Quote of the Day

"... what I took from Fassbinder for this film was beauty. Meaning, I wasn’t making realistic cinema, I was making iconic cinema. So I thought of the woman’s face, the man’s body, the costumes, the spaces as opportunities for visual impact. So we were looking at Beware of a Holy Whore, but mostly for wardrobe. ... the color of the sweaters is incredible. And I think that in certain kinds of cinema, and Fassbinder more than almost anyone else, what lingers with you is the impact of color and bodies. ... For me, pain in cinema is great pleasure because it’s not my own. ... Like Splendor in the Grass, the most painful movie ever made, is the most beautiful movie ever made."

Interview Magazine spoke to Passages director Ira Sachs and his love for Fassbinder came up and I feel foolish now, that I don't recall thinking of Fassbinder at all when I saw Passages earlier this year. (Here is my Sundance review of the movie, which just hit theaters this past weekend.) It seems very obvious here in retrospect! I had considered going to see the movie a third time (I watched it twice at Sundance) over the weekend but didn't make it, so my memory is admittedly vague now, but recognition of that influence still walked straight up to me and slapped me across my face with its obviousness anyway. Anyway check out the entire chat, Sachs is very smart and very smart about film specifically and it's always a pleasure to see what he's got to say. And he also repeats last week's news that he's making a movie about gay photographer Peter Hujar starring Ben Whishaw next! Very exciting, that.