Allison Anders
Grace of My Heart, written and directed by Allison Anders, follows her films Gas Food Lodging and Mi Vida Loca. It chronicles the life of 60s singer/songwriter Denise Waverly
I read that you've had the idea of this story since film school.
Being a fan of that kind of music, Iused to read my record sleeves thoroughly to find out more about it. In the 1980s I began to discover more about the Brill Building. Even if most people don't know what the Brill Building is, they've probably listened to about five songs a day on the radio that were written there, especially between 1959 to about 1965. Everyone wrote there: Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Neil Sedaka, Ali Greenwich and Jeff Barry, Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Record producers also worked there, and many songs were recorded right there in the building. They were all incredibly young, running from room to room and checking out each other's stuff.
So I was curious about what went on there. That idea stayed with me for a while, and when I met Illeana Douglas it seemed like exactly the right story to tell: with her personality and her sort of dual ironic nature, where she can play a couple of different feelings at the same time.
So you wrote the part with Illeana in mind?
Actually, I wrote all the characters for the actors who played them. I was just lucky that they read the script and agreed! But I wrote with all of them in mind, with the exception of the Bruce Davison character. But that character that was a personal thing for me, and Itried to work out a relationship with him through the film. So it was kind of hard for me to find the guy!
Have you had a relationship, like the one between Illeana Douglas and John Turturro, that's had such a big impact on your life?
Yes, I have. I named Joel after my manager. That relationship is very similar, as is the one Ihave with my producer, Dan Hassid, who's been on all my films. It's great for a woman to have relationships like that with men, when there's no sexual tension and where that boundary's extremely clear. Ilove relationships like that.
You're one of a handful of women directors who are getting to make the films they want to make. How do you do it? Is it because of the stories you've told, or relationships you've had, or because of your own personality, or whatever?
It might be that I tell certain types of stories. Not all women directors want to stay focused on feminine issues, but for some reason I do. I don't know why that is. In film school my main characters were always men, and then in Gas Food Lodging this feminine voice evolved. But in my very first little movie, which I co-directed with my boyfriend at the time, we were constantly having a power struggle over who should be stronger - the woman or the man. After my boyfriend moved out my work became extremely feminine, and his became totally macho. And it's funny that it took ending that relationship to find out where I needed to go. It's very similar to Denise - finding your voice through disappointments.
The scene in the film where she finally records her song 'God Give Me Grace' is very powerful. But then she had to face the letdown of the song being a failure.
The film would have been very different if it had been a hit for her. At one point there was a little worry when the song sounded so good. How could we explain that it wasn't a hit? But that kind of thing happens all the time in the music business.
Did you get 'final cut'?
I've only had final cut in my contract once, and that was on Four Rooms. And it's the only time that it hasn't felt like final cut. I don't feel like that movie is very much mine.
I think that on Grace Marty [Scorsese, the executive producer] probably had final cut and gave it to me. But, obviously, if I had been straying and had been delivering a four-hour shapeless movie he would have stepped in. This film, more than any other, feels really like it's mine. I think that's because the people around me understood what film I wanted to make.
Let's talk about the music and your collaboration with Karyn Rachtman and Larry Klein.
When I first decided to have original music and talked to Karyn about pairing songwriters and creating teams, she said: 'That's a great idea. But I'm going to kill you - because it's going to be so much work!'
The great awesome team that she came up with was Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach. It was amazing that she envisioned them and put them together. And she brought me Larry. At first we were going to have different producers, but I met him and I just loved him.
Wim Wenders is a big influence. How did you get to know him?
I wrote him obsessive fan mail! I saw his films and I decided 'That's what I want to do'. The way that he approached character and pacing - that was where I wanted to be. I wrote him letters for a year and a half, and eventually he came and saw my very first movie at UCLA. And then I went to work for him on Paris, Texas. I finagled a grant by saying that he had invited me to study under him. When he came to see my movie I said, 'I've won this grant!' He said, 'Congratulations,' and I replied, 'It's to study under you on Paris, Texas!' And he said: 'Well, I guess you have to come, then.'
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