Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt talks to Awards Track about art, expectation vs. contentment and the power of music in regards to his new dramatic comedy from Apple Original Films: “Flora And Son”.
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 (screaming)
00:02 (dramatic music)
00:05 - I was 17 with a screaming child on me, like.
00:17 - This can't be my story.
00:18 But without him I have nothing.
00:22 ♪ We're living the high life ♪
00:24 - How come the way things are are never enough for you?
00:27 ♪ We're living the high life ♪
00:29 - I never were.
00:29 ♪ We're living the high life ♪
00:33 ♪ And it's a fine line to be right ♪
00:37 - Playing the guitar, it's so sexy.
00:40 - Okay.
00:41 - Is that why you took it off?
00:42 - Well, let's focus on you.
00:43 - Are you coming on to me?
00:46 (laughing)
00:48 - This thing with music, really, it's about rhythm.
00:53 And we've always talked about rhythm,
00:55 both in acting but in approach.
00:57 Could you talk about that with this here?
00:59 Because it's about expectation versus contentment,
01:03 at least in my view, within the character.
01:05 - That's great.
01:06 I like what you're saying about rhythm
01:08 and about expectations and contentment.
01:10 It's true, I mean, this is a story about a woman
01:13 who is probably discontent
01:16 and whose life is not meeting her expectations, right?
01:19 And then through learning guitar,
01:23 with an online guitar teacher,
01:24 ends up kind of finding herself
01:26 and reconnecting with her son.
01:28 And it does go to show the power of music.
01:33 And I love that.
01:36 I fully agree.
01:38 Whether it's music or some other form of art,
01:41 or really anything that you're passionate about,
01:43 that you really lean into and challenge yourself,
01:45 and that's not just easy and instantly consumable,
01:49 but that takes some work.
01:50 I think that's the kind of thing that makes life rich
01:53 and interesting and inspiring and rewarding.
01:56 So I love a movie that celebrates somebody
01:59 who picks up a guitar and learns it.
02:02 - Let me ask you,
02:04 do you consider yourself a big music person?
02:07 - I mean, I was always very attracted to musicians.
02:11 I married one.
02:12 He was on the same bill as Snow Patrol once.
02:14 - Oh, I'm asking, what are you doing here, Flora,
02:18 if music's not really your thing?
02:22 - I like the look of you.
02:23 - Okay.
02:25 - All the other teachers seem like real posers and wankers,
02:28 you know, failed musicians, but you seem sorta real.
02:33 - I am real.
02:37 - You sorta calmed me down
02:39 when I saw you for the first time.
02:41 Your voice was all soothing, like a bath.
02:47 - Right.
02:52 - Can I ask you something?
02:54 - Sure.
02:55 - You might find it a little bit weird.
02:57 Could you play that same song again,
03:01 but this time with your shirt off?
03:07 - It's also about the storytelling.
03:08 Everything you do has to do with storytelling
03:11 and telling stories,
03:12 but how you people fit within those stories.
03:14 I mean, I always love the,
03:16 there's a video of you playing drums
03:18 and people connecting, you know, down the subway,
03:21 and there's something about that.
03:23 Can you talk about connection through music,
03:25 but finding the emotional resonance
03:27 in the stories being told?
03:29 - Yeah, it's true.
03:30 Well, these are two people who, yeah, it's funny.
03:33 You're talking about storytelling.
03:36 I mean, you know, in so many ways,
03:38 your life is just a story that you tell yourself, right?
03:42 And in a lot of ways, Flora has a certain story in her head
03:49 about who she is and what her life has come to.
03:52 And the movie is about her shifting that story.
03:57 And it's one of the reasons I love storytelling
04:03 and love movies is not just because I love movies,
04:07 though I do,
04:08 but because the creative process itself
04:11 does make a good metaphor for all of life and existence.
04:15 I know we're getting existential here,
04:16 but you asked the question.
04:18 And so I love movies about the creative process.
04:22 And I think Flora and Son actually really does a great job
04:26 of dramatizing the creative process.
04:28 And you see these two people,
04:30 like the song that gets written
04:32 throughout these various scenes in the movie.
04:35 First, you hear this version that's kind of not great.
04:38 And then by virtue of two people sharing it,
04:42 and then, you know, Flora adds her spin to it.
04:45 And eventually over the course of a few scenes,
04:48 the song does get great.
04:50 That's life, man.
04:52 That's how it goes.
04:53 It's never instantly great.
04:55 Anything that's too instantly great is not to be trusted.
05:00 - Why don't you ask her out?
05:02 - Can I try that on?
05:03 - It's too big.
05:04 - What's the look?
05:05 - Yeah, for turtles.
05:07 - She's totally out of my league.
05:10 - Let's write a song.
05:11 - Just to hear your passion.
05:13 - Express yourself.
05:14 (screaming)
05:17 (dramatic music)
05:20 (gunshots)
05:22 (dramatic music)