Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.09.2009, Síða 14

14
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 15 — 2009 While we were laying this out, we started wondering whether running a photograph (let alone a cover photograph) of a dude
smoking a cigar might be illegal. We considered this for a while, before promptly deciding to not give a damn. But consider
how messed up society is when we actually have to spend time worrying about that kind of trite bullshit. Sheesh.
So you first heard about Iceland
when Bobby Fischer played here?
“My friend Lubomir Kavalek was
Bobby Fischer’s second in Reykjavik.”
Did Kavalek also emigrate from
Czechoslovakia after 1968? [The
Fischer-Spassky match took place only
four years after the Soviet invasion
of Czechoslovakia and Forman’s
emigration to the West]
“Yes he did. Kavalek later became the
US chess champion.”
Do you think it was a chance for
him to get back at the Russians
through Bobby Fischer, after the
invasion of Czechoslovakia, as the
famous water polo match against
the Soviet Union was for the
Hungarians in 1956?
“Yes, it was very similar. The
Hungarians hoped that the Western
democracies would come and help.
They didn’t, and the same happened
in Czechoslovakia. They didn’t want
to start World War III.”
I understand that there was a
sense in Czechoslovakia at the
time that they were betrayed by
Western intellectuals, who at the
time were busy protesting against
capitalism.
“I went to France at the time and I met
some of my heroes, such as Truffaut. I
couldn’t understand that these people
were trying to drag the red f lag up
while we were trying to pull it down.
For them, the pendulum had swung
too far to the right, while for us at the
same time, it had swung too far to the
left.”
TwO kINdS OF CENSORSHIP
Forman’s countryman Milan Kundera
wrote The Unbearable Lightness
of Being about the Prague Spring.
Forman, however, is more interested
in going farther back in Czech history.
He is currently trying to make a movie
about the Munich conference in 1938
when Hitler met with Chamberlain,
Daladier and Mussolini and was given
permission to march into the Czech
borderlands.
How is your film on the Munich
conference going?
“We have the screenplay, and locations
have been found and some of the cast.
But they can’t find the finances. They
are still trying. There’s little chance
that the film will be made, but we’ll
see.”
In Czechoslovakia, you couldn’t
make the films that you wanted,
which is presumably why you left,
but in Hollywood, you now can’t
make the film that you want to,
because it doesn’t appeal to the
studios?
“Look, under communism, there was
this ideological pressure. In America,
that doesn’t exist at all. But there is a
commercial pressure. Whoever puts
money in the film wants money back.
I prefer commercial pressure, it is up
to the audience whether they like it or
not. With ideological pressure, you are
at the mercy of some ideologue.”
But Hollywood is always trying
to replicate last year’s success. As
they say, nobody knows anything.
“If something has success, they want
to repeat it. That’s normal.”
Surely, this must be restraining
for a filmmaker such as yourself
that appeals to more discerning
audiences?
“That’s life,” he says nonchalantly.
CUTTING OFF EXTREMES
It’s obvious that Forman is rather fond
of free speech. When he made The
People vs. Larry Flynt in 1996, about
the Hustler editor and his lawsuits,
he was criticized by both Christian
organisations and feminists for
glorifying pornography.
In The People vs. Larry Flynt,
you defend free speech, even if it
takes the form of pornography.
“They sued him and he won. The
Supreme Court decided that free
speech should be protected, even if it’s
uncomfortable speech. Comfortable
speech doesn’t need protection.
Uncomfortable speech does. It was
a very important decision by the
Supreme Court to ensure that even
uncomfortable speech should be
protected.”
Noam Chomsky said much
the same thing, when he even
defended neo-Nazis’ right to free
speech.
“It’s true. It’s ridiculous to say, ‘Yes,
we want democracy, but we want to
control what is said.’ It doesn’t work
that way. Democracy is either for
everybody or for nobody. It’s as simple
as that.”
So, do you see Larry Flynt as a
hero of free speech?
“I don’t know whether he really did
it to protect free speech or just to sell
more pornography. I don’t know, and
to be honest, I don’t care. When the
communists took over, they made laws
that we have to protect the system.
They said: ‘We don’t want to curb free
speech, just the extremes.’ So they
cut off the extreme voices. But then,
something else that was not extreme
before now becomes extreme. So you
cut off those voices. Again, something
has become extreme that wasn’t
before and they cut them off too. After
a while, everything is censored and
controlled. So it’s a slippery slope.”
After Iceland’s economic collapse,
we seem to be hearing a lot of
voices we didn’t hear before.
The market seemed to be very
efficient in cutting off those voices
earlier...
“Well, ‘whoever criticises the
president or this or that minister is
seen as attacking the whole country,
so we have to stop that.’ Well, that’s
ridiculous.”
NOT GUILTy ABOUT SALIERI
Forman returned to his homeland in
the early ‘80s to make a film where
Cold War Prague was used as a stand-
in for Rococo Vienna.
When you were making Amadeus
in Prague, American flags were
rolled out on the set on the 4th of
July. Did you plan that?
“No, I didn’t even know about it. It
was prepared by the technicians.
On the 4th of July, suddenly, instead
of Mozart’s music, the American
national anthem was played in the
theatre and the f lag was rolled out. Six
hundred extras were there and when
the anthem started to play, they didn’t
know what was happening. When
they realised it, they all stood up,
except for the members of the secret
police. It was a funny situation.”
At that point, America still
represented freedom to the
Czechs. Do you think it still does?
“It’s a very complicated situation still
today. A lot of economic and political
power is still in the hands of former
communists and secret police people
who are now big capitalists. It’s like a
mafia and they all help each other. It
will take another generation or two.”
Amadeus, set in late 18th Century
Vienna, is probably Forman’s most
famous film and often counted
among the greatest films of all time.
It was based on Peter Schaffer’s play,
which suggested that Mozart’s rival,
Salieri, was partially responsible for
his death. In fact, Salieri later taught
Mozart’s son.
Did you ever feel guilty about
implicating Salieri in Mozart’s
death, which is probably untrue?
“No, I don’t feel guilty towards Salieri.
After the movie came out, suddenly
everybody started listening to his
music. It was everywhere.”
CHANGE HAS TO COME FROM
wITHIN
Forman’s latest film, Goya’s Ghosts,
deals with the Spanish inquisition
in the late 18th Century, a period
Forman seems to go back to a lot.
“There is an interesting parallel
between events in the early 19th
Century and now. Napoleon liberated
Spain from the inquisition. But he
didn’t realise that the changes have
to come from with society, not from
outside. Suddenly, he became the
occupier and not the liberator of
Spain. It’s the same with Iraq. The
Americans thought they would be
welcomed as liberators, but that didn’t
happen. Any change has to come
within.”
What possessed you to make a
film based on Dangerous Liasons,
set in late 18th Century Paris,
after they had just made a major
film after Laclos’ novel?
“We started first, but they were faster.
I’ve loved the book since I was in
school. It’s all written in letters where
one person is competing with the
other about who is the worse human
being. So they take pride in being bad.
In the letters, they describe to each
other what they want the other person
to read. But if Marquise de Merteuil
Feature | Interview with Milos Forman
Milos Forman’s Masterclass
Milos Forman is sitting at café
Hressó, just about the only bar
in Reykjavík where one can
still sit and smoke. In his hand
he has a very large cigar, and
in front of him is a bottle of
malt. No, he’s not boozing in
the middle of the day. This is
the local version, Maltöl, much
beloved by Icelandic children.
Milos looks up as I sit down
in front of him. Old and
wizened eyes gaze at me. They
have seen the end of World
War II, Nazi occupation
and communist takeover, the
legendary Prague Spring of
1968. They have also directed
some of the greatest films ever
made, brought Mozart to life
and turned Jack Nicholson
into a madman. Large parts
of 20th century Czech history
can be told through the life
of Milos Forman. So can a
sizeable part of cinema history.
He is not bad company. There
is so much I want to ask him.
Therefore, I am somewhat
surprised when, like any
average Icelandic journalist, I
find myself asking not about
him or his work, but about
Iceland.
VALUR GUNNARSSON
BALdUR kRISTJÁNS