As Featured in Coast Magazine

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

As Featured in Coast Magazine BIG SKY BY STEVE BRAMUCCI COUNTRY The author rides on horseback through the Blackfoot Valley s an avid fl y fi sherman, the chance up but the quality of food implied by the phrase to visit Montana’s Blackfoot River “Master Chefs” ran a close second. This annual conjured one clear image in my four-day event, held at the beginning of October, THE ANNUAL head: a thousand crystalline has gained increasing notoriety over the past seven Adroplets of water scattering as a trout fi ghts the years. There’s plenty of reason for the buzz – The MONTANA MASTER invisible line pulling it steadily toward shore. That Resort at Paws Up has done a great job attracting image comes courtesy of the book (and later, top-tier chefs from across the country to come CHEFS EVENT AT fi lm) A River Runs Through It, which is set on the and share their skills. These chefs are each paired Blackfoot and has long been a part of the fl y fi sh- with a vineyard and together they present a meal, THE RESORT AT erman’s starter kit. Over the past 10 years, I have course by succulent course. When I booked my gone fl y fi shing at least 100 times and never once ticket I still didn’t have any details beyond “fi shing PAWS UP BRINGS have I gone without pausing to consider Norman and food” – but those alone were enough to send Maclean, the book’s author, and his brother, Paul, my anticipation skyrocketing. TOGETHER wading over rocks worn smooth by the current, After an easy fl ight and a 40-minute ride from casting in a four-count rhythm and hoping for a fi sh the Missoula Airport to the resort, I was delivered FINE FOOD AND to rise. to one of Paws Up’s stand-alone “wilderness In the spirit of Paul Maclean, a character who estates.” Put simply: It was wonderful. The cabin PASTORAL LIVING. Norman paints as endlessly unpredictable, my was well appointed and incredibly spacious, fi rst trip to Montana came together on a whim. I’d with no detail left unattended. It was a seamless rushed to cancel other plans and shuffl e fl ights the blend of fi ve-star luxury and pastoral living; at its second the offer to join the Montana Master Chefs heart it was still just a cabin in the woods, which at Paws Up had come along. The opportunity to is precisely what I loved about it. More than just fi sh on the Blackfoot was the main reason I signed a break from the pace of Southern California, 114 COAST :: AUGUST 2011 FOLLOW YOUR PASSION my porch and fi reside were a break from reality shooting a few times before. I, on the other altogether. With the light starting to fall, I noticed hand, had never shot anything more powerful that it was time for dinner. I went to my bedroom than a BB gun at the state fair. Shooting sporting for a shower, which, at the sight of the massive clays helps answer the question that every man ■ 2011 MONTANA MASTER tub, was instantly upgraded to a bath. There are secretly asks himself, “Is it possible that I’m CHEFS :: This year’s event places you can go which give you no choice but actually a dead-eye?” It turns out that I am not takes place from September 29 to slow down, relax and breathe. Paws Up is one actually a dead-eye, but I still had a fantastic to October 2 of them. time. We kept up the shooting for about two :: 800.473.0601 As the fi rst round of wine was poured at hours, enough that by the end of the session, I :: pawsup.com dinner, the opening night chef, Paws Up’s own looked like I sort of knew what I was doing. :: montanamasterchefs.com Wes Coffel, came out to introduce his fi rst dish, The major success of the afternoon was that while the vintner from Frog’s Leap Winery spoke this excursion was enough to get me hungry for about the wine and why it fi t “just so” with the dinner. I would need it. That night, two past winners food. Even in these luxurious trappings, nothing from the Bravo TV series “Top Chef,” Stephanie was the least bit pretentious – especially the Izard and Hosea Rosenberg, took turns making people. This can be evidenced by the fact that I dishes for the guests. Their meal lasted through 11 food. Finally, a fi sh rose to the surface to take my didn’t feel judged at all for not having a clue what courses, all but two of which were paired with wine fl y. I was overjoyed. I set the hook and began to “squab” was when it was served. (It’s a young from Stag’s Leap winery. After the marathon meal, reel my adversary in. roast pigeon and also very delicious, in case one of the best I’ve ever enjoyed, it was back to the I wish I could report that it was a tremendous you’re similarly unenlightened.) Conversations bar, where Stag’s Leap continued to pour reds and battle of epic proportions. But it wasn’t. From the at the table were lively – as meals tend to be whites. It was an extremely late night that would be second he clamped down on the fl y, my fi sh was when you put people who love food, wine and followed by an extremely early morning. Call time resigned to his fate. More than that, he seemed the outdoors in a situation that highlights their for fl y fi shing was 6 a.m. overjoyed about the idea of getting to the frying passions so strongly. After dinner I wandered My favorite line from A River Runs Through pan – just for the chance to warm up. back to the bar where the assorted members of It has always been when Paul Maclean declares, Weeks later it dawned on me that exploring a bluegrass band were already plucking at their “In Montana, there are three things we’re never passions (and maybe fi nding a few new ones) is guitars. Everyone danced, raved about dinner late for: church, work and fi shing.” I like that motto really what the Montana Master Chefs event is and drank more wine. “These,” I decided, “are and wouldn’t have been late for my fi rst Montana all about. Over the span of four days, I’d gotten my kind of folks.” fi shing trip for anything in the world. My prompt- the chance to savor unbelievable food, relax by Like summer camp for adults, Montana ness came as at least a slight surprise to the Paws the fi re with a good book, taste wine well outside Master Chefs is laid out in blocks of activities. Up guide. Over the course of the weekend, he had my pay grade, and learn how to properly prepare My fi rst foray out onto the ranch’s endless acre- seen more cancellations than eager fi shermen, a lobster mushroom. I had even caught a fi sh in age was on horseback. The horses never went likely due to the fact that the temperatures had the Blackfoot River – a highlight that hung above faster than a trot, but the pace was fi ne with me. recently plummeted. By the time I hit the river, all the rest. It was dedication to his passions that The silence – broken only by the unhurried clop- it had bottomed out to around six degrees. Still, kept Norman Maclean fi shing on the Blackfoot ping of hooves – carved out time for refl ection there was plenty of beauty to be appreciated River deep into his old age. I may never be the amongst the endless expanses. On Saturday amidst all the shivering. The water was clear and fi sherman he was, but I value my own passions afternoon, I went to shoot sporting clays with a the ponderosa pines loomed mightily above the just as strongly. Which is why I fi nd myself wistfully couple visiting from Mexico City. As we collected banks. Once in a while a trout would dart out into dreaming of returning to the Montana Master Chefs our shotguns, they told me that they’d been the current, deftly angling its body, hunting for very soon. AUGUST 2011 :: COAST 11 5.
Recommended publications
  • I'm Here Today As the Extraterrestrial Being of This Conference—As The
    \)l AJLQJLI^ . I’m here today as the extraterrestrial being of this conference—as the shaggy example of what iate a Dupuyer life-form transmogrifies into when it*s transplanted away from the character-building" of the world off Montana. As I savvy it, I*ve come wuffling down out of the dark echoing canyons of space beyond Montana to try and deal with the great cosmic question—is there literary life west of Missoula? Because it is ordained somewhere that a speech is supposed to have a title, I told Margaret Kingsland I’d be talking today about "Browning, Conrad and Other World Centers." i What I have in mind when I say "world centers" are not the cosmopolitan capitals of the planet—although any of you who know something of my past, or who have spent time up in the Two Medicine country, will have some idea of how vseemed^ uptown Browning and ^onracTjiw^to a kid on a Dupuyer sheep ranch. No, the type of "world centers" I have in mind are those centralities from which each of us looks out at life—the influences that are at the core of what we end up doing in life. My belief is that part of the gauging of where we are—where we stand now, each one^of us a personal pivot point that some larger world of existence does its orbiting around—part of that gauging of ourselves means taking a look at where we came from. In "Dancing at the Rascal Fair" my narrator's closest friend spoofs him about his interest in the "Biaetefecfr 'and --Gewi s- an&.JlLgrig~-ay»4~ v for himself and me,^ ’’Angus, you're a great one for yesterdays.” And Angus says back to him,J^ "They ’ve brought us to where we are.” _think Ij __ 9k in that same vein,"~I^ougHt to begin here by looking at 9mm exanples of Browning and Conrad as ’’world centers” to me, in the way, say, that a biographer would rummage into my early years in Montana, in search of the influences that eventually brought forth my books.
    [Show full text]
  • Norman Maclean (1902 - 1990)
    Introducing 2012 Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame Inductee… Norman Maclean (1902 - 1990) Norman Fitzroy Maclean was an American author and scholar noted for his books A River Runs Through It and Other Stories (1976) and Young Men and Fire (1992). Born in Clarinda, Iowa, on December 23, 1902, Maclean was the son of Clara Evelyn (née Davidson; 1873-1952) and the Reverend John Norman Maclean (1862-1941), a Presbyterian minister, who managed much of the education of the young Norman and his brother Paul Davidson (1906-1938) until 1913. His parents had migrated from Nova Scotia, Canada. After Clarinda, the family relocated to Missoula, Montana in 1909. The following years were a considerable influence on and inspiration to his writings, appearing prominently in the short story The Woods, Books, and Truant Officers (1977), and semi-autobiographical novella A River Runs Through It (1976). Too young to enlist in the military during World War I, Maclean worked in logging camps and for the United States Forest Service in what is now the Bitterroot National Forest of northwestern Montana. The novella USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky and the story "Black Ghost" in Young Men and Fire (1992) are semi- fictionalized accounts of these experiences. Maclean attended Dartmouth College, where he served as editor-in-chief of the humor magazine the Dartmouth Jack-O- Lantern; the editor-in-chief to follow him was Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1924, and chose to remain in Hanover, New Hampshire, and serve as an instructor until 1926—a time he recalled in "This Quarter I Am Taking McKeon: A Few Remarks on the Art of Teaching." He began graduate studies in English at the University of Chicago in 1928.
    [Show full text]
  • Inside This Issue: an Interview with John Maclean
    The National Smokejumper Quarterly Magazine SmokejumperAssociation October 2001 Inside This Issue: An Interview with John Maclean .................................................................11 The Uranium Jump .....................................................................................26 Remembering a Fallen Friend ......................................................................43 Check the NSA Web site 1 www.smokejumpers.com CONTENTS Observations from the Ad Shack .................. 2 Observations Election Results ........................................... 2 My Brush with History/CPS 103 Jumpers ..... 3 NSA Members—Save This Information ........ 3 from the Ad Shack My Highest Jump and the Hospitality of the Silver Tip Ranch ........................ 5 Sounding Off from the Editor ....................... 8 Smokejumper magazine. A Commitment to Art Jukkala ...................... 9 At our June board meeting, “Army Brat” Commands Active Legion Post .................................................. 10 Fred Rohrbach and others An Interview with John Maclean, author suggested that the NSA should of Fire on the Mountain .................. 11 Down Side ................................................. 13 not wait five years to host The Night Pierce Burned ............................ 17 another reunion. None of us are Idaho City Jumps the Fires of Hell ............. 18 Is There Life After Smokejumping? ............ 19 getting any younger and, besides, Lois Stover ... Memories ............................ 20 we all seem to
    [Show full text]
  • The Film Adaptation of a River Runs Through It
    I SILENCE, PRIDE AND GRACE: THE FILM ADAPTATION OF A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT by JILL L. TALBOT, B.S.Ed. A THESIS IN ENGLISH Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved May, 1995 m •X fQo .' IJ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the members of my thesis committee. Dr. Michael Schoenecke and Dr. Wendell Aycock, for their time and expertise in helping to prepare this paper. I would like to give special thanks to Dr. Schoenecke, who introduced me to the study of film adaptation, for his continuing advice, encouragement, and friendship. Finally, thanks to David Edwards, for his constant and faithful support of my academic pursuits. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. A RIVER REMEMBERED 4 The Novella 4 Fly Fishing 8 Themes of the Novella 10 Silence 12 Pride 15 Grace 18 Love Does Not Depend on Understanding 19 A Prose of Praise 22 III. REDFORD'S ATTACHMENT AND ADAPTATION 27 Cinematic Adaptation 27 Themes of the Movie 39 The Character of Paul 45 Separation, Tradition, and Relationships ... 50 IV. CONCLUSION 55 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 58 111 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower; We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind; --Wordsworth from Prelude In the opening lines of A River Runs Through It. Norman Maclean introduces the two most influential elements of his past: fly fishing and religion.
    [Show full text]
  • Hot Water, Dry Streams: a Tale of Two Trout
    Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All In-stream Flows Material In-stream Flows 2010 Hot Water, Dry Streams: A Tale of Two Trout Jack R. Tuholske Vermont Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/instream_all Part of the Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Tuholske, Jack R., "Hot Water, Dry Streams: A Tale of Two Trout" (2010). All In-stream Flows Material. Paper 8. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/instream_all/8 This Publication is brought to you for free and open access by the In-stream Flows at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All In-stream Flows Material by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HOT WATER, DRY STREAMS: A TALE OF TWO TROUT Jack R. Tuholske ∗† INTRODUCTION Norman Maclean’s timeless memoir A River Runs Through It begins with the reflection that in his household “there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.” 1 That zeal remains today; nearly 30 million Americans call themselves fishermen. 2 Anglers devoted an aggregate of 517 million user-days pursuing their passion in 2006 and spent billions of dollars to support it. 3 Fishing in the western United States holds a special place in fishing lore the world over and for good reason. From the great trout waters of Montana, to the salmon-laden rivers of the west coast, to the sparkling wilderness of the Colorado Rockies, fishing in the American West is special. Many native trout and salmon in the West are also on the verge of collapse.
    [Show full text]
  • Vol. 35, No. 3, Summer, 2009
    ! The American Fly Fisher Journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing SUMMER 2009 VOLUME 35 NUMBER 3 Traveling OR MANY, SUMMER is a season for And in Notes from the Library (page 24), traveling, and this issue takes you to Jerry Karaska reviews Ken Callahan and FArgentina and New Mexico—places Paul Morgan’s important updated resource, THE AMERICAN MUSEUM to which German brown trout traveled Hampton’s Angling Biography: Fishing Books OF FLY FISHING before you. 1881–1949 (The Three Beards Press, 2008). Preserving the Heritage Our two feature articles are both, in Both the museum and the fly-fishing part, about the success of nonnative fish world have lost some greats of late. Mel of Fly Fishing introduced to new waters. In “A Hundred Krieger, famed casting instructor and 2003 Years of Solitude: The Genesis of Trout recipient of this museum’s Heritage Award, FRIENDS OF THE MUSEUM Fishing in Argentina,”Adrian Latimer takes passed away in October; see page 20 for Robert Brucker (’08) us to Patagonia, offering first a bit of geo- Marshall Cutchin’s note. In January, we lost Austin Buck (’08) logical history, then some history about the Marty Keane, noted author, historian, and Larry Cohen (’08) importing of fish during the early part of purveyor of classic tackle. He was a major Domenic DiPiero (’08) the twentieth century. He notes that supporter of the museum, providing iden- John Dreyer (’08) although the lakes and rivers seemed per- tification, authentication, and appraisals for Fredrik Eaton (’08) fect for trout, there weren’t any, and “Thus us (see our notice on page 21).
    [Show full text]
  • The Grace of Art in a River Runs Through It
    There, in the Shadows: The Grace of Art in A River Runs Through It “Any man - any artist, as Nietzsche or Cezanne would say - climbs the stairway in the tower of his perfection at the cost of a struggle with a duende - not with an angel, as some have maintained, or with his muse. This fundamental distinction must be kept in mind if the root of a work of art is to be grasped.” Frederico Garcia Lorca Don Michael Hudson King College One more summer is closing quickly, and one more summer I have not made my annual pilgrimage to Montana. I live in the south again, happily this time, and it is well-nigh September, and even though the days are hot and muggy these very same days betray certain changes to come. The air is a bit drier, almost crisp; the bitter black walnuts are thumping the ground like some mad god thumping the earth; the days are growing shorter and darker; and yet, the leaves on some of the trees are stirring belly side up sending out silvery flickerings even as twilight sets in. Maybe that is why Montana is on my mind or, rather, why Norman Maclean is. I come back to him every August whether I make it to Montana or not. Since the summer of 1995 off and on I have been fishing a section of the Blackfoot River that I will not divulge, but suffice it to say that I am one of the luckiest men on the face of this earth if for no other reason than I discovered Maclean early on, and in so doing, I found a river and a way to bring grace and art to my life.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing
    The American Fly Fisher Journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing WINTER 2006 VOLUME 32 NUMBER 1 A Storied Sport The Salmon, painted by T. C. Hofland, in T. C. Hofland, Esq., The British Angler’s Manual (London: H. B. Bond, 1848, 24). HE STORY OF FLY FISHING is the story of beautiful places, a Fly Fisherman: The Marvels of Wood,” Masseini profiles the story of the nice neighborhoods that trout and woodworker Giorgio Dallari, builder of pipes and wooden Tsalmon call home. It’s a materialistic story, both in the reels. Dallari’s pipes have a tiny salmon icon set in gold to con- sense of the physical tools we use to accomplish the task and nect pipe smoker with fly fisher. The idea to build wooden the types of access and accommodation money can buy. It’s a reels came to Dallari after he gave up other forms of fishing for spiritual story, as men and women search out the river, its chal- fly fishing. He has been building his reels since the mid-1980s. lenges, its rewards, and its peace. It’s the story of struggle With sumptuous photos, Masseini shares the work of Giorgio toward some things and struggle against others. It’s the story Dallari with us. This story begins on page 17. of a sport, with both its obvious outward goals and its more From the material beauty of wooden reels to the more inward, metaphoric ones. abstract beauty of the spiritual reach, we present “The Last This issue of the American Fly Fisher touches a bit on all of Religious House: A River Ran Through It” (page 14).
    [Show full text]
  • American Fly Fisher Journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing
    The American Fly Fisher Journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing SUMMER 2008 VOLUME 34 NUMBER 3 In the Spirit of Rivers F THERE IS ANY time of year when we northern-hemisphere anglers might be found standing midriver, meditatively Icasting, and—as a direct result of this—allowing a feeling that could possibly be labeled spiritual or religious to seep in ever so slightly, it is right now. Summer. It was last summer that I met Sam Snyder, a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Florida’s graduate program on religion and nature. He and I were beginning to work on the article featured in this issue, and he was visiting the museum to do some research. Not only did his visit happily coincide with one from writer/historian Paul Schullery, whom Snyder cites prominent- ly, but also with a surprise visit from writer/Fly Fisherman edi- tor John Randolph, whose work Snyder discusses as well. Museum staff shared a sunny lunch at the picnic table with these three fly-fishing authors. It was a good day. In the aforementioned article, “Casting for Conservation: Religious Values and Environmental Ethics in Fly-Fishing Cul - ture,” Snyder asks, “Is fly fishing a religion? And what is accom- plished by considering it so?” He argues that fly-fishing faith can translate directly into works: conservation, restoration, and preservation. For more on the subject, turn to page 8. Turning from the philosophical to the literary, we’re pleased to bring you a rather unusual piece from our dear friend Gordon M.
    [Show full text]
  • Water and People: Challenges at the Interface of Symbolic and Utilitarian Values
    United States Department of Water and People: Challenges Agriculture Forest Service at the Interface of Symbolic Pacific Northwest and Utilitarian Values Research Station General Technical Report PNW-GTR-729 January 2008 The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the principle of multiple use management of the Nation’s forest resources for sus- tained yields of wood, water, forage, wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry research, cooperation with the States and private forest owners, and manage- ment of the national forests and national grasslands, it strives—as directed by Congress—to provide increasingly greater service to a growing Nation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795- 3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Editors Stephen F. McCool was a professor (now retired) of Wildland Recreation Manage- ment, College of Forestry, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812.
    [Show full text]
  • Bettendorf Public Library Contemporary Books Discussion Group Book Index
    BETTENDORF PUBLIC LIBRARY CONTEMPORARY BOOKS DISCUSSION GROUP BOOK INDEX Records for 1965-66, 1967-68, 1976-77, 1980-81, 1981-82 are missing. Ackerman, Diane. The Natural History of the Senses— 1992-93 Adams, Richard. Watership Down— 1974-75 Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Purple Hibiscus— 2013-2014 (three-way tie Favorite Book) Agee, James. A Death in the Family— 1961-62 Let Us Now Praise Famous Men— 1966-67 Ahmed, Leila. The Quiet Revolution: The Veil’s Resurgence from the Middle East to America— 2013-2014 Akhmatova, Anna. Poems— 1984-85 Albee, Edward. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?— 1963-64 Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian— 2014-2015 “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”—summer 2017 Alford, Terry. Prince Among Slaves— 2013-2014 Allen, Woody. Complete Prose— 1992-93, 1993-94 Allende, Isabel. Paula— 2008-09 Allman, John. Scenarios for a Mixed Landscape— 1987-88 Alvarez, A. The Savage God: A Study of Suicide— 1978-79 Amado, Jorge. Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon— 2011-2012 Ambrose, Stephen. Undaunted Courage— 2001-2002 Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad — 2003-2004 (Best Discussion) Amado, Jorge. Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon— 1964-65 Ardrey, Robert. African Genesis— 1968-69 Armstrong, Karen. Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life— 2012-13 Arvigo, Rosita. Sastun— 1996-97 Asimov, Isaac. “Nightfall” short story 2019 Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale— 1987-88 Two-Headed Poems— 1983-84 Baird, Julia. Victoria: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman who Ruled an Empire — 2018-19 Baldwin, James.
    [Show full text]
  • A River Runs Through It Celebrates Its 20Th Anniversary
    + + TOLEDO MAGAZINE toledoBlade.com THE BLADE, TOLEDO, OHIO SUNDAY, A UGUST 26, 2012 S E C TION B, PAG E 6 THE OUTDOORS PAGE Still flying high A River Runs Through It celebrates its 20th anniversary Norman Maclean’s book ‘A River Runs Through It’ and Rob- ert Redford’s 1992 film about the story. By MATT MARKEY and JEFF BASTING LIVINGSTON, Mont. — We my attention was directed at never set out to make a trout the logistical side of the pro- fishing movie. Director Rob- duction — transportation — ert Redford made that clear and assisting in the process from the start. of moving a lengthy caravan But a couple of decades of people and equipment to ago, I was part of the cast and remote locations on the Boul- crew of about 90 that Redford der, Gallatin, and Yellowstone took to this rugged area just Rivers, in a timely and effi- north of Yellowstone National cient manner. Park, and spent three months Before Redford, Pitt, and here intent on making a film Tom Skerritt, who played the about a family in conflict. role of the minister, showed up He did that with A River on the set each morning, a vir- Runs Through It, a true story tual city was already in place. centered on a Montana Pres- Generators, large trucks hold- byterian minister and his two ing all of the cameras, lighting, sons — one a troubled free props, and catering equip- spirit, the other a stoic tradi- ment, trailers that housed tionalist. the actors’ dressing rooms, The only solid link con- and the on-set bathrooms, necting the trio is their pas- all had to be positioned close sion for fly fishing, and with enough to the shooting site to this Promised Land for the be convenient, but far enough American trout fisherman as away that they were out of the the backdrop, the movie won background and did not pose an Oscar for its gorgeous cin- a sound problem.
    [Show full text]