Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne, Quintana Roo Dunne. Photo courtesy of Netflix
Griffin Dunne has been observing Joan Didion for most of his life. Before he was an actor known for his performances in After Hours and, more recently, I Love Dick, he was the nephew of the writer idolized for her generation-defining prose. The author of Slouching Towards Bethlehem mitigated his childhood embarrassment at a family function—and one of her events, a party for Tom Wolfe attended by Janis Joplin, served as inspiration for his own work.
Now, Dunne is sharing some of that vantage point with Didion's fans in Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, which premiered at the New York Film Festival and is out on Netflix today. The film, which was funded via Kickstarter, takes a broad look at Didion's vast oeuvre and impact, touching on her early days atVogue, reporting on 60s counterculture, and Hollywood connections. (Harrison Ford was her carpenter!) It also delves into her relationships with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, and her daughter, Quintana Roo, whose deaths were the subjects of her memoirs The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights.
Dunne spoke with me last week about how he wanted to capture his aunt and how his personal memories shaped his movie.
VICE: At any point in the process of fundraising, were you surprised at the response Joan engenders among her fans?
Griffin Dunne: What initially made me ask Joan if she would give me permission was that I had an instinct that there would be a real hunger for this. I was surprised that no one had made a documentary about her before, but I was still blown away by the global viral response when that trailer came out. I was getting emails and press requests from Japan, from every country you can imagine. While I know her importance in the world, I still was surprised at how huge it was.
Griffin Dunne: What initially made me ask Joan if she would give me permission was that I had an instinct that there would be a real hunger for this. I was surprised that no one had made a documentary about her before, but I was still blown away by the global viral response when that trailer came out. I was getting emails and press requests from Japan, from every country you can imagine. While I know her importance in the world, I still was surprised at how huge it was.
Joan has written about a range of human experiences, including her own. What challenges did that present?
One of the advantages was also one of the challenges. I had the narration to her whole life story just by from pulling from what she's written about her life. But what could I do so it wouldn't just be an audiobook for the eyes? For the sections that I knew I would be reading, I would try to put them in context with what was going on in the world and where she was in her life in a visual way, and then reinforce what she was saying on the page with the interviews that people had about her at those times in her life. I always had hope that the movie itself would feel very much like a tapestry.
One of the advantages was also one of the challenges. I had the narration to her whole life story just by from pulling from what she's written about her life. But what could I do so it wouldn't just be an audiobook for the eyes? For the sections that I knew I would be reading, I would try to put them in context with what was going on in the world and where she was in her life in a visual way, and then reinforce what she was saying on the page with the interviews that people had about her at those times in her life. I always had hope that the movie itself would feel very much like a tapestry.
How did you see your role in the making of this? Your personal connection gave you access to Joan, but how much of yourself did you want to include?
It was a constant work in progress. It went from literally doing just what I said I was afraid of doing—what I didn't really want to do, which is string her prose all together and tell a story with pictures and never hear my voice—to realizing, Why am I covering up? It's not a secret that we're related. She gave me permission to make the movie because we're related, and I happen also to be a film director. I was witness to many of the moments in her life, the family events, and a participant. Our two families were incredibly close growing up.
It was a constant work in progress. It went from literally doing just what I said I was afraid of doing—what I didn't really want to do, which is string her prose all together and tell a story with pictures and never hear my voice—to realizing, Why am I covering up? It's not a secret that we're related. She gave me permission to make the movie because we're related, and I happen also to be a film director. I was witness to many of the moments in her life, the family events, and a participant. Our two families were incredibly close growing up.
If it wasn't directly related to Joan, it didn't end up in the movie. A film I admire very much, was exactly the kind of film I wanted to not make, is My Architect. It's not My Joan; it's Everybody's Joan. I felt a certain obligation and responsibility to show Joan, not just the Joan that I know, but also the Joan that has written all these works and talk to people who can talk about her work and the importance it had to the time, and the lasting quality of her work, and the influence her work has on so many people.
Were there any instances in the making of the film where you felt possessive of the familial relationship that you have with Joan and had to step back and look at it from a more journalistic eye?
I talked about being at the Janis [Joplin] party, and I talked to Joan about being there. I was 11 years old, and it made a huge impression on me this party, so much so that the very first film I directed was about that party. It was a personal thing for me that in the editorial process I had to put it out there in order to take it away.
I talked about being at the Janis [Joplin] party, and I talked to Joan about being there. I was 11 years old, and it made a huge impression on me this party, so much so that the very first film I directed was about that party. It was a personal thing for me that in the editorial process I had to put it out there in order to take it away.
As I got to know my film more, it became clear what should be there and what shouldn't. The thing I grappled the most with was talking about meeting Joan for the first time. [But] I just love her laughing, and it spoke to her character. It's exhibited in her writing. She doesn't write what the mainstream media are saying or what the pundits are saying—she's writing what's underneath that. She's not the person who's going to laugh at a little boy, and she doesn't participate in the crowd reaction.
Source: vice
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