JOHN HUSTON

A 52’ documentaryDirected by Marie Brunet-Debaines

Produced by ARTE G.E.I.E and Zadig Productions

adventures of a free soul

SYNOPSISActor, screenwriter and director, John Huston is a Hollywood great. He is one of the most fanciful and rebellious. A legend in itself. Exploring his unique personal universe and his cinematographic work, this film tells the story of an unforeseen Huston, a deep, cultured and cosmopolitan man, far removed from the clichés of the typical Hollywood filmmaker.

Dublin, January 1904. It’s the evening of Epiphany, it’s snowing over Ireland. So begins The Dead, John Huston’s latest film, a story the film-maker has carried with him for decades, when as a young adult he became firmly attached to the work of James Joyce. This is his declara-tion of love for the Ireland of his origins and part of his existence. Seriously ill, Huston doesn’t miss a day of filming. Joyce’s words, the sweet melancholy atmosphere and subtle staging of Huston give The Dead, a scent of eternity. The film received a standing ovation at its opening screening of the Venice Film Festival in 1987, when Huston died six days earlier.

Far from Ireland, the other half of John Huston’s life was spent in Mexico. Three years before The Dead, Huston expressed his Mexican passion in an adaptation of Malcolm Lowry’s cult novel Under the Volcano. The story unfolds in one day, the day of Souls’Day. From the first images of the film, the hero wanders through a small historic town amid the many portrayals of death that Mexicans love. The atmosphere is surreal, just like the culture of the country.

Before leaving his life of adventures, John Huston looked back one last time on Ireland, Mexico and literature, three of his essential passions through which we will explore the man and the filmmaker.

It’s important to us to give a vision of John Huston rather than painting a formal portrait of him. As this man and his cinema are unclassifiable, we will walk through his tumultuous life and his work of more than forty films, letting us be guided by the character’s originality and charm.

To tell the story of our John Huston, great studio filmmaker who fled Hollywood, citizen of the world ahead of his time, passionate about horses and wildlife, drunk with art and literature, we are offering a film combining interviews with Huston and archival footage, extracts from his films, “making-of” of the shooting, and current images shot in Ireland and Mexico.

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Huston and his work have a soul, and I would like to Huston and his work have a soul, and I would like to precisely reveal that soul without erasing the harsher precisely reveal that soul without erasing the harsher aspects of his personality.aspects of his personality.

After a most tumultuous life, John Huston left as a peaceful man. After a most tumultuous life, John Huston left as a peaceful man. Did he eventually find an answer to his existential questions th-Did he eventually find an answer to his existential questions th-roughout his adventures? Like a hudsonian hero, has he come to roughout his adventures? Like a hudsonian hero, has he come to enlightment through his own personal and artistic quest? Huston enlightment through his own personal and artistic quest? Huston built himself on the ground of his origins, with a deep attachment built himself on the ground of his origins, with a deep attachment to his family, nurturing his passion for art and literature. Huston is to his family, nurturing his passion for art and literature. Huston is eclectic: ”I like to tap into sources other than mine,” he says in his eclectic: ”I like to tap into sources other than mine,” he says in his memoir. He does not consider himself only as a film director, it is memoir. He does not consider himself only as a film director, it is unthinkable for him to devote himself to a single activity. He is in-unthinkable for him to devote himself to a single activity. He is in-terested in boxing, writing, painting, horses; and he says ”at some terested in boxing, writing, painting, horses; and he says ”at some periods in my life, it is just as important to me as directing.”periods in my life, it is just as important to me as directing.”

John Huston is Irish in blood, Mexican in heart, American by chan-John Huston is Irish in blood, Mexican in heart, American by chan-ce. In the early 1950s, disgusted by McCarthyism, Huston left Uni-ce. In the early 1950s, disgusted by McCarthyism, Huston left Uni-ted States to which he now feels a stranger, even though he him-ted States to which he now feels a stranger, even though he him-self was not a victim of the witch hunt. He moved to Ireland, the self was not a victim of the witch hunt. He moved to Ireland, the land of his ancestors, where he led, far from the Hollywood glamor land of his ancestors, where he led, far from the Hollywood glamor which bored him deeply, a life as a squire in a large manor, St which bored him deeply, a life as a squire in a large manor, St Clerans, on the edge of Connemara. He loves Irish people for their Clerans, on the edge of Connemara. He loves Irish people for their

sense of simplicity and poetry. Horses, which are found in greater numbers in Ireland than humans, are one of his reasons for living. In 1964, he took sense of simplicity and poetry. Horses, which are found in greater numbers in Ireland than humans, are one of his reasons for living. In 1964, he took Irish nationality. In 1975, he left Ireland. When older age hits him, he sells his mansion, of which he can no longer assume the royal lifestyle, and settles Irish nationality. In 1975, he left Ireland. When older age hits him, he sells his mansion, of which he can no longer assume the royal lifestyle, and settles in Mexico, in the middle of the jungle. In his autobiography, he writes: Being older, I understood the wisdom of an old Irish precept: ”You must live by the in Mexico, in the middle of the jungle. In his autobiography, he writes: Being older, I understood the wisdom of an old Irish precept: ”You must live by the sea”. The sea relieves old wounds and stimulates the mind; it vivifies the passions of the intelligence and the flesh, while leading the soul to find serenity.sea”. The sea relieves old wounds and stimulates the mind; it vivifies the passions of the intelligence and the flesh, while leading the soul to find serenity.

But this beautiful scenario isn’t one, and, despite his love for Mexico, he experiences such remorse having abandoned St Clerans, that he But this beautiful scenario isn’t one, and, despite his love for Mexico, he experiences such remorse having abandoned St Clerans, that he feels like he has ”sold his soul”. Thanks to cinema, he redeems his soul. In the twilight of his life, when he knows he is dying, he pays tribute feels like he has ”sold his soul”. Thanks to cinema, he redeems his soul. In the twilight of his life, when he knows he is dying, he pays tribute to his country of blood with The Dead, homecoming and cinematic testament.to his country of blood with The Dead, homecoming and cinematic testament.

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If Ireland is his country of origin,Mexico is his adopted country.In Mexico, he contracted a ten-year lease on a desert island in the state of Jalisco, Las Calletas, which will go back to Indians at the end of this contract. Huston and Mexico is a love story that begins when the filmmaker is just twenty years old.

Mexico, which he discovered in the mid-1920s, is the country from after the Villa and Zapata revolution (1910), a country attracting intellectuals and artists from all over the world. At the time, Huston had yet to find his way, hanging out penniless in the sumptuous Mexico City, which was not yet today’s megalo-polis. Then, he enlisted for a while in the Mexican army for the love of horses. He becomes an outstanding rider.

With its vast wilderness, its festive life, its culture of death, its rich pre-Columbian past, Mexico, where life is exciting and dan-gerous, is a tailor-made country for Huston. He made several outstanding films there: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Night of the Iguana and, of course, Under the Volcano..

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Family is an essential source for HustonAt the start of his career, his mother, who was a journalist and writer, allowed him to work for a newspaper; this is his first job. While he doesn’t do wonders as a reporter, he has great storytelling talent and gets down to writing short stories getting published.

John Huston worships Walter Huston. His father Walter is of Irish descent. He is an actor, and it’s while following play rehearsals in New York in which Walter plays, that John Huston finds himself fascinated by acting and directing. He de-cides to become an actor himself. After a few engagements in theater, he devoted himself to scriptwriting. Thanks to his father’s contacts in Hollywood, from 1932 onwards, he was hired by the studios. He quickly became a very good Hollywood films screenwriter, such as the Great Escape that Raoul Walsh would produce in 1941, with Humphrey Bogart who will become his favorite actor.

On March 24, 1949, the Huston clan triumphed with The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. John won two Oscars, those for best screenwriter and best director. His father, that of the best supporting role. John Huston says he is Walter Huston’s father on set. He paints the most flattering portrayal of a father and an actor in his memoirs.

Later on, Huston launched his daughter’s acting career, Anjelica, when she was sixteen. He directed especially for her A walk with Love and Death. Then, in 1985, in Prizzi’s Honor, he offered a rôle to her in which she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

His son Tony also belongs to the clan as a screenwriter. he particularly adapted Joyce for his father and wrote the screenplay for the film The Dead.

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An unwavering passion for art and literature

In his memoirs, Huston writes: «Nothing in my life has mattered more than art and literature.»

As a child, he read Kipling with passion and knows his poems by heart. Often bedridden due to heart disease, he escapes through literature and builds up a whole imagination. He is encouraged in this by his mother who tells him about Dickens, Tolstoy, Shakespeare. Throughout his life, Huston read three or four books a week. He is famous for having a huge culture. In the 1970s, he paid tribute to Kipling by adapting and filming «The Man Who Wished To Be King», starring Michael Caine, Sean Connery and Christopher Plummer.

In the early 1920s, his mother smuggled back from a trip to Europe, James Joyce’s Ulysses. At the time, the book was banned in United States. Huston is twenty-one: «I felt like a door was wide opened in front of me.» According to him, Joyce is to Ireland what Chekhov is to Russia. This writer will accompany him throughout his life.

He was seventeen when he discovered reproductions of Duchamp, Pi-casso and Matisse in a magazine. It is a real revelation for him. He met a professor who introduced him to classical painting and literature, with authors such as Rabelais, Flaubert, Balzac, Verlaine, Baudelaire.

He gives up the idea of being a painter without giving up painting. In the 1950s, he tells the story of Toulouse-Lautrec’s life in «Moulin Rouge», with José Ferrer and Susanne Flon, who will be one of Huston’s great loves.

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A literary filmmaker

from novels. When he shoots The Man Who Wished to Be King by Ki-pling, or Moby Dick by Melville, he conjures up his childhood memories.

Hyperactive and bohemian, Huston finds it difficult to organize his work and does not like to write on his own. Part of his genius is knowing how to surround himself very well. In addition to his usual collaborators, the list is impressive:

• Ray Bradbury and Roald Dahl for Moby Dick • Truman Capote for Stronger than the devil • Romain Gary for the screenplay of his novel The Roots of Heaven • Arthur Miller for the screenplay of his novel Misfits • Tennessee Williams for the screenplay of his novel The Night of the Iguana He has built a legend by bringing to the screen literary classics deemed impossible to adapt, such as Moby Dick, Under the Volcano or Reflec-tions in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers.

The Dead occupies a special place in his work. While in a wheelchair and on oxygen, he doesn’t miss a day of filming.

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The quest

«Every man every day must try his own little explorer’s journey, following his own quest».

Adventure literature has greatly influenced his cinema. The most important thing in the Hustonian adventure is self-knowledge. All of his characters go after themselves. And when the time for adventure is over, there remains the inner adventure. At the turn of his sixties, Huston offers to us intimate and touching films: Freud, secret passions, Reflections in a Golden Eye, The Night of the Iguana.

Eternal youthHuston never got old. In the 1970s, when young directors set out to conquer Hollywood, Huston reinvented himself. While his former director colleagues languish in their villas, Huston does not mind working with young popular actors: Jeff Bridges, Jack Nicholson, Ka-thleen Turner. Thus, in the 80s, he is one of the last representatives of the golden age of cinema still shooting.

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Director’s notesThe story

To nurture the story, we will rely on the autobiography of Huston John Huston by John Huston, dating from 1980, in which he sprinkles his memories of life and cinematic adventures with a lot of humor and self-deprecation and without complacency toward Hollywood.

To lead the story, we’ll choose a voice-over that I imagine to be female at this point. There will be no interview with «specialists» in order to be in a more fictional narrative.

The shootings

For the most part, our shooting pictures will be designed to blend with archival pictures to introduce or extend them. In the same way, these images will be in connection with the films of Huston which we will have chosen. As a filmmaker, Huston has the particularity of pri-vileging natural sets, which was an innovative and daring part taken in Hollywood in the 1940s. Our shootings will allow us to restore this particularity of Huston.

We will also shoot images that allow us to restore moods, daydreams, and inner states of the character. One can imagine that when immersed in a novel or in the contemplation of an artistic work, Huston’s mind

travels and his soul races. One of my avenues for constructing these dreamlike images is to rely on literature and art.

Ireland and Mexico will complement each other to tell the story of Huston’s childhood, youth, passions and career. Far from clashing, these two lands will respond to each other to tell the rough yet bla-zing universe of Huston.

We will film Huston’s favorite great wilderness in a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an area of desert and mountains with huge cacti as far as the eye can see. We will also shoot images there to link to the film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

In The Dead, we only see the inside of the house where the party is taking place, but there is a whole off-screen, an invisible world to us. We will be shooting images in the city and countryside of Dublin.

In Ireland, we will also be filming in County Galway where Huston lived a life of a gentleman farmer, in a superb mansion, surrounded by his children, his horses, his friends and the writers he invited to work with him.

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Florence Sala

Head of International DistributionItaly & USA

f-sala@artefrance.fr

Audrey Kamga

Sales ManagerTerritories : South-America, Canada, Spain,

Ireland, MENA region, Portugal & UKWorldwide Inflight

a-kamga@artefrance.fr

Isabelle Monteil

Sales ManagerAsia, Oceania, Greece, Africa

Language versionsi-monteil@artefrance.fr

Sophie Soghomonian

Sales ManagerEastern Europe, Israel, Russia

Worldwide Non-Theatrical Rightss-soghomonian@artefrance.fr

Whitney Marin

Sales Assistantw-marin@artefrance.fr

Franka Schwabe

Sales ManagerTerritories : Germany, Austria, Switzerland,

Belgium, France, Netherlands,Scandinavia & Iceland.f-schwabe@artefrance.fr