Most of the people who'll likely be hitting the town and taking home awards on this craziest of Hollywood weekends will do so for the hot movies of the moment: Colin Firth for "The King's Speech," Natalie Portman for "Black Swan," Christian Bale for "The Fighter," David Fincher for "The Social Network" …
But in the midst of a three-day stretch that will see the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice Movie Awards, the AFI Awards, the BAFTA/LA Awards Season Tea Party, the Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominees Brunch and a boatload of soirees and shindigs, 80-year-old director, writer and actor Paul Mazursky will take the stage at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association dinner to receive that group's Lifetime Achievement Award.
"It’s impossible to imagine American independent cinema in its current form without Paul Mazursky, in all his multi-hyphenate glory,” said LAFCA president Brent Simon in the release announcing his selection. Indeed, Mazursky – whose films include "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," "Harry and Tonto," "An Unmarried Woman" and "Enemies a Love Story," you could say that Mazursky help lay the groundwork for many of the films and filmmakers that will also be hitting the awards circuit this weekend. And while he may not work as often, Mazursky is still forthright and opinionated.
What was your reaction when you learned about the L.A. Film Critics award?
I never expect anything like that. I mean, when I was a young writer-director, I got nominated for the screenplay for "Harry and Tonto" and "Bob & Carol," the screenplay for "Unmarried Woman," Best Picture for "An Unmarried Woman," screenplay for "Enemies a Love Story" and "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" … You start to really want it. And of course you don't get it.
The best thing is to not give a s___. But this one is touching. I won once at the New York Film Critics, but I think LA is weirder and more independent. It's funkier. I like it.
Do you think you laid the groundwork for today's independent cinema?
I think my movies appear to be independent, but they were all studio movies. In those days, in the late '60s, the '70s and the '80s, it was possible to make films that were more like what an independent film is now. It's changed radically – you can't make 'em now.
Why could you make them then?
I had good luck in finding a few executives. Alan Ladd Jr., who is a friend of mine, gave me the green light for "Harry and Tonto." An old man and a cat. 980,000 bucks, traveling across America, no movie star, and Art Carney won the Oscar. "Next Stop Greenwich Village," one of my favorites: Jewish boy in Brooklyn, lower middle class family, leaves Brooklyn, goes to Greenwich Village, the beat generation, bada boom. Who would make that movie today? Laddie gave it the green light.
