Rob Reiner: “Stand By Me is the film that means the most to me”

The director of Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally and Misery looks back on the work of his beautiful filmography that most resembles him.

Interviewed by Slash Movie on the occasion of the broadcast of his documentary Albert Brooks: Defending My Lifeon Max, Rob Reiner reveals that of all the key films he has made, he has a soft spot for Stand By Me.

Taken from a short story by Stephen King, The bodythis friendship story released in 1986 follows four pre-teens, played by Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell, who decide to go looking for the body of a neighborhood man after learning of his disappearance, and camping along the way, in the 1950s.

“I don’t know if Stand By Me is my best film, says the man who also directed the classics Spinal Tap, Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally or Misery, but it’s the one that means the most to me. Of all the ones I’ve shot, it’s the one I have the most connections with. Probably because I was 12 years old in 1959, and I also had three good friends. I didn’t go through everything they went through, but I felt that same feeling of never really knowing what my father thought of me.”

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He then explains that he identifies more particularly with Gordie, who during one scene is sad thinking that his father does not love him. To which the character of Phoenix responds : “No, no, he loves you. It’s just that he doesn’t know you. He doesn’t understand you. “I was able to feel this kind of thing growing up and that’s really what served basic to the film”adds the son of Carl Reiner, himself a renowned actor and director.

“There is also a lot of humor in Stand By Me, he said finally. Mixed with melancholy, nostalgia, full of different emotions. And for that, this film better represents who I am, I believe.”

Stand By Me is to (re)see on Première Max.

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