Tom Ford on Directing Nocturnal Animals, Inspiration and Working with Amy Adams

Amy Adams in Nocturnal Animals.

The KCET Cinema Series continued its winter season at the ArcLight Cinemas, Sherman Oaks on Tuesday, October 25 with Nocturnal Animals. Directed by Tom Ford, the thriller is based on the novel Tony and Susan and stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal. This was the first U.S. audience to have a chance to see the film and Ford joined KCET Cinema Series host Pete Hammond for a Q&A session following the screening. A portion of the interview appears below. It has been edited for length and clarity.

The winter season of the KCET Cinema Series is generously sponsored by the E. Hofert Dailey Trust and runs through December 13 at the ArcLight. Tickets for the season have sold out.

Tom Ford on what drew him to make Nocturnal Animals.

What sparked it for me was, maybe Im old fashioned, but I believe a film should say something. I like a moral to the story. I like something that stays with you. It should challenge you. It should be something you leave the theater thinking about. And, for me, this film or this story is really about finding people in your life that are important and holding onto them. In a sense, this is a cautionary tale about what can happen to you when you let those people go and you make those decisions in your life.

On screenplay writing.

I have to say that I enjoy the entire process, but its one of my favorite things because its in perfect form while youre writing it. It is in your head. Its exactly as you intended. The cast is exactly who you wanted. Their performances are exactly so, its in your head. In that moment, it is truly a singular vision because you are by yourself writing, unless you have a writing partner. So, yes, its great fun.

Tom Ford on the set of Nocturnal Animals.

On comparisons Nocturnal Animals has had to the work of Douglas Sirk, David Lynch and Alfred Hitchcock.

Its interesting. I would never say Douglas Sirk, but I absolutely see that. I love Douglas Sirk because the shots are so quite composed and it is, in a sense, melodramatic.

You learn about what you do and what your style is when you hear people talk about it. I also wouldnt have said David Lynch, but I love David Lynch. Of course, youve got the women at the beginning, which might make you think of David Lynch.

But, Hitchcock, absolutely. In this particular type of film, which is, for me, a psychological thriller - all of this takes place in her head, by the way. Remember, shes reading fiction and were seeing it through her eyes. There are bits and pieces of it. Kubrick, for example, in A Clockwork Orange, where the gang of guys break into the house. There are even moments in Rosemarys Baby, Polanski, where youre thinking, is this real? Is she dreaming? Is she imagining? What is this? Where is this going?

Im someone who loves film and I watch and I watch. Things go in and I sometimes dont even realize when they come back out again, so its always a hard question to answer.

Ford explains a quote from the film: Nobody writes anything except about themselves.

I think any artist, whether youre a painter or a sculptor or a filmmaker, we all have this need to express and were all our own filters and everything that we all perceive is really through ourselves, so when we express something, it is, generally, our point of view, our vision. So, I think in that way, yes, people do write about themselves.

Certainly, in this, Amys character is quite autobiographical, as are parts of Jake. When youre sitting there writing dialogue, everything becomes a little part of you because youre in the head of that character writing what theyll say - no, no, they wouldnt say that. OK, they would say that - so it all is, in a sense.

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On differences between Nocturnal Animals and Tony and Susan, the book upon which the movie is based.

Some things really were changed based of where we are today with technology. This story was originally set in the Northeast, where you would have had cell phone service everywhere. Of course, in todays world you just lock your doors and call for help and you wouldnt have a film. So, I needed to move it to a place where, theoretically, there might not be cell service.

I also believe in that old line, write what you know. I was born in Texas and my family has been in Texas for a long time and I know this part of the world well and I also wanted to create a strong contrast between Susans world and the gritty, grimy world of Texas.

On how Los Angeles is presented in the film.

Its reflective of where she is psychologically. I think most of us spend time in L.A. because we love the sun and the palm trees. Thats what people think of, I think, when they think of L.A., but this L.A. is Susans current state. Its gray. Its urban. Its foggy. Its sad. Its cold and thats really a reflection of where she is, where her life is.

Amy Adams in Nocturnal Animals.

On Amy Adams.

She is an amazing actress. I have always loved her, but I have to say working with her and then editing her, there was not a second of her that could not have gone on that screen. Incredible. I wanted the character to be sympathetic. It would be very easy to hate this woman. Oh, she has everything and she lives in this house and blah blah blah and shes not happy, who cares? I hate her. She did this horrible thing, but I wanted her to be empathetic because, as we saw with her mother, shes a victim of her own insecurity. Shes a victim of places in our culture that still expect women to do certain things. She falls back on that. She wants to be something else, but shes not strong enough. Shes not secure, so i wanted her to be sympathetic. I wanted to empathize with her.

Amy has a soulful quality in her eyes. You cannot not love Amy Adams. I mean, her face, and shes reading a book for so much of the story, so she also - maybe more than any other actress working today

LINK:	https://www.kcet.org/kcet-cinema-series/tom-ford-on-inspiration-and-no...
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