You suffer for my art!
The following interview was recorded just before the theatrical release
of The Keep.
IN = Interviewer
SC = Sonny Crockett
RT = Ricardo Tubbs
EDWOOD = Michael Mann
IN: We're here with Sonny Crockett, Ricardo Tubbs, and...
EDWOOD: Excuse me, I can introduce myself. After all, I wrote, directed, and produced this film all on my own. It's a piece of work I'm very proud of. I don't think you can measure the worth of a film by how much money it makes or how good it actually is, but by how much I admire my own handiwork.
IN: Obviously you have strong feelings about The Keep, Michael Mann. Would you consider it your masterpiece?
EDWOOD: I would say this is the strongest film to come out of me in a long time. The fact that I've only done one other feature before this has no bearing on that fact. I don't like to call anything my masterpiece, because I am constantly achieving new heights of greatness. But you would be accurate if you called it the most fascinating, awe-inspiring film since Citizen Kane.
IN: All righty. I heard the original idea for the film was based on a book by the author F. Paul Wilson.
EDWOOD: That's not true. That's not accurate at all.
IN: But he has a "Based on the Book By" credit on the film...
EDWOOD: I made up the whole thing myself. It's just a coincidence that the characters have the same names. I read that book and it was absolutely terrible, it had elements that would never work on film, so I took the liberty of creating my own vision of ancient powers in a keep taken over by the Nazis. Who reads books these days anyway? The medium of film is so much more pleasant projected on a forty foot screen than a book would be.
IN: I'm not sure I follow. Did you base the movie on the book The Keep or not?
EDWOOD: In no way is the film anything other than mine. I'm a genius. Next question please.
IN: How did you decide to cast Crockett and Tubbs? They were relative unknowns at the time. Did you have to fight to get them on the film?
EDWOOD: I have no idea what you're talking about. Tubbs and Crockett were both household names and I wrote the script with them in mind. Didn't you ever see Skilift to Death or El Hombre de los Hongos?
IN: Er, no...
EDWOOD: [snorts derisively] Typical.
IN: Anyway, Crockett, did you enjoy the location filming?
SC: Yes, the exteriors were all shot on location in Miami. I like it there. I wouldn't mind living there for a while...
EDWOOD: That's right. In fact, I'm putting together a crime drama series based in the Miami area. It will be about the Miami Vice squad. I don't have a name yet though.
IN: What about "Miami Vice?"
EDWOOD: When I want your opinion I'll ask for it, hotshot. Getting back to my series pilot idea, I envision a very light, breezy color palette, pastels balanced against the stark night of crime-ridden Miami. And I have this idea for a surly police sergeant...
IN: Getting back to The Keep, in previews there have been some complaints that the film is too dark, both in tone and lighting. Did you have trouble with the lighting or was that intentional.
EDWOOD: You must be joking. I've gotten nothing but raves from my entire family. How can one complain about perfection?
SC: The film was kinda dark, Mike...
EDWOOD: Shut up, Sonny.
SC: Okay.
IN: What kind of atmosphere were you going for with the dark lighting? Spooky? Dreamy?
EDWOOD: The darkness represents the fusion of dreams and reality, night and day, my paycheck and the cost of filters. I wanted to give the audience a sense that they were inside the theater where the film was being shown. I think I succeeded in that.
IN: No doubt. Is that why you picked Tangerine Dream to score the movie? Their brand of music doesn't really seem to go with this type of horror.
EDWOOD: Tangerine Dream happens to be my favorite group. They're brilliant, although not as brilliant as I am, and they did a fantastic job with the score. When people think of great music over the last forty years, they think of Chuck Barry, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Tangerine Dream. Their dream-like electronic beats go perfectly with the carefully crafted dream-like atmosphere of my film.
IN: Tubbs, you're a man of artistic passion. Did you and Mr. Mann ever have differences in opinion on how the film should be going?
RT: Well...
EDWOOD: Of course we didn't. Ricardo knows that my ideas are always better, don't you Ricardo?
RT: I did think that the scene with the transforming monster could have been done a little, um, differently.
EDWOOD: That's why you're still a wage slave and I'm the director, genius.
SC: Now Mike, let's not get hostile. Remember what happened with the hooker...
EDWOOD: Shut up, Sonny!
SC: Okay.
IN: Anyway, how exactly did you work the Spyder into a film set during World War II?
EDWOOD: If you're implying that the details of the film were not authentic, you're completely off the mark. I did exhaustive research into all aspects of Nazis and their vehicles.
IN: You don't think that the presence of a car made in the early 80s might have been somewhat anomalous? And what about Tubbs' and Crockett's modern attire?
EDWOOD: Listen up, you Barbara Walters wannabe, I'm the filmmaker and I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm telling you this film is going to be the biggest thing since Star Wars. And that Lucas doesn't know a thing about lighting, let me tell you. They'll let anybody behind a camera these days. Look at that joker who directed Piranha II. In ten years he'll be on Welfare and I'll be the king of the world. Mark my words! The era of Mann is upon us!
[Sonny and Tubbs exchange nervous looks]
EDWOOD: You two cut that out.
SC and RT: Okay.
IN: Well, wrapping up, where do you expect to go next in your directing career? Are you going to stay in the same, uh, horror genre, or branch out?
EDWOOD: First of all this is not a "horror movie." I prefer to call it a "dark drama." Only losers like that Craven guy do horror. See if he ever has a hit. [Laughs] As I said before, I'm developing this idea for a TV series, this pastel thing, which I know will be really timeless... I'm going for that timeless appeal of shows like "Vega$" and, you know, "Three's Company." That sort of thing. Shows that you can watch twenty years later and they're still relevant because they're so well done. So that's where I'll be going, in the television direction.
IN: Sounds interesting. Will the Spyder be in that project as well?
EDWOOD: What is this, "Family Feud"? When are you going to ask me a good question?
IN: Ummm, what's your favorite movie?
EDWOOD: Why, The Keep of course.