Am flack ;n0ugh -Or Ya?
‘Did you think I was going to be black when I turned up today?’ asks David Gordon Green, the 28- year-old director of All the Real Girls.
\«Vouts: Kaleem Aftab
pparently. this misplaced
assumption was made by a
plethora ofjournalists after seeing Hashing/on. (ireen's brilliant. tragic debut lilm that focused on the li\ es of four multicultural teenagers in a small American town. Little seen. but hailed as a masterpiece by" those few critics w ho bothered to y'enture out.
(ireen’s follow—up documents the trials and tribulations of one girl's first loyc with the local womaniser. like (ireen's first film. it also takes place in a small. unnamed .\'orth ('arolina town.
‘I wanted it to be that this tttoy ie could be shown in Asia and lil Saly'ador. and haye young people be able to relate to it in their own way and not be told that this is Detroit 2003 or whatey'er. The eny'ironment we are establishing is not about today. It is wherey'er and former and way before. There are no cell phones or televisionsf says (ireen.
.-\/l the Rm] (iirlx oo/es empathy. from its attention grabbing opening scene featuring l’aul tl’aul Schneider) and .\'oel’s (Zooey l)eschanel) poignant first kiss through to its lu'oken~hearted finale. "l'he script was written by me and Paul (Schneider). We came tip with the story about the years ago. when we were in college. We had cause to write a low story to exercise sortie of the demons that we acquired in our four years at school and our hearts being trod upon. They were tough times though. honestly they were.‘
(ireen has a dry sense of humour that he displays
(it‘rtl'g't‘
throughout the intery'iew. The same could be said of (ireen's films. which ignore the Hollywood traits of
oy'erblown special effects. popcorn \iolence and stupid comersations.
.-l// the Real (Hr/s is split in two. and which half of the film you prefer will apparently depend on whether
you prefer the music of Lamb or that of l’ortishead. The Lamb half is about getting to know you and the l’ortishead half is all about the heartache. (ireen himself clearly prefers l’ortishead: "I‘he second half: that's the new stuff that you don‘t usually see on tilmf
12 me LIST .v as am .‘
‘The environment we are establishing is not about today. It is wherever and forever and way before’
Enter the lyrical world of David Gordon Green
(it‘c‘c‘ll slltmls lllL‘ bree/c and L‘\pl;lltt\ lit)“ ltc‘ came to cast his quirky female lead: ‘/.ooey was giy'en the lead female role. after an unnatned actress refused to get her hair cut for lltc‘ role. You know the cast is a \aluable part of this story because they bring their own baggage. their own truth. their own emotional w eaknesscs and they let tis film it. which is great because you can be as natural and authentic as you can be and make a tttoy'ic that honestly deals with people at this point in their li\cs. rather than a bunch of old fogcys retnembering what it was like in the olden days. It's as talking about w hat il~ fell like ycslcrtlay and today.
of the director Ul' (it'nrg't' Hits/linen)” being black. hearing (ircen talk about his own films giyes the impression of an art house—loying geek. The reality could not be further from the truth. .lm'ltuxs - T/lt‘ .llUl'fl' was Ullc‘ Ul‘ llls fayouritc lilttts til~ the year. he rey eals. 'l'd line to cast .lolmny Klto\\ ille in a moxief
'l‘hat team-up will hayc to wait. as (ireen has
just finished filming ('m/vrtmr with .lamie Bell and
Dermot Mulroney and then in a mouthwatering prospect. (ireen will direct Drew Barrymore in the Soderbergh-produced adaptation of .lolm Kennedy Tot)ch extraordinary New ()rleans—sct last noycl. .-\ ('unfi'dvrut'y' of Uri/Ices. llis days of racial misindentity are clearly numbered.
GFT, Glasgow and Cameo, Edinburgh from Fri 1 Aug. See review.
.lttst like the misnomer
LEGALLY BILo'NoE 2 - RED WHITE AND
BLONDE
(PG) 95min 0.