Cinema Canada (Oct 1979)

Circle of Two d. Jules Dassin asst. d. Timothy Rowse sc. Thomas Hedley ph. Laszlo George sp. effects Bill Woods ed. David Nicholson sd. Owen Langevin cont. Patty Robertson p. designer Claude Bonniére a.d. Francois de Lucy elec. Kenny White m. Paul Hoffert cost. Theony V. Aldredge cast. Karen Hazzard Ltd. l.p. Richard Burton, Tatum O’Neal, Nuala Fitzgerald, Robin Gammell, Patricia Collins, Donann Cavin, Norma Dell’Agnese, Michael Wincott, Kate Reid, Leo Leyden exec. p. William Marshall p. Henk Van der Kolk unit pub. Patricia Johnson ie Circle of Two Productions Ltd. (1979) col. mm I’m on the set of Circle of Two. The chair I am sitting in says RICHARD BURTON, but I do not think I am Richard Burton. He’s about eight yards to my right sitting with Tatum O’Neal. All the fiftyodd people here are waiting for silence. Silence is the problem on this sunny Center Island shoot because of the proximity of the island airport. Takes are continually interrupted by the sound of passing aircraft. Henk Van der Kolk is the producer of this $5.7 million Film Consortium of Canada production. I ask him how he came to select this property for production. “T don’t think in terms of exploitation,” says Van der Kolk, “I just go by what turns me on.” The basic question, he says, is “Am I prepared to live with this story for so long?” He emphasizes the many intensive hours which elapse between a film’s inception to its release. Van der Kolk also cites compatibility with the writer as critically important. Meeting and getting to know the writer (Thomas Hedley) preceded the selection of the property. “Circle of Two is a love story.” Everyone on the set keeps telling me that. The film, based on the Marie-Therese Baird novel The Shinning Furrow, traces the relationship between a _ sixty-year-old artist (Richard Burton) and a sixteenyear-old girl (Tatum O’Neal) and — as the synopsis reads — “interweaves their lives with the byzantine manipulations of the international art world.” I ask D.O.P. Laszlo George (whose last picture was Running), how the film was shaping up from his end. Any special problems? “No problems,” he smiles. “Rushes look good,” he adds with easy confidence. What is his visual approach to the film? “This is a love story,” he responds “the eyes are important.” He requires sharp definition and has consequently abandoned the popular low contrast filter. 6/October-November Raising a few eyebrows, sixteen-year-old Sarah Norton (Tatum O’Neal) aiid sixty-year-old Ashley St. Clair (Richard Burton) in Circle of Two: an odd couple falling in love over their sodas Two giant arcs are on location to soften the sunny light and give the effect of spring. Laszlo emphasizes that this is a “people story,” so the visual style must not be obtrusive, must not distract from the players. None the less, director Jules Dassin Poised for action in a rubber dingy are : Jules Dassin, director (third left); Laszlo George, director employs a lot of movement on the shoot. Laszlo compares this film with his experience on Running. “Running was, very moody,” he says. “The camera should’ change style with every movie.” I ask Van der Kolk some questions about the process of raising funds for this film. He says that having become an of photography (centre); David Kelly, first assistant cameraman (above camera); and Michael Kohne, key grip (lower right), shooting Circle of Two