Subject: Albert Brooks
Inside the Comedy of the World
Official Roundtable Interview – Los Angeles January 2006
Question: Did you ever think you would be entering a minefield with a movie like this?
The very facts there are no movies like this you are entering a minefield because
mostly when you make a movie you have something to compare with. There is certainly
not been any comedies about anything post 9/11. Very few dramas coming out now,
like the terrorist with a heart of gold dramas those movie`s where suicide bombers change their mind.
The idea of making something where people can reasonable laugh about the situation; I can`t call it a minefield but I knew it would be unusual. I am just dismayed that since 9/11 nothing in the arts has been made about it.
As I said; there is a few dramas coming out trying to tackle this; but there is no comedy.
I sat over the first year and we were scared every day: "The next attack is coming tomorrow, don`t open your mail, there was the anthrax, everything is bad. Then the second year it lessened a little but they said be careful of holidays. The third year has now developed into "If this is the world now; you got to make comedies". You got to accept this is a broken arm that doesn`t heal.
It`s like ok; this hurts now and I will lead my life with this arm. I was just amazed that no one was acknowledging part of the art form that I do that this is even happened. The few
comedies called contemporary are mostly teenage sex comedies and dealing with "Do I get laid or not" and 9/11 doesn`t entering in that side of the brain. I got frustrated by it.
The other main reason was when I wrote this movie and filmed it; they hadn`t brought Carol Hughes back. Her job is now is I guess the PR to the Muslim world. There wasn`t even anybody attempting this; and this was mind boggling to me. It still is. I don`t know why the US wont put ` take your trillion dollars and buy the weapons ‘. I understand that is what they are going to do. I would say take a billion dollars and put 50,000 people on the ground. I call it the "Schmooze core".
Let make people just make contact around the world. All that people know about America is what they read on the paper. And it`s not really great for the last number of years. But what I found in India was when you would go to dinner with somebody and have contact with them and if they had a good time with you they would end up thinking
"Hey that guy is pretty cool, America is a cool place."
Those 2 main reasons: One is that I hadn`t seen anything about this subject and two; there should be some type of PR. Now obviously they wont have a "what makes people laugh program" but that`s the idea of the program. But they can take people out for dinner, what music do they like, juts something. Fred Thompson has that great line: "Something other than the normal things spying and fighting." That`s what I feel.
Question: Do we even know what makes Americans laugh?
No, great question because I have no idea. I am amazed I don`t know after all these years. People ask me do you try to make movies for the public and I respond "no, what are you crazy, what public? Who am I going to aim at?
Tragedy and sadness never change and they are the same. If a Chinese person, Muslim person or a Christian loses a child they will weep and feel bad. Not only is sense of humor vastly the most varied of all emotions; it doesn`t remain consistent. What makes you laugh on Monday you might hate on Friday.
I started in the early 70`s that satirical article for esquire starting the famous school for comedians just based on the fact that I will teach you to be funny. We got literally 300 applications on that fake comedy test sent in to Esquire. You could have opened that school.
Question: Did you ever consider like maybe not making this in India but perhaps Saudi Arabia?
I will make you a deal. You get me in Saudi Arabia; I will make a movie.
Question: what about Jordan or Egypt?
No way! There is no possibility; there is no film commission. Look at Syriana; I believe it`s filmed in Morocco. One of the parts of the story that was always important to me is the India/Pakistan conflict.
Now Pakistan is a Muslim nation. The minority Muslim population in India is so large that it qualifies as the second largest Muslim population in the world. And I also was really interested in how India is currently presented right now. You mostly see "Passage to India" or read "Jungle Book". I don`t think most Americans know what the streets look like.
I was always interested in South Asia. If you include Indonesia, Pakistan and India, that alone is over 500 Muslims. That alone is a large part of the Muslim world. The Arab Muslim world is a fascinating place; but the one thing I wouldn`t want to do is go to the few safe countries and call it Iran. I might as well shoot in Van Heis!
You could get the Fox news crew in there; but you couldn`t get 100 Americans led by a Jewish director. When the head of Iran says Wednesday lets wipe Israel of the map, hes not saying Thursday but let that director access to all the mosques.
Question: Mr. Brooks, how long was the process from the initial idea to writing the script?
2 years
Question: Was there any hesitation from any studios?
There was no studio; Steve Bing was the man who put the movie for this movie. No studio would have funded this. Now Steve had a distribution deal with Sony. He told Sony that he is making an Albert Brooks said. At first they referred it to Tri-Star. When I finished filming we had our first meeting with the rough cut. Everybody thought that meeting well but me. One of the gentlemen made a comment "Good title, I guess we are going to have to get a lot of phones to answer this one." I left there going "Do you think this is going to be ok."
They made posters, they made trailers, they booked us into the Toronto Film Festival and October 7th was the day. 4 month later after the Newsweek article about the Koran; Steve Bing called me saying "they don`t want to use the title". I told you this!
I was angry because they wasted 5 months. We found Warner Independent immediately. They were really excited but didn`t have an October slot and now is now. I was sort of angry they wasted our time. I saw that Sony trailer and you wouldn`t believe it. Not only didn`t they want the title but they didn`t want to tell anyone what the movie was about. It was like "Bill and Ted go to India." I couldn`t figure it out; a comedian deciding to put on a show overseas. What about the plot; where`s the scene where we want you to find out how to make Muslims laugh.
Question: Once you got the green light to do this, did you pull back in terms of the humor? Did you pull your punches in the scripting?
No, I never really considered I was punching anybody. I did one thing which I did was the "Crawl". I had to meet with the Minister of Culture in India and had to go in great detail to get the movie made. The stuff I thought they had problems with weren`t which was them fighting with Pakistan. They are used to that and in fact have that in their own movies.
The stuff they did have problems with was stuff I didn`t have. He told me that Steven Spielberg wanted to shoot Temple of Doom and I said why and he said because they had a scene where people ate monkey brains. I didn`t have that in my problem. They were more concerned about clichés. If a cow passed through in a scene and car couldn`t cross the street for 3 hours, they did not want that perpetrated. But I did say that I would resolve India and Pakistan were not fighting at the very end of the movie which I did with the crawl.
Question: How did you end up with Warner Independent? Were you in despair that this wouldn`t get any theatrical release?
Steve Bing initially had his deal at Warners. I always felt Warners Independent was the place to be. They had released "Lost in America". It happened very quickly so there wasn`t a period of time where I was concerned. The good part was that we would have never had gone to Dubai. That was the highlight of my life to premiere this movie there; because we would have been out already. It turned out to be the great comedy screening of my life. That was the most memorable night of my life.
Question: When was it?
It was on December 15th.
Question: Why was it the greatest?
There was an audience of 500 people, most of which were in traditional dress. I have no idea how this was going to do. There was no other film like this. At the beginning of the festival the HEAD OF THE FESTIVAL was excited about the film, the SHEIK was flying from Abu Dhabi just for the festival. The movie was about to start, in a beautiful theater. The lights go down and I get a tap on my shoulder and I find out he wants to meet me. I sit behind him and watch the movie sitting behind the SHEIK. The SHEIK and his men are laughing the whole time. At the end he got up and didn`t even know I was there, but he said a great thing, he said "A movie like this can bridge the gap between HERE and HERE" and it was a great compliment (to my work).
The screening did not have the translations done but the audience didn`t need the translation.
Question: What about being self-referential?
Not many people use themselves in films, it happens in television but not much in movies. I thought back to Jack Benny and how he influenced this decision on my behalf to do it. It makes the movie more real. It wasn`t easy to have Fred Thompson play Fred Thompson because of this issue. I said I am playing myself and if you don`t play yourself it won`t work really well. He asked "you aren`t going to pull a Michael Moore on me are you?"
You cannot flesh out a human being without having elements of yourself.
Question: How hard was it securing locations in India, mosques etc.?
There was no one place to get permission for various locations. You have to get 11 different kinds of permission to shoot India. For The Mosque I had to have a sit down meeting with the IMMAM of that mosque, he gave me the prayer times, and gave me direction as to when I could shoot.
The fact that I got to do it was WILD.
Question: Did you get to go into the TAJ MAHAL?
Yes, and it was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen!
Question: What makes you laugh?
I like laughing at myself, Jon Stewart makes me laugh, David Letterman makes me laugh and I grew up loving Jack Benny. He makes me laugh. I can make myself laugh occasionally.
Question: What is your next project?
I am not going to get specific here but the subject of AGING has always fascinated me as a subject matter.
Question: When did you know you were first funny?
I was the one that was getting laughs early on. Second and First grade. I usually got out of trouble for doing that. Sometimes I would get a better grade, I would rewrite the announcements that went over the PA
Question: How was it doing standup again in this film?
I was the director I had to do so much more to make these scenes filmable. I am talking to them as a director then I am the actor. The first 3 or 4 hours I could not get them to stop laughing because when you tell people not to laugh they laugh. It was 111 degrees, and that contributed to it, and then in the second half of the day I had people screaming our "WHEN DO WE EAT?" which was the whole other problem.
Question: It seems the jokes are deemed politically incorrect?
And the whole world has been politically incorrect and I am interested to know when that actually happened. I don`t have an idea as to when this actually happened and the religious groups brought attention to such things. Why do we have reactions like the JANET JACKSON wardrobe malfunction? Certain controversies are created by the people trying to suppress the controversy.
I watch the reruns of ALL IN THE FAMILY and you cannot put that on COMERCIAL TELEVISION today, and it`s interesting that it came out in the 1970s.
By the way would you pay an agency to come up with the name AIRBUS? Can you imagine the brainstorming session to come up with the name of this plane?
Question: How did Penny Marshall come to be in the movie?
I called her and asked her to be in it. I have good luck with the Marshalls.
Question: You play yourself, but in these movies you have a different wife and children from movie to movie, in THE MUSE Andie Macdowell was your wife, and it changes from movie to movie any particular reason for this?
Its tough because I don`t want to involve my family directly in the films. My children are old enough now so they now the difference, I am making a film not a documentary. My son was cute because he is 7 now, at the NEMO premiere he hears the voice and sees the kid and he got scared because he thinks he is the kid. Its all a bit too confusing for them, but now they are older and can deal with it.
When my son was a little younger we went to the NEMO on ICE performance and he went to jump into the rink and jump onto the MARLIN character and its good that in the end that he didn`t because that wouldn`t be good.