Joe Swanberg, director of Drinking Buddies, will be in attendance at A&O's Friday screening of his film.
Swanberg is a key figure in the “mumblecore” genre, which is a technique that emphasizes improvisation and natural dialogue.
The film is about friends Luke and Kate, played by Jake Johnson of New Girl and Olivia Wilde, respectively. The two work in a Chicago brewery and are in different relationships when their friendship gets muddled. Surrounded by beer in their work and post-work lives, they try to sort out their attraction and desires throughout the movie. Alcohol won’t just be on the minds of party-bound freshmen Friday – those who attend the screening of Drinking Buddies will also be thinking about that almighty elixir.
In an interview with NBN, Swanberg talked about his role as a director, Chicago and drinking at work.
Why emphasize improvisation, and how does that change the director’s role?
I’ve always really responded to improv. For me, it’s just a way to try and get dialogue that feels a little more natural than scripts and stuff, especially when I started out working with non-professional actors. It really made a big difference to let them speak with their own voice. In terms of directing, it means that a lot of directing work happens in the editing, in making decisions and shaping the story in post-production because there’s a lot of different options with improvisation.
Since the movie has a lot of situations where drinking is involved, is it trying to characterize alcohol or just explain a story that involves drinking?
The alcohol certainly plays a role in some of the decision-making that happens in the movie, but it was not a film with any sort of message about drinking. I think that the beer that was part of their work environment and also part of their life outside of work is just one aspect of what’s going on. I didn’t focus on it in the writing process or in the shooting process. It just always felt like they have beers around, and it would loosen up their inhibitions. But, beyond that there is no real message about alcohol in the movie.
In your opinion, can guys and girls remain friends, especially when alcohol is involved?
I think they can. I think that the best way for men and women to actually be friends is to sort of acknowledge the sexual tension and get past it the way that the characters do in the movie. Luke and Kate walk right up to the line .... It’s dangerous. It’s tricky when there’s sexual attraction involved, but I do think that it’s possible.
Do you think beer is the best backdrop to sort out problems and situations?
No, sorting out problems is probably best done sober. But, you know, it’s interesting. The craft beer culture is not a culture about chugging beer and getting super wasted. I think people’s relationship with beer is culturally changing. I think it’s more of a connoisseur experience, and there’s the idea of drinking a really good beer and sipping it like you see when people who drink wine or something like that. In that case, it’s always good to be a little bit loosened up.
What was it like having the actors drinking during filming and having them learn about brewing beer?
Well, we had fake beer on set the first day just in case they didn’t want to actually drink, but very quickly they felt that if they were only going to be having a sip here and there –not only did they not want to spend three weeks drinking fake beer, but also none of them are part of the Chicago beer scene. It would be a shame not to have the chance to try all of that Chicago beer. So it was fun. It looks like in the movie they’re drinking a lot more than they actually were, you know. What you see in 90 minutes is spread out over three weeks of shooting. I hope that they all learned about beer from making the movie. It’s one of those things that I was most excited about from having them be involved. Right when they got to town, we brewed beer together and several of the first days of the actors being in Chicago involved going to breweries and meeting brewers and learning about that culture. I’m a home brewer and I’m really into the Chicago beer scene, so I was excited to share that with them.
The screening will be on Friday, Nov. 8, at 6:30 p.m. in Harris 107. It will be followed by a Q-and-A session with Swanberg.