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“I’ve gotten away with most of the purple stuff in my films by sticking it
in Redford’s mouth.”
to be a director.” I felt insulted at first thinking, ‘Did that mean the way I look I’d never be an actor?’
Lancaster called Lew Wasserman, reigning magnate of the MCA Corporation, and the upshot was that the then 26-year-old Pollack switched coasts to become a Hollywood apprentice at $75 a week. Soon he was directing segments of long forgotten TV series like Shotgun Slade before moving up to the dizzier heights of Ben Casey, thence to his first feature, The Slender Thread, in 1965.
Pollack told a rapt audience that in choosing material he “relied very heavily on instinct. I also have to imag- ine myself waking up with these char- acters every day for two years; having breakfast with them, dinner with them and hanging out with them.”
The sometimes less than slender thread through all his work is the ‘love story. I haven’t ever made a film that isn’t a love story. Love stories are always political and metaphors for everything.”
His two favourite buzz words are “keel” and “armature”. So, the “keel” of his films is the love story – whether it’s a thriller (Three Days Of The Condor), comedy (Tootsie) or period outdoor adventure (Out Of Africa).
The “armature” is, as in sculp- ture, what is invisible but holds the creation up and gives it its strength. Every movie must have its “arma- ture”, he re-iterates.
Pollack admitted he’s a sucker for good writing but also revealed that in films he has been regularly “saved by good actors.” He cited Robert Redford, a collaborator across no fewer than eight movies, as the per- fect example: “I’ve gotten away with most of the purple stuff in my films by sticking it in Redford’s mouth,” he added, admiringly.
Finally, Pollack – who’s current- ly serving alongside fellow execu- tive producer Minghella on a remake of The Quiet American, with Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser – gave a telling insight into his own working practice.
“These days I do less and less rehearsal, sometimes none at all – which is not to say I don’t spend hours of preparation talking to my actors. A genuinely creative moment is one that you do not understand. How can you prepare for that?
“I have a need to get the camera rolling early. Film is cheap but it can be pretty expensive if you miss catching a little bit of lightning in the jar. You can’t get that back because you don’t know how you got it.”
You can, suggested this most eloquent and internationally-mind- ed of American film-makers, “end up knowing too much. The hard- est thing is to try and remain a beginner.” ■ Quent in Falk
David Lean Lecture
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Photos: Sydney Pollack with Anthony Minghella