Ethan Hawke: ‘When We Prioritize Money at All Costs, What We Get Is Generic Material’ – Variety
By
Ellise Shafer
Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater spoke about taking risks in art at the Berlin Film Festival press conference for their new film “Blue Moon” on Tuesday, saying that this diminishes when money is prioritized.
“Audiences have to care. They don’t sell. You guys, the community, has to make it important. For offensive art to have a place in our conversation, it has to be cared about,” Hawke said. “And when we prioritize money at all costs, what we get is generic material that appeals to the most amount of people and we’re told that’s the best. It’s a dance we all do together. If you love offensive art and you want it, demand it. Right now, people don’t think they’ll make any money off it so it doesn’t get made.”
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The idea of “offensive art” is a theme in “Blue Moon,” which follows lyricist Lorenz Hart (Hawke), Richard Rodgers’ former creative partner, as he struggles with alcoholism and depression on the opening night of “Oklahoma!,” Rodgers’ first musical with Hammerstein. After opening night, Hart criticizes the show for being inoffensive and having too happy of an ending.
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Added Linklater, “Offensive times conjure up offensive art maybe. But movies particularly have always been escapism, and in our movie he’s accusing ‘Oklahoma!’ of being escapist in the middle of the horrors of WWII. So I don’t know, I think most human psyches want to escape a bit. There’s probably less offensive art now than there has been in the past.”
“Blue Moon” marks Hawke and Linklater’s first film together in over a decade, since 2014’s “Boyhood.” Alongside Hawke as Hart, “Blue Moon” also stars Andrew Scott as Rodgers, Margaret Qualley as Elizabeth Weiland and Bobby Cannavale as a bartender named Eddie.
Hawke and Linklater have now worked on nine feature films together over the course of their careers, including the “Before” trilogy, “The Newton Boys” and “Fast Food Nation.” At a Venice Film Festival talk last year, Hawke discussed their collaboration and the genesis of “Blue Moon,” saying Linklater wanted to make the movie 12 years ago but said the actor was “still too attractive.”
“He’s like, ‘Cool, we’re going to make it, but we need to wait a while.’ Why do we need to wait a while? He said, ‘You’re still too attractive. We gotta wait til you’re a little less attractive.’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Hawke said. “He’s like, ‘Just trust me. Let’s just put it in a drawer, and every couple of years let’s read it and see if we’re ready or not.’”
“Blue Moon” premieres at Berlin Film Festival on Tuesday night.
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