Filmmaker Demme on Neil: "Quirky"

Jonathan Demme, director of "Heart of Gold", is interviewed in the Washington Post on his new film "Jimmy Carter Man From Plains". In an odd sort of way, Neil Young comes up.

How does making a film about a former president compare to working with rock-and-rollers, as you did with Talking Heads in 'Stop Making Sense' and Neil Young in 'Heart of Gold'?

Demme: All I can say is that the ex-president moves so much faster than the rock star. So I have to say the ex-president is more demanding. He doesn't hang around waiting. He sets such a torrid pace, he's exhausting. This cat never stops moving."

More political: Neil Young or Jimmy Carter?

Demme: [Laughs.] Neil Young is mighty political. Oh, man. These guys have a lot in common. They each care tremendously about the important issues of the day. They each come from deeply humanistic places, and they are incredibly imaginative thinkers. Neil goes off half-cocked sometimes, but then will come back an hour later and say, no, the issue is more complex. Carter is at a stage of life where he speaks his mind without fearing the consequences.

Quirkier: Neil Young or David Byrne?

Demme: Neil's one of the quirkiest people on the planet. David plays that much closer to the vest. That's a hard one. We agree that quirky is good, yes? One of the other super-quirky persons I'd love to make a film with is Emmylou Harris.

More on Jonathan Demme and Neil Young.