Sydney Pollack, 1934 - 2008

I admired the hell out of Sydney Pollack. He was the shadow man of directors. He was never the kind of guy that would impose his own visual stamp on a film like a Scorsese or a Spielberg. With Pollack, story and characters always came first. When you watch one of his films, you walk away with vivid memories about the characters and the story, and you may not realize this came from the same man who gave you Three Days of the Condor or Tootsie or Out of Africa.

In the wake of his recent death, there has been a litany of articles about him, but in a time like this, I’d rather spend time with the man himself. I’d rather watch his films or hear HIM talk in interviews. Thus, I’d like to share the video above, probably one of the best interviews available on the web where he spends roughly 40 minutes talking with Charlie Rose about not only The Interpreter, which he was promoting at the time, but he also spends time talking about the craft of filmmaking, and about 70’s films, and about how difficult it is to do a comedy or write a screenplay, or the difficulties of a thriller.

Hope you enjoy it.

-MM