W･アレンの謙虚さ
ウッディ･アレン監督のインタビュー記事がNYTに載っていました。「個人的にはフォーチュンクッキー*1も、占い師も、宗教も大して変わらない」と語るアレン氏。別に否定的な意見じゃなくて、これらを信じてる人たちは信じてない人たちより幸せそうに見える、というのが、新作映画のテーマの一つだそうです。それは面白そうだ。少し違うかもしれませんが、通勤途中の地下鉄ホームでよさこいのような手振りで踊ってるオッサンがいて、遭遇するたびに「うつむきがちに出勤するリーマンよりかは、幸せそうだ･･･」と感じてたんですよね。宗教にせよ、占いにせよ、あるいは趣味でも、何かを信じて拠り所がある人の方がある意味幸せだと思います。
“To me,” Mr. Allen said, “there’s no real difference between a fortune teller or a fortune cookie and any of the organized religions. They’re all equally valid or invalid, really. And equally helpful.”Mr. Allen spoke with Dave Itzkoff about his new film, how its themes resonate in his life and whether he has made his last movie in New York. These are excerpts from that conversation.
Q. The ideas of psychic powers and past lives, or at least people who believe in them, are central to your latest film. What got you interested in writing about them?
A. I was interested in the concept of faith in something. This sounds so bleak when I say it, but we need some delusions to keep us going. And the people who successfully delude themselves seem happier than the people who can’t. I’ve known people who have put their faith in religion and in fortune tellers.
ところで、同じ記事の後半にこんなくだりが。Sarkozysって誰だか知らないけれど、アメリカのマスゴミのネガティブキャンペーンの対象になってる女優のようです。報道では「32回も撮りなおし」だの「Sarkozysの夫が撮影現場で激怒」だの書かれてたのに、アレン氏は「10回も撮りなおしてないし、ご主人もご機嫌だったよ」とのこと。そこで氏は「アフガン紛争や、経済ニュースや、現実に起こった事件でも、マスコミは同じように出鱈目ばっかり書いてたら･･･？」と思ったそうです。そういう疑問を抱けるっていうのが、アレン氏の素直さというか、素朴さなんでしょう。
Q. Were you prepared for the firestorm of media coverage you set off by casting Carla Bruni-Sarkozy in your next movie, “Midnight in Paris”?
A. I was very surprised at the level of journalism that occurred in relation to her. She has a small part in the movie - a real part, but it’s a small part. And I shot with her the first day, and then all the papers said she was terrible, and I did 32 takes with her. Of course I didn’t even do 10 takes with her. This was just a magical number that some guy created in a room. Then they printed that her husband came to the set and was angry with her. He came to the set once, and he was delighted. He felt she was a natural actress and couldn’t have been happier.
Q. That would make a good blurb for the movie poster.
A. For some reason, the press wanted to say bad things about her. I don’t know if they had something against the Sarkozys, or it was a better way to sell papers. But the fabrications were so wild and so completely fake, and I wondered to myself, Is this what happens with Afghanistan and the economy and matters of real significance? This is a trivial matter. That’s a longwinded answer to your question: I was not prepared for the amount of press that was attached to the picture because of Madame Sarkozy.
*1:あれって日本由来なのか！絶対に中国のものかと思ってた
