Director Jonathan Demme has created an eclectic pastiche of films over the past three decades making risky, quirky films, which reflect his canted view of the world. Be it socially conscious (Philadelphia), horrific (The Silence of the Lambs), surreal (Beloved) or just plain comedic (Something Wild), Demme’s vision on film has always been something fresh and unique.

Thus, when Demme announced that he would be tackling a remake of the frothy Audrey Hepburn/Cary Grant classic Charade, you could practically imagine the cumulative gasps and double takes amongst cinephiles and Demme fans. The most common question being why Demme, an artist known for his distinctive choices, would take on such a seemingly unoriginal project? The answer was simply that he loved the original and he “leapt at the opportunity to re-team with Thandie Newton in a contemporary persona.”

And while The Truth About Charlie captures shades of Charade, this new incarnation is more of a riff and homage to the original work. Charlie is really a love letter to the city of Paris and the cinematic style (the French New Wave) to which it inspired. Demme not only shot this film with the techniques of the French New Wave directors but he also peppered his landscape with the actual iconic figures of the movement including: Charles Aznavour (Shoot the Piano Player), Magali Noel (Rififi), Agnes Varda (Vagabond) and Anna Karina (A Woman is a Woman) Jonathan explains, “We were looking for an opportunity to toss away the rulebook and make our New Wave movie. A version of Charade that might have been made by the French filmmakers who were making their handheld camera movies around the corner when Stanley Donen was in Paris.”

Demme considers his film, The Truth About Charlie to “be the respectful offspring of Charade.” Undaunted by those questioning his choice in re-making it, he fearlessly answers his critics by saying “I love remakes! They are exciting and can be audacious.”

Demme explained his methods recently when he stopped in Philadelphia to promote the film. He discussed his inspirations for the re-make, his love of working with leading lady Thandie Newton and his outlook for the future.

ATN-ZONE MAGAZINE: Why did you decide to remake Charade?
JONATHAN DEMME: I think I was definitely looking for a light entertainment to do. A switching of gears from my previous three pictures which were each in one way or another kind of heavy. I felt I needed at least a vacation from big themes that were huge and important to me. While being in this open state, I saw Charade. And I also really felt very strongly about the magic of Thandie Newton in a contemporary part. Thandie is a very vibrant, deep, funny person who (surprisingly to people have only seen her in her trilogy of American slave movies) speaks in an English accent and is completely different from those roles. So, when I saw this wonderful “woman in jeopardy” movie again, I thought that could be a terrific Thandie Newton vehicle. It also invited an opportunity to indulge in an aggressively playful filmmaking style.

Most of your films have featured a very strong central female. Is that something you consciously do?
It’s not something I consciously do but I have to note that I am really susceptible to a story with a terrific woman in a real jam surrounded by a bunch of guys – none of whom are making her life easier. It can be said about The Silence of the Lambs and Married to the Mob.

How did you choose to include the French New Wave elements in the film and how do you think the French will react to the film?
They will either love it or they’ll be “How dare he!” I’m not sure, maybe a little of each. (Laughs) I didn’t realize how impacted I would be by suddenly finding myself in the city [Paris] that has provided the location for so many films that I’ve loved my entire life. I fell madly in love with Bridget Bardot and then as a young man, I discovered the New Wave specifically in the film Shoot the Piano Player. It completely opened up the boundaries of what movies were capable of transmitting. In Shoot the Piano Player, when the gangster says to the cop, “I’m telling you the truth! If I’m lying may my mother fall dead” and it cuts to an old lady and she falls dead - this was an enormous moment for me as a moviegoer and it opened up doors to me.
     In my script, I knew that the hotel should be called the Hotel Langlois because Henri Langlois was the founder of French Cinematheque. I knew as a film buff that François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard first fell in love with American movies and then went out and made their films. So, that was a sneaky little homage.
     I knew I wanted a Charles Aznavour song. I was really thrilled that seeing him actually materialize in the room in the film seemed to be entertaining. In order to get permission to use the song, I had to request in person, permission in his office and there he was! So, I couldn’t resist asking him to sing the song and he was amused and he came and did it. I feel really strongly that you don’t have to know who this guy is to know there is something magical about him.

What elements did you feel needed to be preserved from the original film?
The spirit of fun. The basic premise for Charade, as I understand and understood it, was that it was a movie that does invite the audience into a deal whereby we are going to shift mood on you, we are going to play with you. When Audrey Hepburn is introduced in Charade, within moments a gun comes into frame and intense suspense music comes up and then a stream of water comes out and it’s revealed to be a little kid with a water gun. Charade announces we are going to play with you. Yes, it’s a thriller but one with a very active sense of humor.
     In our movie, we meet Reggie begging for her life and she falls out of frame into water and it turns out she is playing with a little boy in the pool. So, I wanted to make that same announcement but in a different way.
     I’ve never done a mystery before and I love them. One of the other things a remake offered me to do was to pull the backstory, the sources of the mystery, much more into the present than the first picture had chosen to do. I liked being able to play more of a puzzle game.

What did you see in Mark Wahlberg and Thandie that made you want to cast them in roles originated by Grant and Hepburn?
Nothing. (Laughs) The teaming of Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant is champagne. It’s just the finest champagne and that’s a particular delicious taste and the original film offered that. I didn’t want to try and match that unique champagne. I wanted to go for a younger, more oaky Chardonnay. I didn’t want to copycat the original.
     In the original, Audrey falls for Grant like a ton of bricks and it’s delightful to see her try to get him into bed. It’s great but why do that again? The basic story of Charade gave us the opportunity to take a different look at the same story, which could be fun in its own way. Now, here is Mark, a guy who gets to meet Thandie Newton and he wants something from her very badly but he falls madly in love with her. Yet he must continue to deceive her to attain his goal but also let her know that he loves her. I also liked the idea of taking Mark Wahlberg and dropping him down in a foreign country and sticking a beret on him and making him speak French. (Laughs)

Did you consult with Stanley Donen at all?
I did. The night I saw Charade and decided that it was fertile terrain. I called him the next day and reached him in his office and essentially said I would love to do a remake and how would you feel about that? And he said exactly “You’ve got my blessing.”

Would you have done it without his blessing?
No. Absolutely not, no way.

What was improvised in the film?
The camera was improvising all the time. We were lucky enough to find a very brilliant, young French camera operator, Pierre Morel. We looked at certain movies like Run Lola, Run, and Godard’s A Woman is a Woman, then Dancer in the Dark; movies where the camerawork was very liberated.
     And the actors were always free to toss some lines in or drop something. Ted Levine (Emil Zarapec) is a very big improviser.

The soundtrack is very eclectic, as they usually are for your films. How do you go about selecting pieces for the film?
Endless experimentation. Paris is maybe the definitive musical crossroads of the world. It’s got all the ancient classical European music there and all the popular American music and even the alternative American music. There is also an enormous amount of the Francofone music from the former French colonies and a lot of Middle Eastern music. It’s just all there and you hear it all the time. This opened the door for a music lover like me to really populate the soundtrack. I was very taken with the Middle Eastern music. It’s very fresh with a lot of drama to it.

You dedicated the film to the late Ted Demme?
The film is dedicated to Ted Demme [Demme’s late nephew] and Marshall Lewis, who was a great pal of mine. He used to be the manager of the Bleecker Street Cinema, which was a fantastic movie theater in New York City. He eventually became an advisor and member of my family.

What would Ted have said about this film if he saw it?
Ted did see it. He didn’t see the finished picture but the last time I saw Teddy was last December and he came up to my house and did what I had great pleasure of doing over the past previous years – looking at one of our movies together and talking about it. He liked it a lot.

Are you more inclined to return to heavy drama now or do you want to look for more comedic projects?
I finish a movie and all I know is that I hope I will again encounter another piece of material that will become a movie. The fact is that Jodie [Foster] and I wound up having our expectations of doing a thriller together again dashed when we didn’t do Hannibal. I have a very active itch that needs to be scratched to get out there with this courageous, brilliant woman in a role where she can be up against some very serious adversaries. I’m hoping there is a chance for us to find something. But I enjoyed the light stuff this time very much and I would be happy to find a hilarious side-splitting comedy. I’d love to do a Meet the Parents or Something About Mary.

What’s next?
I’m not sure. I’ll be relieved when The Truth About Charlie opens. It’s been two and a half years of work. But in November, I have a producer’s credit on Spike Jonze’s new film, Adaptation starring Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper.