By Robert Goldrich, The Road To Oscar Series, Part 4

Editor Affonso Goncalves earned his first ACE Eddie Award nomination in 2012 for Mildred Pierce, the acclaimed HBO miniseries directed by Todd Haynes. Goncalves’ third and most recent Eddie nod came last year for Haynes’ first documentary, The Velvet Underground. In-between those two projects have been other notable collaborations between Haynes and Goncalves such as the features Carol, Wonderstruck, and Dark Waters. And the relationship between the director and editor–which started with Mildred Pierce–continues with May December, released theatrically by Netflix last week and slated to start streaming on December 1. May December made its world premiere back in May at the Cannes Film Festival where it was in the running for the Palme d’Or and received a six-minute standing ovation.

Goncalves was first and foremost drawn to May December by the chance to once again work with Haynes, noting he’d do most any project sight unseen if the director were involved. But Goncalves found himself enthralled with the May December script penned by Samy Burch. “It was super well written,” observed Goncalves, adding that the narrative keeps “growing and turning” while taking us “deeper and deeper into the characters.” And with a cast headlined by Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, Goncalves knew that the characters would be engaging and come alive. “I could imagine how good it would be based on the caliber of actors that Todd got.” That cast also includes Charles Melton, an actor Goncalves wasn’t familiar with going into the project but came away struck by the talent he exhibited in an emotionally and psychologically complex role. 

Portman portrays Elizabeth Barry, a famous actor who is spending some time with the real person she’s going to play in a film. That subject is Gracie Atherton-Yoo (played by Moore) who, when she was in her mid-30s, was arrested and imprisoned for engaging in a sexual relationship with a 12-year-boy named Joe (Melton). Fast forward some 20-plus years and now Gracie and Joe are married with three children, one in college and twins about to start their university education. 

Elizabeth delves into the lives of Joe and Gracie in the hope of making a genuine film about them–in contrast to the exploitative fare that’s already been done. Elizabeth’s process of discovery, though, becomes an emotional roller coaster that’s at times awkward, insightful, strangely funny yet with an ominous undercurrent. We see Elizabeth become immersed in Gracie and her history, including a previous marriage–and the two characters frequently vie for control of the conversation and the narrative. The back-and-forth process of the actor trying to become Gracie is wickedly engaging but eventually exacts a toll.

“There’s a darkness throughout but there’s also humor–a dark humor,” related Goncalves, observing that the “story keeps shifting,” causing viewers to change their expectations and judgments. Deft directorial and editing hands are needed to do justice to the story and the nuanced performances throughout. Goncalves observed that what starts out as a focus on Elizabeth and Gracie alters dramatically to where it becomes “Joe’s movie,” how he deals with what’s happened in his life–much of it before he even had a chance to truly grow up. Goncalves assessed that the biggest challenge that May December posed to him editorially was to find “the right balance of all these elements”–character perspectives, dark humor, psychological drama and much more. 

Helping to make that challenge less daunting, continued Goncalves, was his longstanding collaborative bond with Haynes. Not only have the two developed a shorthand and a mutual understanding–but they are simpatico on varied fronts, including how they judge actor performances. Goncalves estimated that some 70 percent of the time, the performances he and Haynes choose (for a film) are pretty much the same. Goncalves said that he and Haynes are “aligned” in that respect, which enables them to focus on whatever differences they have based on Goncalves’ initial cut and second pass, working closely together in the edit room to get as close as possible to Haynes’ ultimate vision for the story.

A major difference between May December and past projects on which he teamed with Haynes, said Goncalves, was this time around the director had a specific soundtrack chosen–Michelle Legrand’s score for The Go-Between, the 1971 film helmed by Joseph Losey. On his previous work with Haynes, the norm for Goncalves had been to cut to a temp track, consisting of different scores that fit specific parts of the film.

For May December, Goncalves noted that The Go-Between score was played on set for the actors–and sometimes during shooting. Adapting and adding to The Go-Between music for May December was composer Marcelo Zarvos. May December marked the second collaboration between Haynes and Zarvos, the first being Dark Waters. Zarvos’ adapted score leans into the melodrama and chilling air of uncertainty that viewers experience in May December.

Goncalves had to help fit Zarvos' adaptation of the The Go-Between score to the emotion and feel of what was happening in front of the camera in May December. This, he said, was “a great, interesting and enriching challenge,” shaping his edit so that the spirit of the existing music from The Go-Between would work in the context of May December.

Goncalves explained that Haynes was drawn to The Go-Between score. “It had a deep effect on Todd,” recalled Goncalves, noting that The Go-Between was one of the films the director watched as part of his research for May December. Goncalves said that Haynes found that music “haunting” and loved it to the point where he tried to use the score for the most part on May December.

Haynes–a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nominee for Far from Heaven, which also starred Moore– has a deep trust in Goncalves and spoke of it in an earlier SHOOT interview back during the time they had wrapped Carol together. Haynes observed, “I feel so lucky to have found Fonsie [Goncalves]. Previously I worked for many years with my partner, editor Jim Lyons who passed away [in 2007]. Affonso is a fantastic guy, so smart about his work and  understands every aspect of the language of film. He has such a sensitivity, is fast at finding useful stuff.”

However, Goncalves also has a body of work that extends beyond his creative pursuits with Haynes. For example, Goncalves’ alluded two second career Eddie nomination, which was in 2015, came for a first season episode of True Detective directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. That same episode also garnered Goncalves a primetime Emmy nomination in 2014 for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing in a Drama Series.

Goncalves additionally has edited three Sundance Film Festival winners over the years: director Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, the Debra Granik-directed Winter’s Bone, and Ira Sachs’ Forth Shades of Blue. Goncalves also cut The Lost Daughter which received three Oscar nominations as well as won Maggie Gyllenhaal the DGA Award in 2022 for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a First-Time Feature Film. Among Goncalves’ other credits are a film trilogy from writer-director Jonas Carpignano, including A Chiara which last year earned a Film Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Editing. 

Goncalves is also looking to get more involved in short-form fare. He is on the roster of editorial house Lost Planet for commercial representation. While he has done a smattering of spots, Goncalves anticipates more such work will inform his longer-form endeavors, including features.

(This is the fourth installment of a 16-part series with future installments of The Road To Oscar slated to run in the weekly SHOOT>e.dition, The SHOOT Dailies and on SHOOTonline.com, with select installments also in print issues. The series will appear weekly through the Academy Awards gala ceremony. Nominations for the 96th Academy Awards will be announced on January 23, 2024, The 96th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 10, 2024.)

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