![]() “Anti-Semitism was so part and parcel of the way we people looked at the world at that time,” said Dreyfuss, himself Jewish. ![]() While other films have dealt with the Dreyfus Affair-1937’s “The Life of Emile Zola,” starring Paul Muni, and 1958’s “I Accuse,” directed by Jose Ferrer-neither examined Picquart’s point of view. Dreyfuss has lived and breathed “Prisoner” ever since filming began in January, to the point of passing up another movie he was scheduled to shoot for Universal in August.īut the actor found the whole effort worthwhile, and the story worth telling. In the end, after viewing the producers’ final cut, Russell left his name on “Prisoner” as director.ĭreyfuss and James pulled in every chit they could to squeeze the most production value into the $5.2-million film, which they said would have cost three times as much to make theatrically. “But I don’t think the press is a forum to deal with this.” ![]() “When this film is over, I will probably write Ken a letter, and I will say to Ken personally what I have to say,” Dreyfuss said calmly. “We wanted a rude director, and we got one,” James said wryly in hindsight.Īsked to respond to Russell’s attack, Dreyfuss respectfully refused to engage in a war of words. Russell also told newspapers that he shot scenes in master shot with few close-ups so that HBO would have no cutaways to re-edit his work, and he accused Dreyfuss of being more concerned with his appearance than the production. “That’s a bit like someone asking you to hold your sister down and spray her with perfume while he rapes her.” “And Dreyfuss had the cheek to say, ‘I know you’re very good on music, so I’ll send the film back when I’ve cut it my way and you can supervise the music,’ ” Russell later raged to the British press. ![]() When Russell turned in his second cut of the film without making certain changes the producers asked for, the project was taken from him. You want to go into it with courage.”īut the relationship apparently soured during production in England. “You don’t want to go lightly into territory like anti-Semitism and government cover-up without really going for it. “We wanted a rude director who says to the audience, ‘Watch this! Come over here! I know this isn’t the way you usually see it, but come on over and try it,’ ” co-producer Judith James said. I just wanted to make the movie,” he said.ĭreyfuss hired Russell-the flamboyant British director of such wide-ranging films as “Women in Love,” “Altered States” and the current NC-17-rated “Whore”-to give “Prisoner” an edge. “If I had tried to make a feature film of this story, I would have been spending all my time persuading and selling the point to executives. The actor’s original family name is Dreyfus, which he changed to Dreyfuss when he first began acting professionally while a student at Beverly Hills High School.Īlthough the veteran film star would have preferred to see “Prisoner” as a theatrical release, he brought the project to HBO. He grew up believing he was related to the victim of the scandalous Dreyfus Affair, as it was known. Dreyfuss, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three young children, is an armchair antiquarian who devours historic literature as easily as dime-store novels. “Prisoner of Honor” has not been an easy project to pull off. I’ll probably know how I feel about the experience in a year.” “It’s finished and I have no idea about it at all. “I’m very glad it’s over, that’s for damn sure,” Dreyfuss, 43, said several weeks later when contacted by phone at a hotel in Washington. On screen, Dreyfuss the actor emerged from the church, dressed smartly in uniform, and frowned down on the chanting children as the camera moved in on his face.īelow in the mixing studio, Dreyfuss the director, his hands stuffed in his jean pockets, stepped closer to the screen, and eerily locked eyes with his own 15-foot image. After making Dreyfuss’ requested change, the sound editor replayed the sepia-toned work print.
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