INTERVIEW WITH ACTRESS MANUELA THIESS GARCIA

Today I have the immense pleasure of welcoming a very special guest, actress Manuela Thiess Garcia, to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS for an interview. Manuela has acted in several motion pictures over the years including BUCKSKIN, CHANGES [my review of the film can be found here] and TERROR CIRCUS. In this interview Manuela will be discussing her part in CHANGES, acting, theatre, and her passion for photography, poetry, and writing.

Welcome to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS Manuela!

Athan: When did you first realize that you wanted to be an actress?

Manuela: I started studying acting at around age 22.  I had actually had a bit of an aversion to acting before that as I did not want to enter my parents’ profession.  But perhaps because I moved to Laurel Canyon, Hollywood rubbed off on me in spite of myself. 

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Athan: Where did you study acting?

Manuela: I studied method acting with Estelle Harman for several years and Guy Stockwell after that before joining Ralph Waite’s L.A. Actor’s Theatre.

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Athan: What did you find most exciting about the experience of making CHANGES?

Manuela:  Truthfully, I had a mad crush on Kent [Lane], and that certainly made working on the picture titillating.  In addition, it was my first film and that made every moment a new and exhilarating experience.   

A day that was more than a little exiting was when I had to walk into the ocean to drown myself.  I had nearly drowned in the ocean as a teenager and I was terrified of the waves.  That was a helicopter shot and so there was nobody down there on that rocky beach but myself.  Plus it was freezing in Big Sur (I think it was February), and I had to do the scene several times in clothes that were soaking wet.  I was glad when that day was over.

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Athan: Your performance as the loving, sensitive Bobbi in CHANGES, who makes a decision which irrevocably changes her life, was excellent. For you, what was the most demanding, but emotionally satisfying segment of filming CHANGES?

Manuela:  When I had to cry.  I hadn’t cried in my personal life in years.  To conjure those tears took some doing, especially in front of the whole crew, but it felt really good to have been able to do that.

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Athan: Have you kept in contact with any cast members and crew from CHANGES?

Manuela: No, I have not, though I have occasionally tried to google one or two of them to see what they were up to.

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Athan: CHANGES was directed by Hall Bartlett, also notable for films such as ALL THE YOUNG MEN, THE SANDPIT GENERALS, and JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL. What was it like being directed by Mr Bartlett in CHANGES?

Manuela:  At the time, I was young, self-obsessed and foolish and had no idea what a truly extraordinary man I was working for. Hall struck me as an all round decent human being and he was kind to me, as he was to everyone, but I had little appreciation for the talent he had and what a true artist he was and continued to be.  Nor had I been aware that he had graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard, which I only found out when I read about him in the Wikipedia.

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Athan: You have worked on the stage in various productions years ago, also writing several plays. What for you most stood out when comparing the theatre, and film?

Manuela:  My mother started out to be a stage actress, and she had had a love for that, which I think prompted me to want to try it.  It’s really impossible to compare the two mediums.  Stage acting requires perhaps more agility, for if you forget a line, or someone else does, you have to be quick on your toes and work around that.  But there is also a lot of repetition of the same script over and over, even given the small variations night to night.  In film acting, you have to let your emotions show in a way that stage does not demand, and although you sometimes have to do retakes, the action moves much faster. And for closeups, there is no cheating allowed.

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Athan: You have been a photographer for many years, your photos capturing both the beauty, and different facets of cities such as Barcelona, Spain, Cologne, Germany, and Paris, France, to name a few examples. What is it that you find most exciting about photography?

Manuela:  I wrote a poem about that, I think I posted it on my website.  In photography, you can capture a split second in time.  I often feel like a thief, though I rarely know what I actually stole until I get home and have a chance to review what I shot on the computer as I shoot digitally.  That keeps it adventurous and exciting for me.  

I find by studying the faces of strangers (for I shoot random people on the streets more often than not), I get more understanding and compassion for our misbegotten species with all its flaws and imperfections.  

As for scenery, the sky and the circumstances constantly change, so like with expressions, capturing of a moment in time that will never repeat.

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Athan: Your website features poetry and writing pieces by you, dealing with a number of themes, especially your thoughts on life. How does poetry, and writing make you feel?

Manuela:  Writing, whether in journals, small essays, one act plays or poetry, has been a great emotional salve for life wounds I would otherwise not have had a chance to allow to heal.  I highly recommend it as a therapeutic tool for anyone working through emotional distress.  It has a way of putting confusion into a more rational perspective.  Also, by sharing those experiences with others, there is a kind of cleansing, and a way of ingraining into my subconscious what I have learned and continue to learn each day, for the journey doesn't stop until we stop breathing, once and for all. What happens after that remains a tantalizing mystery, does it not?

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Athan: You have also taught in the California Department of Corrections, and as a Suicide Prevention Counselor. What it is that you found most enriching with these challenging, but rewarding positions?

Manuela:  At the Suicide Prevention Center I only worked as a volunteer counselor for around 8 months, and I had to quit when I started to get too many nightmares, specifically about callers which worried me when they hung up, which they did once in a while. But it helped me get insight into my own suicidal impulses as well as later when I worked in the CDC to be able to recognize those potential impulses in my students.

I worked for the California Department of Corrections for 15 years, and I loved that job.  I have never been good with bureaucracies and I riled against the administrative aspect of of the job, but I was fond of my students (for the most part) and of my fellow teachers. It was kind of like being stranded on an island together once those bars clinked shut.  

I learned a great deal about crime and punishment and the counter productivity of the American penal system.  The experience has given me an appreciation for the Restorative Justice model of corrections.  The U.S. had more people incarcerated per capita than any place in the world.  Think of that.  The land of the free and the home of the brave?

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Athan: Do you have any upcoming projects of which you would like to tell readers?

Manuela:  I have another local exhibit coming up and my husband and I just opened a gallery here in Guanajuato featuring my photography but other local artists as well. In addition, I am working to finally gather all my poems and put them in a book. I will keep my website updated.  If you are ever in Guanajuato, come and share a coffee with us at our gallery.  And thank you, Athan for taking an interest in my work and asking me to participate in this interview.

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Thank you so much for your time today Manuela, and for the insight you have provided into the art of acting, CHANGES, cinema, theatre, photography, poetry and writing. It has been wonderful having you on CINEMATIC REVELATIONS. You are welcome to return whenever you wish.

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Manuela Thiess Garcia links

+Manuela Thiess Garcia IMDb Actress Page

+CHANGES movie IMDb page

+Manuela Thiess Garcia Official Website

+Manuela Thiess Garcia Instagram page

+Manuela Thiess Garcia Facebook page

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Manuela Thiess Garcia clip from Death Valley Days

CHANGES (1969)

Title: CHANGES

Year of Release: 1969

Director: Hall Bartlett

Genre: Drama, Romance, Counterculture

Synopsis: A young man seeks to find himself, taking to the road, and having a number of experiences, and relationships, along the way.

Within a film history context: During the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were numerous films which were concerned with anti-establishment counterculture characters and scenarios. One of the first was Roger Corman's THE TRIP (1967). After suffering a traumatic divorce from his wife, a television director falls into drugs, and has many way out experiences. Notable for its cast, including Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Bruce Dern, it was an interesting foray into counterculture themes. THE NUDE RESTAURANT (1967), directed by Andy Warhol, was a confrontational story of a restaurant, its waiters, waitresses and patrons, discussing a little of everything in this underground movie. More entertaining was Eliot Silverstein's THE HAPPENING (1967). Four young people kidnap a wealthy man, and hold him to ransom, but events conspire against their original plans. As with many counterculture movies, it has a splendid cast, in this case Anthony Quinn in the lead role, with support from George Maharis, Michael Parks, and Faye Dunaway in an early part. Different in tone was GREETINGS (1968), directed by Brian de Palma. It was an unconventional tale of three men getting up to many adventures in late 1960s New York City, with references to issues fresh at the time such as Vietnam, how to avoid the draft, and computer dating, to name a few. It led to a sequel in 1970, being HI, MOM!, which was equally irreverent, both films starring Robert De Niro. 

Another raucous picture was Barry Shear's WILD IN THE STREETS (1968). A young rock singer becomes president of the United States, which leads to much mayhem, but many colorful, original set pieces. SKIDOO (1968), directed by Otto Preminger, was an all-star comedy about the life of a former hit man, and the many outrageous situations in which he, and his family, participate. Alternately dealing with topics such as the counterculture, hippies, free love, and LSD, it was a departure for its director, but not a financial success in its original release. Bob Rafelson's HEAD (1968) was akin in some respects, but in a much more innocent vein. The film charted the exploits of pop group The Monkees, with many musical interludes, and adventures thrown in. On the other hand, PSYCH-OUT (1968), directed by Richard Rush, concerned a deaf young woman looking for her brother in San Francisco, and how through this search she encountered wild characters, with the effects of drugs deftly portrayed in the narrative. Outlandish could be said to describe Hy Averback's I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS (1968). Through a series of events, a straitlaced attorney meets a flower power young woman, and becomes part of the hippie lifestyle, this experience changing his views on love, and life. CHANGES distinguished itself from the other movies with its lusher, more romantic, clean-cut orientation, but still shared some elements from the previous counterculture movies.

The movie very lightly touched upon the counterculture movement with its main character, university student Kent, railing against authority, and what he perceived were his parents', and the generation of his parents', preoccupation with the straight and narrow, money and status. This was seen to be to the detriment of freedom, spontaneity, and happiness. This in-depth narrative treatment was a contrast to the more frivolous, shallow views of counterculture ideals espoused by examples such as GREETINGS, WILD IN THE STREETS, and I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS. The characters in these movies, in some cases, were two-dimensional, in comparison to the full-blooded characterization of Kent, and his emotional battles. It was not rebellion just for its own sake in CHANGES. The rebellion was a culmination of feelings, perceptions of the world, and personal experiences which make Kent want to abandon the safety of his world, and experience unfamiliar things in life. Other facets of the movie are also worth discussing for how they are unlike those of other counterculture movies.

While many of the films in the genre utilized drugs, and drug-taking, in a somewhat flashy and exploitative manner, to appear fashionable or trendy, such as THE TRIP, WILD IN THE STREETS, and I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS, in CHANGES they receive fleeting attention. It appears that Kent did experiment with drugs at one stage, which he admits to his shocked mother, but drugs are not given the exhaustive treatment the other movies provided. In CHANGES, drugs were something Kent tried but did not continue, and, aside from one scene in the movie depicting the use of these, that is where the references to narcotics end. It is more about a phase that came and went for the protagonist, instead of drugs being the focal point in the movie. In addition, other counterculture themes and motifs receive a different airing in CHANGES. While there are some views of student protests in the movie, and the final credits include images of what was taking place in the world in the late 1960s, CHANGES does not go overboard in this respect. It was mainly about Kent's journey, and what he gleaned from these experiences, rather than a wholesale examination of counterculture values rising to the fore. A novel take on counterculture movies, CHANGES is a great film.

Overview: Hall Bartlett directed nine feature films over a period of twenty-three years, with some action movies, and more thoughtful fare interspersed. Mr Bartlett made his debut with UNCHAINED (1955) which was about a prisoner who wants to go home after serving out his sentence, but is enticed to escape from jail. Next came DRANGO (1957) which was a western set during the American Civil War, and the effect a Union officer's presence has on a small Georgia town. In ZERO HOUR! (1957) various incidents occur in an airplane such as the food poisoning of passengers, which also affects the flying crew, and how a man is forced to take over the operation of the craft. ALL THE YOUNG MEN (1960) dealt with the Korean War, and how a black sergeant takes over a squad of both white, and black soldiers, which brings about much racism and dissent. In total contrast, THE CARETAKERS (1963) charted events in a mental health facility, particularly affecting the patients, and personnel such as psychiatrists, and also, the chief of staff. THE SANDPIT GENERALS (1971), set in Brazil, was the examination of disadvantaged young people, and the dangerous, illicit activities in which they indulge. One of Mr Bartlett's most famous films was JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL (1973), and his penultimate movie. It was the inspirational story of a young seagull whose exploits make him unpopular with his own flock, but eventually finding his way in life. Mr Bartlett's final motion picture, THE CHILDREN OF SANCHEZ (1978) was the character study of a man in Mexico City, detailing his family life, especially his strained relationship with his daughter, who wants to move away from him, and his arduous life. CHANGES was Hall Bartlett's sixth film, and one of his best efforts, sharing the perceptive thread that marked all his output.

Hall Bartlett has made a ruminative movie, essentially a character study, about a young man in the late 1960s who is seeking to find out who he is, his thoughts about the world, what he wants from it, and discover his place in the universe. CHANGES is a carefully-made narrative which is sensitive to not only its lead protagonist but also, the supporting characters who come into contact with him. The viewer finds out exactly why everyone acts, says, and does what they do, which gives the movie a sense of clarity and comfort. It unfolds in a naturalistic manner, without overt melodrama, but with many emotional, and truthful moments. While the film has a leaning toward the soft, and romantic in its storytelling, this is refreshing in an era when 'everything hung out' in cinema, to use the term. The amorous scenes, and interludes in CHANGES are not empty or schmaltzy, but always backed up by the feelings of its characters, and where they in that particular time. There are no exploitative bed scenes or nudity, which gives CHANGES a feeling of lightness, away from overt permissiveness. The movie could also be seen as a male wish fulfillment story, in that it charts Kent's relationships with three very different women, but the film's grounding in emotions, rather than painting Kent as a Lothario, works. While CHANGES has many virtues, there are some features which reduce what could have been an excellent motion picture, into one which is very good.

The story of Julie and Kent's love affair is the one story which is fully fleshed out, and most satisfying in terms of its execution. In comparison, Kent and Bobbi's relationship, while beautifully portrayed, would have benefitted from extending. One understands why Bobbi takes the decision she makes, but it would have been even better to have seen more of her, and her union with Kent. There was more that could have been showcased in terms of Bobbi's mental state, and slow descent into depression. In addition, Kent's short spell with Kristine was too abbreviated; as with his time with Bobbi, but it may have acted as a bridging device to the next relationship, and learning experience, with Julie. There is the implication that three sides of Kent were explored in CHANGES; with Bobbi he was selfish, with Kristine becoming more rounded as a person, but with Julie, he was considering her more for a long-term union, but was still uncertain of himself. While this may have been the intention of the film, it still leaves Kent and Kristine's story slightly undeveloped. Despite these flaws, one thing is for certain about CHANGES. It is a sincere film that deserves a higher reputation than it has had over the past fifty years, especially with reference to its director, cast and crew.

Acting: The performances in CHANGES make the movie a convincing experience. In the lead role of Kent, Kent Lane is completely believable as the confused young man who wants to find out more about himself, but keeps running into roadblocks. As Bobbi, the first of the young women involved with Kent, Manuela Thiess Garcia vividly creates a loving young woman seeking love from Kent, but finding herself unable to accept his rejection. The most affecting of the acting portraits in the movie, Miss Thiess Garcia's interpretation of the sensitive Bobbi is a standout. The enterprising reporter Kristine is played with ease and charm by Marcia Strassman. While her relationship with Kent is all too short on screen, Miss Strassman does a great job as the clever Kristine. The final acting of note in CHANGES was by Michele Carey as Julie, Kent's last flame in the movie. Her Julie was full of passion, flightiness, humor and fun, and Miss Carey perfectly captured the restless nature of her multi-faceted character.

Soundtrack: CHANGES features a number of introspective late 1960s tunes on its soundtrack. One of the most notable is Tim Buckley's 'She Is', which is played during the scenes with Kent and Bobbi on the beach. The other tunes are all suitable to what is occurring onscreen without ever being a obtrusive, or blaring.

Mise-en-scene: CHANGES has great attention to detail with what is presented in front of the camera. Cinematography by Richard Moore takes advantage of beautiful California locations, with picture-perfect beaches, mountains, and other landscapes stunningly captured. Costuming is another highlight, with elegant garments worn by actresses courtesy of Angela Alexander, and actors dressed by Wesley Jeffries. The wardrobe department has selected apparel which still appears graceful and stylish after more than a half-century, which is in stark contrast to many films of the period with clothing which seems dated, and of their era. 

There is, though, one section of the movie which is discordant in retrospect. The closing credits are one aspect which does not mesh with the film overall. While it sums up the mood of the epoch in terms of events and subjects, it would have been more appropriate instead having Kent walking on the beach, thinking about his life. It feels slightly forced, as the movie itself included references to what was taking place at that time in the world, and displaying it in this manner is unnecessary.

Notable Acting Performances: Kent Lane, Manuela Thiess Garcia, Marcia Strassman, Michele Carey.

Suitability for young viewers: Parental discretion advised. Adult themes.

Overall Grade: B

Link: IMDB Page