DIRECTOR LAWRENCE KASDAN ON MCQUEEN!

Director and Writer Lawrence Kasdan

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The reason I selected Lawrence Kasdan's commentary is two-fold. As an objective observer, he approaches McQueen's films as a student. Secondly, he covers the depth and breadth of Steve's career with some very good commentary that I felt was necessary for anyone reading about our "Virtual Festival" and checking out the films whether from Netflix, or from the Library or a movie rental store as we went along---for the very first time. Steve has been gone 27 years and many people are too young to recall Steve McQueen. So, Larry's comments are very accurate. And I hope they are helpful and lend insight. This was of major importance to me, such that I chose to forgo a movie suggestion for today in place of Kasdan's observations. First a small introduction:

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Writer and Director Lawrence Kasdan began as a commercial copywriter before transitioning into the film industry. Following are some of his projects: The Risk Pool (2007) (writer, director) (pre-production); Dreamcatcher (2003), (writer, director); Mumford, (1999), (writer, director); French Kiss (1995) ,(director & featured on "Friday Movie Suggestion Night"); Wyatt Earp (1994), (director, writer and producer) ; The Bodyguard (1992), (writer and producer); Grand Canyon (1991), (writer, director, and producer); I Love You to Death (1990), (director) The Accidental Tourist (1988), (writer, director, and producer); Silverado (1985), (writer, director, and producer) ; The Big Chill (1983),writer, director, and executive producer & featured on "Friday Movie Suggestion Night") ; Return of the Jedi (1983), (writer); Continental Divide (1981), (writer); Continental Divide (1981), (writer); Body Heat (1981), (director and writer); Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), writer) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980), (writer).

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LAWRENCE KASDAN: "I saw "The Magnificent Seven" when I was ten years old and it really changed my life. There was the one guy who was the most cool and the best model of being a man that I'd ever seen. Right from the opening sequence (of "Never So Few" that we will feature), people look at that part and they say: "That's the kind of part I want to play when I'm first starting out". But it was nothing until he did it! He would take a small part like "Never So Few" and turn it into this quintessential loner, dependable side kick. Even with that tiny, little part he starts stealing the movie from Frank Sinatra. That was his genius. He was always very calculated. He was always doing some sort of business in the corner of the frame. He was playing with his hat, he was re-loading his gun, he was adjusting his holster. During those few minutes, and with very few words, McQueen steals the movie away from Yul Brynner and yet, he plays with him brilliantly. And he is a model of every brave guy who takes on a job for no reason except he thinks that it's right.

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"In "The Great Escape", there's enormous soul and feeling throughout the movie. And at the center is this absolutely electrifying character who is a loner, and yet gives himself to the group cause. He then gets on this motorcycle---which you feel he's been waiting the entire movie to get onto this motorcycle---and you're on the motorcycle with him! You say, 'Okay, now this wild animal is free and on the run from an overwhelming force' (the Nazi's). And when he gets cornered, this is his signature action which is to to assess the immediate situation very quickly, take some radical physical action. (Note: The motorcycle jump was not in the original script; that was Steve's idea. Stunt double Bud Ekins performed the actual jump. Five years later it was Ekins who lays down the motorcycle in "Bullitt" and as Steve mentioned on an appearance on "The Tonight Show", Ekins drove the Mustang GT airborne off of hills on in the "Bullitt" San Francisco car chase that has not been equalled since).

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"In "The Sand Pebbles", you can see why he responded instantly to that character. because it's about a love story between a guy and a machine. It has everything to do with the engine in the boat. McQueen was great about the moral decision, because there is no 'goody-goody' about McQueen. Every character he ever played came from a dark side. You know, he would resist doing the right thing. There's nothing more appealing than a hero with that rough edge to him.

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"I don't know a young actor who wanted to be a star who hasn't studied "Bullitt" again and again and again. And from the way he gets into a car and gets out of a car, this is a complete performance where every single bit of physical action has its unique power. It was an instinct from what the camera picked up. He had the coolest way of doing the most mundane things.

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"In "Papillon", Dustin Hoffman's wonderful in the movie. But he's doing something bigger than McQueen. But you can't beat McQueen, because McQueen is always McQueen. He has a way of always undercutting everybody around him and being the one you look at. (After "The Towering Inferno"): He became more difficult to get to. He wouldn't even read a script unless you paid him a fee. And what it indicated was a kind of cynicism about the work, the lack of joy in it."

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Tomorrow: Steve's friend and Director Norman Jewison!