Gillian Armstrong Talks Directing Bob Dylan and Tom Petty's 1986 Concert Film 'Hard to Handle'
I said, "Bob, you owe me.”
RAY PADGETT
Now this is really interesting and Ray makes it all the more revealing . . . . as ever
Ray says "Gillian Armstrong is Australian directing royalty. When she directed her first feature, 1979’s Academy Award-nominated My Brilliant Career, the Washington Post promptly dubbed her "the most sensitive and accomplished woman director in the English-speaking world." She promptly went on to direct hits like 1994’s Little Women and 1997’s Oscar and Lucinda (Cate Blanchett’s first leading role), all the while eschewing offers to move to Hollywood and instead becoming a champion of the Australian film industry.
I didn’t talk about any of that with her. When we spoke last month, the topic of conversation was a relative footnote on her resume: Bob Dylan’s 1986 concert film Hard to Handle backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Dylan told interviewers he had selected Armstrong personally to direct it, even though, as she is the first to admit, she had zero experience directing concert movies."
