everyone’s life is an opera

Illustration by Jeff Östberg

from “the cinematic traumas of kenneth lonergan”  about the filmmaker’s new movie and trials over his last movie, margaret:

[Lonergan’s wife J.] Smith-Cameron’s eyes filled with tears when she talked with me about “Margaret,” one day over lunch. “It’s such a big, profound concept, filled with tiny details that add up to this very rich tapestry—this idea that everyone’s life is mundane, and petty, and all about getting to school on time, and all about whether your best friends are talking to you, all these tedious things,” she said. “But, meanwhile, even the guy next to you on the subway is living through some big drama—some big tragedy, some opera. Everyone’s life is an opera, even though it’s also about paying the bills on time.”