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Exclusive Interview with Co-Directors George Kunhardt, and Teddy Kunhardt<\/b><\/p>\n
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Q : First of all, I was originally born in Japan, but I know who Mario Cuomo was due to his sons, Andrew Cuomo(former New York governor) and Chris Cuomo(Journalist). I was fairly surprised that he was initially scouted as a baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and belonged to the minor league until he was injured by a pitch to the head. Did you two\u00a0have more of his background story when he was a baseball player, which might make you understand his transition of his career and ambition?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n George Kunhardt, and Teddy Kunhardt :\u00a0We were also surprised by this part of Mario\u2019s life. It is a fascinating moment because it tells us a lot about who Mario was before politics ever entered the picture. He was a serious athlete, even as a child. He had the talent and the ambition to be a great baseball player. Then suddenly, after being hit in the head, that path was taken away from him.<\/p>\n What interested us as filmmakers was not simply that he had once played baseball, but what that experience revealed about him. He understood disappointment early. He understood that life can change quickly. But he also had the capacity to take that same drive and redirect it. After baseball, he went back to school, became a lawyer, got a job despite discrimination and slowly moved toward public life.<\/p>\n We think that injury forced him to reconsider what kind of life he was meant to lead. It did not lessen his ambition. It changed the form of it. And it allowed him to focus on his then girlfriend, Matilda. A story that did not make it into the final film was that Mario used his $2,000 signing bonus to purchase an engagement ring for Matilda.<\/p>\n Q : In the early 1970s, he made a name for himself by participating in a campaign against the development of public housing in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens as a representative of the local residents. Queens was known for its high per-capita income and for hosting the U.S. Open tennis tournament, then he was thrust into politics even though Mario didn\u2019t want to run as a governor, but he was pushed by a former governor Hugh Carey and decided to run. It\u2019s interesting about his decision throughout his political life, I don\u2019t think he likes politics but he was a great public servant. I’m curious what went through his head when he made the decision to run, what\u2019s your opinion on that?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n George Kunhardt, and Teddy Kunhardt\u00a0 <\/span>:\u00a0Mario\u2019s relationship to politics was complicated. He did not seem to be someone who loved politics as a game. He was not driven by the usual desire for attention or power. But he had a very strong sense of duty and saw early on that politics gave him the power to make things better. When he saw a problem, he felt compelled to wrestle with it.<\/p>\n Forest Hills was important because he was not entering public life as a polished candidate. He was entering as a lawyer, and as a neighbor trying to help people work through a difficult fight. He hated seeing \u201cthe little man\u201d stepped on. That became a pattern in his life, it goes back to seeing his parents discriminated against.<\/p>\n When Hugh Carey and others pushed him to run for Mayor (not Governor), we think Mario understood the burden of it. He knew what it would cost his family. He knew the ugliness of politics. And in the beginning of that campaign, he didn\u2019t really want it. But, as the race went on and he realized that if he was Mayor, he could make meaningful change and save lives.\u00a0 When that clicked, everything changed, but unfortunately, Ed Koch won.<\/p>\n He may not have loved politics, but he believed deeply in public service. That distinction matters.<\/p>\n Q : Mario Cuomo really came to power when the nation was in the political uncertainty after Nixon resigned. Mario’s policy came out of Franklin Roosevelt\u2019s new deal policy which he created as the architect of a sponsored safety net. Is it because his parents are immigrants from Italy and survive poverty and reach for a better life that Mario can relate to that element or fit well for the political climate that was in back then?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n George Kunhardt, and Teddy Kunhardt : Mario\u2019s politics came directly out of his life. His parents came from Italy and worked incredibly hard. They ran a grocery store. They were not abstract symbols to him. They were the people he loved most. He saw their dignity, their struggle, and their faith in this country. Mario didn\u2019t speak English until he was eight years old.<\/p>\n So when Mario spoke about government, poverty, opportunity, and the safety net, he was not speaking from theory. He was speaking from personal memory. He understood that families like his did not need charity. They needed a fair chance. They needed a country that did not close the door behind the people who had already made it.<\/p>\n That is why the New Deal tradition fit him so naturally. He believed government could be a practical expression of community. Not government as a machine, but government as a way of saying that we have obligations to one another, and that is what makes America so special.<\/p>\n<\/ins>\n Q : Mario didn\u2019t like marketing himself even though he was trying to run as governor, but he likes to talk to people, Do you think his character was a lot of influence from his father Andrea, who runs a grocery store and meeting his community?<\/strong><\/p>\n George Kunhardt, and Teddy Kunhardt : Yes, I think his father had an enormous influence on him. Andrea ran a grocery store, which meant he spent his life in direct contact with the neighborhood. He listened to people. He knew who was struggling. He knew who needed credit, who needed patience, who needed kindness. And Andrea experienced the darkest side of America.<\/p>\n He was hated for being Italian and had his store vandalized several times, but he did not let that stop him.\u00a0Mario inherited that sense of human contact. He did not like selling himself, but he loved conversation. As his son calls him, he was a philosopher. He liked arguments, stories, language, sports, and the back and forth of real people. That came from the world of the grocery store, the Catholic church, the family table, and the tight knit neighborhood.<\/p>\n His father and his mother gave him a model of dignity and proof in the American dream. Not public dignity in the grand sense, but daily dignity. Work hard. Treat people decently. Stand by your family. Do not forget where you came from. That was at the center of Mario\u2019s character.<\/p>\n Q :Ronaldo Reagan was very articulate about the free enterprise system, but Mario was against Reagan, people become\u00a0a lot more self-centered than used to be after Reagan became the president, but people prefer to have a happy warrior, not a grim one and Reagan was a happiest of warrior. When Ronaldo Reagan won New York State, the blue state turned into red state, how Mario was dealing with that situation back then?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n George Kunhardt, and Teddy Kunhardt\u00a0 <\/span>President Reagan was a very difficult opponent for Mario because Reagan had a gift. He made people feel hopeful. He spoke about free enterprise, individual freedom, and American confidence in a way that was very appealing, especially after years of political disappointment and economic anxiety.<\/p>\n Mario was making a very different argument. He was saying that individual success is not enough. He was saying that a good society must care about the people left out, the people who are sick, poor, vulnerable, or forgotten. The people like his parents.<\/p>\n That was not always the easier argument. As historian Jon Meacham says in the film, Reagan was the happiest warrior. Mario could sound more serious, more moral, sometimes more burdened by the complexity of the world. But Mario\u2019s gift was that he could make that serious poetry.<\/p>\n He could make compassion sound strong. He could make the government sound human.<\/p>\n When Reagan won New York, traditionally a blue state, Mario understood the challenge. He knew the country was moving in a different direction. But he did not simply chase the mood of the moment. He tried to offer a counterargument rooted in his own experience and values, which is why this generation must also study Mario Cuomo.<\/p>\n Q : Could you talk about his relationship with his wife Matilda, she was a smart lady that rose to the occasion,\u00a0\u00a0she was always by his side, what were her qualities that stood out to you?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n George Kunhardt, and Teddy Kunhardt : Matilda was essential to Mario\u2019s life. She was smart, steady, warm, and very strong. You could feel that she understood him deeply, including his doubts and his moods. She was not simply standing beside him for appearances. She was part of the foundation that made his public life possible.<\/p>\n What stood out to us was her grace, but also her toughness. She knew the pressure the family was under. She knew what public life demanded. And she carried herself with a kind of quiet moral authority.<\/p>\n Mario could be intense. He could be restless. He could live very much inside his own mind. Matilda gave him balance. She gave the family a center. In many ways, she helped make it possible for him to be Mario Cuomo. And she was an amazing mother, who raised 5 kids while balancing being the first lady of New York State. She is remarkable and we were so fortunate enough to interview her for this film.<\/p>\n Q : I really find it fascinating and those are Mario\u2019s great personality that he supported the AIDS prevention campaign and abortion regardless of his traditional Catholic background. Of course he struggled in his mind, but it was very articulate when he made the speech at Notre Dame University. How does this speech influence the people from LGBTQ communities and women?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n George Kunhardt, and Teddy Kunhardt :\u00a0 <\/span>This is one of the most important parts of Mario\u2019s story. And in many ways, his speech at Notre Dame was much more eloquent and powerful than his DNC speech. He was a deeply committed Catholic, but he did not believe that his private religious belief gave him the right to impose every article of that belief through law. That was the heart of the Notre Dame speech.<\/p>\n He was not taking the easy road. He was trying to live honestly inside a conflict. He was saying, I have faith, I have a conscience, but I also serve a pluralistic democracy. That took courage.<\/p>\n For women and for the gay community, I think that mattered because Mario was making room for dignity and legal protection at a time when many people were being judged, ignored, or pushed aside. On AIDS, especially, the politics of fear were very strong. Mario\u2019s instinct was to see humanity first. That can be witnessed in his actions when he hugged AIDS patients at a time when it was risky.<\/p>\n Mario was not perfect, and he struggled with these questions, but the struggle itself is what makes him interesting. He did not treat moral questions as slogans. He treated them as serious responsibilities.<\/p>\n<\/ins>\n Q : When Mario gave the speech in San Francisco during the presidential campaign of Walter Mandale vs. Ronald Reagan, after this speech, everybody saw or read this speech, who would have thought Mario was clearly a presidential material, making the decision for not only own his nation, but also other countries are daunting tasks, and he never liked politics much, but what do you think the main reasons that he didn\u2019t run for the president?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n George Kunhardt, and Teddy Kunhardt : That is one of the big questions we ask in the film. After the 84 convention speech, many people saw Mario as presidential material. The speech gave language to an entire new vision for the country. It was powerful because it was not just political. It was moral. And it was directly talking to President Reagan.<\/p>\n But running for president is not only about talent. It requires a certain appetite. Mario had ambition, but he also had hesitation. He understood the burden of the office and the burden of running for that office. He understood what it would do to his family. He knew the compromises required by national politics. And we think he was haunted by the question of whether he truly wanted it.<\/p>\n There was also something very personal about his decision making. He could be bold in language and cautious in action. He could inspire a room and then retreat into doubt. That contradiction is part of what makes him human. That is why the diaries were so helpful to see and understand the private Mario.<\/p>\n We do not think it was one reason. It was family, faith, temperament, timing, and the weight of the responsibility. He liked being a big fish in a smaller pond.<\/p>\n Q : Could you talk about Mario\u2019s relation to 5 children, even though we are familiar with Andrew and Chris, it seems very different from what we see from the outside?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n George Kunhardt, and Teddy Kunhardt : We are a younger generation and were not familiar with Mario Cuomo. We knew of Andrew and Chris, but the family story is much larger than that. Mario and Matilda had five children, and the family was central to his identity.<\/p>\n From the outside, people often see a political family and assume everything is about ambition. But what came through to us was more complicated and more intimate. There was deep love, high expectation, and a powerful sense of loyalty and honoring their Italian roots. Mario cared intensely about his children. He also set a very high bar, morally, intellectually and physically (as seeing in the basketball footage).<\/p>\n Being the child of someone like Mario Cuomo cannot have been simple. He was a huge presence. He believed in argument. He believed in excellence. He believed in public purpose. That kind of father gives you a great deal, but he also casts a long shadow.<\/p>\n What interested us was not just the famous sons. It was the family as a whole, and the way Mario\u2019s values moved through that family.<\/p>\n
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