Ron Howard certainly falls into the category of a national treasure beginning with his role as America’s favorite kid, Opie, on “The Andy Griffith Show.”  Since that time, that little kid from Duncan, Oklahoma, co-starred in a variety of episodic television shows as well as directing Emmy-award winning programs.  He made his feature film directing debut with “Grand Auto Theft” subsequently working with some of the most famous Hollywood actors, including Robert De Niro, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Kurt Russell, Mel Gibson, Gary Sinise, Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Ed Harris, and Bill Paxton.  He has directed some of the film industry’s most memorable films including, “Cocoon,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Splash,” “Parenthood,” “Cinderella Man,” “Frost/Nixon,” and “Apollo 13” which garnered the Best Director Oscar.

Your reporter sat down with this brilliant director for an exclusive interview to discuss his latest film, “Pavarotti,” a documentary on the life, times, and struggles of one of the world’s most famous tenors. A CBS Films Polygram Entertainment Brian Grazer presentation, the film is an Imagine Entertainment and White Horse Pictures production, and is scheduled to open in select cities on June 7.

The following has been edited for content and continuity for print purposes.

You’ve made two successful documentaries: “Made in America” and “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years.” Why a documentary on Pavarotti?

Ron: I was drawn to his personal and professional journey, which I thought was inspiring and very dramatic and a great human-interest story. He had missteps and foibles but at the end of the day, I felt there was an interesting paradox with this very common, earthy guy performing at that high level for so many years. The film is a blend of his life and what I could reveal about opera, what it takes to sing opera, and what opera can mean on an emotional level. I could offer audiences something a little surprising. That’s what drew me to make the film.

When you were doing your research and interviewing people, did you discover something that surprised you?

Ron: It was interesting to understand the way he navigated in the world. So on one hand, he was not an innocent, but he wanted people to like him and he wanted to make people feel comfortable. At the same time, he was a shrewd businessman and he cared about the deals.  I was surprised at the way his career sort of flattened out. He went into a period of a kind of a malaise wherein he cancelled appearances and was just down in general in the wake of some romances that didn’t work out. His marriage was really over but he didn’t feel he could get a divorce. Catholic and Italian made a divorce highly problematic for him and his family.

Was it easy to get cooperation from his family?

Ron: I didn’t interview his first wife Adua Veroni because I don’t speak Italian and I was directing “Solo – A Star Wars Story” at that time. I think the family was incredibly courageous. They gave us all a gift – not by just offering insight into Luciano – all his foibles and all his disappointments – but also by giving us an object lesson in forgiveness. I didn’t expect that.  None of us expected that to come out of those interviews and it wasn’t just Adua, it was also the daughters.

Did someone in Pavarotti’s life impact him life in a positive way?

Ron: I was surprised that Princess Diana, who I had an opportunity to meet a couple of times over the years and actually talked to her, had a deep effect on him. Her dedication to philanthropy seemed to reinvigorate him in a way and he took that on himself. That was something that came out of the interviews.

What is it about documentaries that you find particularly exciting?

Ron: I always enjoyed them and they satisfy my curiosity. They’re related to a lot of the narrative stories that I’ve done – the ones that are either based on real events or they’re fiction and meant to depict the world like the movie “The Paper.” I wanted the journalism to feel realistic even though it was a fictional story. There’s a lot of research involved. I always found that fascinating and as I’ve done that, it’s made me more and more curious about what it would be like to make a documentary and take on that responsibility. In the three films I’ve done, I’ve had fantastic collaborators who were helping me understand that discipline. I find it very satisfying. It’s a departure in some ways from what I do when I’m directing a scripted narrative piece, but they’re more related than I expected it to be.

What is the difference between making a narrative film vs. a documentary?

Ron: Basically, you’re skipping over the production side with a documentary and going right to post. Whenever I’m in post production, I always forget about what it was like to shoot and just look at what we have and try to explore what its virtues are and what it can be. Actually, the big difference is that the story has to kind of define itself for you based on the acquired footage and what the interviewees have to say. So, you have your goals, you’ve done your research, you start thinking about what the story is going to be, but you can’t be sure. It does sort of present itself. When you’re working on a scripted project, you have a lot more editorial control over what it is you want to say and how you want to work with the story to say it. In this case, Pavarotti’s spirit informed every interview and even if they were acknowledging warts and disappointments, the take-away was always that the scales dipped dramatically to the positive. His spirit, and his sense of giving were pure and something everyone respected and appreciated.

Your film definitely fulfills his wish to bring opera to the masses.

Ron: Thank you. If we accomplished that, I’d feel that we have helped Luciano Pavarotti to fulfill his agenda.

Thank you so much for a gracious interview.

Ron: Nice interview. Thank you.

Stay tuned for Part 2 in which Ron Howard discusses transitioning from actor to director, how he chooses his scripts, and his directing approach.

The post Ron Howard Discusses His Documentary on the Iconic Tenor Luciano Pavarotti appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Can you imagine joining screen, stage, and TV legends Dames Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Maggie Smith for an intimate tea party?  Would you like to hear them talk about their most interesting personal and professional lives and share secrets about of their experiences?  Well, imagine no more as director Roger Michell (Notting Hill, Venus, Le Week-End, and My Cousin Rachel) has created the enchanting “Tea With The Dames” in which these multi-award winning legendary performers sit around a table at Dame Joan Plowright’s beautiful country cottage that she shared with her late husband, Sir Laurence Olivier (Larry,) and reveal stories about their adventures as young ingénues. These are clearly adoring colleagues whose relationships span decades.  Between these gifted actresses, they have earned a massive amount of Oscars, Tonys, Emmys, and BAFTA awards.  One of the most endearing moments is a montage of each of these talented women receiving their Damehood honor from Prince Philip or Queen Elizabeth II.

This exquisitely shot film by Director of Photography Eben Bolter, begins with the Dames practicing vocal warm-ups such as “mi, mi, mi” or “Peter Piper Pecked A Peck of Pickled Peppers” and soon they settle in for a gossip fest, each of them comically retelling highlights, as well as lowlights, of their respective careers.  Their conversation is unscripted and occasionally slips into being comically irreverent.  Inner most thoughts and secrets are revealed such as Dame Atkins passing on playing Cleopatra because she felt she wasn’t pretty enough.  An archival clip comes up of a young Dame Judi Dench playing that part.  Vintage footage is shown throughout the film including scenes from Dame Dench’s performances in “Roots,” “School for Scandal,” and “Romeo & Juliet.” She also remembered that when she played Cecily in “The Importance of Being Ernest,” “I kept forgetting my lines.”  There are also clips of her playing different queens including, “Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown” contrasted by her role as “M” in “Skyfall” and “Tea With Mussolini,” a Franco Zeffirelli co-starring Plowright, Dench, and Smith. The story is about English expatriates living in Italy at the beginning of World War II.  Dame Dench recalls, “After a day of shooting, we would drink a whole bottle of Procecco and then try to find our hotel rooms.”

Dame Atkins, whose mother wanted her to be a dancer, remembers when she worked with Olivier in “Othello,” she put his eyelashes on for him every night.  Playing Desdemona, she recalled during one performance he slapped her so hard that it left a black handprint on her face.  There is also an amusing clip of her doing a table read for “The Duchess of Malfi.” At the end, the director said, “Well done.” Illustrating her wonderful sense of humor, and perhaps a bit of insecurity, she replied, “It will never happen again.”

With clips from “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and “Private Lives,” Dame Smith shares that when she worked with Olivier, “I was more nervous around him than the critics.” With her signature dry sense of humor, she also tells the story of how during the filming of “Harry Potter” she had to give reaction shots and comically demonstrated the different poses she assumed.  There is another clip of a rehearsal from “Gosford Park.” “God forbid you should make a mistake, everyone would just stare at you.”  Her parents didn’t approve of her going to the cinema but she revealed that her neighbor took her to see her first film, “The Jazz Singer” starring Larry Parks, a clip of which is shown.

Perhaps the only sad note is that Dame Plowright’s sight is failing, but despite that challenge, she is as bubbly, charming, and as effervescent as ever.  Possessing a keen sense of humor she quips, “I put my hearing aids in.” She reminisced about something her mother said, “You’re no oil painting girl, and thank God you’ve got my legs and not your father’s.” She shared a funny story that her husband couldn’t find the key to the bar and in his glorious, magnificently trained voice asked his son, “Where are the keys to daddy’s num nums?” At one point, she discusses acting as being the difference between actual truth and illusion.  Fully aware that these fabulous women are in the their 80s, the director asked for their comments on aging which was met with playful hostility.  Dame Dench uttered a naughty word that one would not expect to come out of her regal mouth making it a deliciously ex-rated moment. He also inquires as to how it was working with their husbands and after a silent beat or two, Dame Smith says dryly, “Which one?”

Wit and laughter abound throughout this unique look into the life and times of these extraordinary women.  As the shoot wore on, the Dames began to tire.  Dame Smith quips to the director, “Has anyone told you how old we are?”  Another question from the off-camera director was, “What would your older self tell your younger self today?”

Dame Plowright:  “Get in touch with yourself at a young age and don’t wait until you’re older like I did.”

Dame Smith: “When in doubt, don’t!”

Dame Dench:   “Try not to be so susceptible to falling in love.”

Dame Atkins:  “Don’t be so bad tempered and confrontational and listen more.”

At last these fabulous women are given a glass of champagne and toast each other with love and deep affection, but in fact, we should be toasting them for the enormous contribution they’ve made to their profession. The toast should also include the sensitive, creative hand of director Michell, whose “Tea With The Dames” is a beautiful thank you note to these ladies and a gift to us.

At the end of this captivating film, we hear Dame Dench’s voice reciting from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” “We are such stuff as dreams are made on…” and indeed these amazing women collectively embody that famous quote.

“Tea With The Dames”
Presented by: A Field Day Productions/BBC Anthony Wall & Arena Co-Production
Executive Producers for Field Day:  Sally Angel & Debbie Manners
Producers: Sally Angel, Karen Steyn
Directed by: Roger Michell
Music Supervisor: Ann Miller
Genre:    Documentary
Language:  English
Rating:   PG
Running Time:  89 minutes
U.S. Release:  (LA) September 28, 2018
(NY) September 21, 2018
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