Write and director of “Black and White”

March 30, 2000

CheckOut.com presents acclaimed Hollywood writer and director James Toback. Toback discusses his film, “Black and White,” starring Brooke Shields and Robert Downey Jr., the plot: what happens when various cultures meet and mix, and the role of hip hip.

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CheckOut: Welcome to a chat with writer and director, James Toback, whose films have enjoyed a reputation as edgy, original, and daring for over two decades. James' film credits include "Fingers," "The Pick-Up Artist," and "Two Girls and a Guy." He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for "Bugsy. " Send in your questions for James about his latest film "Black and White," with a fantastic cast including Brooke Shields, Ben Stiller, and Robert Downey Jr. "Black and White" will be released on April 5th. Welcome to CheckOut.com and Talk City. CheckOut.com is the online connection to the worlds of music, movies and games. Shop here for all of your favorites! Welcome, James Toback.

James Toback: I'm interested to disseminate "Black and White" as widely as possible, because I think it is the first movie that is a Rorschach Test that all of the issues that hip-hop raises about race, sex, music, language, murder, morality, and contemporary style.

Jonboy: What was your participation in this film? Did you write the screenplay, direct, work in other areas?

James Toback: I wrote it. I directed it. I acted in it. And I have had a finger on all of its pulses.

CO-MovieBuff: Did you choose the music for the soundtrack? Did you get any advice on it from someone in the music business?

James Toback: The hip-hop music on the soundtrack was chosen by Power of Wu Tang Clan. In the movie, itself, there are complimentary musical presences which I chose. Power and I worked together, and my ideas, which I used, were Shostakovich's Eleventh Symphony as well as four old rock 'n' roll songs. But I went with Power's pace in hip-hop and rap because I love Wu Tang Clan and the American Cream Team, which is its offshoot. And it was great to give a lot of these really talented guys a chance to express themselves cinematically and not just musically. Power, Raekwon, Method Man and others.

Tomtom: Without giving away to much of the plot, can you tell me what "Black and White" is about?

James Toback: "Black and White" is about the fascinating mix of radically different cultures and the incidentally and often hilarious offshoots of that mix.

CO-ronines: Hi, James Toback. How long did you shoot this film and how much did it cost?

James Toback: We shot for 27 days, and it cost $5 million 200 thousand dollars. Although when you look at it and listen to it, my guess is that you will think it cost $40 million dollars, and took three times as long to shoot as it did.

Pacman: What message would you like this film to send people away with?

James Toback: Without being glib or disrespectful of the question, I think the best answer to that question would be that if it were possible to summarize or even come close to summarizing what is in this very rich and complex movie in a few sentences as a message, then I indeed would have chosen a more reductive literary format and not made a movie. But since I did make a movie, I would say that the answer to that question lies in the movie. And that one needs to see the whole movie to get a true answer. Or as Archibald MacLeish said in another context, "A poem should not mean but be."

Ladyfair: What was it like working on this film with such a large and amazing cast?

James Toback: It was exhilarating fun! I was tremendously excited every day to look forward to the array of terrific surprises that I got from everybody. Each day, the only question was which two people would come up with which surprises. It was almost like a friendly competition, for each day a different two or three people would come up with a new array of dazzling delights.

Silvertop: What age group do you think will enjoy this film?

James Toback: I think that there will be people of every age group over the age of 14 that will enjoy it, and people from all walks of life. But I think if I have to narrow it down, the ideal age would be 15 to 26 or 27.

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