In the corridors of a television station, a young producer looks anxious. There’s something there. In just two hours, the premiere of the brand new show that he created will take place live, a show that aims to be revolutionary. However, the setbacks multiply: one employee cannot be found, another refuses to sign his contract, and there are too many numbers… The more the minutes pass, the more the chances of going on the air diminish. Except that this young producer is called Lorne Michaels, and his show in the making is called Saturday Night Live. We know the rest. But, precisely, what we know less is how incredible the genesis of SNL was. In the movie Saturday Night (Saturday evening), Jason Reitman revisits the “behind the scenes of the exploit” with tenderness and causticity. We spoke to him exclusively.
“I had wanted for years to make a film that would take place “in real time”; whose entire plot would fit into 90 consecutive minutes. I had already spent a lot of time on SNL, and I really liked the idea of recreating the energy, the particular excitement of that show. One day, it struck me: I could combine these two desires in the same film by narrating the premiere of SNL,” explains Jason Reitman, met a few weeks ago at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Saturday Night received an excellent reception.
Although he insisted on obtaining the blessing of Lorne Michaels, who is still at the helm of the flagship show, Jason Reitman did not have to ask for authorization to portray the public figures associated with the premiere of SNL, even if -they are still alive, like Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Laraine Newman, Billy Crystal or Jane Curtin, or dead, like John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Andy Kaufman or Jim Henson.
Note that, to embody these eminently known figures, Jason Reitman did not look for doubles, but for actresses and actors capable of painting, in small touches, evocative portraits.
“I think for example of Ella Hunt, who plays Gilda Radner: she knew how to convey her empathy, the glint in her eyes, and this sort of crack in her voice. Three little details that convey the essence of this legend. For his John Belushi, Matt Wood highlights John’s fear of fame. Or Cory Michael Smith’s Chevy Chase: we are in the fragility of the ego. »
Beforehand, Jason Reitman and his co-writer, Gil Kenan, transformed themselves, to use the former’s phrase, into journalists. “Gil and I interviewed everyone possible who was there on the evening of October 11, 1975, during the historic premiere of SNL. »
Moreover, Reitman admirably succeeds in making us understand why SNL was such an original and innovative show, and why its launch had significant sociological importance. In the film, and this is consistent with what happened, Lorne Michaels explains to members of the NBC board of directors that his show will be the first to address generations of young people who grew up with television.
“It’s a story as old as time, that of the previous generation which refuses to see the new generation impose its vision. If we take SNL, up until then, the previous twenty years of television comedy and variety had consisted of variations of the same show, with a strong vaudeville heritage. SNL wanted to forge a link with these young people who had been immersed in television since birth and who shared common references that had previously been unexploited in television humor. But anyway, Gil and I have gathered all these memories and these anecdotes on a kind of immense dashboard, at the True Detective. »
Like in 1975
The result was a story certainly dominated by the perspective of Lorne Michaels, and resolutely choral nonetheless, with this myriad of known and unknown characters, all important. In this regard, Jason Reitman was keen to establish everyone’s identities, locations, and dramatic arcs early on in the film.
“As it is a sequence of events that takes place over 90 minutes, you have to know where each character is, in which room of the building, what they are doing, etc. Because every time you take the elevator with Lorne or enter somewhere with him, you immediately recognize the characters, know what they’re doing there, and measure their progress in what they’re trying to accomplish. . Will this decor be ready on time? Will this number be eliminated or not? »
In the invoice department, Saturday Night exudes a deliberately retro look. This goes beyond the period reconstruction: it goes right down to the palette and grain of the image.
“I wanted the audience to feel like they had parachuted into 1975; that the film seems to have been shot at that time, with its slightly less refined, more raw aesthetic. I used 16mm film for this reason. I also wanted to rediscover this chaotic energy from back then, like in Michael Ritchie’s films. [Smile] or Robert Altman [Nashville]with an element of spontaneity on the part of the performers, who are sometimes brushed against in the middle of an exchange whose content will only take on its full meaning later…”
Ultimately destined to form a whole, these scraps and fragments are gleaned by a continuous, incessant movement. In this regard, it was also in order to reinforce the “real time” dimension of the exercise that Jason Reitman decided to rely on a series of sequence shots, the best technique according to him to visually translate the flow of energy, adrenaline and creativity that carries Lorne Michaels during this famous evening.
“We spent days rehearsing these sequence shots. It was ideal to give the impression that we were capturing bits of the chaos that reigned at the time live. »
In each of his trips, in each of his meetings, Lorne Michaels faces a crisis. Reitman gives these pitfalls as a visual counterpart in rapid, even abrupt cuts, which interrupt the “flow”.
I wanted the audience to feel like they had been parachuted into 1975; that the film seems to have been shot at that time, with its slightly less refined, more raw aesthetic. I used 16mm film for this reason.
Let go
By wanting to reproduce chaotic events, did Jason Reitman himself fear seeing his film descend into chaos?
“It’s funny, because, during the pre-production period, when the roles were being cast, I asked a director friend for advice. I asked him if, in his opinion, I would be able to control this or that actor. And my friend said to me, “Jason, you’re making a movie on SNL, let it go.” He was right: there was a balance to find. Yes, you had to be prepared because of the technical complexity required, but you shouldn’t become rigid, because rigidity is the enemy of magic. And that’s something that SNL understood from the start. »
The movie Saturday Night hits the screens on October 10.