James: Johnny has qualities of Bresson's Pickpocket, a certain Joan Crawford western, the heroes of some of Jean-luc's early films and McDonald's Hamburgler.

Cahiers: Ah, the striped shirt  of Picasso. Perhaps we can say that Johnny Godard wouldn't exist without Jean-luc Godard.

James: Modern cinema wouldn't exist without Jean-luc Godard.

Cahiers:  And the music is copied from Johnny B. Goode?

James: No. We are born knowing the I, IV, V chord structure but I learned it from Let's Twist Again. My song has a bridge and I can't think of a bridge in a Chuck Berry song. I thought I heard a resemblance between Let's Get It On and Get Off of My Cloud. The lyrics are not a parody of Johnny B. Goode but there are certain phrases that are used as an homage to one of America's greatest poets.

Cahiers: Like what?

James: The use of "motion picture" when most people say movies is an example of Berry's ear for language. It's like "souped-up jitney" and " 'c'est la vie' say the old folks." Chuck Berry is our Shakespeare.

Cahiers: Perhaps we can say that the music wouldn't exist without Chuck Berry.

James: Rock and roll wouldn't exist without Chuck Berry.

Cahiers: What was the starting point of Johnny Godard?

James: I'm a painter and a film maker. I always loved animation, at least until computers got involved. In 2003 I enjoyed Sylvain Chomet's Triplets of Belleville. In interviews he mentioned a love for 101 Dalmations while his film replaced the statue of liberty with Bob's Big Boy and portrayed Mickey Mouse as escherichia coli.

Cahiers: What did you learn from making your film?

James: I experienced the same thing every animator does- that animation is drawing in time instead of space. So I approached this as a musical work. I'm not a very good animator nor a great painter, but I thought I might be able to combine the two mediocrities to create something I hadn't seen before. Jean-luc Godard said that Rossellini's Voyage to Italy showed him that all he needed to make a movie was a man and a woman in a car. I felt similarly liberated by Bullwinkle J. Moose. The filmed story boards from Disney's Incredibles are more interesting than the film. I don't need to connect Paul Cezanne and Howard Hawks- they're connected. The Flintstones are staged like Sophocles. Crashes off screen save drawings and money and make me think of Mouchette and King Lear. Jean-luc Godard's camera moves remind me of Tex Avery's pan cells. Time changes space.

Cahiers: A lot of people have said they don't understand your movie. I understand that some of your crew has even offered you money if you would explain what you think you are talking about. What are people not getting?

James: I question this whole idea of "getting" things. It seems to mean that experience translated into words is better than experience itself. I showed a rough version to the singer Tralain Hoffman, who sings the theme song in the movie, and she smiled and enjoyed it. Johnny Godard is about music. A color might change because of the beat. I'm trying to paint time.

Cahiers: Thank you.

James: My pleasure.

Craig Parker, Tralain Hoffman & James Valentine