An Evening with Lawrence Kasdan

Yesterday evening I worked an interesting event. The Writers Guild Foundation is currently putting on a two day tribute, March 18 and 19, to Lawrence Kasdan and his films. Although they are running several of his films over this weekend, last night's reception and Q&A with Kasdan revolved around the movie Grand Canyon.

I remember seeing that superb film years ago and how tough it was to watch the violence in that movie, especially because it was so real for anyone who lived in an urban environment and could face the scenarios he depicted. And yet, watching the movie now... while I was rivetted to it for what it was saying all through the movie, I was also aware that the movie was no longer tough to watch... that there really didn't seem to be that much violence or that the violence wasn't that bad. How sad it is violence has become so much a part of our life and entertainment that there is a degree of numbness to it... that this is tame compared to what we are used to.

When I mentioned this to Lawrence Kasdan, he nodded. He indicated that that is a common response he gets today... people reacted strongly to it years ago and now feel it isn't so bad. We agreed on the desensitization of the public that has happened since this movie was first screened. He also mentioned that today, the strongest audience reaction comes when Kevin Kline cuts his finger cooking.

During the Q&A, Kasdan had some interesting things to say to us screenwriters. In response to a question that suggested patterns between various scripts of his, he said that it is often said the screenwriters write one long movie throughout their careers. That they write their one story over and over again. Kasdan felt there was a lot of truth in that... that once you hit upon your story -- the one that resonates with you -- the one that works for you -- you can spend the rest of your time telling that story in many different ways.

He also said that he is very character driven -- that he sees and develops the character first and then has to find the plot/action for him. That he wishes he could write the other way around -- lay out the plot/action first and then find the character to fit in -- but he just can't do it that way. That he tries but he's no good at it. (Which is something that I like to hear, because the character stuff is more important to me, and I'm far more likely to develop the character and character moments first than the plot/action.)

A couple of people disagreed with him, citing how tightly plotted his Body Heat was, but I find it interesting that that is how he sees himself. He cited the example of Raiders of the Lost Ark -- where he felt that Lucas and Kaufman brought him in to provide the character moments. That between Lucas and Kaufman, they had figured out all the action points they wanted between themselves. So that when Kasdan, Lucas, and Kaufman got together, it was to discuss character.

Kasdan also suggested that these movies would be hard to make today -- in today's corporationalizing of the movie industry. "Does he have to fly?" Kasdan said in sample dialogue with studio execs today. "It would be much cheaper if he didn't fly." This brought a big laugh out of the audience because those scenarios with studio execs were very real to the audience, having gone through similar scenarios and protests on their own projects. "You want to close down a whole concourse at LAX for a dream sequence where she does what?" That scenario also garnered laughter.

All in all a wonderful evening spent listening to an extraordinary writer talk about his craft and watching a superb film.