Movies You Are Most Looking Forward To

Reza
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Post by Reza »

A Q&A with Anthony Frewin, Writer of Color Me Kubrick

3/22/2007 ScreenGrab



Color Me Kubrick


Anthony Frewin might not be an immediately recognizable name to most movie-buffs, but he has played a big role in making some of history's greatest films. As Stanley Kubrick's friend and personal assistant since the days of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Frewin was the legendary director's right-hand man, responsible for everything from sorting through the thousands of news clippings Kubrick received, to doing art department research, and to overseeing dubbed versions of his films. He was also, as luck would have it, the person entrusted by Kubrick to deal with one Alan Conway, a smalltime con man who spent part of the 1990s going around England pretending to be Kubrick (even though he looked nothing like Kubrick, barely knew anything about him, and apparently didn't even care for his films). Those experiences have now borne fruit in the screenplay for this week's Color Me Kubrick, starring John Malkovich as Conway and directed by Brian Cook, another longtime Kubrick collaborator. The jump from dealing with Conway to writing a story about him shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Frewin's career as a crime novelist (he’s penned the acclaimed books London Blues and Scorpian Rising). ScreenGrab interviewed Frewin via email for the film's release.



Anthony Frewin


What kind of knowledge did you have of Alan Conway or those who had been swindled by him during the period you worked for Stanley?

In the early 1990s a message was passed on to me at SK's house in Hertfordshire by the Warner Bros offices at Pinewood Studios. This was from a 'friend' of Stanley's who was trying to contact him. The name meant nothing to SK and he asked me to find out what was going on. I phoned the guy and he was achingly sincere and felt abandoned by Stanley who had changed his telephone number. I had no doubt that this person genuinely believed he had met SK. Obviously someone had impersonated SK. We thought nothing more of it. Then, a couple of weeks later, more friends of Stanley's started calling Warner Bros trying to contact him and we realized we had a serial impostor.

One of the friends said he had visited Stanley's house many times and from him I got the address of an apartment in the dingy north-west London suburb of Wealdstone and from that I went to the Electoral Rolls and found the place was occupied by someone named Alan Conway.

SK asked me to find out what I could about this Conway and keep a record of all those who had been conned by this aptly named character, and soon I had a thick file. Conway, I discovered, was a predatory gay bankrupt travel agent with a rap sheet six blocks long that started with offences from around the age of 14 onwards. It was all petty stuff: cheque kiting, fraud, embezzlement, burglary, and lots of importuning in gents' lavatories.

More and more people contacted us who had thought they had met the real SK. I would interview them and put all the details in the file.
Conway played a short con? it was a con for drinks, meals and sex. He did not play a long con. It was immediate cons. On the strength of his name he would promise young men parts in films or the opportunity to work on films or through his contacts an entrée into Las Vegas and so on.


Did you ever have any interactions with him?

Our attorneys advised us that under no circumstances should we have any direct contact with Conway himself as he could turn this to his own advantage.

There was one legal option open to SK and that was to get an injunction against Conway, but in order to obtain this we would have to prove to the court that Conway was indeed doing what we accused him of, and in order to do that we had to produce witnesses who would stand up and say they had been conned. Well, of course, nobody who had been conned wanted to go public.

Conway's undoing came about in two ways: first with Frank Rich at Joe Allen's restaurant (A Table too Far as SK described it) and secondly by Conway signing a legal document (the lease for a gay bar in Soho) in SK's name, a criminal offence. When the police moved in on him he admitted himself to a psychiatric clinic and the prosecuting authorities abandoned the case.

What made you decide to write a film about Conway?

[After] the end of Conway's SK impersonations, I was left with a fat file detailing his exploits. Now, I had always been interested in con men and frauds and impostors and for several years I had been struggling with adapting Herman Melville's novel, The Confidence Man (1857) for the screen. What was I to do, deep-six the file in a filing cabinet or . . . ? What I did was write a screenplay based on Conway from my notes as an exercise, and then I deep-sixed that in the filing cabinet and forgot all about it (we were making Eyes Wide Shut at the time). I did not mention the screenplay to SK at anytime as he would probably have said I was wasting my time. He died in 1999 not knowing about it.

It was a year or so after SK's death that I came across the screenplay when I was clearing out the office and I gave it to Christiane, SK's widow, as I thought she might find it amusing. She did, and she said it should be made into a film. I then gave it to Brian Cook.


What was Stanley's reaction to Conway?

Well, pretty pissed off as you can imagine, but also somewhat philosophical acknowledging that this sort of thing might be expected when you were in his position.

We learnt that Conway had only ever seen a little of one of SK's films and did not like it at all. SK said, What an ingrate! If he's going to steal my identity at least he could pay me the courtesy of watching my films and liking them!

One day SK said to me, I'm going to get my own back on Conway! How was he to do that? Easy. I'm going to go around pretending I'm him! SK's humour never deserted him.


Obviously, the film is not a fact-based account of Conway's escapades. (The subtitle of the film is A True?ish Story.) To what extent did you stick to the historical record? Did you at any point consider making a completely fact-based film?

The film is a fact-based account in terms of all the major events but, of course, a lot of the detail was unknown to us and we had to surmise based on what we knew.


What kind of encouragement or advice did Stanley give to the filmmaking ambitions of those of you who worked with him? I know that a number of people who worked for him earlier, such as Andrew Birkin, became filmmakers in their own right.

The encouragement was in observing SK work. Either you were interested and learnt something or you didn't.


You and Brian had worked together for many years assisting Kubrick. How did your relationship with Brian change when the two of you became writer and director. Kubrick himself was reported to have had somewhat complex relationships with his writers.

How did my relationship change with Brian? In a word, it didn't. We'd both worked with SK and knew how to go about it. You just get on with it and, as SK always said, never let your ego get in the way of a good idea! I don't think SK had complex relationships with his writers. Some of his writers may have thought they had a complex relationship, but then this is down to their own psychology.

John Malkovich's amazing performance is so central to this film:Did you write with any particular actors in mind? And did you wind up having to tailor the script to Malkovich's strengths?

The script was written as an exercise with nobody in mind. And it was not re-written when John came aboard. However he did adapt, change and contribute greatly once the film was in production, as befits an actor of his stature. I cannot think of anyone who could have played the role better.


I'm curious if you've ever seen the Iranian film, CLOSE-UP, by Abbas Kiarostami, which is based on a real-life incident in which an emotionally disturbed man posed as the film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and convinced a Tehran family to let him live with them in order to do "research."

I'd never even heard of the film but I've just ordered a DVD from amazon. Thanks for telling me about it. This would certainly make a great double bill with Colour Me Kubrick!

The subject of impostors and con-men has always been a rich vein for writers and film makers to mine. Recently we've had that Philip Roth novel, Three Degrees of Separation and a couple of films by Mr Mamet. It makes us think about reality and illusion and what we know and what we think we know. And don't forget the Melville title already mentioned and his Benito Cereno.

Colour Me Kubrick is really a riff on celebrity. A lot of the people Conway conned were sane, rational, intelligent people but the moment they touched the hem of fame (ie Conway) these qualities deserted them. It wasn't that Conway was a good con-man, it was that his marks were only too wiling and eager to be taken in. Thus the modern power of celebrity.


When you tell people that you were Stanley Kubrick's assistant, do they believe you? And if so, do you ever sometimes feel, on some strange level, like you're getting a taste of the power Conway must have felt?

Do they believe me? Well, I think they do, but perhaps they are conning me! A taste of power? If only?
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Post by criddic3 »

abcinyvr wrote:I see that Colour Me Kubrick (2005) is finally getting released. I saw it last fall at the local Film Fest and quite enjoyed it. (3.5* out of 5) It was scheduled to play three times during the festival but eventually had five screenings due to demand.
Here is the write-up from viff.org....

Anthony Frewin, Colour Me Kubrick's writer, handled research for Stanley Kubrick from 2001: A Space Odyssey onward, while first-time director Brian Cook served as, amongst other things, assistant director on Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut. Given these facts, it is not surprising to see the amount of care and attention they devote to this smart, funny and supremely enjoyable tale of a British conman named Alan Conway who traipsed around London in the late 90s posing as, you guessed it, Stanley Kubrick.

"John Malkovich has recently played Gustav Klimt, Charles II, and of course himself, but this might be his most out-there performance yet. In Brian Cook's broad, breezy comedy, based on a real-life case, the up-for-anything thesp plays Alan Conway, a gay, effete, alcoholic slob who in the late 90s passed himself off as Stanley Kubrick. The lack of physical resemblance and the impostor's hilariously limited knowledge of the filmmaker's work didn't stop him from hustling his way into several bedrooms and bank accounts... Malkovich is transfixing, and his ridiculous mincing even attains a tragic dimension."--Dennis Lim, Village Voice

"It's hard to imagine any serious film buff taking a pass on Colour Me Kubrick, a sly, enormously entertaining romp... Anchored by John Malkovich's delectable lead performance... the saga looks to [succeed] wherever good scripts full of human foibles are appreciated."--Variety
We already received this last week at my store, but I haven't watched it yet. Comes out next Tuesday I believe.
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Post by MovieWes »

I have to admit it... there is hardly anything that I am really looking forward to seeing this year. I'll probably end up seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Spider-Man 3, but I can't say that I'm truly anticipating them very much. And I am definately going to steer clear of the hideous looking Shrek the Third.

Here's a few movies that I'm looking forward to seeing...

American Gangster
Grindhouse
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass
I Am Legend (just because I loved the book)
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie
Sunshine
Sweeney Todd
Youth Without Youth
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Post by abcinyvr »

I see that Colour Me Kubrick (2005) is finally getting released. I saw it last fall at the local Film Fest and quite enjoyed it. (3.5* out of 5) It was scheduled to play three times during the festival but eventually had five screenings due to demand.
Here is the write-up from viff.org....

Anthony Frewin, Colour Me Kubrick's writer, handled research for Stanley Kubrick from 2001: A Space Odyssey onward, while first-time director Brian Cook served as, amongst other things, assistant director on Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut. Given these facts, it is not surprising to see the amount of care and attention they devote to this smart, funny and supremely enjoyable tale of a British conman named Alan Conway who traipsed around London in the late 90s posing as, you guessed it, Stanley Kubrick.

"John Malkovich has recently played Gustav Klimt, Charles II, and of course himself, but this might be his most out-there performance yet. In Brian Cook's broad, breezy comedy, based on a real-life case, the up-for-anything thesp plays Alan Conway, a gay, effete, alcoholic slob who in the late 90s passed himself off as Stanley Kubrick. The lack of physical resemblance and the impostor's hilariously limited knowledge of the filmmaker's work didn't stop him from hustling his way into several bedrooms and bank accounts... Malkovich is transfixing, and his ridiculous mincing even attains a tragic dimension."--Dennis Lim, Village Voice

"It's hard to imagine any serious film buff taking a pass on Colour Me Kubrick, a sly, enormously entertaining romp... Anchored by John Malkovich's delectable lead performance... the saga looks to [succeed] wherever good scripts full of human foibles are appreciated."--Variety
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Post by criddic3 »

paperboy wrote:
criddic3 wrote:Away from Her with Peter O'Toole and Julie Christie.

Peter O'Toole? I don't think that's correct.
I just checked imdb and you're right. O'Toole isn't listed. I had read an article which listed him as one of the cast members, but I guess that was a mistake. Sorry. It would have been interesting to see though.
"Because here’s the thing about life: There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand. There are other days when we’re called to lend a hand." -- President Joe Biden, 01/20/2021
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Post by Penelope »

Here's the movie I'm most anticipating: certain to sweep next year's Academy Awards.
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Post by paperboy »

criddic3 wrote:Away from Her with Peter O'Toole and Julie Christie.
Peter O'Toole? I don't think that's correct.
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Post by criddic3 »

Away from Her with Peter O'Toole and Julie Christie.

I Am Legend with Will Smith. Could the third time be the charm for this story? I enjoyed both the Vincent Price and Charlton Heston versions, but neither were entirely successful.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford with Brad Pitt. I certainly hope that a film brave enough to keep such an unusually long title will be good.

Lust, Caution. I love Ang Lee's work.

Youth Without Youth is interesting because it marks the return of Francis Ford Coppola. For a while it seemed like he was letting his daughter take the reigns.

Sweeney Todd, because even though it could end up as crap, I have loved some of Burton's films before, as well as Johnny Depp. It's a challenge for them to make it work.

Harry Potter 5. With Radcliffe doing stage work...or posing for Playgirl?... there's a new reason to see him play his signature role again.

American Gangster. Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington are two of the best actors out there.
"Because here’s the thing about life: There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand. There are other days when we’re called to lend a hand." -- President Joe Biden, 01/20/2021
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Post by Okri »

I'm looking forward to...

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Atonement
Control
Eastern Promises
Fugitive Pieces
The Golden Age
His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass
The Host
I'm Not There
Into Great Silence
King and the Clown
Love in the Time of Cholera
Lust, Caution
My Blueberry Nights
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Reservation Road
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Youth Without Youth

... among others.
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Post by VanHelsing »

There are only THREE (yes, count 'em) movies that I'm MOST looking forward to (in order)...

1. Premonition starring Sandra Bullock (obviously)
2. Vacancy starring Kate Beckinsale (check out the trailer on Yahoo which just came out!)
3. Transformers (yes I'm a GFB. Also, as an added bonus, Megan Fox looks hot!)

Of course, I'll check out some other movies but as for the above-mentioned 3, I'll be first in line to see them. :D
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Post by Franz Ferdinand »

Zodiac
300
I Think I Love My Wife
Grind House
Spider-Man 3
Shrek the Third
POTC: At World's End
Knocked Up
Evan Almighty
Ratatouille
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (to compliment the final book)
The Simpsons Movie
The Bourne Ultimatum
Atonement

...and any other under-the-radar type of flick that will tickle my senses.
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Post by abcinyvr »

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
The Simpsons Movie

I can't believe that I am actually going to see two movies this summer! Usually I steer clear.

What everyone should be looking forward to is The Host. S. Korean monster movie that is quite well done.
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Post by Hustler »

Eric wrote:I don't usually follow titles as they're in production, so I don't typically start anticipating films until they're done and showing up in previews. The only title I think I remember being interested in seeing is the Chris Rock film based on Eric Rohmer.
But it´s based in Eric Rohmer´s Drama L´amour l´après-midi, The last of Rohmer's Six Moral Tales and Rock´s film turned out to be a comedy. I´m scared!
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Post by Damien »

Okay. I admit he was atypically great in Nixon. But even a broken clock is right twice a day. So I guess the bore has one other good performance awaiting.
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Post by criddic3 »

There are those who think of Sir Anthony as an overacting, overrated bore. I don't. I think he's often brilliant, from The Silence of the Lambs to The Remains of the Day to Nixon to even his delightful The World's Fastest Indian. I do admit, though, that a few of his performances have been overheated and disappointing, but extremely few. His worst movies include The Desperate Hours (1990) and his self-directed work in August (1996).
"Because here’s the thing about life: There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand. There are other days when we’re called to lend a hand." -- President Joe Biden, 01/20/2021
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