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to be stranger.
John Lee Hancock was hired to adapt the massive book and streamline
the story. The four trials within the story were condensed to one with many
characters combined, and at least one character was created specifically for
the film, a love interest for the Berendt character that was renamed Kelso.
Hancock managed to keep the tone of the book within the film, believing
the rest would be up to the director and actors to bring to life. Berendt, of
course, and many others would later state that the book had been gutted,
but no such complaints were heard initially.
Arnold Stiefel bought the book with Eastwood in mind for the role of Jim
Williams, though Eastwood had no interest in the role at all. He already had
read the screenplay written by John Lee Hancock who had penned A Per-
fect World (1993) for him years earlier.
By the time Eastwood s name was mentioned as Jim Williams, he had
read the screenplay and was interested in directing the film. Despite having
won the Academy Award and the Directors Guild of America Award for
best director for Unforgiven (1992), he was not the first choice for the film.
The producers were not convinced Eastwood had the  stuff to direct the
film and to bring the Southern eccentricities to the screen. However,
Warner Brothers intervened, and within a few days Eastwood was given the
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) 123
assignment to direct it, though he had by then made clear he would not
appear in the film, seeing no role for himself.
 I read the script before I read the book, he confessed,  and I thought
it was just plain, good storytelling. That s what I want in a movie
storytelling. I didn t cast myself in it because, frankly, I didn t think I was
right for any of the parts. I do feel that my best performances have been in
movies I have directed. But the part wasn t there in this one, Eastwood told
Mal Vincent of The Virginian Post.
Knowing the pressure on him to create a film based on a much-loved
book, Eastwood made clear the fact he knew he was not filming the book as
it was written.
 A movie is a different kind of storytelling. Moviemaking is a strange
business. It s full of both fakery and intelligence. Sometimes the two mix,
he explained in the same article.  The characters, who are interesting just
because they are so diverse, and then in Savannah, a very unusual city which
we wanted to make into a character in its own right, Eastwood stated.
 This isn t the South the way it s portrayed most of the time, with an over-
abundance of clichés. In Savannah you can encounter elderly black home-
less women who perform voodoo rites at night in the cemeteries on behalf
of people who are sophisticated, cultured, intelligent, and very much in the
public view; people no one would ever think would ever be interested in
sorcery.
 I think in the beginning, the stage of filmmaking I liked best was the
editing. To work with just one or two people in the editing room, I loved
that. I still do, but now I take more pleasure in the shooting itself. On every
film, I discover something new; I want to try new things out. That s also why
I loved making Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. This kind of story
was something new for me. In fact I d like to try out all the genres. I d like
to attempt every time to do something new, Eastwood explained.
The decision to shoot on location was a natural, and casting was relatively
easy. Recent Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey won the plum role of Jim
Williams, fresh from his win for his role as crime lord in The Usual Suspects
(1995) and his brilliant cameo in Seven (1995). John Cusack was cast in the
Berendt role as Kelso, while newcomer Jude Law would portray Billy
Handon, the murdered lover of Williams. For the role of Mandy, the singer
who catches Cusack s attention, Eastwood approached his daughter Alison,
though he refused to play favorites and made her take a screen test.
 Last Christmas I was on holiday with him, and he said,  I have this script.
Would you read it and tell me what you think? So I read it and liked the role
of Mandy, but I never asked him if I could read for it, and he didn t lead me
to believe there was a part for me. A couple of months later my agent called
saying,  You have an audition in a few days for this movie Midnight in the
Garden of Good and Evil. I said,  Oh, that s my dad s film! So I went in and
read for it and was put on tape. He wasn t there, but I called him afterwards
124 Clint Eastwood
and said,  I d like to know what you thought. I didn t hear anything for six
weeks. Then I get a callback and went in and read again, but didn t hear
anything for another month. Then my agent called and said,  You go in next
week for fittings. I was ecstatic. I called my dad and said,  This is going to
be great I can t wait to work with you. Then it dawned on me; I had an
incredible amount of work to do, explained the younger Eastwood to
Interview magazine.
 The biggest challenge was to be true to my instinctual choices as an
actress, she explained when asked about the challenges of the role.  I m
just starting out in this business and oftentimes as an actor, if you re not
100 percent confident about yourself, you tend to hold back or stay in a
safe place. I wanted my performance to be natural, to have some color and
strength, yet to be vulnerable and funny. I had to make sure I pushed my
mind aside and just let my heart tell me what to do, she finished.
Kevin Spacey, a stage-trained actor, learned very quickly that on Eastwood s
sets, the camera could be rolling at any time. Eastwood would call him and
John Cusack in for a rehearsal, and often without knowing it, their rehearsal
would be the master shot printed for the film.  You learned to be prepared at
all times, he said with a smile.  Clint is the Zen master.
For the key role of Lady Chablis, the cross-dressing singer who plays a huge
part in the book and film, Eastwood considered many actors in Hollywood
before making the daring decision of casting the real thing. Though Lady
Chablis had never acted in a film and had never done anything this important,
suddenly he was cast in a Clint Eastwood film.
 Yes, I considered using an actor, Eastwood explained about the casting
of Lady Chablis.  But a lot of times when you do drag in a movie, the actors
camp it up, just go overboard with the lipstick and the women s clothing,
and play up the comedic element of it. I wanted her to be just what she is. I
met Chablis, and I saw a person who s rehearsed a particular role all her life.
There s no reason to deny that, so I thought,  Why not just let her roll?
 I wasn t comfortable with Chablis at first, Eastwood boldly told the
Virginian Post,  and I don t think she was entirely comfortable with making
a movie, but she caught on fast. She s something of a chippy. I had to tell
her to behave herself.
The film follows the story of Kelso (John Cusack), a writer for Town and
Country magazine who is sent to Savannah to cover the Christmas party of
Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey), a rich antique dealer whose parties have
become one of the most sought after invites of the social year in old Savannah.
Residing in the historical Mercer House, once home to the relatives of
famous crooner Johnny Mercer, Williams holds court with his guests in the
manner of the old masters of the plantations surrounding Savannah. After
the party, Williams is apparently accosted by his lover, whom he shoots dead, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]