Genius: Colin Fir and Jude Law Star in Film All About Words

Genius, starring Colin Firth and Jude Law, opened the Summer Season of KCET Cinema Series. | Photo: Marc Brenner, courtesy of Lions Gate/Roadside Attractions.

The KCET Cinema Series kicked off its summer season on Tuesday, June 7 at Santa Monicas Aero Theatre. Opening the nine-week celebration of film was Genius. Based on A. Scott Bergs 1978 book Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, the film explores the collaborative relationship between book editor Max Perkins and writer Thomas Wolfe. Directed by Michael Grandage with a script by John Logan, the film stars Colin Firth as Perkins and Jude Law as Wolfe. Also appearing in Genius are Laura Linney as Perkins wife, Louise, and Nicole Kidman as Wolfes girlfriend, costume designer Aline Bernstein.

Proudly sponsored by the James and Paula Coburn Foundation and E. Hofert Dailey Trust, the KCET Cinema Series offers audiences the chance to see acclaimed films prior to their release. Screenings are followed by Q&A sessions moderated by Cinema Series host and Deadline Hollywood columnist Pete Hammond. For the Cinema Series opening night, Hammond was joined by famed film critic and historian Leonard Maltin. Below is an excerpt from their conversation.

Leonard Maltin: I read a reference to Scott Bergs wonderful book, Max Perkins: Editor of Genius. I realized that I hadnt ever read it, so I picked up a copy. Im so glad I did. Its a wonderful book. Even having seen the movie, and knowing some of the highlights, I would still recommend it to you. Im amazed that they were able to make the movie.

Pete Hammond: Yeah, its not exactly cinematic. A movie about a writer, first of all, is very hard, and an editor.

LM: I doubt theres ever been a book about a literary editor -- newspaper editors are almost a cliche -- but I cant think of another, of course, there are very few people quite like Maxwell Perkins too. He was a giant of a figure in 20th century literature, as is plainly obvious here. But, they managed to do something.

Biographies, biographical films, are tough to do no matter what. How do you really express an artist, whats going through an artists mind, as he creates a great painting? Or a composers mind as he writes a great song or a great symphony? And there have been terrible examples of this over the years, going back to the early days of Hollywood. Seeing Don Ameche as Stephen Foster in Swanee River, you know what I mean? Even Alfred Hitchcock directed a movie called Waltzes from Vienna about [Johann] Strauss. Terrible. Very funny, for all the wrong reasons. Unintentionally hilarious because, I think its the spinning of -- I hope Im not getting this wrong -- I think it was the rhythms of a kitchen, a busy kitchen, that gave him the idea for The Blue Danube, stirring and stirring and stirring. Things going on.

PH: They dont make them like that anymore.

LM: And a good thing, too.

But, so how you really get inside the head of any creative person, no matter how well intentioned you are, its very tough to do. Yet, I think this movie comes as close as any I can think of to giving you a sense, especially, of Thomas Wolfe and of Maxwell Perkins and what he did and how they worked together and what they accomplished together and how they went about it. And, thats miraculous.

PH: Its a real writers movie. Its all about words. I heard Scott talk about this is a movie about words and they dont really make movies about words anymore. Theyre all visuals.

LM: I cant remember a single line from Batman vs. Superman, but, Ive tried. Ive tried. It doesnt work.

This is more exciting to me than Batman vs. Superman. Im showing my prejudice here. I like a good action movie. I like to go to a superhero movie. Ive got no prejudice against that, but this nourishes me, a film like this.

And what a wonderful cast. Top to bottom. And the period flavor as well. You know, to capture the look and the feel of a publishing office in New York, in the 1920s and 1930s, all that wood. The big wooden desk. The ink well. The desk lamp. The clear windows looking out at the secretarial pool. The elevator down the hallway. All of that. Thats something that contemporary movie-goers, young people, have never seen in their lives. They never experienced that. This film captures all that, I think, really, really well.

PH: Its about a writer who is actually visual. There are so many ways to shoot him because he writes on the refrigerator and different places, which most writers dont do.

LM: Thats what you think. How do you know? What research have you done to prove that?

PH: Ive done no research. Let me ask you, though, you having read the book, that was about a number of things, but they sort of pulled out -- John Logan, who wrote the screenplay -- sort of pulled out this story.

LM: I guess this gave him the most, the best opportunity, I guess because Thomas Wolfe was -- not that Hemingway was an unentertaining character or Fitzgerald either -- but they had both been tackled on screen so many ways, so many times, I think I dont know what his reasoning would be, but I would think its because Thomas Wolfe is sort of fresh meat as it were for dramatizing. And Jude Law is so good.

PH: Hes really good, and I heard him say that he was very worried doing this role that he was going way over the top or doing too much.

LM: That would be any actors concern because its such a big performance, but thats the Thomas Wolfe that Perkins recalled and that is portrayed in the book, the biographical volume, and that John Logan wanted to bring to life.

I always say, though, even in spite of this being a film of great integrity and great dedication on the part of the people that made it, dont ever get your facts or your history from the movies. Not a good idea.

PH: So, is this not exactly, totally accurate?

LM: No, no, I think it is, but I think somebody told me towards the end, t

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