Director's Statement

 

We were first drawn to make a film based on Cleveland file clerk Harvey Pekar’s autobiographical comic books because of the simple, sometimes mundane, sometimes poetic and always honest moments of everyday
life that Harvey chronicled in his work. This was a world you didn’t often see in the movies and it was populated with characters who were funny, brave, flawed, yet full of humanity. In our eyes, Harvey was a true pioneer. Long before the development of the consumer video camera or the explosion of reality TV,
Harvey chronicled decades of his unremarkable daily existence in a medium that was once reserved for the remarkable: comic books. We connected with his impulse to tell real stories about real people, and felt compelled to make this film.

How to approach adapting American Splendor – a comic book series that prides itself on untidy narratives – was admittedly quite daunting. Our goal to capture the erratic rhythms of everyday life was further complicated
by our desire to incorporate the real Harvey Pekar into his own biopic. Despite logistical issues, we believed Harvey’s indelible persona would add texture to the film. Our solution came from the fact that so many different artists draw Harvey in his comic books. We felt this gave us the license to play with different
incarnations of Pekar in the film: the “movie Harvey,” to be portrayed by Paul Giamatti; the “animated and comic-panel Harvey,” to be drawn by artists from R. Crumb to Doug Allen; the “real Harvey of the present,” to be played by Pekar himself, and “the real Harvey of the past,” represented in actual footage
from his infamous Letterman appearances.

Once we settled on a shooting script (which included a wish list of intended documentary moments), we then focused on the look of the film. To us, the Cleveland of Harvey’s comics was reminiscent of the naturalism of many great seventies films like Fat City, The Deer Hunter and Midnight Cowboy. By working
with a tight, earth-toned palette, we felt we could capture the industrial, rust-belt landscape of Harvey’s universe. Our biggest visual conundrum, however, was how to set apart the documentary moments from the narrative storyline. In a way, the concept we ultimately settled on was our way of having fun with our own documentary history: we would explore the spare, artificial look of comic-book panels in the moments of “reality,” while allowing the dramatized body of the film to reflect the grittier, neo-realistic look of  American Splendor.

Our final challenge came in casting. Whomever we cast as our hero had to be not only an easy transition from the real guy, but also an actor capable of rising above mere imitation. We felt Paul Giamatti fit the bill perfectly. As one of the finest character actors working today, Paul had yet to carry a film, and we hoped
American Splendor could be his Marty, providing a well-matched vehicle for his comedic and dramatic skills. Working with such quality talent in every department eased our budgetary constraints and, ultimately, bringing American Splendor to life turned out to be an adventure we’ll never forget.

—Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman