Splicetoday

Pop Culture
Jun 08, 2023, 06:27AM

I Didn’t Know Enough To Be Scared

A 2018 The Idaho Review interview with novelist/screenwriter George Pelecanos vs. a 2006 Sense of Cinema interview with film director Gregg Araki.

Araki 01 body.jpg?ixlib=rails 2.1

Gregg Araki: It’s really like the characters discover this strange stuff happening to them and I’m discovering it along with them.

George Pelecanos: It’s sometimes difficult to deprogram them, as they’ve learned to anticipate network notes and pre-address them in their writing.

Araki: They’d never heard of Godard, or they thought Godard was nonsense. He specializes in these unbelievably gorgeous photographs of hustlers in fast-food restaurants or hotel rooms or just desolate streets, but they’re lit and composed in this very controlled and precise way.

Pelecanos: Ideally, you learn to achieve as much with far less fat.

•••

Araki: My upbringing was very theoretical.

Pelecanos: So go out and get it.

Araki: It’s not available on video or anything.

Pelecanos: That was kind of a shock at first.

Araki: What’s interesting is taking that reality and creating this hyper-reality. 

•••

Pelecanos: I didn’t know enough to be scared.

Araki: But, to tell the truth, I don’t ever really think about it.

•••

Pelecanos: Can you get better, and not stagnate, over time?

Araki: Not necessarily. LA is a place where life is larger than life and everyday experience has a very twisted, cartoonish quality to it.

Pelecanos: We’re also very good at running restaurants and bars.

Araki: [Laughs]

Discussion

Register or Login to leave a comment