It’s a throwback movie as well, conjuring a New York that does not really exist anymore, with the juke joints and jazz clubs. That was fun and thrilling to help him place that. A lot of times your first half of the voiceover is just kind of a scratch, but with Edward being an actor, it was a lot about nuance and performance as well. The internal monologue was a huge part of the development throughout the whole process. Not that we were trying to emulate it, but elements from that and the style in particular. We had different noir films that were our touchstones, like “Chinatown” (1974) in particular. The movie has a lot of noir elements: the voiceover, the use of jazz, and a plot that echoes movies like “The Maltese Falcon.” We’d go over some scenes, and back and forth. He had an office next door to me, and I’d call him and he came in to look at some stuff. He’d come in and we’d discuss stuff, and he’d go out and give me time to work on it and give him my opinion on what I was going to try. He’s a busy guy, so he didn’t sit in the room with me. He gave me some time to work on it and come back in. He would clarify his intentions in a scene, what he liked and what didn’t like in the first cut. We watched a scene or two as I constructed them and we talked about it. He was producing, he had written it, he was directing it and he was acting in it. As they were shooting there was no conversation. I saw the storyboards, and we talked a little bit after our first meeting. Working through it with him was good because we didn’t get any time to talk while he was shooting. I did watch the assembly to get the bigger perspective. He was very protective of his first viewing and his initial reaction. I got to understand the nuances and the layers of the story he was trying to tell.Īs far as the process goes, something interesting that we didn’t do is that we did not watch the assembly together. What was the creative dynamic between the two of you like?Īs typically happens when you are working with a director for the first time, it was a constantly evolving collaboration. Norton is the writer, director and lead actor. He just finished a project and he’s available.” They asked her how I was doing, she said, “Fine. They came over, and it was Edward Norton to look for an apartment in one of the early scenes. One day my wife was at home working and got a call from the location manager, who said there’s a crew interested in looking at our brownstone for an early scene from the film. I don’t normally do this, but I badgered him into helping me get a meeting with Edward. I have a friend who is the producing partner of Edward Norton. I moved there in the early ’90s, when the book was set. I also live in the neighborhood that it was written about. I read it a long time ago, and I heard that Edward Norton bought the rights and was developing it. Joe Klotz: That was pretty much how I got onto the movie, because I was a huge fan of the book. In an exclusive interview with CineMontage, Klotz talked about the particular challenges of transforming a detective novel into a stylish film noir.ĬineMontage: What was your research like? Did you read the Jonathan Lethem novel the film is based on? The story is about how a murder investigation opens a window on a broader picture of social corruption. Norton – who wrote, directed and plays the lead, Lionel Essrog – transposes the setting to 1950s New York. His newest project is Edward Norton’s movie “Motherless Brooklyn,” an adaption of the Jonathan Lethem 1999 crime novel that was awarded the National Book Critics Circle award for fiction. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his work on Lee Daniels’ “Precious” (2009). Having worked in documentary features, cable television and features, picture editor Joe Klotz has demonstrated superb versatility and range.
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