Towne and city

Robert Towne makes Los Angeles play itself once again

By Michelle Devereaux

>a&eletters@sfbg.com

Robert Towne can't seem to escape from LA. The Hollywood veteran and Los Angeles native, whose first major and most lasting acclaim came from penning the neonoir classic Chinatown in the mid-'70s, has returned to the City of Angels with his latest directorial effort, an adaptation of John Fante's Depression-era novel Ask the Dust. Here, Chinatown's contentious water has been replaced by (sour) milk and orange blossom honey — to a surprisingly sweet-tart affect. On a recent SF visit, Towne, sucking down cigars in his nonsmoking hotel suite, chatted with the Guardian about his latest LA story.

SFBG Here you are directing a period piece about Los Angeles. And again, it's not just set in LA — the city is an integral character.

Robert Towne I was in research for Chinatown [when] I came across this book and really fell in love with it. I didn't really grow up in the '30s. I was alive — just. But my memories, for practical purposes, are very much like the places and the settings and the color of the sky and the dust in the air that John wrote about. John's book is my childhood in that way that ... your children bring your childhood back. They bring back a whole flood of memories just like — if they live long enough — your parents show you your future.

SFBG What's your relationship like with LA now?

RT I hate it.

SFBG Would you compare it negatively with the city during the time the film is set?

RT Oh my god, yes. By comparison it was a wonderful time. Part of it wasn't just the city; it was the people. When everybody's worried about work, they all have something in common. "Brother, can you spare a dime?" — the use of the word brother is telltale. Because it couldn't afford to be, it was not an acquisitive time. People were not so relentlessly materialistic. The physical pleasures of the city — John's book brought [those] back to me.

SFBG The new movie's LA is a very sensual place. It's dusty and dirty, but it feels alive.

RT The people were alive — they were dreamers. Just the joy of being able to get into a jalopy and take a drive to the beach where you could smell the eucalyptus and orange blossoms and run into the ocean with a certain amount of abandon. The quality of the air was better; driving in the streets was better. Even the quality of food was better. There were no genetically engineered tomatoes that taste like cellulose.

SFBG That brings to mind the scene where Colin Farrell's character [Bandini] bites into an orange with the peel still on.

RT Just to capture that — it's something very beautiful.

SFBG Why did it take so long to get this film made?

RT One of the reasons was that nobody wanted to finance it. Even Johnny Depp couldn't get it made in 1993. This was before Pirates of the Caribbean, of course. And then this young actor came along, who I thought was really right for the part, and even that wasn't going to get it made — until Colin Farrell became a movie star.

SFBG [Bandini] is supposed to be this very closed-in, sexually inexperienced — inexperienced in general — guy.

RT [Laughs] There's no question [Farrell is] working against public perception. But remember I met Colin as this hungry kid. [He] comes to [my] door; he's read the script and wants to do it. He stayed for 12 hours. He got involved with my family. This girlfriend of my wife said, "I don't know who that guy is, but whatever he wants, give it to him." Colin also had something of a mama's boy in him. He has a level of sensitivity that I think is so strong that the tattoos and the language are attempts to protect himself.

SFBG Bandini keeps writing to H.L. Mencken. What did you do when you were a young, struggling writer?

RT I had friends. Who subsequently, in many cases, became very well-known. I would talk to them about what I was writing. You need encouragement anywhere you can get it. In my case, it was [from] actors.

SFBG What about Roger Corman?

RT And Roger. Although there were writers that did much better by Roger than I did. I was not capable of getting stuff done as rapidly as he wanted, although, by his own acknowledgment, a lot of people [say] that his best film was Tomb of Ligeia.

SFBG Was it merely a question of how quickly he wanted things cranked out, or were you a little too poetic?

RT Probably a little of both. *

ASK THE DUST

Opens Fri/17

www.askthedust-movie.com