Mark Romanek on Never Let Me Go and Who'd Pull Him Out of Music-Video Retirement

I'm trying an experiment this fall where I'm avoiding trailers, previews, clips, reviews and other information about new and upcoming release.

Wow. That's gotta be hard.

Kind of! But I came to Never Let Me Go having not only not read the book, but not having any clue what the movie was about before I saw it the other night--

Was that a press screening?

Yes.

I wonder what those are like compared to seeing with an audience. I've always wondered whether that's better or worse.

In festival environments I prefer an audience. That's where you get the vibe.

[Still checking iPhone] When was Sundance? January... '09?

Right.

I'm totally listening to you, by the way.

So without giving anything away about the story, is that kind of disconnection an advantage for this film's viewers?

I suppose that's the ideal way. But when you have a film that's different, or maybe a little original -- which I hope this one is -- there's something to be said for an audience knowing how they're supposed to look at it or what they're supposed to see, without giving plot points away. That's good marketing: It can help you enjoy a film. If it just sort of slaps you in the face and you're not prepared for something that's challenging and original, you could reject it or miss the key on how to watch it. Like, for instance with this film, I feel like if people go thinking they're seeing a science-fiction film, they'll be disappointed. If they go thinking they're seeing this beautiful love story that has a slight science-fiction patina, then they might engage with it emotionally rather than intellectually. And I think they might enjoy it more. But given the choice, it would probably be better to go in with no information. But I applaud your ability to even do that.

You wouldn't do it?

No, I'd love to do it. I'm just a bit of a junkie about this stuff. I like reading about this stuff.

This has nothing to do with the movie, but I like to ask music-video veterans about their takes on the work of Lady Gaga. What's yours?

I know about her because my daughter likes her, and she is the only one working with any sort of a budget. I really like the Steven Klein video ["Alejandro"]. I think that's a really old-school, big-budget, arty-farty, beautifully crafted music video. That's really something. It's got a strong point of view, the images are memorable, it's a little controversial, it's a good song. So I like that one. I don't think I've responded much one way or another to the other ones. But that one I like. It's sort of epic, too; I think they did an extra-long version. I don't know. It looks like they really spent some '90s money on it, you know? I like her; I think she can really sing and write. She's not just manufactured entirely. She's a performance artist; I like her sense of style a lot.

Would you work with her?

Yeah! She's one of the few people out there who might pull me out of retirement. Not that it's an official retirement.

[Top photo: Matt Carr/Getty Images]

Pages: 1 2