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April 27 - May 4,2003 |
Parody stirs up A Mighty Wind
Canadian-born writer/actor Eugene Levy takes silliness seriously in folk music comedy
By Angela Baldassarre
Originally Published: 2003-04-20
Youngsters will recognize him as the all-too-understanding dad in the American Pie movies and, most recently, as Steve Martin's best friend in Bringing Down the House. But comedy fans have been entertained by Hamilton-born Eugene Levy for at least three decades, beginning with his days at SCTV and moving upward in films Splash, Club Paradise, Father of the Bride 2, Like Mike and Serendipity.
However, his superior writing skills are best displayed during his collaborations with Christopher Guest (This Is Spinal) on films Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show. Levy and Guest have teamed up again with A Mighty Wind, a bittersweet mockumentary about a memorial concert featuring several 1960s folk musicians - Mitch & Mickey (Levy and Catherine O'Hara), The Folksmen (Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer) and The New Main Street Singers (John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch and Parker Posey) - who come together for the first time in years.
Tandem talked to Eugene Levy when he was in Toronto recently.
A Mighty Wind seems less of a send-up than Waiting for Guffman or Best in Show. Was the idea of doing a movie about folk singers closer to your heart or Christopher's heart?
"Well, we both have a great deal of affection for the subject matter. We both did a little folk singing back in the sixties. I don't think even the other two I would describe as send-ups. I think that the natures of these films are all pretty similar. We like to go for a subject about people who take themselves a tad too seriously in whatever it is, whether it is folksingers, or dog-show owners, or community theatre players. That seems to be an area that is right for comedy. So, I think that this was just another way to go. It is a different subject matter but the implication is that you find it less satirical.
But also more nostalgic...
"I think that there could be some truth there. I honestly have seen the cut once, and I really was more concerned with what wasn't in the film. So, by the time I finished watching it I was not necessarily aware of what I was watching. But it may have a softer, a more sentimental edge. I know that we venture into an area in this film that we didn't go into in the other movies. Certainly, with the storyline with Catherine and me I know that it's an area that was kind of odd. You know, a bit of a challenge, and a little dangerous. We felt that this was a good way to go for this third film."
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