Steve James has directed two of the most lauded nonfiction films of the past 20 years (Hoop Dreams and the CeaseFire portrait The Interrupters); two formally ambitious masterworks (Stevie, about his ongoing relationship with an emotionally disturbed young man he met through the Big Brothers program; and the PBS series The New Americans, which chronicled several different immigrant families); and several exceptional documentaries on a range of subjects. His latest movie, Life Itself (which opens this week at Landmark’s Century Centre), is a biography of beloved Chicago film critic Roger Ebert. The film moves deftly between a rousing account of Ebert’s storied life and a sobering portrait of his final days, during which time he continued working even while being treated for cancer.
No. I cut the grass—or as I like to say, the weeds. Judy, my wife, is the gardener.
I hope this doesn’t come off as pejorative, but your home looks more like the residence of a caseworker than a filmmaker.
At one point. After Hoop Dreams, there were opportunities to do stuff in Hollywood. I did one small [fiction] feature, Prefontaine—
Yeah, because I control it more. Even though I’m gone plenty, it’s never like I’m gone for long blocks of time. When I did those three [fiction] films, from 1996 to 2001, I wasn’t here for a solid six or seven months each year. My family would come visit me for a week on location or I’d come home for a weekend. When I came back after Joe and Max, we had New Americans under way and I’d gotten some money to finish Stevie. That’s when I said to Judy, “I feel like I can make this work. I won’t make as much money, but I think we’ll get by.”
Don’t you think there are ramifications to not taking sole credit? For instance, Hoop Dreams was your first major work, yet by sharing credit with Gilbert and Marx, you seemed to be drawing attention away from yourself. The attention, for the most part, was on the movie.
Directed by Steve James. 116 min. Opens Thu 7/4, Landmark’s Century Centre, 2828 N. Clark, 773-509-4949, landmarktheatres.com.
