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Todd Solondz Biography

Todd Solondz (born October 15, 1959) is an American independent film screenwriter and director known for his style of dark, thought-provoking, socially conscious satire. Solondz has been critically acclaimed for his examination of the "dark underbelly of middle class American suburbia," a reflection of his own background in New Jersey. His work includes Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), Happiness (1998), Storytelling (2001), Palindromes (2004), Life During Wartime (2009), Dark Horse (2011), and Wiener-Dog (2016).

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Todd Solondz Quotes

You try to make them comfortable so they can do what they're best at, and make them shine. You always want to make an actor shine. I'm of the mind that there's no one - you, your mother, anyone, that if in the right place at the right time in the right context, couldn't shine in a movie. And so if it means, "Oh, I have to make them uncomfortable," then whatever it takes to get what I need up onscreen. It's all in the service of the story.

Mean, Mother, Movie, Shining, Takes, Time

I think, in fact, there's a plus and a minus to knowing my prior work, Happiness and so forth. The plus is of course you can see how I play with the characters, the storylines, and the way things play off each other. And the minus is that it makes you a little bit more self-conscious, that you're not able to enter the movie as it exists and lives and breathes, because you're so busy making references, connections that you're not able to release yourself from and take the film on your own terms.

Busy, Character, Enter, Terms, Think, Thinking

Part of it has to do with this business of being approached in public. I have a distinctive look - it's partly the glasses I wear - and people seem to remember me once they've seen me.

Approached, Glasses, Looks, People, Seen, Wear

One thing I want to say: I don't like victim stories and I don't write them.

Stories, Victim, Want, Write, Writing

It is true that the movie is perhaps my most politically-charged. The story is thrust into motion by the idea of what do you do when your 13 year old daughter comes home pregnant. And not only is she pregnant, but she wants to keep the baby.

Baby, Daughter, Mother, Story, True

I don't have a formula. Every time an actor wants me to hold their hand, I hold their hand. If they say, "Stay," I say "Okay, respect. " You know? "I'm right over here. " A kid, if I need to give a line-reading, I'll start acting out the part for the kid and just mimic the kid. You know? Whatever it takes.

Acting, Giving, Kids, Know, Say

For me, New Jersey is kind of a mythical place. It's emblematic of a certain aspect of American life. Florida is the same way. It's where people go to recreate, to reinvent themselves. It's what California used to be. I think Florida is still a place to erase the past.

California, Past, People, Thinking, Way

People call you "director," but it really should be "economic manager. " Because everything is "Well, we can do another take here, but then you're gonna lose that shot over there. " Or "The sun's going down, sorry, you're outta luck. We can't afford to. " You know? And meanwhile, how do you get the performer's performance? I'm thinking the whole time all about "How can I get my day done?" And my performances are primarily a result of casting the right people at the right time in the right parts. And then I do little modifications.

Economic, People, Primarily, Result, Sorry, Thinking

So far, at least, I haven't found a way to tell my kind of stories without making them both sad and funny.

Kind, Stories, Tell, Way

And that's just what I'm saying. I would never want to be like certain people, who change the way they dress, go out in disguise, wear a big floppy hat and dark shades. I would hate that.

Dark, Floppy, Hat, Hate, People

Some people will of course accuse me of misanthropy and cynicism. I can't celebrate humanity but I'm not out to indict it either. I just want to expose certain truths.

Certain, Expose, Humanity, People, Want

Narcissism and self-deception are survival mechanisms without which many of us might just jump off a bridge.

Bridge, Bridges, Hype, Mechanisms, Self, Survival

When I want to show the kind of meanness people are capable of, to make it believable I find I have to tone it down. It's in real life that people are over the top.

Life, Make, People, Real, Top, Want

The ability to take pleasure in one's life is a skill and is a kind of intelligence. So intelligence is a hard thing to evaluate and it manifests itself in so many different ways. I do think the ability to know how to live a life and not be miserable is a sign of that.

Ability, Different, Know, Skills, Thing, Thinking

There can be a blurry line between laughing at the expense of a character and laughing at the recognition of something painful and true. But blurry as it may be, it is nevertheless unmistakable, and sometimes the laughter I hear makes me wince.

Character, Expense, Laughing, Laughter, Painful

I've always said that I myself am not the best audience for my own work, because I'm just not that receptive to comedy.

Audience, Comedy, Receptive, Said, Work

When I go to the movies, I do like to see things that surprise me, a little bit, in ways that seem truthful to the world that we live in.

Littles, See, Way, Ways, World

When part of what you're trying to get at is the truth hidden under a taboo, or when you want to nail a hypocrisy, laughter is a very useful tool. I want to show the painful side of existence, but there is no question I also want to make people laugh.

Happiness, Laughter, Hypocrisy, Useful, Truth

That said, be mindful, to someone who's never seen any of my work, it's just a movie with actors. So it's only those who of course know the earlier work that will see something is afoot, so to speak. But I don't want to intellectualize.

Course, Intellectualize, Movie, Said, See, Speak

It's one of the great gifts of having so little money that you are able to make these kinds of radical conceits that you could never afford to do had you had a reasonable budget,.

Able, Afford, Kind, Kinds, Littles, Money

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