Lucid Media
March 26 2010
ATOM EGOYAN INTERVIEW .
Friday, 26 March 2010 10:20 Michael Gregoris .Oscar Wilde once
declared, `Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait
of the artist, not of the sitter.’ Indeed, much of Wilde’s renowned
witticism may be directly applied to the works of director, Atom
Egoyan. This critically acclaimed Canadian-Armenian filmmaker.
Perhaps it is Egoyan’s unrelenting capacity to channel imagination and
personal experience into his subject matter, meticulously scrutinizing
the value of each shot or take to maximize the dramatic value of his
work.
Or, maybe it lies in his competency on set, his uncanny ability to get
his actors to do precisely what he desires. More likely, it is a
fusion of both these distinguishing traits that serves to continually
unearth a cathartic response, collectively shared by audiences time
and time again. His individual style and unabridged authority over all
the facets of production give his films a personal and unique stamp.
This is especially true in Egoyan’s latest picture, Chloe.
Starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, and Amanda Seyfried, Chloe is an
erotic thriller about an untrusting wife, Catherine (Moore) and her
attempts to prove that her husband, David (Neeson), ishaving an
affair. Compelled by her suspicion, Catherine hires an escort called
Chloe (Seyfried) to seduce him, inadvertently endangering her entire
family in the process. The film itself is inherently sexual, dealing
with deception, infidelity, and seduction as revealed to us through
Egoyan’s lens.
`You always channel your own experiences with a project,’ says Egoyan.
`Has it [infidelity] happened to me? No. But I ` we ` can imagine the
agony of it all with great detail and that’s something special.’
Sexuality is one of Egoyan’s chief preoccupations. Some of his other
films like Exotica (1994) and Where the Truth Lies (1995) share
similar themes and is precisely how he came to Chloe.
In 1996, Egoyan had the opportunity to serve on the Cannes Jury. And
in 1997 he again returned to compete with The Sweet Hereafter. His
first adaptation of a novel, it went on to win three prizes at Cannes
and received two Oscar nominations, for Best Director (the first time
a Canadian director had been nominated for a Canadian film) and Best
Adapted Screenplay. As if films weren’t enough, Egoyan took his
interest in music (he can play classical guitar) into the forum of
classical opera. He directed three productions, including the 1996
Toronto Opera Company’s Salome.
Egoyan recalls his triumphs at Cannes for The Sweet Hereafter:
`It was surreal because it came out of nowhere, especially against
Titanic; it was an incredible ride and it changed a lot of things in
my career,’ reveals Egoyan. `At the time, I didn’t really stop and
think about it. I just kept working, riding the momentum while the
film was still fresh in people’s minds.’
`Mostly, I was proud at the fact that it was for a Canadian director
and writer.’