Larry Holden, one of my very best friends, my mentor, my compass and my comrade passed away on Sunday. He was also one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of American cinema. I don’t have it in me to write a ton right now, but I would like to share something. Larry acted in my first movie, Downtime, which we shot back in 2005. There is a particular scene in the film that he referenced many times over the past five years whenever he was trying to motivate me. “I’m talking to you in that scene buddy,” he would say. During his final weeks he seemed to want to talk about the sad state of Werner Herzog’s latest films(haha) more than anything, but every conversation was sprinkled with references to that scene from Downtime. Phrases like “Don’t stand still.” “Keep moving buddy.” “Always know what time it is.” “Stay honest and sensitive.” were said over and over again. The scene is presented below in it’s rawest form and letterboxed 4:3… the way Larry preferred it…
This was Larry playing a character named Vince and of course there was alot more to Larry than Vince. He could rant and rave all day, but it was always born out of love. He was also a very introspective person that might start crying when talking about art or falling in love. I can’t possibly describe him accurately here… and that super-sensitive quiet side of him is absent in that scene, but part of him is definitely present… and I feel very lucky to have helped capture it.
