Life in a great auteur's filmmaking 'family'
By Wing Tan |
December 2, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BORN in Hong Kong, France-based filmmaker Mary Stephen is known for the work she did with master director Eric Rohmer as his regular editor, starting with "A Winter's Tale" in 1992.
She studied filmmaking at Universite Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle in 1976 and became a student of Rohmer. Without seeing any of Rohmer's film, Stephen, at that time a young, inexperienced film editor, was chosen by the master director to join the mysterious "Rohmer Family." This partnership lasted 15 years until Rohmer's last film, 2007's "Romance of Astree and Celadon." Rohmer died in 2010.
Rohmer was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter and teacher. He was the last of the French New Wave directors. A private man, Rohmer seldom gave interviews and kept his movie life separate from his personal life.
Stephen visited Shanghai recently for the retrospective of Rohmer's work hosted by Cultural Office of the French Consulate General in Shanghai and Shanghai Normal University Research Center of European Film.
Q: How did you start working with Rohmer?
A: I met Rohmer when I was very young and studying in France. He was my professor and taught us how to make a movie: how to do the budget; take control of the studio; compose film music; and mobilize the actors. All very practical things that you would never learn in other classes.
However, Rohmer was also a really boring teacher. He would read his lecture materials without looking up. The French students came in and went out, but he didn't care. I guess this was because he was really a shy person.
During that time, I wanted to make my own film but didn't know how. I often went to Rohmer to talk about my ideas to see how they worked, though I only spoke a little simple French. He would also come to see me editing. One day, he asked if I would like to be his film editor's assistant. "As you've edited your own films, do you want to be an assistant of other people's?" he asked. I said, "of course, why not!" And so I started working with him.
Q: What was your collaboration like?
A: My collaboration with Rohmer was very harmonious. I remember he once said that he could only collaborate with either very young people or those who had started to work with him when he was very young. He needed an open mind from his collaborators - not people set in their ways or with big egos.
At work, he was not shy at all and liked to make jokes. Rohmer had fixed working partners, five or six at most, and we were just like a family.
Rohmer and I would watch the rushes together because he thought the film editor should be the first to see the original material. He wanted to know how I would react to the film. As a matter of fact, I believe he was pretty clear about what he wanted and just wanted to see whether the audience thought the same.
Q: What did you learn from Rohmer, apart from film editing?
A: His "forever young" attitude impressed me most. When working together closely, I had a feeling that we would never grow old because Rohmer kept his incredible youthful spirit, his curiosity and openness to ideas.
He loved to work with young people because young people could always bring something new. He was an extremely modest and humble man; he respected everyone's opinion. Even though he probably knew how to do something already, he would always listen to your opinion first. This is totally different from some of young directors I've worked with.
He always said he was only 18 years old. And what's more amazing is that many young people, even my children, ask me if Rohmer is a young director because his films are telling the stories of exactly today's young people's life, even they were shot decades ago.
Q: What if you have disagreements with the director?
A: Maybe because of the mutual trust and respect, I seldom had disagreements with Rohmer. Only once did we have a difference of opinion. Then, I edited a new version and put it on his desk the next morning. He didn't say anything but used my version.
Q: What kind of role do you think a film editor plays and what kind of a film editor you are?
A: A film editor is the last stage - almost - in the making of a film. The editor should be aware of what the director wants to express and should try their best to present and create this.
Ideas are all from the director. A good film editor is someone who can make the audience immediately recognize the film is made by which director, not by which film editor.
In the West, a film editor is very important. But many people still have the prejudice that a film editor is only following the director, but it's not true.
As in some documentary films, a film editor, I think, should be regarded as the second author.
I've edited some documentaries for Chinese directors. I remember in one film, the director deleted a scene in which people were shouting and yelling at the camera, but I insisted that we save it.
A film editor is often ignored by the audience, because they only watch the edited film. They don't know what's been saved and discarded, and they don't know the effort a film editor has put into the film.
She studied filmmaking at Universite Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle in 1976 and became a student of Rohmer. Without seeing any of Rohmer's film, Stephen, at that time a young, inexperienced film editor, was chosen by the master director to join the mysterious "Rohmer Family." This partnership lasted 15 years until Rohmer's last film, 2007's "Romance of Astree and Celadon." Rohmer died in 2010.
Rohmer was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter and teacher. He was the last of the French New Wave directors. A private man, Rohmer seldom gave interviews and kept his movie life separate from his personal life.
Stephen visited Shanghai recently for the retrospective of Rohmer's work hosted by Cultural Office of the French Consulate General in Shanghai and Shanghai Normal University Research Center of European Film.
Q: How did you start working with Rohmer?
A: I met Rohmer when I was very young and studying in France. He was my professor and taught us how to make a movie: how to do the budget; take control of the studio; compose film music; and mobilize the actors. All very practical things that you would never learn in other classes.
However, Rohmer was also a really boring teacher. He would read his lecture materials without looking up. The French students came in and went out, but he didn't care. I guess this was because he was really a shy person.
During that time, I wanted to make my own film but didn't know how. I often went to Rohmer to talk about my ideas to see how they worked, though I only spoke a little simple French. He would also come to see me editing. One day, he asked if I would like to be his film editor's assistant. "As you've edited your own films, do you want to be an assistant of other people's?" he asked. I said, "of course, why not!" And so I started working with him.
Q: What was your collaboration like?
A: My collaboration with Rohmer was very harmonious. I remember he once said that he could only collaborate with either very young people or those who had started to work with him when he was very young. He needed an open mind from his collaborators - not people set in their ways or with big egos.
At work, he was not shy at all and liked to make jokes. Rohmer had fixed working partners, five or six at most, and we were just like a family.
Rohmer and I would watch the rushes together because he thought the film editor should be the first to see the original material. He wanted to know how I would react to the film. As a matter of fact, I believe he was pretty clear about what he wanted and just wanted to see whether the audience thought the same.
Q: What did you learn from Rohmer, apart from film editing?
A: His "forever young" attitude impressed me most. When working together closely, I had a feeling that we would never grow old because Rohmer kept his incredible youthful spirit, his curiosity and openness to ideas.
He loved to work with young people because young people could always bring something new. He was an extremely modest and humble man; he respected everyone's opinion. Even though he probably knew how to do something already, he would always listen to your opinion first. This is totally different from some of young directors I've worked with.
He always said he was only 18 years old. And what's more amazing is that many young people, even my children, ask me if Rohmer is a young director because his films are telling the stories of exactly today's young people's life, even they were shot decades ago.
Q: What if you have disagreements with the director?
A: Maybe because of the mutual trust and respect, I seldom had disagreements with Rohmer. Only once did we have a difference of opinion. Then, I edited a new version and put it on his desk the next morning. He didn't say anything but used my version.
Q: What kind of role do you think a film editor plays and what kind of a film editor you are?
A: A film editor is the last stage - almost - in the making of a film. The editor should be aware of what the director wants to express and should try their best to present and create this.
Ideas are all from the director. A good film editor is someone who can make the audience immediately recognize the film is made by which director, not by which film editor.
In the West, a film editor is very important. But many people still have the prejudice that a film editor is only following the director, but it's not true.
As in some documentary films, a film editor, I think, should be regarded as the second author.
I've edited some documentaries for Chinese directors. I remember in one film, the director deleted a scene in which people were shouting and yelling at the camera, but I insisted that we save it.
A film editor is often ignored by the audience, because they only watch the edited film. They don't know what's been saved and discarded, and they don't know the effort a film editor has put into the film.
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