Angel and Beast
Screenwriter Frank Pierson spoke at
Chautauqua Institution this morning.
The gist of his remarks may be found
in an undated graduation speech
at WarnerSisters.com.
His suggested motto for filmmakers:
"To reach and touch
the angel in the beast."
The Chautauquan Daily,
Friday, August 7, 2009
by Sara Toth, staff writer —
"Pierson listed his favorite movies as the Italian and French films that, after World War II, captivated him and his friends. 'Those movies were overwhelmingly fascinating to us, and changed the way in which we saw movies, and the way we saw our lives and what we wanted to do with ourselves,' he said. 'There were so many that were absolutely marvelous.' Such movies are not made any more, Pierson said, and the quality of the movies now pale in comparison to those of the 1970s and 1980s. About once a year, the Coen brothers release a movie, and Woody Allen 'occasionally' makes a good film, Pierson said. But the mainstream movies that are shown in the multiplexes now are geared toward only one audience: young men with disposable incomes. 'That's really catering so extensively to a rather limited audience-- a mentally retarded and emotionally stunted audience at that-- that there's not a lot left over for the rest of us,' Pierson said."