On Sunday, one of our contributors, Denise, attended a free screening of Spike Lee’s 25th Hour to commemorate 9/11 in NYC. Spike Lee, Edward Norton and Phillip Seymour Hoffman were all in attendance to discuss the movie, about a convicted New York drug dealer who reevaluates his life in the 24 remaining hours before facing a seven-year jail term.
Denise told us that during the discussion Spike, Philip, and Ed talked about how they were all in LA on 9.11.01 and were desperately trying to get back to NYC. Spike said he caught that last Amtrak train back and even though there were no seats left, some porters made room for him where they sit.
About the movie, PSH commented about how the entire film is a love letter to NYC. And Edward talked about how seeing Do The Right Thing really “f*#&ed me up” and made him desperately want to work with Spike. He wrote him a letter and they were trying to find the right project for a while.
The book 25th Hour based on was written prior to 9.11, but it was filmed after, so Spike and Edward really wanted to incorporate it into the movie. Spike said was adamant on having one of the character’s apartments be right above Ground Zero.
They also discussed a controversial scene in the movie they called the “F*ck You” scene where Edward goes off in a mirror and makes all sorts of racist rants about the various people living in NYC. Edward said he knew he could say those things because it was part of an arch in his character’s development and at the end, all those complaints he had ended up being the things he loved the most of the city.
I love Edward Norton he’s perfect, I am very sad to know that he is not in “THE AVENGERS “.