In the Fresh Air interview between Terry Gross and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaption), Gross goes dreamworky:
Terry Gross: Are there any dreams that you feel like you'd be willing to share on the radio that reveal something about how your mind works?
Charlie Kaufman: There is one dream that I remember - that I have and I remember it 'cause it's recurring. It's an elevator dream. I realize that I've got elevators in three of my movies - at least three that I can think of right now.
...
It's always sort of the same dream … It's always getting into an elevator - the elevator is always old, and it's always ascending - and, as it ascends, there's a sense that it's kind of not very well hanging - (laugh) you know, and it's moving from side to side, and then it's going to fall, and it's rickety and it's squeaking and it's shaky and it's claustrophobic. I've had that dream for years.
...
Terry Gross: Did you grow up in an apartment building that had an elevator?
Charlie Kaufman: No, in fact, I grew up in houses.
So, all you aspiring dreamworkers out there - what do you make of this dream? What questions would you ask of the dreamer?
1 comments:
I'd say Mr. Kaufman is a bit afraid of his own success as a screenwriter. The ascending elevator is going up, just as his career ascends--but it feels claustrophobic to him. There's a sense in which he's trapped by his own artistic desires, or there's a level of artistic freedom he hasn't found yet.
This is so interesting because all of Kaufman's stories are self-referential stories-within-stories, so there is often a claustrophobic feel. His narratives are about narrative itself. I wonder how he would feel about writing an extremely straightforward story with no irony or self-reference at all--something like the pure melodrama of "Slumdog Millionaire." Would that make the elevator feel "better hung," or would it send him into freefall?!
: )
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