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| DGA Theatre Lobby |
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| Jennifer Elster |
| Gale at the Laemmle Theatre |
| Saturday, June 13: The lobby of the Director’s Guild of America (DGA) filled with masses of people attending various films entered in the Los Angeles Film Festival. The DGA has two large and one small theatres, comfortable cushioned chairs on a floor sloping to the stage, which has several carpeted steps the length of the room leading up to the stage. We were there quite early and were near the head of the line when finally the sign was set up at the entrance to the theatre showing PoT. Director/writer/producer/star Jennifer Elster arrived early and conferred with some of the actors in her film and others. Katy had already seen PoT in TriBeCa and was able to identify the actors, plus Jennifer recognized her and greeted her with a big hug, then Jennifer introduced herself to Philflam and me. We were excited to see Faye Dunaway in the lobby – she’s very small and slight, wore a baseball cap and dark glasses but took them off when she greeted somebody. About 10 minutes before the film started, Gale Harold arrived – he walked into the lobby alone, dressed casually in shiny dark pants, a grey tee shirt and a blue faded-denim like long sleeved shirt, unbuttoned. He was clean shaven and his hair looked beautiful, very Brian-y. Gale chatted with Jennifer and greeted some people he knew. Finally we were admitted into the theatre and moved down close to the front, hoping for a Q&A afterwards. The middle section was reserved, and this is where Gale sat – then we noticed he sat down next to Scott Lowell, Ron Cowen and Dan Lipman, with Peter Paige on the other side, plus an unidentified man next to Peter. A film festival person introduced the film and the lights went down. Particles of Truth is a really wonderful, emotional and powerfully moving film, it deserves to find a distributor so that many people can see the film, and can see how fantastic Gale Harold plays his role of Morrison, a damaged and vulnerable but ultimately strong man. Morrison keeps his distance from people by spending his time in his car, observing people and writing about them, but when he sees Lilli (Jennifer Elster’s character), he makes himself get out of the car and pursue her. I’m no film critic and nor am I good at analysis, but I can tell you that the film explores the fears many of us have about reaching out and taking the great risk of giving and receiving love. I won’t say more about the plot, but I have to emphasize how beautifully Gale inhabits Morrison and conveys so much with his eyes. Even when there is no dialogue, you can absolutely see into Morrison’s soul and feel his fears and determination. Gale was wonderful. Jennifer Elster was amazing also, bringing so much real emotion and vulnerability to her role. The rest of the cast were great too, everyone was pitch-perfect in my opinion. After the credits rolled, Jennifer Elster was introduced and went on stage, then she introduced Gale and a couple others who joined her for a Q&A session. At first it seemed there would be no questions, but then they came rapidly, many technical, industry-type questions about cameras, budget, etc. Jennifer was asked if the story were autobiographical and it is not, though of course anyone who writes puts something of themselves into the story. Someone said Gale was only paid a nickel for his role, but he piped up and said no, he was paid seven cents. Most questions were directed at Jennifer, but Gale was asked about his participation. He said his agent had given him the script, he liked it very much and called Jennifer. Then he said she auditioned him on the spot, over the phone – he said they read the script together, for over two hours. That was good practice, Gale told us, because he was just learning to read. Later he went to New York and they read the script again. At the second Q&A on Monday, Jennifer said that she had originally cast other actors in the lead roles, but after reading with Gale, she wanted him for the part of Morrison and she decided she herself would play opposite him in the role of Lilli. (And who can blame her?) After the Q&A, everyone filed out of the theatre. We passed the QAF folks, and I called out, “Hi Peter, it’s great to see you again!” (I’d “met” him in Milpitas last year at the DVD signings) and he said hi and gave me a big quizzical smile as if to say, “Should I know you?” Scott was stuck in his row behind Dan and Ron who were talking to fans. I touched Ron’s sleeve and told him how much I love the show and that I hope they get a fifth season; he thanked me and said he hoped so, too! The lobby was insanely crowded; I gave up on seeing more of Gale and walked toward the doors, then looked over my shoulder and he was coming right toward me. He made his way slowly through the lobby, being stopped every few feet by women wanting to speak to him; when he got close I shoved a copy of his Advocate-cover issue at him, upside down. He grabbed it and turned it around and asked for a pen. A pen? What is a pen? Luckily some nice woman handed him a pen and he signed, while I gushed at him how wonderful he was in the film, so vulnerable and really amazing. He murmured thanks and moved onward. I followed in his wake, he stopped outside and talked to friends, I took a couple more pictures. Monday, June 17: We arrived at the Laemmle Theatre, upstairs from Wolfgang Puck’s on Sunset Boulevard in the late afternoon. We literally ran into Jennifer Elster as we came out of the elevator and she greeted us warmly. This location was massively disorganized; we formed a line, the theatre manager came out and told us to move against the building, then a minute later told us to move back. This resulted in those being in the back of the line now being in front. Fortunately we ran into a fabulous celebrity-photographer we’d met last year in San Francisco and again at the Paley TV Festival in LA and she graciously offered to save us seats inside, which she did. We were excited to see Alec Baldwin at the theatre entrance chatting with friends (he attended a different film.) While waiting in line, Philflam looked down at the ground level and spotted Gale Harold arriving, walking solo toward the escalator, wearing “that hat” from the TriBeCa photos we’ve seen. Someone from the film stopped him downstairs and, with a lot of pointing, apparently directed him to a back entrance – the balcony was a complete madhouse, he’d have been mauled if he tried to get through. I got a few very bad pictures from afar. We enjoyed the film even more the second time around. This theatre was a regular movie house, our seats were in the middle and the Q&A was down front. Gale and Jennifer either watched the film from the back or came in later; when they were introduced, we noticed that Gale was limping as he went forward. Someone heard him tell somebody he’d hurt his knee. The Q&A was basically the same as before, Gale spoke at length a couple times, very much at ease. Then they simply walked out, back up the aisle toward the main entrance (he could have cut out the back entrance but didn’t), he stopped near us at one point and that’s when Philflam shook his hand and bandied words with him – asking what was his next project. When he said he didn’t know, she asked, “But you will let us know, won’t you?” and he laughed and said, “Yes, I’ll call you tomorrow.” (Alas, no phone call from Gale.) Everyone exited the theatre and Gale greeted friends and chatted briefly outside, before going down the escalator and walking off into the sunset (okay, so it was well past sunset). We ran into Jennifer again and told her how much we loved the film and she was pleased and so very down-to-earth and sweet. We came away with many happy memories of our Particles of Truth adventure! June 21, 2003 |
| Particles of Truth Los Angeles Film Festival June 2003 By roving (or is that raving?) reporter, Morpheus www.morpheusqaf.com Please visit the Particles of Truth website: www.particlesoftruth.com |