Rounders
Director John Dahl
Director John Dahl, who made his reputation with the hard-boiled film noir one-two punch of Red Rock West (1993) and The Last Seduction (1994), smiles when he's asked what attracts him to dark subject matter and replies, "I guess it's something that I don't know anything about, so it's kind of intriguing to me to spend some time there."
The Montana-born, 42-year-old Dahl is the antithesis of the popular culture image of the bigger-than-life movie director. In an environment fueled by dysfunction and sanctioned excess, he's strikingly low-key and composed. "I don't come from a gritty urban background," the soft-spoken filmmaker says in Los Angeles, "I don't have a big axe to grind."
John Dahl describes a happy, apple-pie childhood in Billings — where his insurance agent father (a World War II veteran) was also his Boy Scout leader — and this future filmmaker was elected senior class vice-president in high school.
"I guess that's why these dark aspects have an appeal for me," Dahl explains, "they challenge and intrigue me. I remember growing up on the nicer side of town and thinking, 'What's down on the other side of town'?"
Along with citing the work of Billy Wilder (particularly 1951's Ace in the Hole) as an influence, Dahl makes a telling, unconventional choice in his favorite film noir: A Place in the Sun (1951), George Stevens' superb film about dreams going terribly awry in smalltown America.
Dahl's best films have a refreshing clarity, and eschew self-referential irony. He carefully composes each frame so that the director's hand seems to disappear. "Narrative is king," he explains, "and everything has to spring froth from that."
After studying music and art at the University of Montana, and film at Montana State University, he moved to Los Angeles, attending the American Film Institute. Dahl made short films and music videos, drew storyboards, and worked as an assistant director before making Kill Me Again (1989), his first film noir.
Then Red Rock West and The Last Seduction, which were made for theatrical release, ended up debuting on cable television (which disqualified them from any film awards) because the financial backers didn't believe in them, Dahl explains. In both cases, they were eventually released in theaters to positive critical and audience response, "and that was very satisfying to me personally," he says.
Prior to Rounders, Dahl made the critical and box office flop, Unforgettable (1996), a "mad scientist" thriller. He believes some of the negative response came because it was a different genre and "there was an expectation that wasn't met."
Rounders (1998) appealed to him because "it's a classic coming of age story about what we all do to find our destiny or what we're good at."
"I think all of us," John Dahl concludes, "are asked to make moral decisions almost every day: 'Do I do the right thing, or do I do what I want'?"
© 1998, Serena Donadoni. All rights reserved.