44
JANUARY 2013
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
DION OGUST (FLYNN)
NICK FLYNNDIDN’T SET
out to write a memoir
inspired by the movie
based on his previous
memoir. When the Boston-
bred poet, author and
playwright showed up on
set each day during the filming of
Being Flynn
,
back in spring 2011,
it was as a consultant: helping tomake sure, say, that a homeless
shelter felt like the one in which he’d once worked.
But, filmmaking being what it is, there were also long
stretches with absolutely nothing to do. That’s when the author
of
Another [expletive] Night in [expletive] City
,
the 2004 memoir
that inspired
Being Flynn
,
would pull out his notebook.
“
It was so odd—there’s Julianne Moore,
dressed as my mother
—
I just wanted
to capture the moment, what my impressions were,” he says. “I knew this experience
would never be repeated in my life.”
That said, the elegant li le book that
grew out of Flynn’s notebook scribbles,
The Reenactments
,
has a great deal to do
with reliving experiences. Alongside medi-
tations on everything from phantom limb
pain to collective memory, Flynn describes
seeing key moments from his past playing
out on set: the day of his mother’s suicide;
the night his estranged father, played by
Robert De Niro, comes into the homeless
shelter to ask for a bed.
That’s not to say that
Being Flynn
,
which was scripted by director Paul Weitz,
is slavishly true to the original memoir.
And Flynn’s fine with that. “The thing
about a film is there’s so many layers to
making it. The costumer, for instance, sent
me emails with links to De Niro wearing,
maybe, a hundred different coats to try
to figure out which ones my father would
wear, which ones he wouldn’t.
“
It’s such a collaborative process, I
wouldn’t even say the film is 50 percent
me,” he adds. “Divide by the number of
people who worked on it, and that’s what
percentage I am—one-100th or some-
thing.”
jan. 7
Title Transfer
Coming up with anMPAA-friendly
substitute for the, ah, vivid name
of Nick Flynn’s 2004 memoir wasn’t
easy. Here, the author shares a
peek at ge ing to
Being Flynn
.
Welcome to [expletive] City:
“
People fled
a test screening with this name, perhaps
thinking it was an adult movie. Besides,
this title was just a diluted version of the
original. And we didn’t want anyone to
think the film itself was diluted.”
The Greatest:
“
I liked the idea of calling
a film about a homeless alcoholic
The
Greatest
.
That was my father’s sense of
himself and, delusional or not, perhaps
part of what got him off the streets.”
[
Something] Flynn:
“
Before we settled on
Being Flynn
,
the possibilities—all quickly
rejected—included
Outside Flynn
,
Inside
Flynn
,
Alongside Flynn
,
Beyond Flynn
,
Following Flynn
,
Failing Flynn
,
Downbound
Flynn
,
Headlong Flynn
,
Wayworn Flynn
and
The Other Flynn
.”
Testing
His Meta
With
The Reenactments
,
Nick Flynn ponders the
art that imitated his life
MOVIES
Texas Chainsaw 3D
,
director John Luessenhop’s bid for slasher-flick overkill
//
Movie 43
,
an ensemble comedy that
features … every actor who ever lived
BOOKS
Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter From Haiti
,
witty, astute analysis by journalist
Amy Wilentz
//
Heat
,
an exploration of very hot places and things by Bill Streever, author of
Cold
MUSIC
Oddball Korean
rapper Psy performs at Anaheim’s Honda Center
TV
More historical carnage on Starz: “Spartacus” kicks off its third and final
season
THEATER
Tennessee Williams’ steamy classic
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
on Broadway, with Scarlett Johansson as Maggie
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culture
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THEMONTHAHEAD
