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De Palma himself reportedly said thatBody Doublewas meant to go over the topin all of his alleged cinematic sins.
The 84-year-old director now admits that was mostly publicity-friendly bluster.
Its a thoroughly transfixing thriller, filled with elaborately choreographed set pieces in service of an absurd story.
Somebody at Columbia said, We should have a music video for this movie, De Palma recalls.
And I said, Why dont we put the music videointhe movie?
Body Doubleis beloved today.
But its also the kind of movie that nobody could make today.
He also says that he is working on a new film.
WhenBody Doubleopened, it was not a success.
Why do you think its endured?Well, you never can tell with these things.
You have to get over the emotional and financial catastrophe.
Ive done a lot of interviews aboutPhantom of the Paradiserecently, and its the same thing.
It wasnt successful when it came out, and now, 50 years later, its considered a classic.
Theres something obviously enduring in the way it was done.
I think why my bang out of movies last so long is theyre very cinematic.
Cinema kind of died with celluloid, because you dont have the same cinematographers anymore.
Plus theyre all shooting digitally, so it doesnt look very interesting.
That form of cinema went out with celluloid.
Was that something you were conscious of while making it?The way it evolved was unusual.
I first had this idea that I had another director and writer develop.
Robert Avrech wrote the screenplay.
The treatment was originally set in New York.
It all started, basically, because I live in lower Manhattan.
And I have an apartment building facing my apartment building across Fifth Avenue.
That was the initial idea.
But we couldnt get it made with the other director.
The only way to get it made was for me to direct it.
So I proceeded to rewrite the script.
The film is very tongue in cheek in its portrayal of the porn world.
But how familiar were you with that world?
I said, Well, we got all this porn stuff to do; lets get a porn actress.
I went to San Francisco, and I met her at a hotel, and we had breakfast together.
I gave her stuff to read.
Shed never been given lines, you know, to act.
I sort of sent her to acting school.
I ultimately tested her and the only other girl that wanted to play the part, Melanie Griffith.
And Melanie blew it out of the sky!
Strangely enough, Annette wasnt that sexy.
But I used Annette to give us advice while we were shooting the film.
This rumor went on for decades.
Its a rumor that never dies.
Tell me more about working with Melanie.
These were all actors that had come out of, like, Cocaine Anonymous.
They were all being rehabilitated.
I got to know Melanie quite well.
And she really wanted to play the part.
I said, Okay.
Body Doublehas a lot of references toVertigo, and I know that was a big influence on your work.
Thats where we got the idea forObsession.
But somehow, it hadnt been seen in, I dont know, 20 years.
And suddenly there was a screening at the museum downtown.
And thenRear Windowis a fantastic visual idea of Hitchcocks, which I employed inBody Double.
I guess that comes from making a lot of silent movies.
Thats something Ive lived in, basically.
Was that the way you sometimes approached it as well?Not really.
Something likeObsessionwas an attempt to retellVertigoa whole different way.
Shes a movie star.
And its a huge hole in the plot.
Like, Why doesnt he just recognize its Kim Novak?
But it doesnt seem to make any difference inVertigo, as absurd as that is.
I mean the whole nature of a movie star is that you recognize them.
We went back to do some reshooting.
Somehow, I felt that gave the whole idea away right in the beginning.
So I stuck that scene at the end.
But its not a great ending.
Endings are very tricky in movies.
Body Doubles ending isnt that bad!
Youre trying to instruct the viewer about a certain cinematic technique.
Youre showing them something they dont know or have never seen before.
So it works in this kind of piecemeal way, but it wasnt something that was preconceived.
It was tacked on.
For some crazy reason, it seemed to work.
But things have to be very carefully structured.Blow Outhas a great ending.
AndThe Untouchableshas a great ending, a great line that David Mamet wrote.Carriehas a great ending.
And I said, Why dont we put the music videointhe movie?
I think he came back with the Frankie Goes to Hollywood group.
And I said, Lets put them in the movie.
And the band was great to work with, too.
They thought it was a great idea.
I know you did music videos after this.
Bruce was shooting his video for Dancing in the Dark, and somebody was using a Louma crane.
It was Bruce singing with the Louma crane going around, doing all kinds of crazy stuff.
But he didnt like it.
I said, Ill just shoot him when he opens the tour.
Was it a challenge to work in that realm with music and timing things to that?
Youd donePhantom of the Paradise, obviously.Well, we were really in a time crunch.
Because I could only shoot his first show.
It was in Cleveland or somewhere.
There was no time to do anything.
They had spent all this time on this video that they did not like.
I went right to work.
We found the girl and got in a plane and took off for the opening.
I shot it in two nights.
I was very fortunate.
Its his most successful song of all time.
Nobodyd seen Bruce in a couple of years.
I discovered a star nobodyd seen before.
Those things are just magical.
Youre never going to predict them.
Now, its great to watch when Bruce does that song and he pulls somebody out of the audience.
Ive seen concerts where he brings his mother up onstage and dances with her.
A lot of people will say that you cant really make a movie likeBody Doubletoday.
They might be right.
And yet its more beloved than its ever been.
They go, Oh my God.
I saw two people watching the opening ofCarrie.
I thought they were going to have a heart attack!
I was like,What has happened to this next generation?They seem to have gotten very Victorian.
Youve noted that at the time you madeBody Double, Columbia was owned by Coca-Cola.
And they were worried about the film because corporations care so much about their public image.
Because theyre owned by tech companies.
Does anybody want to affect Apple with some wild, strange movie?
Thats why all that streaming stuff is so bland and boring.
It was bad when we had the execs.
I got kind of bored with it.
They used the music fromBody Doublein that film.What?!
I dont know if you got to that part.Oh, I dont think I got to that.
As you know, the movie is all about the creation of the Air Jordan Nike sneaker.
And they use the music fromBody Double!
Ill have to check that out.
So erotic thrillers,are they dead?Boy, I think so.
I dont know whats going to change.
Something new will emerge.
But maybe itll have to come out of Europe, which still has an independent filmmaking hierarchy.
But I dont see it.
As I said, Im constantly looking for stuff to look at.
This is not a good place for independent art to evolve.
Are you planning to make another film?Yes, I have one other film Im planning to make.
And were in the process of trying to cast it.
I cant tell you what it is until it happens.
Then Ill be very happy to announce it.
