FILM HISTORIAN REFLECTS ON 35 YEARS OF CELEBRITY INTERVIEWS

>>> GOOD EVENING, AND WELCOME TO "METROFOCUS."

I'M JACK FORD.

FOR THE PAST 35 YEARS, THE 92nd STREET Y HOSTED A REGULAR DISCUSSION SERIES CALLED "REEL PIECES," FOCUSED ON GIVING NEW YORKERS A LOOK AT THE BIGGEST MOVIE PIECE OF OUR TIMES.

THE SERIES, WHICH HAS FEATURED CONVERSATIONS WITH ACTORS AND DIRECTORS AND EARLY PREVIEW SCREENING OF MOVIES NOT YET RELEASED HAS BEEN HOSTED BY ANNETTE INSDORF, A WORLD RENOWNED FILM HISTORIAN, AUTHOR, AND ACADEMIC.

THROUGH HER TIME MODERATING "REEL PIECES," HER WORK AT COLUMBIA, SHE HAS ENACTED WITH COUNTLESS CELEBRITIES, INCLUDING AMONG MANY OTHERS, MERYL STREEP, SIDNEY POINTIER, TOM CRUISE, MARTIN SCORSESE JUST TO NAME A VERY FEW.

JOINING US TONIGHT WITH MORE ON HER REMARKABLE LIFE AND CAREER IS A TRUE NEW YORK TREASURE, THE HOST OF THE 92nd STREET Y'S "REEL PIECES," ANNETTE INSDORF.

WELCOME.

IT'S SO NICE TO HAVE YOU HERE WITH US.

>> PLEASURE TO BE WITH YOU.

>> THIS IS A FABULOUS SERIES, AND I'M GOING TO GET TO IT IN A MOMENT, BUT FIRST LET ME START WITH YOU.

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU FIRST DEVELOP THIS DEEP PASSION FOR FILMS?

>> I ALWAYS LOVED MOVIES AS A CHILD, AND BECAUSE I WAS BORN IN PARIS, WHEN WE CAME TO THE UNITED STATES, MY FATHER, WHO DIDN'T SPEAK MUCH ENGLISH AT THE TIME, IT WAS FROM MOVIES THAT HE WAS LEARNING ENGLISH.

AND I WENT TO EVERY FILM I COULD AS A CHILD WITH HIM.

AND THE MORE I DID THAT, THE MORE I REALIZED, ESPECIALLY IN MY TEENS, THAT I DIDN'T SIMPLY LOVE THE ENTERTAINMENT AND THE SPECTACLE, BUT THAT THE WAY MOVIES WERE TELLING STORIES -- AND I READ A LOT AT THE TIME, I TELLING STORIES IN AN EQUALLY RICH WAY.

BUT I HAD TO WATCH THEM DIFFERENTLY TO UNDERSTAND HOW VISUAL STORY TELLING WAS TAKING PLACE.

AND THEN WHEN I GOT TO GRAD SCHOOL DOING MY Ph.D IN ENGLISH AT YALE OF ALL PLACES, I REALIZED THAT I WASN'T HAPPY IN THE Ph.D PROGRAM BECAUSE I WAS MISSING SOMETHING.

I HAD THE SENSE THAT ANYTHING I COULD SAY ABOUT A BOOK, A POEM, HAD ALREADY BEEN SAID.

THE MOVIES IN THE '70s, THEY HADN'T BEEN DISCUSSED TO DEATH.

SO I STARTED GOING TO THE YALE FILM SOCIETIES EVERY NIGHT, THE BERKELEY FILM SOCIETY.

AND I WOULD GO TWICE.

SOMETIMES I'D SEE THE FILM TWICE IN A ROW.

THE FIRST TIME TO ENJOY, THE SECOND TIME TAKING NOTES TO SEE HOW THE FILM CREATED MY REACTIONS.

AND I WAS IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME.

THE DAY I GOT MY Ph.D IN ENGLISH I WAS HIRED THAT AFTERNOON BY THE ART HISTORY DEPARTMENT AT YALE BECAUSE THEY HAD JUST LOST THE ADJUNCT PROFESSOR WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE TEACHING TWO FILM COURSES THE FOLLOWING YEAR.

A LOT OF IT IS LUCK AND I ALSO ALREADY TAUGHT A SEMINAR ON THE FRENCH NEW WAVE AS A GRAD STUDENT, AND IN I WENT.

>> RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME.

AS A STUDENT AT YALE I WENT TO SO MANY OF THOSE SOCIETIES.

THEY PROVIDED YOU WITH WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITIES TO SIT DOWN AND WATCH AND LISTEN AND BE MOVED BY THESE.

LET'S MOVE OURSELF -- AS MENTIONED TAUGHT AT YALE, COLUMBIA, OVERLAPPED FOR A PERIOD OF TIME.

HAVE WRITTEN A NUMBER OF BOOKS ABOUT FILMS BUT TALK ABOUT REAL PIECES.

HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?

>> I WAS APPROACHED AROUND 1979-80, INITIALLY WHEN I MOVED TO NEW YORK FROM NEW HAVEN.

BY THE 92nd STREET Y. I WAS WRITING A BOOK AT THE TIME ABOUT FILMING THE HOLOCAUST, WHICH BECAME MY SORT OF LANDMARK STUDY "INDELIBLE SHADOWS, FILMING THE HOLOCAUST", AND THEY ASKED ME TO TALK ABOUT A HOLOCAUST FILM.

AROUND THAT TIME, 1979-80, THERE WEREN'T.

THAT, SHALL WE SAY ELEVATED DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE FILM AND HOLOCAUST.

AFTER THAT, IT WAS SUCCESSFUL.

I COMODERATED A SERIES WITH MICHAEL WEBB THAT DEALT WITH FILM AND POLITICS IN HISTORY, AND I GOT MY OWN SERIES IN 1983 WAS THE FIRST TIME, CRITICS ON CRITICISM AND SCREEN WRITERS AND I REALIZED HOW MUCH I LOVED THE 92 Y AUDIENCES.

THEY WERE LITERAL, CURIOUS, AFFECTIONATE.

THEY WERE PEOPLE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH A GREAT DEAL FROM THE OTHER ARTS -- FROM LITERATURE, FROM POETRY -- THE POETRY CENTER AT THE Y I USED TO GO TO ON NIGHTS.

AND I WAS ENCOURAGED BY A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SUPERIORS OVER THE YEARS TO SUGGEST THINGS THAT I THOUGHT THE AUDIENCE WOULD APPRECIATE IN MANHATTAN OF ALL PLACES.

AND "REEL PIECES" EMERGED AFTER A CERTAIN TIME BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO INTERVIEW JUST ACTORS, JUST SCREENWRITERS, JUST DIRECTORS, JUST PRODUCERS, AND I HAD ALREADY DONE TWO SERIES WHERE THERE WERE NO GUESTS.

IT WAS JUST ME DISCUSSING THE WORK OF MY BOOKS.

AND WITH REAL PIECES, I SAID, LET ME HAVE FREE REIGN TO INTERVIEW WHOEVER I THINK WILL BE ABLE TO HELP US APPRECIATE AND UNDERSTAND CINEMATIC STORY TELLING, HOW A FILM WAS MADE, WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE DOING FOR US.

AND THE FIRST YEAR WAS EXACTLY -- IT WAS 1987, SO 35 YEARS AGO.

AND I DID -- ONE WEEK WAS THE EDITOR RALPH ROSENBLUM, AND WE SHOWED ANNIE HALL.

THE PRODUCER WAS DAVID PUTNAM.

IT WAS A FANTASTIC WAY TO ENGAGE -- AT THE TIME IT WASN'T CELEBRITY ORIENTED.

THE IDEA WAS TO SHOW A REALLY GOOD MOVIE AND HAVE SOMEONE WHO PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN IT ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT ITS GESTATION, ITS PROCESS, ITS MEANING.

>> TRULY LEARN AND SORT OF MIXING OUR METAPHORS, BUT PULL BACK THE CURTAIN, IF YOU WILL, ON FILMS.

AND THE 92nd STREET Y HAS BEEN FOR SO LONG SO GOOD AT THESE OFFERINGS.

I HAD THE GREAT GOOD FORTUNE TO HOST INTERVIEWS AND PANELS THERE A NUMBER OF YEARS BACK, INCLUDING AFTER I COVERED THE O.J.

SIMPSON TRIAL AND I INTERVIEWED THE PARTICIPANTS OF THAT.

AS YOU SAID, I WAS SO STRUCK BY THE AUDIENCE AND HOW ENGAGED AND ENGAGING THEY WERE.

LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION.

I'M SURE YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED THIS.

I KNOW THIS IS AKIN TO ASKING A PARENT ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE CHILD, SO I WON'T PHRASE IT THAT WAY, BUT GIVE US ONE OF TWO OF YOUR MORE MEMORABLE INTERVIEWS.

WHO WOULD YOU POINT TO?

>> WELL, THE FIRST TIME THAT SIR BEN KINGSLEY WAS MY GUEST -- HE RETURNED AFTERWARDS -- I WAS DUMB STRUCK, ACTUALLY, BY HOW EXTRAORDINARILY ARTICULATE HE WAS.

I'M NOT USED TO INTERVIEWING ACTORS WHO ARE MORE ARTICULATE OF THEIR PROCESS THAN DIRECTORS, AND WRITERS FOR THAT MATTER.

AND HERE WAS SIR BEN KINGSLEY WITH THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WAY OF EXPRESSING WHAT HE DOES AS AN ACTOR AND ALSO WHAT FILMS CAN MEAN IN THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO WATCH THEM.

THE DEEP ENHANCEMENT THAT CAN COME FROM THAT.

SO IF I HAD TO PICK ONLY ONE INTERVIEW TO WATCH AGAIN, I THINK THAT WOULD BE THE ONE.

BUT I ALSO -- I HAVE BEEN SO FORTUNATE.

ALSO, BY THE WAY, ON THAT EVENING, BEN KINGSLEY, HE QUOTED ME, BECAUSE I HAD BEEN ON THE JURY OF THE BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL WITH HIM.

>> RIGHT RKT.

>> AND I SUGGESTED THAT WE HAD TO HAVE SOME SHARED CRITERIA FOR WHAT MAKES A FILM GREAT.

AND HE AGREED.

SO I CAME ONE A PROPOSAL THAT HE ACCEPTED, AND THEN ON STAGE WITH ME THAT NIGHT, HE TOLD MY AUDIENCE, ANNETTE HAS GIVEN US A WAY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT CRITERIA SHOULD BE.

I HAD SAID SOMETHING LIKE IT SHOULD BE A GOOD STORY WORTH THE PROVERBIAL PRICE OF ADMISSION.

NUMBER TWO, IT SHOULD USE THE APPROPRIATE CINEMATIC LANGUAGE FOR THE TALE BEING TOLD.

AND NUMBER THREE -- AND THIS IS THE TOUGH ONE -- IT SHOULD OFFER SOME KIND OF ILLUMINATION, AN ENHANCEMENT OF OUR LIVES TO TAKE WITH US AFTER THE FILM IS OVER.

FORGIVE THE CORNINESS, BUT SOMETHING THAT MIGHT MAKE US A BETTER PERSON.

>> I'LL ADD THIS, AND BECAUSE I THINK YOU'RE TOO HUMBLE, BUT SIR BEN KINGSLEY SAID SINCE THAT TIME, WHENEVER HE REVIEWS A SCRIPT FOR SOME POTENTIAL WORK FOR HIM, HE SAID, I USE ANNETTE'S THREE GUIDELINES TO DECIDE, IS THIS SOMETHING I WANT TO DO?

THAT'S PRETTY IMPRESSIVE HE HAS AN IMPACT ON YOU, AND YOU HAD AN IMPACT ON HIM.

IT'S ANOTHER THING, SINCE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NEW YORK CITY -- PEOPLE ALWAYS USE THE TERM HOLLYWOOD JUST AS AN OVERARCHING TERM TO TALK ABOUT THE FILM INDUSTRY.

HOW ABOUT NEW YORK'S IMPACT ON THE FILM INDUSTRY, BACK THEN AND EVEN TODAY?

>> IT IS HUGE.

LET'S JUST ADMIT, I SHOULD, THAT I AM DRAWN PERHAPS MUCH MORE TO INDEPENDENT FILMS NURTURED BY AN EAST COAST SENSIBILITY THAN HOLLYWOOD MAINSTREAM MOVIES, SO I'VE ALWAYS GRAVITATED TO THE FILM OF SIDNEY LUMENT.

I SHOWED THE PAWNBROKER, TO THE FILMS OF WOODY ALLEN.

HE WAS MY GUEST AT LEAST TWICE, POSSIBLY THREE TIMES.

THE FILM OF SCORSESE WHO WAS MY GUEST EARLY ON.

AND I BELIEVE -- WELL, IT GOES FURTHER BACK TO CASSAVETES, WHOSE WORK I SHOW IN MY CLASS AT COLUMBIA MORE THAN THE 92nd STREET Y.

HE WAS THE MAVERICK OF NEW YORK, LOW BUDGET INDY FILMMAKING THAT CAPTURED THE RHYTHM -- NOT JUST OF THE STREETS, BUT THE RHYTHM OF OUR BODIES MOVING THROUGH THE STREETS IN MOVIES LIKE "SHADOWS", HIS FIRST FEATURE BACK AROUND 1959.

SO I DO BELIEVE THAT ONE OF THE REASONS "REEL PIECES" REMAINS EXCITING FOR ME AND I HOPE AUDIENCES IS BECAUSE WE'RE IN NEW YORK.

AND EVEN IF I SHOW A FOREIGN FILM OR HOLLYWOOD FILM, THE SENSIBILITY WE BRING TO MOVIES, IT'S A LITTLE BIT SHARPER AND FASTER.

>> BECAUSE WE ARE IN NEW YORK, WE ARE OF NEW YORK, IN MANY WAYS WE ARE NEW YORK.

YEAH, ANNETTE, THERE IS SO MUCH MORE I WOULD LOVE TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT, AND UNFORTUNATELY WE DON'T HAVE THE TIME HERE, BUT I WANT TO MAKE SURE WE COME BECOME AND CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION.

ONCE AGAIN, WANT TO REMIND PEOPLE, "REEL PIECES," THE 92nd STREET Y, WHICH DOES REMARKABLE WORK ACROSS THE BOARD, 35 YEARS, STILL COUNTING AND STILL BEING WONDERFUL.

ANNETTE, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO TALKING WITH YOU AGAIN SOME TIME REAL SOON.

YOU BE WELL NOW.

>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

BYE-BYE NOW.