Por mim, colocaria a
entrevista com o Vincent Gallo todinha. Sim, gosto do Vincent Gallo. Vivo fazendo campanha; Gostem do Vincent Gallo. Ele é bonzinho e fofinho. E de direita. C´mon.
Só uns trechinhos interessantes, prometo:
I wonder why he chose to step back from film, at the very moment when he could have cashed in, or done whatever he wanted.
'I didn't want to lose my subjectivity and my objectivity about my work,' he says. 'I'm not looking for a career. And I don't need to be regarded. I'm not Harmony Korine [Gummo] or Paul Anderson [Boogie Nights] or Darren Aronofsky [Pi, Requiem For A Dream], who are already working on their chapter in the history of film books. I have the capacity to do lots of different things. I don't feel that I need to repeat myself like that.'
Besides, he goes on to explain, the economics of a million-dollar offer to direct 'someone else's movie' - which he received - are not what they seem. By the time you've paid tax and spread it over the two years you'll be consumed by it, you're on about $200,000 a year, and he can earn that from an ad or photo campaign, which he'll probably also enjoy more.
'The whole crew in a movie is, in general, lame and out of touch. There's no connection with culture and aesthetic sensibility and art. And the only difference in Europe is that you find more people in the crew who actually like movies there. I mean, do you think Johnny Depp is interesting? He's not. He might be friends with Iggy Pop now, but do you think he bought the first Stooges album? Believe it or not, to me, fashion advertising is more radical and more contemporary and more innovative than independent cinema.
'A Calvin Klein ad is more visually inspiring than nearly every movie poster I've seen in the last 20 years. In fact, everybody on the ad I did was more interesting than anybody that I had worked with in cinema - everybody. By 10 times . I decided then and there that if I ever made a movie, I'd fill the crew with fashion people, which is what I did.'
We spend a long time talking about politics and I enjoy this conversation, partly because an intelligent person who considers that George W Bush might be a good president is a genuine curiosity to me - more so after the horrific events of two weeks ago - and partly because Gallo argues his right wing economic case cogently. Towards the end of the debate, he says: 'If you think of adults as victims, even for a second, you open a door that you really don't want to open. And the worst part about opening that door is that it's the most destructive door to open for the people you're trying to help... I'm aware that, out of context, all this can sound harsh, but I'm not like that. I can't bear to see pain in anyone, or anything, though I do all the time, because I'm not prepared to cut myself off from it. I'm just very conceptual in all ways. If you really believe in principles, if you focus on them more than personalities, it's less dangerous.'
He speaks with precise diction and a lot of italics. There is just the hint of a New York hipster drawl; his default expression is a mischievous grin. He tells me about the time he almost killed himself by eating too much at his best mate Johnny Ramone's house, where he would go to get a free meal when he was really poor in New York. They called an ambulance and he was revived, but refused to go to hospital. An hour later, he sat up, took a few deep breaths, walked over to the kitchen and devoured a big bowl of cereal with milk. 'I don't know why. Those are two things I don't normally eat. And then I sat back down. That's how I am with work. I'm sort of like a maniac, and I can't get out of it.'
'Well, in the songs, like the two relationships I've had in my life, my intentions were beautiful, my intentions were hopeful, that I could have the courage to do that, that I could enjoy that. But I mean, I've been shot, stabbed, crashed motorbikes at 100mph and none of those things frightened me, gave me butterflies, regrets, doubts, made me feel bad about myself like those relationships.'
'I'm a physically ugly person.'
What? Half of my women friends asked if I could smuggle you back to Britain for them.
'Really? Maybe because they see me in this other context. I accept that looks is not my best quality and I know it because I know what it was like before I had any public notoriety. I always got the girls I wanted, but that's because I always picked the most broken-down disturbed ones, or they'd choose me. But they were never girls of my fancy. It's been give or take 12 years since I acted out sexually like that. There have been no significant sexual acts with anyone other than my two girlfriends since then and I can't imagine making love to anyone else now.'
You're a movie star. Can't you sedate yourself by having flings with people?
'Never. Never. I'll make out sometimes, try to get a hand job or something really detached. But I can't face the repulsion I get from being with someone who I don't really like.'
A little later, Gallo starts asking me about my kids, with an interest that single people very rarely show. He talks about the problems he's experienced in being consistent with his dog and his horror at getting it wrong sometimes, a feeling that parents know well. Eventually, he says: 'I think the greatest thing you can do as a human being is to be a good parent. That's the most radical impact you can have with your life. The children of good parents, they spread productivity for years to come. And the most evil thing that you can contribute to mankind is destructive parenting.'