Q&A with Zach Schonfeld

Tuesday, Nov. 28 2023, 7:00

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• Zach Schonfeld is a freelance writer, journalist, and critic based in New York. He writes about culture for Pitchfork, Vulture, Spin Magazine, and many other publications. He was formerly a senior writer for Newsweek, where he was on staff for five years. His first book, Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth, was published in 2020 as part of the 33 1/3 series. How Coppola Became Cage is his second book. He grew up in Northern Westchester and enjoyed many formative moviegoing experiences at the Jacob Burns Film Center.
• In How Coppola Became Cage, author Zach Schonfeld traces Cage's rise through the world of independent cinema and chronicles the stories behind his career-making early performances, from the method masochism of Birdy to the operatic torment of Moonstruck and abrasive expressionism of Vampire's Kiss, culminating with the astonishing pathos of Leaving Las Vegas. Drawing on more than 100 new interviews with Cage's key collaborators -- including David Lynch, Martha Coolidge, John Patrick Shanley, and Mike Figgis -- How Coppola Became Cage offers a revealing portrait of Cage's wildly intense devotion to his performances behind the scenes and his creative self-discovery as he drew on influences as far-flung as silent cinema and German Expressionism. Brimming with previously untold stories and insights, How Coppola Became Cage both revels in and demystifies Cage's onscreen eccentricities. No other modern actor has explored such profound creative extremes while bending the boundaries of good taste. Here is the origin story of an actor who truly is wild at heart and weird on top.

Copies of How Coppola Became Cage will be available for purchase after the screening, courtesy of The Village Bookstore.