Mark Romanek [Visionary Director]

By: Editor | March 10, 2011 | Ten by Ten

Mark Romanek is a film geek. At age 9, he was fascinated with Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and a little more than a decade later, fresh out of college, he wrote to director Brian De Palma and became his second assistant for Home Movies. In 1986, he released his first film, Static, which led to his real career breakthrough: shooting a music video for the British group The The. Romanek has proceeded to become one of the world’s best music video directors, working with artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna and Jay-Z, and winning three Grammy Awards for Best Short Form Video. Two of his music videos, “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails and “Bedtime Stories” by Madonna are now part of the MoMA collection in New York City. He recently returned to the cinema to direct Never Let Me Go, a British dystopian drama starring Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley, released in 2010.

Name one person you most admire, past or present, and why?
John Cassavetes springs to mind. Because he seemed like he wasn’t full of shit. He was passionate and original and seemed quite wise in interviews.

How would you define happiness?
Briefly floating free from an awareness of time — the disappearance of self.

How would you define the role of art in modern society?
For me, great art is a means to achieve a broader sense of perspective on one’s life and the predicament of being alive in the world. This is an often thrilling gift. I imagine this was true for both modern and pre-modern societies.

What is the best career advice you’ve ever received, and who gave it to you?
A wise man once told me that there are only three things to really pay attention to in life:
• Caring for one’s family
• Treating people ethically
• Being of service

What artist (musician, poet, painter, etc.) has had the greatest impact on your life and how?
J.D. Salinger — by making me re-evaluate every aspect of living. And he did it with wit, style, sincerity and originality.

What is your greatest extravagance?
My attempts at austerity. This may sound glib, but I believe it’s true.

How would you like to be remembered?
As a considerate person.

Favorite all-time …
This changes every week, but this week:

Song: The Kinks, “This is Where I Belong”
Movie: The Godfather Part II
Painting: Just about anything from Picasso’s Rose Period
Book: Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction
TV Show: The Courtship of Eddie’s Father

How would you define love?
I don’t know. Passionate selflessness, maybe? The eternal magic of these big things lay in their inability to be defined. Attempting to define the indefinable seems a pretty fruitless exercise.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be and why?
I suppose I’d love to see how a vast decrease in willful cruelty would affect the balance of things.

Bookmarks: Page 1 of 1 pages