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William Faulkner

'Faulkner v. Woody Allen' leads to surprise ending

Jerry Mitchell
The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger
Few writers loom as large on the American literary landscape as William Faulkner — and few towns inform an author's canon as profoundly as this Nobel laureate's did.

JACKSON, Miss. — Shooting has begun in Mississippi on a new documentary about legendary author William Faulkner — the first ever authorized by his estate.

It’s a documentary that might not have happened if Faulkner’s estate hadn’t decided to sue, alleging filmmaker Woody Allen had infringed on the author’s copyright.

In his 2011 movie Midnight in Paris, a writer played by Owen Wilson winds up being transported back to 1920s Paris, where he visits with F. Scott Fitzgerald and other literary greats.

When Wilson returns, he remarks to his fiancée, “The past is not dead! Actually, it’s not even past. You know who said that? Faulkner. And he was right. And I met him, too. I ran into him at a dinner party.”

Faulkner’s line appeared in his 1951 novel Requiem for a Nun. (“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”)

Author William Faulkner with his dogs. Movie poster for Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris."

A year after Midnight in Paris went on to gross more $150 million at the box office — more than any previous Allen film — Faulkner’s estate sued Sony Pictures Classics, alleging the movie had violated copyright laws by using a quote from the author.

“Congress created a copyright as a hard stop” against appropriating such material, Lee Caplin, executor of the Faulkner Literary Estate, told The Clarion-Ledger. “Somehow in the electronic age, people assume they are free.”

The lawsuit alleged Allen’s use of the quote and Faulkner’s name was “likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake, and/or to deceive the infringing film’s viewers as to a perceived affiliation, connection or association between William Faulkner and his works, on the one hand, and Sony, on the other hand.”

The litigation sought unspecified damages, a share of the profits and attorney fees.

Sony called the lawsuit “frivolous,” saying use of the Faulkner quote constituted fair use.

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To defend the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Mississippi, Sony hired two law firms, Loeb & Loeb of New York City and Butler Snow of Ridgeland.

The firms argued the lawsuit should be dismissed, and U.S. District Judge Michael Mills considered their request.

“The court has viewed ‘Midnight in Paris,’ read the book ‘Requiem for a Nun,’ and is thankful the parties did not ask the court to compare ‘The Sound and the Fury’ with ‘Sharknado,’ ” he wrote.

The judge marveled that the lawsuit was filed in the first place.

“How Hollywood’s flattering and artful use of literary allusion is a point of litigation, not celebration, is beyond this court’s comprehension,” he wrote. “The court, in its appreciation for both William Faulkner as well as the homage paid him in Woody Allen’s film, is more likely to suppose that the film indeed helped the plaintiff and the market value of ‘Requiem’ if it had any effect at all.”

In the end, the judge sided with Sony: “At case is whether the single line from a full-length novel singly paraphrased and attributed to the original author in a full-length Hollywood film can be considered a copyright infringement. In this case, it cannot.”

Caplin said the estate decided against appealing.

He praised Butler Snow as a good law firm. “Now they’re representing some of my projects,” he said. “I’m glad to have Butler Smith behind me as opposed to coming at me from the wrong direction.”

Anita Modak-Truran of the Butler Snow law firm, who represented Sony, ran into Caplin again.

He said they started off as opponents, “but Anita has a habit of turning adversaries into friends.”

She said she invited Caplin and the attorney for Faulkner’s estate to speak to the Mid-South Intellectual Property Association.

Caplin, a longtime Hollywood producer in charge of developing the Faulkner brand, said the estate had been wanting to make a documentary but had been busy with feature films adapted from Faulkner’s works, a number of them by actor-director James Franco.

“The stars kind of aligned,” Caplin said. “We were very fortunate to find out that Anita Modak-Truran at Butler Snow not only had a love for Faulkner, but was also an award-winning documentary filmmaker.”

She recalled that when Caplin brought up the documentary project, he mentioned that the person over it had been unable to get funding. “I told him, ‘My son can write and direct that,’” she said.

She is serving as an executive producer for the Faulkner documentary, and Caplin’s son is a producer.

Michael Modak-Truran, who has done several short documentaries, including one on improvisational comedy in Chicago, said working with Faulkner’s estate “has been great so far. It’s quite exciting and quite a privilege to direct.”

The documentary will begin with the novelist’s 1950 speech when he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature. “I decline to accept the end of man,” he said. “I believe that man will not merely endure: He will prevail.”

From there, the documentary drifts back in time, like a Faulkner novel, with reenactments capturing portions of the author’s life, Michael said.

Those reenactments serve another purpose as well. There isn’t much footage of one of the world’s most famous writers.

Although Modak-Truran grew up reading Faulkner, he is now learning aspects of the author’s life he never knew.

Faulkner was only 5-foot-5, and after being rejected for military service in World War I, he headed to Canada, the filmmaker said.

Faulkner told others he flew with the Royal Air Force when the reality was he was just in training, the filmmaker said. “According to a couple of sources, he would wear his uniform around Oxford.”

Faulkner failed as a postmaster, showing up late for work, playing bridge and penning poems on the back of government stationery.

In his resignation letter, he wrote, “I will be damned if I propose to be at the beck and call of every itinerant scoundrel who has 2 cents to invest in a postage stamp.”

And when he failed as a poet, he wrote stories instead.

Viewers of the documentary will get glimpses of his scribblings, including his outline of his 1954 novel The Fable, which he scrawled on the walls of his study, Michael said. “The estate has been very generous with giving us access to the materials.”

A documentary on Faulkner has been long overdue, he said. The only other one he knew of was done by Mississippi Public Broadcasting back in the 1970s.

Caplin, who as a boy was Faulkner’s neighbor, never realized the power of the modern media until Oprah Winfrey featured several of Faulkner’s novels for her reading club. “Three of his novels appeared on The New York Times Best Sellers list a half-century after his death,” he said.

He hopes the documentary and upcoming feature films (including a remake of the 1949 film adaptation of Faulkner’s novel Intruder in the Dust) help to show Faulkner is just as relevant today.

On March 23, the author will be inducted with 16 other artists into the inaugural Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience Hall of Fame in Meridian.

Jay Watson, Howry Professor of Faulkner Studies at the University of Mississippi, believes the author remains popular because his writing is timeless, taking an unflinching gaze toward his agonizing subjects.

“This has kept him vivid, interesting and relevant for generations of readers in the half-century and more since his death,” Watson said.

And it’s a good thing the new documentary is authorized by Faulkner’s estate because otherwise it might take issue with the main title: The Past Is Never Dead.

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