Stephen Interviewed by Tripod
Gyllenhaal, in addition to screening films, shared excerpts from his book of poetry to an audience at the Fred last Friday evening.
This past weekend, Hollywood director and poet Stephen Gyllenhaal, class of '72. came to Trinity to screen four of his films - A Killing in a Small Town, Paris Trout, Homegrown, and Waterland - and to emphasize the need for a film program here at Trinity. The weekend of events, planned by Timothy Griggs, included class discussions on narrative storytelling and film art versus commerce, a couple of hands-on student workshops on directing and shooting a film, and learning how to edit footage, and a poetry reading at the Fred, among other meetings and receptions.
Gyllenhaal's filmmaking - and poetry - is an effort to search for the truth within a world of lies. (Corruption, thy name is Hollywood.) Much of the discussion on narrative storytelling on Friday morning dealt with the truth and how powerful it can be. "Telling lies will kill you," said Gyllenhaal. Whether that's meant to be taken literally or not is questionable, but this idea certainly plays a role in Gyllenhaal's films. I was able to see Paris Trout and Waterland, both phenomenal films, and I feel that truth and lies (appearing in the form of denial) are very important in how these films play out. The main characters (Paris Trout and Tom Crick, respectively) are both filled with emptiness because they fail to see the hypocrisy and denial in their own lives. These films are both very interesting views on our human condition and how we would rather believe what we want to believe than see things for what they really are because it hurts to realize that you're alone in the world. Gyllenhaal doesn't beat around the bush; there are very graphic images in his films and while some may take them to be gratuitous (as I did initially), they're absolutely necessary because it's reality. Sugar-coating the things that are ugly in life would completely defeat the purpose of Gyllenhaal's films. They make us uncomfortable because we aren't comfortable with the truth. Basically, we can't deal with reality so we make up little stories to make ourselves feel better.
In addition to screening films, he shared excerpts from his book of poetry to an audience at the Fred [student center] last Friday evening.
Gyllenhaal's written work is also very blunt and sometimes makes the audience feel awkward and uncomfortable. Not that it lacks in content; on the contrary, his words carry a lot of meaning and though his poems don't follow a particular rhyme scheme or meter, they do have structure. His publisher, Cantara Christopher, with whom I had the opportunity to speak, was emphatic about how methodical Gyllenhaal's poetry is. For Gyllenhaal, poetry is very much a form of therapy. "My shrink told me to write down my thoughts. Poetry made me sane," he told the students at Friday night's poetry reading at the Fred. He read a few poems about the Hollywood lifestyle ("Careful There, Pardner"), and one about having a heart attack. He even read two poems he had written about his children, Hollywood stars Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal. "I wrote some poems about my kids, but I don't like to read them because it makes me uncomfortable. Fame and all that is so f***ed up. I don't recommend it to anyone," he said while introducing a poem about missing his son's performance in Oliver in London, called "On Opening Night." He also read a poem about his daughter called "Watching You Strip/My Daughter," a retort at the critics who panned Maggie's performance in the play Closer. In between reading his poems, he had students come up and read their own poetry. Later, he moved on to reading some prose, excerpts from a few novels currently in progress: Sycamore Row, a semi-autobiographical story about the trials of a family of eight, and a modern-day retelling of the Arthurian myths.
However, to Gyllenhaal, the most important aspect of his visit to Trinity was getting Cinestudio the attention and respect it deserves. I had the opportunity to speak with Gyllenhaal (thanks to Griggs and Matt Milner, class of '09), and the primary focus of our discussion was Cinestudio.
"I think that Cinestudio is probably the crown jewel of Trinity College. Trinity is struggling at the moment, as many schools are, and has at its fingertips the one theatre in the nation run by students and has in James Hanley and Peter McMorris two of the finest film historians anywhere who can get any film that's been made anywhere in the history of cinema. Globally and historically it's a treasure trove of film. And like so many treasures, it's buried. I think if they unbury this treasure, it will change Trinity's profile in the U.S. profoundly," Gyllenhaal replied when asked about what his aspirations for Cinestudio are. "What's ironic is it wouldn't take much money, partially because there's such a passion and commitment by students who are willing to work for nothing," he added, referring to the staff of over fifty students who keep Cinestudio running smoothly.
The one thing that made Gyllenhaal most upset was that students don't take advantage of the asset we have in Cinestudio. (He was particularly disgusted by the fact that Trinity hosts trips to local commercial movie theatres when we have Cinestudio right under our noses.) I am guilty of not using the resources at Cinestudio. Before Gyllenhaal came to campus, I'd seen maybe two movies at Cinestudio, and one of them was for a class. After meeting Gyllenhaal and seeing his films at Cinestudio, though, I'm definitely looking forward to spending more time there and taking advantage of what this theatre has to offer. "All the movies you thought were your favorites will evaporate," said Gyllenhaal. "The movies at Cinestudio will move you so deeply. And no one knows those movies better than Peter and James. You can't believe how deprived we've all been, watching movies that people who want our money want us to see."
For more information about Stephen Gyllenhaal, check out the 4 November Hartford Courant article. For information about Cinestudio and show times, see cinestudio.org.
- Elizabeth Agresta
The Tripod | 13 November 2007
