Filmmaker James Vanderbilt revisits the story that led to Dan Rather and a "60 Minutes" producer losing their jobs at CBS; producer Noah Hawley says the key to making "Fargo" a TV series was to not be bound by the Coen brothers movie.
'Truth' director James Vanderbilt approached the film as a journalist
Dan Rather and "60 Minutes" producer Mary Mapes thought they had a big scoop on their hands in 2004 when they reported on George W. Bush's service, or lack thereof, with the Texas Air National Guard. The controversial report was scrutinized for using questionable evidence and it ultimately cost Rather and Mapes their jobs at CBS.
Their story is told in the new movie, "Truth," in which Robert Redford plays Rather and Cate Blanchett plays Mapes. The film was adapted from Mapes’ memoir, "Truth and Duty: The Press, the President and the Privilege of Power."
The “60 Minutes” story was largely based on documents whose authenticity was immediately questioned, but never fully disproved. CBS convened an independent review that found “considerable and fundamental deficiencies” in the reporting and production of the story. The network also apologized for its report on then-President Bush.
Now the film has arrived in theaters and the controversy is far from over. CBS would not allow the film’s distributor to buy ad time on the network, and critics are coming out from all sides.
Writer and director James Vanderbilt says: "We always knew this would sort of be a divisive film. There was no version of telling this story that was going to make everybody happy, but I don't think that's a good reason not to make a film."
The Frame's John Horn interviewed Vanderbilt about the controversy surrounding the film and why he was interested in telling this story.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
When you were working on this movie, you were obviously working with Mary Mapes. You're adapting the movie based on her memoir, but you're also doing your own kind of investigations and looking into a lot of facts that are in her book and that are not in her book. Did you ultimately come to some conclusions that were at odds with her story? And how did you resolve those conflicts with her?
Mary's book was the basis for the film, but I wanted to do my own research and I wanted to spend a lot time with a lot of different people who were involved in it. What I ended up doing is talking to a lot people — both on and off the record — and there were certain times when I spoke to people who did not have a good opinion about Mary or her work. It was important to me to speak to those people. My process with that was when there was a disagreement, we'd put it in the film. We wanted to give voice to other viewpoints in the movie.
You've been a filmmaker your whole career, but you've never been a journalist. What did it feel like approaching this movie as a journalist?
It was amazing. The great thing about my job is that I get to go and live in other people's shoes for a while, and actually [say]: Okay, how do you this? When you wake up in the morning, what's the first thing you do? What's the first newspaper you read? How do you make those phone calls? How do you convince a source? I love that. Journalism is something I've always been passionate about, and if I hadn't gone into my silly industry, I would have tried to go into journalism.
So, I've always loved the world and that's one of the reasons why I did "Zodiac" and that's one of the reasons I did this film. What I really wanted to do was take you behind the curtain and take you through the excitement of running down a story. There's a reason the movie is structured the way it is. It takes you from [Mapes] pitching the story to them putting it together, and I wanted you to spend time in that portion of it, and not just cover the fallout of it.
"Truth" is currently in theaters.
'Fargo' creator Noah Hawley: 'No Country For Old Men' is always in my mind'
The idea of turning the Coen brothers’ 1996 movie, “Fargo,” into a TV series struck many fans of the dark comedy as blasphemy. Even FX chief John Landgraf was unsure whether or not it would work.
"It's also really complicated because Frances McDormand won an Academy Award for the lead role...you're not going to have Joel and Ethan Cohen," Landgraf recently said on The Frame. "And that right there puts you in a very disadvantaged situation."
But Noah Hawley, the creator of the TV version, was smart enough to avoid a straight adaptation.
"They suggested that they wanted to do 'Fargo' as a series and I walked in and said, 'You can't do that, it's not a series.' That was me trying not to get the job," Hawley told The Frame. "But I said what it could be is an anthology series. Every year you would do a different story...until the point at which you run out of ideas."
Instead of adapting the movie’s plot and story, Hawley mined the Coen Brothers' creative DNA — an unusual hybrid of violence and comedy — and took the story into a new location with new characters, setting it in the 1980s. Hawley's first season of “Fargo” won the Emmy for best miniseries and best casting.
“Fargo’s” second season is set in the 1970s, and most of the characters and cast are new, with Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons and Ted Danson joining the show.
The story is essentially a prequel to season one, and though the story and characters are different, what remains is that distinct Coen brothers tone that's found in so many of their films. That's because Hawley mines their entire oeuvre when he's searching for inspiration for new episodes.
"It is an amazing sort of library of ideas and characters and a sensibility," Hawley said. "What's in 'Miller's Crossing' that's interesting to me that I might free associate on? The first year I talked a lot about 'A Serious Man' as a movie that asks great philosophical questions and had a parable sequence. 'No Country For Old Men' is always in my mind."
Listen to the audio above to hear the full interview with Noah Hawley