A Different Kind of Funny: An Interview With Carol Kane on Between the Temples
23/09/2024
By Matthew Eng
There's a scene early in Nathan Silver's Between the Temples where Ben (Jason Schwartzman), a grieving cantor unable to sing, describes Carla (Carol Kane), his grade-school music teacher who also happens to be his newest and unlikeliest bat mitzvah student, as a different kind of funny. It's an apt way to describe the multifaceted delights of Kane's performance in this odd-couple comedy, now in theaters after debuting in competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The film offers a refreshing change of pace for an actor who has tended to be typecast as daffy eccentrics and motormouthed imps. Kane's long and eclectic career is certainly full of indelible comedic characters. But just as memorable are the heart-quickening dramatic performances in which Kane conveys the enormity of a character's internal state by freezing a single expression of fright, wonder, distress, or ecstasy across a porcelain face that could have easily made her a silent movie star. (Recalling how Kane was nearly cast in Yentl [1983], Barbra Streisand marveled in her recent memoir at the actress' antique countenance, which made her look like someone from another century. )
Kane is as hilarious as audiences have known her to be in Between the Temples, while at the same time finding layers of valor and vulnerability in a character whose elaborate history, myriad idiosyncrasies, and generosity of spirit are given a proper showcase. Kane's voice - still high-pitched though grown huskier, even fuzzier, with time - remains a singular instrument capable of making mesmeric and mercurial music out of the plainest of prose. But the actor is just as potent here during moments of speechless sorrow and uncertainty, as when Carla is chastened into quietude as her beastly adult son mocks her impending bat mitzvah. It is a testament to the ardor and sensitivity of Kane's performance that Carla's dream is never reduced to comic fodder but emerges as a sincere and abiding dream, long nurtured and suddenly attainable.
I met with Kane in Manhattan a few days prior to the release of Between the Temples to talk about the unique artistic opportunity of Silver's film, the evolution of her acting process, the enduring inspiration of her nonagenarian mother, and rejecting the pigeonholing tendencies of the industry in which she remains a stalwart.
LINK: | https://www.sundance.org/blogs/a-different-kind-of-funny-an-interview-... |
See more stories from sundance |
More from Sundance Institute
12/11/2024
Dinner and a Movie: Adam Piron on Fox Maxy's Gush and Frybread
by Adam Piron Food and film are two universal languages that connect us. They can draw upon long forgotten memories, take us to a place we've never been, a...
12/11/2024
Never Look Away Delivers Us to War's Front Lines With Fearless Photojournalist Margaret Moth
(Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Patty Consolazio I...
11/11/2024
Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin Balance Trauma and Humor in A Real Pain
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 20: (L-R) Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg attend the 2024 Sundance Film Festival A Real Pain premiere at Eccles Theatre. (Photo by...
06/11/2024
Luther: Never Too Much Examines the Joys and Struggles of a Beloved Musical Icon
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 21: Director Dawn Porter at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Luther: Never Too Much premiere at Eccles Theatre on January 21, 2024, i...
06/11/2024
Agent of Happiness Spotlights a National Campaign and Sparks Self-Reflection
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 19: (L-R) Suraj Bhattarai, Arun Bhattarai, Dorottya Zurb and M t Artur Vincze attend the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Agent of Happi...
04/11/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Jesse Eisenberg, the Writer-Director of A Real Pain
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
02/11/2024
Release Rundown: What to Watch in November, From A Real Pain to Porcelain War
Writer-director Jesse Eisenberg (R) stars alongside Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain, winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic at the 2024 Sund...
30/10/2024
A Different Man, No Other Land, and More Sundance-Supported Films Secure Nominations for the 2024 Gotham Awards
The nominees for the 2024 Gotham Awards have been unveiled by the Gotham Film & ...
30/10/2024
2024 Sundance Institute | Sandbox Fund Projects Selected
15 Projects From 35 Filmmakers Will Benefit From Increased Granting in 2024...
30/10/2024
Hope for the Independent Documentary Ecosystem: How Artist Accelerator Envisions an Equitable Future
The Artist Accelerator team on day 3 of the Shangri La / Sundance / Building Bri...
29/10/2024
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat: Political Machinations in the Congo
Writer-director Johan Grimonprez talks about his film Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat following its premiere January 22 at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. (P...
28/10/2024
SUNDANCE INSTITUTE AND GOLD HOUSE ANNOUNCE SECOND COHORT OF ONE HOUSE FILMMAKERS FUND, MADE POSSIBLE WITH FUNDING FROM THE EAST WEST BANK FOUNDATION
Grantees Celebrated at First-Ever One House Filmmakers Fund Soiree at Academy Mu...
28/10/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Ian Bonhte and Peter Ettedgui, the Filmmakers Behind Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
25/10/2024
What to Watch: These 7 DFP-Supported Films From 2024 Will Inspire You to Organize for Change
It's easy to become overwhelmed when thinking about the current state of the...
25/10/2024
Fall in Love With Your Monster
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 18: (L-R) Tommy Dewey, Melissa Barrera, Kayla Foster, Meghann Fahy, and Edmund Donovan attend the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Your Mo...
23/10/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Greg Jardin, the Writer-Director of It's What's Inside
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
22/10/2024
Benjamin Ree's Ibelin Takes Viewers to a Different World and Moves Them to Tears
From L-R: Robert Steen, Trude Steen, Mia Steen and Benjamin Ree (Marc Sagliocco/...
21/10/2024
A Journalist Turns the Camera on Herself in Black Box Diaries
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 20: Hanna Avqilin, Shiori Ito, and Ema Ryan Yamazaki attend the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Black Box Diaries premiere at Prospector...
18/10/2024
Union: Story of Amazon Labor Union Gives Hope to Ordinary Workers
Jordan Flowers, Derrick Palmer, Chris Smalls, and Gerald Bryson - all present or former employees of Amazon - express their solidarity at the premiere of Union...
18/10/2024
7 Uplifting Sundance-Supported Documentaries the DFP Team Recommends This Fall
By Jessica Herndon Life can be chaotic and rough, so when it's time to watch a film, we understand the urge to cue up a feel-good flick. Luckily, our Docum...
17/10/2024
Exhibiting Forgiveness: An Exercise in Healing, On and Off the Set
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 20: (L-R) Jaime Ray Newman, Andr Holland, Andra Day, Titus Kaphar, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and John Earl Jelks attend the 2024 Sundance...
14/10/2024
Indigenous People Will Save the World: A Spotlight on Sundance Institute's Merata Mita Fellowship
Libby Hakaraia speaking at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Jovelle Tam...
12/10/2024
Saw, An Education, and More Celebrate Anniversaries in October
Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is torn between the life she'd planned and an intriguing older man in An Education. (Photo by Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Classics)...
12/10/2024
Welcoming Our Trans Artists and Community to the 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Updated as of October 10 As we prepare for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, our fundamental intention remains for all who attend the Sundance Film Festival to ...
10/10/2024
The Far-Reaching Effects of Colonization in Twice Colonized
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 23: (L-R) Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Mark Bukdahl, Lin Alluna, Iris Ng, Emile Hertling P ronard, Aaju Peter, Bob Moore, Stacey Aglok MacDo...
10/10/2024
2024 Sundance Institute Latine Fellowship & Collab Scholarship Artists Selected
Year-round Program Offers Pivotal Artist Support to Early Career Latine Artists PARK CITY, UTAH, October 10, 2024 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced...
09/10/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Christopher Jenkins, the Filmmaker Behind 10 Lives
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
08/10/2024
The DFP Team Shares 18 Sundance-Supported Nonfiction Projects Not to Miss This Fall
By Jessica Herndon What does it take to move the needle through art? An origina...
07/10/2024
A Risky Cat Seeks Another Chance in 10 Lives
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 20: Mo Gilligan, Chris Jenkins, and Simone Ashley at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival 10 Lives premiere at the Prospector Theatre on ...
05/10/2024
The Growing Family Album of the Documentary Film Program
By Kristin Feeley Chilean director Patricio Guzm n said, A country without documentary cinema is like a family without a photo album. We understand who we ar...
04/10/2024
Food and Country: When Farmers and Chefs Cry
Georgia farmers Will Harris and daughters Jenni Harris (right) and Jodi Harris (left) are featured in Food and Country, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance F...
03/10/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know 4 Latine Filmmakers With Shorts at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival
A still from Daniel Barosa's Boi de Conchas (The Shell Covered Ox), which ...
02/10/2024
Release Rundown: Your Monster, Union, and More Reach Wider Audiences This October
Aspiring actor Laura (Melissa Barrera) contends with a peculiar houseguest in wr...
02/10/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Nora Fingscheidt, the Writer-Director of The Outrun
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
30/09/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Carla Gutirrez, the Director of FRIDA
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. Whi...
28/09/2024
Lakota Nation vs. United States and More Sundance-Supported Documentaries Take Home 2024 Emmys
For many September marks the end of summer or the start of school, but around he...
27/09/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Ramona Diaz, the Filmmaker Behind And So It Begins
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Fes...
27/09/2024
Film Festival Watch: Catch These 6 Sundance-Supported Films at the New York Film Festival
By Jessica Herndon This time of year, as leaves on the trees in Central Park ch...
25/09/2024
Inside the Archives: Creating Access to Celebrate Community
2024 Documentary Producers Lab fellows, creative advisors, and staff share a moment. Photo by Lance Roth...
24/09/2024
Soak Up the Last Days of Adolescence with My Old Ass
Aubrey Plaza getting ready for My Old Ass (photo by George Pimentel/Shutterstock for Sundance)...
23/09/2024
A Different Kind of Funny: An Interview With Carol Kane on Between the Temples
Carol Kane, Between the Temples (photo by Presley Ann/Shutterstock for Sundance) By Matthew Eng There's a scene early in Nathan Silver's Between the...
21/09/2024
19 Sundance Movies to Watch Before Seeing These Filmmakers' New Fall 2024 Releases
By Jessica Herndon It's time to stock up on pumpkin spice everything and g...
20/09/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Alessandra Lacorazza, the Writer-Director Behind In The Summers
by Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
19/09/2024
Writer-Director Jennifer Kent on the 10th Anniversary of The Babadook and Horror as an Independent Art Form
Writer-director Jennifer Kent's The Babadook is returning to the big scree...
18/09/2024
A Different Man Is a Triumph That Lingers Long After Credits Role
Warning: This feature contains spoilers about the film. By Bailey Pennick Aaron Schimberg kept it brief in his introduction before A Different Man had its wor...
17/09/2024
Will & Harper Takes a True Friendship on the Road
Harper Steele and Will Ferrell (Photo by George Pimentel/Shutterstock for Sundance)...
16/09/2024
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story Shines a Light on a Real-Life Hero
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 19: Matthew Reeve, Alexandra Reeve Givens, Peter Ettedgui, Ian Bonhote, and William Reeve attend the 2024 Sundance Film Festival...
13/09/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Megan Park, the Filmmaker Behind My Old Ass
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. ...
12/09/2024
Sundance Institute Selects Three Finalists to Host the Sundance Film Festival Beginning in 2027
Final Phase of RFP Process Will See a Decision Announced in Q1 of 2025...