Editor Sandra Adair and actor Matthew McConaughey talk about Richard Linklater’s ability to capture authentic moments on the set of Dazed and Confused. Through his unique directorial approach and his ability to collaborate with the cast, Linklater built stories around the texture of a moment in time.
Funding for Richard Linklater – dream is destiny is provided in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Hey guys, one more thing: this summer when you're being inundated with all this American bicentennial Fourth of July brouhaha, don't forget what you're celebrating, and that's the fact that a bunch of slave-owning, aristocratic, white males didn't want to pay their taxes.
You know, you look at a genre and say, 'I've got my own teenage film to make.' I was always trying to capture a moment, or the essence of it.
I didn't have a great plot, but I had the texture of it. I had the feel of it. Alright you little Freshman bitches! All right!
It was kind of magical recreating a period and the atmosphere of a point in time.
Nostalgia kind of suggests a warm glow, like, 'Oh, what a great time.' I didn't have that feeling about this. And I think that comes through in the movie, if you really break it down. But yet you look back on it, you know, there's something kind of great about it, too.
There was something about the footage that we were getting that was so genuine.
I felt like I'd really never seen that kind of footage before.
Whatever it was that he managed to do, pulling that ensemble together, it was an incredible experience to be able to watch the dailies, and just go, 'Oh my god. These kids are nailing it.' And the only reason they're nailing it is because it was well-cast, and they trust Rick.
So read it in your mind, again. Okay. You know, I really like Tony's last column about this decade. What was that line? The uncertainties of the '60s have been sold out for the certainty of boredom in the '70s.
Maybe the '80s will be radical, you know? I figure we'll be in our twenties... Rick gave all the cast members albums, and goes, 'This is what I think your guy or your girl would be listening to.' That, number one, is brilliant because it's not a director telling anyone what to do. You get to go off and listen to music from the time and the place, and the director thinks it's what you'd be listening to.
The actor gets to own whatever they come up with about what that means. We love that stuff.
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