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DAVID GORDON GREEN ON “THE SITTER”
In our Winter issue Michael Tully sat down with David Gordon Green to discuss the arc of his career, which has gone from small-scale, Malick-inflected indies to big, ’80s-riffing studio comedies. His latest is The Sitter, starring Jonah Hill, and while it may seem like a raunchy take on Chris Columbus’s Adventures in Babysitting, Green said he had a different model in mind. Here’s an except from the interview:
Filmmaker: You’ve just finished shooting. Are you watching movies? Do you watch movies that reflect the mood you’re in and the movie you’re making? Or is it the opposite? Do you watch a scrappy indie while you’re making a big movie?
Green: I always watch the opposite of what [I’m making]. [For The Sitter] I actually watched Adventures in Babysitting and some of these John Hughes movies that I am inspired by. In my head this is my version of an ‘80s John Hughes movie. But when I’m tired I felt that was the wrong headspace to be in, so I very severely contrasted what I watched during production or in the preparation for the movie. I always find it helpful to not hit the nail on the head with a genre that I’m looking at, to think of something that’s a little left-of-center. That helps me re-imagine a genre that could otherwise be very comfortable.
Filmmaker: Watching the sizzle reel at the wrap party, The Sitter seems to have kind of an After Hours vibe. It’s like a hyper, tweaked-out New York.
Green: Yeah, it’s a little surreal — a little heightened reality of New York, that’s definitely the goal. After Hours is absolutely the kind of role model for what we want to do. It’s a comedy on a lot of levels but it’s also kind of upsetting.
The red band, NSFW trailer follows. It’s preceded by awkward “edgy” comedy. Be forewarned.
