My Dialogue with Warren Beatty at The New York Film Festival

My Dialogue with Warren Beatty at The New York Film Festival

Wednesday evening (10/04/2006) I attended the 25th Anniversary screening of "Reds" at the New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. I arrived in my seat while the opening credits were rolling and did not hear NYFF Programming Director Richard Pena’s introduction of the film, and don’t know whether Beatty made any pre-screening remarks.

As many of you know, Reds is more than 3 hours long, and it is usually shown in theaters with an intermission. Although the film is about American Communists during the time of the Russian Revolution, my view of the film has always been that it’s more about political radicals and intellectuals caught up in a critical moment in history, and because I’m fascinated by and work in politics, I am very interested in films like this.

After the film ended at about 10:40pm, it turned out Beatty was indeed present for the showing and he stood up in the VIP box on the second level of Tully Hall and received a long standing ovation from the crowd. I applauded his artistry strongly as well while remaining seated but I seriously wondered how many of those standing and cheering in the audience were sympathetic to Beatty’s left-wing politics, and seeing the film again (for the fourth or fifth time) only rehashed my original questions about why Beatty made the film and what his thinking and motivations were in writing it.

After Beatty took his ovation, the Festival brought out a discussion table so it was obvious that Warren was going to come down and have a talk for the audience. There was a female moderator who interviewed him for 15 minutes and then they took questions from the audience.
Clearly, Beatty does not mind talking and interfacing with people, and he even said as much. "I can be exhausting, can’t I?", he remarked after a particularly long answer.

I finally was called upon to ask a question, and I was the last person who would do so. This is how my discussion with Beatty went to the best of my recollection:

Moderator to Nic Leobold: "OK, (You were next), Sir, I hope you have a brilliant question."

Nic Leobold: "Well, _I_ think my question is brilliant." (Audience laughter) "Before I ask my question, I’d just like to say that Annette Benning’s film "Valmont" is one of my all-time favorite films."

Warren Beatty: "Thank you for bringing up my wife! Valmont IS a wonderful film, and it’s also a great example of what I call the "Tyranny of The Release Date……."

[At this point I was looking up to see if Annette Benning had a reaction to my compliment and was looking at me from the box above. Beatty had previously announced that his "better half" was present, and Benning had also received enthusiastic applause.]

Warren Beatty: "Excuse me, are you looking at my wife?!" (joking)

NL: "Oh. Sorry." (joking)

WB: [Continuing] "As you may know, another film, also based on the book "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", ‘Dangerous Liaisons’, was released earlier than Valmont, the same year. However, I must say, objectively speaking, Valmont is the, uh, a, uh…….."

NL: "…..It’s FAR superior."

WB: "Yes, right…..That’s brilliant."

NL: "Actually, the DVD release of Valmont, unfortunately, has a crucial scene that’s been edited out of the DVD version."

Moderator: "Uh, Excuse me, I think we’re getting a little sidetracked with this discussion.. We’re supposed to be talking about Reds tonight. Please ask your question."

NL: "My question is, how did your personal politics influence you in making this film, and was it in your mind while you were making it that the U.S. in 1981, when you shot the film, had itself become extremely Socialistic as a country?"

WB: "Uhm--what, the U.S. Socialistic? Uh, I don’t know about THAT. Well, my politics influenced it of course….I’m a lefty liberal. That’s my politics. You know, I believe in a ‘mixed economy’, so in that sense, I believed in the film’s message to some extent. I guess that had a part in why I made it."

It was clear to me that my exchange with Beatty got him thinking, or surprised him, and the Moderator quickly ended the talk after he finished answering me. I don’t think Warren was totally thrilled with our little "conversation" (as he and the Moderator seemed to turn away from me during his last answer and attempt to avoid me), but I certainly found it entertaining, although I would have loved the opportunity to go into the VIP Green Room upstairs and question him a little more pointedly about his "Lefty Liberalism" (and chat with Annette, as well. I’ve always wanted to express to her how much I love "Valmont". I hope I accomplished that last night. I’d really love to meet Meg Tilly, of course, as well.), but I wanted to get home, so I called it a night.

It was raining outside Alice Tully Hall, so the air was clean and fresh, and I ran to the subway across from Avery Fisher and came home.

Mission Accomplished, I guess you could say, for my October 4th, 2006 Film Festival visit.

Nic Leobold