretch, and although I haven't seen the film (been trying to track it down for a little while),  me thinks PTA, being the avid researcher and film lover, may be familiar with the film and it some how creeped into his consciousness.  Anyone familiar with the scene I'm talking about? 

Edit:  The 8 1/2 Women scene can be viewed here:

  (the pacing parallels the Master quite well)

[DocSportello]

but it would be great if he surprised us with a DVD commentary for IV

It took me the longest time to figure out what you meant by that as I had read "IV" as the roman numeral for 4. Then I was all like: 

Great job on the interview Mod.

[diggler]

Really great questions, he deflected some of the more interesting ones, but still a good read.

Can't believe he hasn't seen the Wire.

[Frederico Fellini]

Edit:  The 8 1/2 Women scene can be viewed here:

 

(the pacing parallels the Master quite well)

Oh yeah, at 13:25... It's uncanny. Good catch, man.


I love Greenaway but I think Paul did it better. Much more emotional.

On another note, that's another layer to this film, for years to come we're gonna keep finding all these references and subconscious inspirations which really don't matter because the film speaks for itself, but it's always fun to find those as it makes us understand his filmmaking process a lot better. It also sparks the question:  HOW MANY MOVIES A DAY DOES PAUL WATCH? The guy has a bunch of kids and a wife. I have no kids, I watch movies everyday and I still can't catch up. Fuck.

[Pubrick]

Can't believe he hasn't seen the Wire.

this might explain it.

[md]

Isnt his wife half black? Ebert, Lucas and PTA.  Who woulda thought?!

I remeber PTA saying in an audio interview that when he was 18-19, he'd pop a dvd in at the morning, afternoon and night.  Kind of reminds me of that Sublime song...

Also, in 8 1/2 Women, Slow Boat to China rolls in the credits at the end.