Tamara Jenkins Turns Savage!
After ten years of cinematic oblivion, the director of Slums of Beverly Hills is back to knotting family ties. Put the kids to bed.
Nick Haramis
November 28, 2007
By Ariel Vered
In 1998, director Tamara Jenkins overtook indie audiences with Slums of Beverly Hills, her semi-autobiographical inculcation into the world of breasts. The relative unknown became an overnight auteur, winning accolades and awards for her first major film. And then, for a decade, she all but vanished.
This month, Jenkins is ready to tackle the dreaded sophomore slump with The Savages, the much-touted dramedy starring Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It begins in the absurd and hyper-stylized retirement community of Sun City, Arizona, where old men drive golf carts and old women parade around in leotards. The Savages don’t fit in.
As siblings Wendy and Jon, Linney and Hoffman bicker like they’ve been doing it their whole lives. It’s a testament to Jenkins’s writing that the characters, flawed yet proud, breathe with such tenacity and heart. The Savages is an understated beauty about debilitating illness, a refreshingly honest, blunt look at the ties that bind. Below, the director discusses Greek tragedy, her ten-year hiatus, and never wanting to grow up.
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