Lure of Hollywood

Press, 25 May 1989, Page 21

Lure of Hollywood

By

JANE DUNBAR

Working in Hollywood is cut-throat but it can bring out the best in people, says a German film-maker who recently visited Christchurch. Bastian Cleve was in New Zealand showing German personal films on behalf of the Goethe Institute in Munich. But when not touring and showing films, he is a Hollywood

line producer; that is, he handles film projects without having to raise money for them. He believes Los Angeles is the best place in the world to make movies because “everything is there.”

He admits Hollywood is dominated by commercial success and does not much care for alternative art, but he does not see this as a problem.

There are a lot of bad films which come out of Hollywood, but a lot of good ones too. And artistically he feels he has done everything he wanted to..

A film-maker in Germany for many years he managed to live on awards and reputation. But he craved for something more difficult, something which he found in L.A.

“In L.A. it’s tough. The health and welfare system is dismal and there is no job security. If you don’t do anything to make money you’ll starve. It’s cut-throat and it brings

out the best in you. It encourages you to be an entrepreneur.”

One of the most famous films he has been associated with recently is “Bagdad Cafe,” a quirky piece which has been a box office success in various parts of the world. But the film and its makers are not something Cleve will be drawn on. Better talk to my lawyer, he says.

Getting away from Los Angeles, he has several times been asked by the Goethe Institute to take a collection of German “personal films” on tour. Personal film-making is the opposite of commercial film-making, he says. “It is one person’s view — like a poem or a painting — and usually it is the one person who does everything in the making of the film. The result is rather unusual films.” One of his favourites in this tour of films made between 1980 and 1984 is an American’s view of Germany — "a fair assessment of the German psyche.” And it touches on his reasons for emigrating.

In Wellington he was extremely disappointed by the “mute” reaction of audiences, but then remembered he had been told it was “part of the national character not to say much.”

Christchurch was a pleasant surprise in contrast, with people showing more genuine interest. Perhaps it was because there was a film school in the city. Whichever, he was looking forward to getting back to L.A.