Appearing before a packed house made up mostly of writers and in conversation with journalist Pete Hammond, the dapperly-dressed Ford immediately made a joke about his pale pallor – and confessed he used some of his own Tom Ford brand bronzer to put some color in his cheeks.
He discussed differences between the novel that “Nocturnal Animals” is based upon, Austin Wright’s 1993 “Tony and Susan” and his adaptation of it.
In the book, which was set in the Northeast, there is no abortion, there is no meeting at the end and when Susan is done reading Edward’s book, she throws it in the trash.
Ford shifted the present-day location to Los Angeles and the locale of the novel to West Texas, where he grew up until the age of 11.
“What’s there is a communication through fiction of what someone means to you. The principal theme is of letting go,” Ford said. “It spoke to me, like “A Single Man” did when I fell in love with the character of George.”
Ford went on to talk about how he got the rights to the Christopher Isherwood novel and adapted it with input from Isherwood’s partner Don Bachardy, who told him to let go of being literal and to take what spoke to him. It was an important lesson that spoke to him for his second film as well.
“It’s true, the line in the film, everyone writes about themselves,” Ford noted, before going on to dissect how as Susan reads the book sent to her by Edward, she casts him as Tony in the film playing in her mind as she reads it. Without revealing specific spoilers, she visualizes two bodies entwined on a red velvet sofa, the same kind she used to sit on and criticize him when they lived together.
“We cut from Edward seeing the abortion and channeling it into his novel and communicating in a way that he couldn’t in real life. He’s also liberated her, as we see her taking off her ring and her makeup. He is communicating how he felt.”
Ford said it took two years to get the rights to the book and when Hammond asked what he’s been doing in the seven years since “A Single Man,” Ford said – to knowing laughter from the audience – “I have another business. I opened 100 stores and had a child, who’s now four years old.”
Clearly his fashion expertise, artistry and creativity plays a huge role in his filmmaking. “I do a lot of visual research on characters when I’m writing them. I even Googled “white trash trailer hicks” and came up with the guy sitting on the toilet outside with a beer and talking on the phone,” he revealed about the Taylor-Johnson character’s portrayal in a memorable scene.
Ford was asked about the somewhat shocking opening credits which show hugely obese nude women dancing in slow motion. “The opening is about letting go of everything in our culture that women are supposed to be. I fell in love with them – and then we cut to Susan, who is desperately trying to be perfect, and it’s a contrast between power and freedom and also confronting materialism.”
Someone asked about the ending and Ford replied, “It has to be inevitable, but also a surprise. This is what you did to me. This is how you made me feel,” he said, referring to the Edward character.
Ford said the movie is also very much about the definition of masculinity and he discussed his early years in West Texas where he didn’t fit into the traditional model of it. “I was painting and drawing and making love beads while watching ‘The Partridge Family,’” he said. (His family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and Ford now has homes there and in Los Angeles and London.)
While still fairly new to the world of filmmaking after decades in fashion, Ford is obviously enthralled by it.
“I’m a born storyteller and film is the ultimate story. It lasts forever. You can see movies from the 1930s and all of the people are dead but you are empathizing with them. Even conceptual or Impressionist art doesn’t have the same impact now as it did on the first people who saw it, but film is different.”
