AND DISCUSSES THE "EROTIC FENCING GAME" BETWEEN THE WOMEN IN 'PASSION'
Yet another interview with Brian De Palma posted to the web today, this one from The Arizona Republic's Bill Goodykoontz. When asked about his strong visual style, De Palma responds, "I’m always composing for the big screen. That’s why we have operas and ballets. These are forms that have lived through centuries and they’re kind of specialized things that we get all dressed up to go see, and it’s kind of a big event. But the mass of visual entertainment is basically being watched on an iPad or an iPhone."Goodykoontz then asks De Palma if he still has films that inspire him. "Yeah, I have films that are on a shelf," De Palma replies. "I show them to my daughters and some of their friends, because they’re completely unaware of some of this stuff. Certainly The Red Shoes — where would you see this film except on TCM, or Martin Scorsese presents it? This is a very influential film on the directors of our generation. Obviously Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons. And, of course, David Lean. Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai. Brief Encounter. I mean, these are films you can watch over and over again."
Earlier in the interview, Goodykoontz had some questions for De Palma about dealing with sexuality on the set:
Q: A lot of your films deal with sexuality. How do you make the actors comfortable?
A: In this case, there’s not that much explicit sexuality. I mean, the girls are toying with each other all the time. These actresses (Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace) came to this because they liked acting together. They like this kind of twisted relationship, and they could tease each other and slam each other. It became an erotic fencing game they played. And that was the fun of it, and they really enjoyed doing it. But this isn’t naked girls running around in the shower, which is a whole different problem.
Q: A problem you’ve dealt with.
A: When you’re dealing with themes like that, like I had in Carrie, it’s incredibly difficult to do. A lot of these actresses had never been in a movie before, this whole naked shower scene, you know, they were all a little nuts. Fortunately Sissy (Spacek, the star) had to do all her stuff before, and when they saw Sissy doing it, they thought, “Well, God, if Sissy can do it, I can.”