The Mirror Has Two Faces
Opened November 1996
"I like to make films that make people feel," Barbra Streisand said. "I like to make films about positive transformations."
For The Mirror Has Two Faces, Barbra's sixteenth film (and third as director), she concentrated on the nature of beauty, mother-daughter relationships, and love. "I'm always making these movies that have sad endings," Barbra stated. "And I thought, No, it's about time to dance in the streets."
Streisand had a reading of The Mirror Has Two Faces at her home with actors, but put the script aside, feeling it needed more work. She was committed to filming Larry Kramer's play, The Normal Heart, about the early days of the Gay Men's Health Crisis when AIDS was rampant in the homosexual community. "I was very upset that we couldn't get [The Normal Heart] financed," Streisand said. "I had wanted certain actors to be in it — one said he would do it, but the schedule was off. It was at a time when I had just bought my new house and was trying to design it. I didn't want to be here for construction, so I thought, I'm going to do The Mirror Has Two Faces!"
“Mirror” Trivia
- Cinematographer Spinotti was let go from Mirror and replaced by Bartkowiak, who photographed Streisand in Nuts. Both cinematographers are credited in the final film.
- Dudley Moore was originally cast as Henry Fine. The part was recast during production with actor George Segal. “They fired me because I couldn’t remember my lines after a certain point,” Moore said. A few years later, Dudley Moore revealed that he was afflicted with the terminal degenerative brain disorder Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. He died in 2002.
- Definitely a "New York movie", locations used were: Central Park, 505 West End Avenue, Columbia University, and others.
- Both George Segal and Austin Pendelton had acted on other Streisand films: The Owl and the Pussycat, and What's Up Doc?, respectively.
- Lauren Bacall, cast in Mirror as Streisand's mother, attended Barbra's opening night of Funny Girl on Broadway. Bacall was also married to Jason Robards, who was Barbra's co-star in The Belle of 14th Street television special in 1967. (Photo, right:) Peter Sellers, Lauren Bacall, and Streisand, circa 1965 .
- Jeff Bridges took on-set photographs with his Widelux F8 camera. Bridges gifted some of the cast and crew with a book of his panoramic shots. Later a few were published in his 2003 book, Pictures by Jeff Bridges.
- The Mirror theme song was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song. Natalie Cole was set to sing it on the Oscar broadcast, but fell sick. Celine Dion stepped in at the last minute and sang the song. Streisand, who was in the audience that evening, went to the bathroom when Celine sang the song. (Watch Celine sing "I Finally Found Someone" on the 1997 Oscars). She denied that it was any sort of snub toward Dion. In fact, Streisand recorded a duet with Celine shortly after the incident and included it on her album Higher Ground.
- Nearly 10 years later, Barbra sang "I Finally Found Someone" live during her concert tour of Europe with The Broadway Boys. (Watch the clip on You Tube here).
- In the film, Streisand (as Rose) places a photograph of her father and mother. The photo is actually of Streisand's real father. A picture of a younger Lauren Bacall has been superimposed over Streisand's real mother's face.
Photos by Jeff Bridges from the 'Mirror' Set
Jeff Bridges shot these photos with a Widelux, a camera without a shutter or viewfinder that captures panoramic images (about the same aspect as a widescreen film).
The Alternate 'Mirror' Song
Barbra included an alternate version of the "love theme" on The Mirror Has Two Faces soundtrack album titled “All of My Life”. However, there was another alternate version that remains unreleased! It's called “It Doesn't Get Better Than This” and featured the same love theme, but in a more upbeat song. Ultimately, the Bryan Adams duet was used.
Hear a sample of “It Doesn't Get Better Than This”:
About the song, Barbra told the press: "I had written a love theme, and the Bergmans started a lyric based on the theme, although we didn't complete how the theme integrated with the bridge ... It was very difficult musically, because when you play something orchestrally, you can do all sorts of wonderful keys, but when the voice has to sing it, it changes that pattern. Then, I asked my friend David Foster, who produced a lot of records for me, 'Please, please, please become involved.' He had one week, a five-day period that he could give me time. And he came to Sony one night, and we just played around—asked five of my favorite musicians who were playing on the score to hang around and we kind of had a jam session and made this track. I was humming the words, because we only had some of the words. And David recommended what about singing the duet with Bryan Adams. So, I sent him this track, and he fell in love with my little theme and around this theme. And that's how it happened. He's a doll. Talk about a perfectionist!"
END.
Related Pages:
- Linda Ellerbee interviews Streisand about “Mirror”
- Hollywood Reporter Special Streisand Edition
- Streisand: Perfectionist or Tyrant?
- Watch the music video of Barbra's duet with Bryan Adams, “I Finally Found Someone”.
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