by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

‘Gore Vidal The United States of Amnesia’ is a compelling documentary by filmmaker Nicholas Wrathall, one of the most prominent and enlightened intellectuals of the twentieth-century. No figure has had a more profound effect on the worlds of literature, film, politics, historical debate, and the culture wars than Gore Vidal. The man who was born Eugene Louis Vidal, chose Gore as his nome de plume, indeed pierced into society’s deceitfulness, through his charisma and intellect.

Nicholas Wrathall is an award-winning director and producer who has been working in the field of documentary and commercial for more than fifteen years. Australian by blood and upbringing, Nicholas moved to New York in his early twenties where he began to make his way as an Assistant Director and Producer for music videos and commercials shot around the world, including Madonna’s ‘Frozen,’ (which won the 1998 MTV Award for Best Music Video), and eventually directed and produced short documentaries on a variety of social issues. His lifelong interest in politics along with his outside vision of the United States has been the trait he shared with Gore Vidal and thusly made ‘Gore Vidal The United States of Amnesia’ a fascinating and wholly entertaining portrait of the last lion of the age of American liberalism.

In this Exclusive Interview, Nicholas Wrathall, shares the making of his new documentary:

You actually interviewed Gore Vidal himself. He didn’t seem incline to flattery, how did you approach him?

I was lucky enough to be introduced to him through his nephew, Burr Steers, who is someone he was close to. I think that put me into a position where I was a friend of the family in a sense, so I didn’t have to approach him from the outside and this was helpful to begin with. Then as far as interviewing him I just tried to be as prepared as possible. Luckily one of the first conversations I had with Gore was about Australian politics, which I’m aware of having grown up there. But little did I knew that he had such a wide knowledge on the topic and he actually started asking me about specific people, it was something we bonded over and it turned out he knew some of them personally and had mentored them in the 70s, and was very friends with them. They would visit him in Italy, which I was very surprised about and it gave us some kind of common ground for our first conversations.

He had such a dense life, how did you select what to tell?

I tried to touch on all the fields he was engaged in and give an overview in the biographical elements of the film, but my interest was firmly focused in the politics. That was what was driving me and what motivated me, and luckily that was something that he loved to talk about. I didn’t want to try to examine his novels in great depth in some critical analysis. I didn’t think that was something interesting to do on a screen and it wasn’t my main interest. Another interesting angle could have been related to his personal life, the people he knew, but I was interested in his ideas as a public intellectual, who spoke truth to power, his courageousness and political background.

Is his political criticism what you felt connected to and made you feel the urge of make this movie? Do you share his vision on the decadence of American politics?

I do, and as an expat I think that we both have a distant view. I’m a foreigner living in the US, he was an American living in Italy. That was our connection. When I came to America in my 20s I had a firm idea about this country’s culture and power in the world and was very suspicious of it. I’ve seen Australian politics influenced by American interests, that aligned me with many of his ideas.

So, do you think his enlightened criticism came from the fact he was (as he called himself) a “Europeanised American”?

I think it gave him a safe distance to reflect on things and the time to be outside of the hectic nature of a place like New York. It also probably influenced him giving him a different insight on matters, since he was constantly exposed to the European point of view. But I think that a lot of his beliefs and ideas were firmly fixed by the time he moved over there. It simply gave him space to analyse; that critical distance, to delve into the real motivations of people in power.

Do you think there could be a cure for “America’s Amnesia”?

Perhaps teaching more history and the importance of learning from our mistakes. More transparency in general. Lots of things could help in that direction.

Besides his political sphere, what enthralled you the most of him as an intellectual?

I was probably most inspired by his essays, but also in his historical novels, the analysis of the founding fathers in ‘Burr’ and ‘Lincoln’ and the way he reveals the thought process and reasoning behind a lot of actions. The more I read and discovered even after I started making the film, the more fascinating he became, because he had the insight and ability to analyse things in all aspects of his writing, whether it was in his plays, novels, scripts, or essays.

How about the people you interviewed who where close to him?

Initially I had planned to make the film just with Gore, but then there were things he wouldn’t speak about and I realised there were other people who could address certain subjects. For me it was great to meet his sister, Nina. She gives her personal angle and you get to see another aspect of Gore through her. It was amazing to meet Christopher Hitchens, I wish I met Howard Austen (his partner for 53 years), I feel it could have been amazing to get his perspective on Gore and have it in film.

Gore Vidal was a liberal, an atheist, a bisexual, he was a freethinker who didn’t like labels, do you think your portrait will help to give a broader idea of who he was in all his nuances?

I certainly hope so, the film shows many aspects of his life and his ideas.

Was it intentional for the release of the documentary to be posthumous, as if it were his legacy?

Not at all, the film took a lot longer than expected. I actually always imagined the film to be out with him, attending the premiere, and it’s quite sad that didn’t happen. I think he would have enjoyed the film. He never saw the final edit, he had seen several of the interviews and material I shot.

Do you think there may be someone today who may follow in his footsteps?

Not really. I don’t think there is anyone who comes from the inside, the aristocracy and ruling class, and speaks in such a critical way, examines them and calls them out for the way they behave, serving their own interests. I don’t think there is any cultural figure who can equate that at the moment. I think there are interesting journalists, comedians, critics and television analysts but there is no one like Gore Vidal at all.