Tom Hanks’ first novel reveals the hard work behind the movie magic

This is not an autobiography, but the novel “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece” is a love letter to the industry

THE WASHINGTON POST – Against the tanned hordes of scammers, scoundrels, damsels, egomaniacs, and nepo babies of hollywood, Tom Hanks he stands out as a warrior invested with decency and kindness. A two-time Academy Award winner and with films that have grossed over $10 billion, Hanks is the living embodiment of our hopes that good guys have happy endings.

For over 40 years – on stage, on TV and on the big screen – Thank you worked as an actor and producer. He still remembers what it was like to sweat for attention and knows how to outrun the paparazzi. He has partnered with the biggest movers and shakers in the industry and has been supported by the army of assistants and personal assistants working in the shadows to make the stars shine.

How easily Hanks could have published a memoir detailing his decades of experience – imagine the possible anecdotes about it Ron Howard, Sally Field, Meg Ryan, Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Steven Spielberg, Coen Brothers and anyone else who is or was anyone in contemporary entertainment. We may someday have access to this memoir, but it’s unlikely to be as enchanting or spiritually revelatory as her debut novel, which bears a mocking title: The making of another great cinematic masterpiece (something like Backstage of another great cinematic masterpiece).

As one would expect from such a lovable author, this is not a story set in the toxic Hollywood of Harvey Weinstein. As far as I know, Hanks’ book is not a roman à clef or a revealing camouflage or a cunning act of disguised revenge. Instead, it’s a pastel-toned love story, as if the world of cinema had made it Lake Wobegon like thirst. Except for a few hints at entrenched sexism, the industry’s well-documented abuses are sidestepped in favor of focusing on the better angels of its nature. With any luck, Hanks’ next novel will be about Washington, DC

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece begins softly, even slowly, with the voice of Joe Shaw, a film professor in Bozeman, Montana. Through a series of improbable turns – which is the trajectory of almost everything in this story – Shaw has attracted the attention of BillJohnson, one of the country’s most successful screenwriters and directors. During the covid-19 pandemic, Johnson invites Shaw to watch the filming of his next project to write “a book to explain cinema”.

Hanks knows a lot about the behavior of actors, but luckily he knows very little about academic writing, so his novel is mercifully different from anything a film studies professor would write. Shaw he tells the rest of the story like an omniscient narrator, deftly moving from scene to scene and explaining production jargon for the lay audience.

But before we get any closer to the film set – or present day – Shaw delivers what is essentially a 70-page novel set in 1947.

it is presented to us roby andersen, a sweet little boy who lives in the sweet little town of Lone Butte, California. Robby idolizes his wandering uncle, who was traumatized serving as a firefighter in World War II. When Robby finally becomes a successful comic book creator, one of his stories is about his uncle’s terrible experience in the Pacific. Decades later, Robby’s comic – artfully grafted onto the pages of the novel – serves as the inspiration for a character in Bill Johnson’s new superhero film, Knightshade: The Forge of Fire.

That lengthy opening section, titled “Source Material,” requires a large emotional investment in people we won’t see until much later. One wonders if a less famous first-time novelist would have gotten so much runway space.

But just like Thank youI digress.

The important thing to know is that The making of another great cinematic masterpiece ends up making another great masterpiece of cinema. And it’s a very compelling story, closely tied to a propulsive 53-day schedule that must not be altered. “Any break in filming is a disaster,” as everyone knows. “An unholy sin”.

The movie that Johnson and his team producing — part of a billion-dollar franchise — never comes into focus, aside from a few isolated scenes. It does not matter. The story is about what happens behind the camera. Hanks goes to great lengths to convince us that cinema is a tortuous process involving a vast network of people – some famous, most not – doing their best. It’s definitely not a novel about movie magic: it’s a novel about the hard work of making movies. Indeed, any belief in magic – or in genius and destiny – is eventually shattered. Only three qualities count: talent, determination and, above all, punctuality.

The marquee will shine with a name, but there’s no hierarchy in these chapters: “At some point, and there’s no way of knowing when that moment is, someone is in charge of the whole movie,” we’re told. “Everyone has the most important job in the film.” Johnson, the director of skeins, it’s well designed but gets less attention than the crew members who do everything from casting the actors to making the sandwiches.

Allicia MacTeer, an African-American producer known in the industry as Al, is the real power behind the throne. But years ago she was just a front desk manager at the Garden Suite Inn near the Richmond airport. There, she impressed Johnson by making sure her favorite frozen yogurt was available late into the night. It’s the kind of indispensable initiative that a great director notices. Somehow Al knew in her bones that Hollywood has nothing to do with being the most beautiful or even the most talented. “Making cinema,” she announces, “is about solving more problems than it causes.” Thus a star is born.

This lesson is so important to the novel – and, presumably, to Hanks – that it is essentially repeated in the success story of Ynez González-Cruz. She is struggling to make ends meet as a taxi driver when she happens to pick Al up for a trip to the Knightshade resort. Recognizing Ynez’s thoughtful and purposeful spirit, Al hires her as her permanent chauffeur, then her personal assistant. If you’ve been paying attention, you know where she’s going, but that doesn’t make the book any less rewarding.

Although the novel is a love letter for the industry, it’s not just that. Even the most fascinating stars in this universe are subject to the ordinary laws of physics. Indeed, the pompous actor who plays Firefall, a young man named OK Bailey, is hilarious. He asks for banana pancakes, “not banana pancakes”; he tells his beautiful co-star in disgust that they can only sleep together after filming; reverently refers to his “process”; and announces to the exasperated cast, “I have no ego.” After decades of putting up with such irritating artists, Thank you he seems to have had a lot of fun writing this wickedly funny section.

It’s not a spoiler to reveal Knightshade: The Forge of Fire will survive OK Bailey, as well as stalkers, jealous spouses, and even the untimely death of a cast member. But blockbuster status is not predetermined. After all, in the months preceding its release in theaters – or in streaming – a film is only “a billion shards of glass that must be assembled piece by piece until they become a mirror”. The more you see Hanks creating this glossy surface, the harder it is to take your eyes off the story. / TRANSLATION BY RENATO PRELORENTZOU

Source: Terra

Rose

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.