Said Al Pacino, quoted in "The Interview/Al Pacino Is Still Going Big" (NYT).
I'm quoting from the recording. The transcript is edited down a bit and it misses some of the feeling. I thought the interviewer, David Marchese, rushed by some of the best material Pacino seemed to want to hand him. For example, when Pacino spoke of the beautiful, sad dog becoming aware, Marchese intruded with "You're such a softy," categorizing Pacino's feeling as shallow sentimentality as opposed to some more subtle existentialism.
And one of the topics was Pacino's nearly dying of of Covid. On that topic, Pacino quoted Hamlet — "The undiscovered country from whose bourn, no traveler returns." Marchese tried to turn that into the question of the "consolation" of leaving a "body of work" behind. Pacino ignored the question. He said "having children is a consolation."
And then: "It’s natural, I guess, to have a different view of death as you get older. It’s just the way it is. I didn’t ask for it. Just comes, like a lot of things just come." And Marchese broke the mood with the somewhat insulting: "I don’t want to linger in morbidity." And Pacino seemed a bit insulted: "I don’t find this morbid, man."
He wanted to linger! So did I. I wanted to hear how Pacino's view of death had changed in the years running up to 84. Earlier he'd come out with the line "Everything to me is time." I wanted Marchese to stop at that door and open it!
There's always the memoir — "Sonny Boy" (commission earned).
Am I too hard on David Marchese? Maybe he's prized for an ability to deliver what NYT readers want. A dog finding its way back to some kind of awareness is not a productive line of thought. No Al Pacino movies will be cited in any sort of answer, and who looks to Al Pacino for insight on aging, death, and time?
Here's a NYT piece from last March: "What David Marchese Learned Talking to the World’s Most Interesting People." Excerpt:
You’ve described the Lou Reed interview that you did for Spin in 2008 as a turning point. It was a contentious one. He didn’t like a bunch of the questions you were asking, and as a rock star, it was his prerogative to just, in some cases, not even say a word, just sit silently. What is it that you learned from that interview? The main thing I learned is that even if the interview, as it’s happening, feels as if it’s going badly, it can mean that I’m doing my job well, because I am eliciting a nonstock response from someone. And also that an unpleasant personal experience in the moment can make for a compelling read after the moment. But you know, a funny thing that happened in that interview that I remember: The interview was happening over lunch at a restaurant in the West Village. And Lou Reed ordered a salad with shaved Parmesan, and the waiter brought the salad over with what looked to me like a piece of shaved Parmesan. And Reed looks at the waiter with, like, a dead-eyed stare on his face and says, You call that shaved Parmesan?
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That was hilarious- Marchese was expecting Pacino to provide the narrative that Marchese wanted about COVID and mortality and Pacino refused to do so requiring a change of subject.
Boy, Pacino sounds a lot like Trump was my other impression.
"Marchese was expecting Pacino to provide the narrative that Marchese wanted about COVID and mortality."
The question Marchese asked was "Did that experience have any metaphysical ripples?"
The answer he got from Pacino was: "It actually did. I didn’t see the white light or anything. There’s nothing there. As Hamlet says, “To be or not to be”; “The undiscovered country from whose bourn, no traveler returns.” And he says two words: “no more.” It was no more. You’re gone. I’d never thought about it in my life. But you know actors: It sounds good to say I died once. What is it when there’s no more?"
And that's where Marchese bothered me by trying to lighten it up and get back to film. He asked, "But you have this body of work that people will be going back to. Is that consolation at all?"
Notice that Pacino had not shown himself in need of consolation. He was meditating on "no more" in the context of "Hamlet."
You are giving Marchese too much credit- Pacino wasn't playing along nicely and thus the need to change the subject.
Yes he wanted waxing metaphysical, and he wasn't having that,
Pacino has a camper?
Am I too hard on David Marchese?
No. Interviews used to be structured to find out what the subject of the interview thinks, not about what the interviewer thinks the subject should think.
I guess David Marchese has a pretty good job, overall, but a big part of it seems to be making every celebrity he interviews look smart by comparison.
I thought the beginning quotes was Trump talking. Sure reads just like him.
Shoulda read this before I wrote- Yessir, sure thought that was Trump speaking at a rally.
In the last 25 years the interviewing quality of journalists has decayed noticeably. Most journos are in Podcast Mode where they must be part of the conversation, rather than just asking a well formed question then sitting back to let the subject answer at length
I assume he means his on-set trailer. I prefer the notion of him traveling the country in a motor home, though.
The NYT caters to its shallow readership.
"I assume he means his on-set trailer. I prefer the notion of him traveling the country in a motor home, though."
Don't you think he'd use the word "trailer" if that's what he meant. I like thinking of him using a camper. A camper is what we have. It's not the same thing as a "trailer," which is dragged behind your car/truck. And I wouldn't call it a "motor home." What we have sits on top of the truck bed. I think a "motor home" would be an RV, right?
But I think he is talking about an on-set trailer. The quote began: "Usually when I make films, I’m not very happy. They can be tedious, but you can go to your camper and do whatever you want. I even get television in there...."
I had Pacino pegged as a lonely cat man, since he never got married, but he's had four kids along the way, one last year at age 83.
The Laura Branigan song is from the "Flashdance" soundtrack. It's a Pennsylvania shibboleth. :-)
That was my 'take', too - actors have 'trailers' on shooting locations. It strikes me that Pacino in a camper would be in character, although I would have thought we'd have heard about it, by now, if he was passionate about it. Maybe he's a stealth camper - there's a niche of campers that have plain vans they've outfitted unobtrusively, that look like commercial vehicles. It allows them to camp in plain sight, if they're in an urban setting, with no one the wiser.
I've been reading a book about the making of "The Godfather." Pacino barely made it into the role. Pretty good book.
Having children is a consolation? Is Pacino slipping into Harrison Butker territory? Maybe not--four kids and never married--but he realizes that children can be a blessing--or a curse if things don't go well. As for thinking about death? Well when you get past 80 at least a couple of things occur. You know you are going to die, and you are at least curious about what might take you. Heck I've been that way since I was 50 and that was thirty years in the past. And second, you count it a good month if only a couple of people you were friends with or knew have died. Those good months get fewer as you get older. Pacino sounds more interesting than his interviewer.
" Those good months get fewer as you get older. Pacino sounds more interesting than his interviewer."
Both true.
"Sentimentality" = an expression of emotion that I do not approve of.
"but you can go to your camper and do whatever you want." Like make s'mores.
…then they begin to get better…everyone is dead, though…
Don't you think he'd have said "survivors of school shootings" if that's what he meant? That cruel neutrality- ya find it in the strangest places.
I saw the documentary that he made on the making of Richard III. It was spooky. He was talking like Al Pacino then he would pause and say some Richard III lines. His body and speech in subtle but noticeable ways changed, transformed actually, and he became an evil presence. Then he would go back to talking like Al Pacino.......He's a supremely talented actor, but I don't know if he's particularly wise outside of the field of drama. You're not giving your kid a fair shake if you sire him at 82,
I'd say 'that depends', which at that age, is a double-entendre. The kid might not have a father figure very long, but he has Great Expectations.
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