With most feature films on DVD, you shouldn’t put the cart before the horse: Don’t watch the 15-minute “making-of” documentary before you see the movie itself.
Best to have your own impression of the work of art before you hear the talking heads babble on about the excruciating difficulties of filmmaking.
Steve Martin’s “Shopgirl” ($29.99) is worth upending that advice. The gentle, cerebral film moves at its own unhurried pace, and learning a little more about it ahead of time won’t ruin that mood. The filmmakers have graced their simple, elegant movie with a simple, elegant package of extras that illuminate rather than irritate.
In a short set of interviews, Martin, director Anand Tucker and producer Ashok Amritraj describe their visual design for the movie. “Shopgirl,” from Martin’s novella of the same name, is about Mirabelle (Claire Danes), a lonely and lovely young woman in Los Angeles courted by two very different men (Martin as a wealthy businessman and Jason Schwartzman as a genial slacker.)
The filmmakers talk of identifying five “color palettes” to employ as the story progresses. Their description of how Mirabelle moves from uncertain blues and greens to lively reds and yellows, back through depressive tones, and finally into a pastel and primary future, is an informative setup for watching the actual film.
Tucker also offers an endearing assessment of his own skills: “Directing is the most overrated thing in the world,” says Tucker (“Hilary and Jackie”). “You cast it right, and they just do it.”
Casting it right started with Danes as Mirabelle; once you see her face behind that Saks Fifth Avenue glove counter, no one else could possibly play such a sad, smart flower waiting to bloom.
Martin gives another insight into the casting. “I actually thought someone younger (than me) would be better,” he says with a chuckle. “I was thinking Tom Hanks at one point; he was the right age.”
But Martin’s instincts, while self-serving, were correct. Age is a key, unbridgeable gulf between his character and Mirabelle, and the more malleable looks of Hanks would have made “Shopgirl” a lesser romance.
Staff writer Michael Booth can be reached at 303-820-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com.
