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The Power of Positive Friction
A Conversation with Editor Saar Klein
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The Bourne Identity |
"It's all who you know." Everyone has heard that old saw about Hollywood, and at least in the case of editor Saar Klein (The Bourne Identity), it couldn't be more true. After working in industrial films and television in New York, Klein moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of directing-but quickly realized that he wasn't alone in his pursuit.
"My mom had a friend who had a son who was an editor for Oliver Stone. She said 'You should call this guy.' Well, I didn't want to call this guy. I didn't want to call her friend's son; it just sounded so embarrassing. Eventually, though, out of desperation, I called him. Joe Hutshing turned out to be a great guy; he's still a friend of mine. He was cutting The Doors at the time. He took me out to lunch and straight-talked me. He said 'Get yourself an apartment in the city and a reliable car, because you're going to be running around for the next few years.' And he was right about that."
In 1991, Hutshing asked Klein to be the post-production intern on JFK-a chance Klein jumped at. Since then, Klein's resume has grown to include collaborations with some of the film industry's most celebrated directors, including Terrence Malick on The Thin Red Line and Cameron Crowe on Almost Famous. Most recently, Klein teamed up with director Doug Liman to cut the eagerly awaited The Bourne Identity, a spy thriller starring Matt Damon and Franka Potente. In this recent interview with MM, Klein talks about the benefits and drawbacks of working with multiple editors, why a good director can rarely overcome a bad script and how an editor is more than just a pair of hands.
Jennifer Wood (MM): How did you come to be involved with The Bourne Identity?
Saar Klein (SK): What happened with The Bourne Identity was that it started at a party-it always seems to start at a party. A few years before I had met a woman named Allison Brecker, now Allison Schermer, and she's an executive at Universal. We met about 6 or 7 years ago at a party and just kept running into each other. She sort of followed my editing career and would call me up at least annually and say 'Hey, would you want to work on this movie or that?' And it was really never the kind of movie that I was interested in. On this one she told me the background of the whole story and she really wanted me to cut it. She thought I would make a good match for the director. As for me, I knew that it was going to shoot in Paris, which was kind of enticing, as well as New York.
She also knew that I had an interest in directing and thought it would be a good opportunity for me to be involved. It was the kind of situation where the director allows a lot of people to be creatively involved.
MM: What was it like in the editing room with Doug Liman, a director who has had so much control over his past films, often serving as both director and cinematographer?SK: I don't think he necessarily has more control than others. I think every situation is different and it usually has to do with personality rather than what specifically the person did. I think Doug was very open. He had his original vision, but he's definitely open to influence. Some directors come in and they know exactly what they want. I think Doug likes to improvise a lot more, even on the set. He doesn't necessarily come to the editing room with a specific idea. I think it's more of a dialogue and bouncing things back and forth. I think a lot of the director-editor relationship comes out of personality and how people work.
MM: How do you generally choose projects?SK: The most important thing to me is the script. If it's a bad script then I think there's no point in doing it.
MM: Are there any particular elements in the script that you are looking for? A lot of action, for example?
SK: I don't necessarily look for action. I'm looking for any sort of honest approach, and it doesn't have to reinvent a genre. Whenever I hear someone tell me that they have a really hip script, that it's the newest thing, I'm always a bit concerned. But I think if there's any sort of honesty in it or it's an intriguing story, that's what I look at. The other thing is if it's visual.
If it's purely dialogue-driven, it could be a great film that I'd like to watch, but as an editor it may not be necessarily the thing I want to do if it's a bunch of talking heads. Because that's usually not enjoyable as an editor, and it's also incredibly difficult. To really pull off a static dialogue scene requires a lot of care and time. It's the hardest thing to cut. But anything I read and think 'God, I wish I wrote that' is good.
MM: Is the script more important than the director? If you know a particular director is attached to the script, can that make the project more interesting to you?
SK: Sometimes you try to convince yourself that the director can take the script and make it something else. And there are some directors that don't really believe in scripts, and if it's a bad script that's probably a good sign. But on the whole I feel like you can have the greatest sort of Mario Andretti, but if he's driving a beat-up Volkswagen he's not going to win the race. It's so easy to screw up a good script that if it's a bad script you're really starting from a point you can't get out of.
MM: The Bourne Identity is the first time you've worked as the sole editor. Was that a better or worse experience for you?SK: Well I did a movie called Endurance pretty much as a sole editor. It's a lonelier experience. This is what it comes down to: if you're working with another editor, like I worked with Joe [Hutshing] on Almost Famous, it's a great experience in that you're not working in a vacuum. And if you have a true friendship you can sort of bounce things back and forth-you can excite each other, I think. Because other than that, for anybody that needs some kind of creative feedback, you're going to go wherever you can get it. In a situation like this, I tend to go more to my assistants, because that's who I have available to me.
I guess the con of it is that you are alone, but I think you hit a certain situation at times where you have strong opinions, and if you work with somebody else there's always a sort of clashing at some point. And out of that, there's a creativity that happens, where you reach a higher level. But you can always find friction with a director or producer-that's not a hard thing to find on a film set. I kind of enjoyed [working alone] actually, because I pretty much know what I want and so it's easier that way. I had an additional editor who was on TBI for a while, Chris Rouse, who sort of served the purpose of a partner. He wasn't there the whole time, but he was really an accomplice in a way. With him, though, we mostly seemed to be on the same page, whereas in the past there's been more of what I call positive friction; it's never been negative. So that's what it comes down to: it's a little bit easier in a way because you know what you want. You're eliminating any kind of dialogue. The good thing about working with other editors is that if the situation is right, I think you can be pushed. It's like going for a run alone versus going for a run with somebody: there's a competitiveness that I think at times can help.
MM: You've been enormously lucky to work with some of the film industry's most celebrated directors, including Oliver Stone, Terrence Malick and Cameron Crowe. Who is the one director you would love to collaborate with?SK: The problem is that there are a lot of directors that I think are incredibly talented out there, but if they're real sort of control people then it doesn't necessarily make the process enjoyable for me. That's why the director is really the second most important thing about it. If it's a director who really just wants a pair of hands, then I have no interest. For example, I'd love to work for Scorsese, but he's got the greatest editor working for him from the beginning and I'm sure he's the kind of guy who's incredibly detail-oriented and controlled. I don't think he walks in in the morning and then says 'Okay, I'll see you after lunch.' I'm kind of selfish in that I put my own personal experience first; it's important.
MM: I'd guess it should be, as you're agreeing to be stuck in a room with that person for several months.SK: I think guys like Wes Anderson are incredibly interesting, both story-wise and visually, and P.T. Anderson I think is just incredible. His films, regardless of some of the flaws I see, are incredibly courageous and interesting visually. It would be really interesting, as an editor, to work with him.
MM: So are you still looking to direct?
SK: Yeah, I do have plans to direct. I'm actually going to direct some spec commercial work with Doug Liman's company, Hypnotic, and then I'm just looking to start developing material. I mean I think that the biggest problem-as a director or an editor or a DP or any part of filmmaking-is finding material that's really good. It's rare to find a really good script and that's a big problem.
MM: What's up next for you, editing-wise?
SK: I'm not working on anything. I've worked on The Bourne Identity for two years, so I'm planning to take a big break-like reading and writing and walking around. and talking to people. You never know when something just sort of comes to you that's irresistible. If something comes that feels like 'I just have to do this!' then I will, but no plans yet.
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Since 1987 Kodak has been the official partner of the Cannes Film Festival, sponsoring the Camera d’Or prize that is awarded yearly to the best feature film by a first-time director. The tradition continues in 2008 when, for the fifth consecutive year, the festival will also hand out the Kodak Discovery Prize for Best Short Film.
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Posted 05.8.08 | News/Commentary | No comments yet...
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