Ira Sachs

Ira Sachs on Forty Shades of Blue

[Booth:] An idea that Ira tossed around a lot to me when I was working on this character was control...to find those places where you could be possessively loving of someone and do it because you care about them but also...to protect yourself.

It’s a pretty classic kind of set-up for the love story genre because it’s two people who are in love who have to face an obstacle together. And what we reveal in the story is the depth of their love, through how they do that.

I'm interested in a democratic narrative...Anyone who is on the screen is interesting. Right? Everyone has their own story.

[Taplitz:] Life may not always be fair, or good, but there's certainly moments of it that can be quite amazing...What [Jake] learns from Tony is to be sure of himself, to be there and to be proud of your decisions.

Has the plaintive, lyrical feel of a classic Southern short-story.

The film may seem to be doing very little, but it evinces great sensitivity...as it explores a universal theme of dealing with life's unexpected derailments and trying to get back on track.