How did you get involved as a director on "My Cousin Vinny"
JONATHAN LYNN: I had just finished NUNS ON THE RUN, which was made by Handmade and distributed by Fox. Joe Roth [Chairman of Fox] had misgivings about the last three or four minutes of the film. When I discovered this I was delighted, because I didn't think the ending worked and had thought of a much better version. We hadn't been able to do it because we'd run out of money.
I told Joe what I had in mind and he immediately offered to put up the money for it to be changed. We shot three or four extra days, three months later, and the whole film worked.
Joe was pleased, and asked me to direct "My Cousin Vinny". Danny de Vito was to have directed and starred in it, but he had recently dropped out.
What was it that drew you to the material?
JONATHAN LYNN: I was immediately drawn to it. I have a degree in law, and had always loved courtroom dramas. Among my favourite films were "Anatomy of a Murder", "The Verdict" and "To Kill A Mockingbird."
I also saw the film as a statement against capital punishment, something that I have always been totally against. When Tony Jay and I wrote "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister", we always looked for a hideous dilemma as the basis for the comedy; I don't think comedies work unless they are about something desperately important for one or more of the main characters.
Also, I wanted to do a film about the real America, small town America, not set in New York or LA or a big urban centre. And finally, I thought it had two really original leading characters, Vinny and Lisa, who were truly funny.
Originality is rare. I had seen plenty of courtroom dramas, and plenty of funny scenes in courtrooms, but I'd never seen what could truly be described as a courtroom comedy, so this seemed to be a great opportunity.
How involved were you in the casting of "My Cousin VInny"?
JONATHAN LYNN: Joe Pesci was already attached to the film. He and I met in New York and after a conversation over dinner we shook hands and agreed that we'd do it together.
Casting Lisa was difficult. Fox wanted a 'name'. Without checking with me they offered it to Gina Davis She had a deal with Fox so they were anxious to use her, but she was about a foot taller than Pesci and had nothing of Brooklyn about her. Fortunately, she passed. Fox then tried a few other well-known Italian-American actresses, none of whom wanted the part. I think they thought it was too small. We then auditioned dozens of actresses. None were suitable.
One day I was invited to lunch at Paramount by John Landis, who was making a film called 'Oscar'. A young actress was plaing a scene; her character was a blonde 1920's flapper. She was nothing like Mona lLa Vito in 'Vinny' but I could see that she could act and had excellent timing. Her name was Marisa Tomei. I looked at footage in Landis's cutting room.
Then I asked my casting director to get her in to read for me. He was reluctant. "William Morris has suggested everyone on their list who they think could possibly be right for it." he said "So she can't be." I don't have much faith in the aesthetic judgment of most agents so I insisted on getting her in to read. She was seemed perfect. Fox wanted to see screen tests of our three top choices. We tested them, and to me and the producer Paul Schiff it was obvious that Marisa should get the part.
I took the precaution of showing the tape of the screen tests to Joe Pesci. He too agreed that Marisa was the one. We sent the tape to Fox and they chose one of the other actresses. There followed a long and tense meeting. I was getting nowhere until I played my trump card - Pesci also wanted Marisa. That did it. They didn't want to irritate their leading man. So with an 'on-your-head-be-it' attitude, I was allowed to cast Marisa.
Casting Fred Gwynn as the Judge raised a few questions ("Herman Munster as the Judge?"), but I was confident and there wasn't much of an argument about that. Lane Smith as Jim Trotter III, the prosecutor, was the idea of Dale Launer, the writer. All the other casting came from auditions.
What qualities were you looking for in the actors?
JONATHAN LYNN: An ability to play the comedy, but with the utmost reality. "Vinny" is film about the class system (which does exist in America, whatever people might say) and about the death penalty. If Vinny screws up, the boys will be sent to the chair and fried. This is serious, and though the treatment is comedic the film depended on the truth of the acting. I wanted the audience to believe that Lisa was a real blue-collar Italian-American girl from Brooklyn. I wanted the southerners to be southern - but not caricatured.
How would you define the visual style for the film?
JONATHAN LYNN: My visual style? I never know how to answer that sort of question. I don't really like the camera to be noticed at all, unless there's a very special reason for it. I want the audience to be totally involved in the characters and their situation.
The biggest challenge was that a large amount of the film takes place in one room, the courtroom. In order for the film not to become visually repetitive or boring, I constantly changed the basic point of view from scene to scene - sometimes shooting from the jury's side, sometimes from opposite the jury, sometimes from behind the judge, sometimes from the spectators POV. Within that basic POV, of course, many other camera positions were employed. This meant building a courtroom set, so that walls could be removed when necessary.
I used handheld some times, to give a more documentary feel (the whole arrest sequence, for instance, and in the prison bus). I tried to keep the camera moving, to maintain visual interest and to show the surroundings but, unless the camera was moving with the actors (like on a 'walk-and-talk'), I avoided camera movement on big laugh lines - so as not to distract from the actors.
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