tried to ignore them, sure they would follow us if we moved. “Jeunet is a perfectionist, but he was polite when I wasn’t doing exactly what he wanted me to. We had to do a lot of takes for several of my scenes, but he was so precise about what he wanted from everyone that I didn’t really mind. I’m sure I learned some things that I’ll use again.”
“Which foreign director have you liked working with the most?”
“They’ve all been great in their own ways. I don’t play favorites, so please don’t ask me to name any.”
Jim waved away a yellow jacket, which made me nervous. I had a feeling that one of us was going to get stung. “What about Polanski?” he asked. “What was it like working with him?”
“He’s very professional, very smart and funny too.”
“What did you think about what happened with that girl he allegedly raped and drugged back in the seventies?”
This wasn’t the first time I’d been asked that question. I had my answer ready. “It was unfortunate for him and everyone else involved. He was still recovering from Sharon Tate’s murder and the loss of their unborn child. I’m not saying he should be excused, but he wasn’t behaving in a rational way, and I bet he’d say the same thing if you asked him.”
Jim looked down at a small piece of paper he had in the hand that wasn’t holding the camera. “What do you think are the main differences between foreign and American directors?”
I laughed a little. “That’s a pretty broad question. There are plenty of differences just among American directors, don’t you think? But I suppose one thing is that foreign directors don’t usually have enormous budgets like some American directors do, so I think there’s often a little less pressure from their studio and producers to do everything exactly the way the studio bosses say.”
“They have more autonomy?”
“I think some of them do. So if the picture does well, they get most of the credit. If it doesn’t, they also get most of the blame. But that part’s the same as here. When something tanks in the U.S., the director gets the lion’s share of the blame, but it might actually be his producers’ faults more than his own.”
Jim swatted at another yellow jacket. “Can you give me an example?”
I shook my head. “I’d rather not. But I’m sure you can find one if you do a little research.” I paused. “You’d better not get too pushy with that wasp. One of us is going to get stung.”
“I have that disease where you don’t feel any pain.”
I stared at him. “No, you don’t.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” He laughed.
What is this guy’s problem? I wondered, blinking with irritation. I was starting to feel a little warm too. The morning run probably wasn’t going to happen.
“Sorry,” he said. “Sometimes I say things that are supposed to be funny, but no one can tell that I’m joking.”
“Keep trying,” I said. “But only with the people who know you well.”
We talked for a few more minutes, until he’d used up the forty minutes I’d allotted for the interview. To my surprise, neither of us got stung.
When we shook hands in the parking lot, Jim looked at me for a long second and said, “Do you remember when you said to me in your dressing room, ’There’s a reason you’re the person you are and I’m the person I am’?”
Had I really said this? It sounded a little stupid, not to mention self-aggrandizing. “No, I don’t think I do.”
“You did, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I wouldn’t be making this documentary if you hadn’t said it to me. I was working at Sony during the day and writing screenplays at night, and feeling this rage over why nothing was happening for me.”
“And because I said those words to you, you changed your life?”
“Yes, I did.”
I regarded him, not sure if he was making fun of me in some backhanded way. “Well, that’s good, I guess. I hope it works out for you the way you hope.”
“You’re a good person, Mr. Ivins,” he said, very solemn.
I shook my head. What was he going to try to sell me? “I doubt it,” I said.
“Everyone I know who works with you thinks so.”
I studied his face, his earnestness making me pause. “I’m sure that’s not the case.”
“You are a good person, Mr. Ivins. You wouldn’t have done this interview if you weren’t.”
You wouldn’t be here if