We’ve seen extensive roundtables with the top writers, actors, actresses, cinematographers and more this year, and now it’s time for the individuals who bring the entire production together: the directors. Angelina Jolie (Unbroken), Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Mike Leigh (Mr. Turner), Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher) and Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) all gathered to discuss their latest works in a 50-minute discussion.
While the talk touches on a variety of aspects — from how they first got into directing to their influences to if they’ve ever had a disaster of a production — one of the most interesting quotes comes from Miller. The writer-director spent over a year toying in the editing room with Foxcatcher and after an inquiry from Nolan, he explains how he can endure the process for so long:
The process resembles that of an actor who’s doing a play, and how do you keep that fresh? [Philip Seymour Hoffman] had his rituals and would go to the theater two hours early, and he would just sit onstage and have a moment. Similarly, in the edit, you do have to take a breath. This isn’t the type of film that tells a story; it’s the kind of film that observes a story. And the films that spoke to me when I was growing up felt like you were in the head of the filmmaker. Like The Pawnbroker, Walkabout, the Maysles [brothers] films, 2001, Hitchcock‘s The Birds. You feel like you’re in someone’s head, and there is this space for it to creep in on you.
Check out the full 50-minute discussion below:
What’s the best-directed film of the year?