BERLIN -- Oscar winners "The Queen", by Stephen Frears, and "The Last King of Scotland", by Kevin Macdonald as well as Paul Verhoeven's World War II thriller "Black Book" and Tom Tykwer's literary adaptation "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" are among the nominees for this year's European Film Academy People's Choice Award.
This year's EFA People's Choice nominees run the gambit. Opulent period pieces such as "Perfume", Jiri Menzel's "I Served the King of England", Oliver Dahan's Edith Piaf biopic "La Vie En Rose" and Agustin Diaz Yanes' "Alatriste" will compete against Joachim Trier's minimalist drama "Reprise", Julie Delpy's directorial debut "2 Days in Paris" and the Corneliu Porumboiu's Romanian dark comedy "12:08 East Of Bucharest".
Beginning Saturday and ending Oct. 31, European citizens can vote for their favorite film at www.peopleschoiceaward.org.
The winner of the 2007 EFA People's Choice Award will be announced at the European Film Awards in Berlin on Dec. 1. The main nominations for the 2007 European Film Awards will be announced at the Seville Film Festival on Nov.
This year's EFA People's Choice nominees run the gambit. Opulent period pieces such as "Perfume", Jiri Menzel's "I Served the King of England", Oliver Dahan's Edith Piaf biopic "La Vie En Rose" and Agustin Diaz Yanes' "Alatriste" will compete against Joachim Trier's minimalist drama "Reprise", Julie Delpy's directorial debut "2 Days in Paris" and the Corneliu Porumboiu's Romanian dark comedy "12:08 East Of Bucharest".
Beginning Saturday and ending Oct. 31, European citizens can vote for their favorite film at www.peopleschoiceaward.org.
The winner of the 2007 EFA People's Choice Award will be announced at the European Film Awards in Berlin on Dec. 1. The main nominations for the 2007 European Film Awards will be announced at the Seville Film Festival on Nov.
- 8/31/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
MADRID -- Not one Spanish film has managed to break into the top 25 boxoffice spots halfway through 2007, marking a six-year nadir in Spanish cinema, according to figures made public this week by the Spanish Culture Ministry's Film Institute.
In the first six months of the year, Spanish cinema snagged just 7.18% of boxoffice revenue, compared with 15.86% for the same period in 2005 and 9.43% in 2006. About 3.7 million moviegoers have purchased tickets for Spanish films out of a total 45.8 million tickets sold.
Unlike in previous years, 2007 has yet to release a locomotive for the industry, such as Pedro Almodovar's "Volver", Agustin Diaz Yanes' "Alatriste" or Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth", which all premiered last year.
So far, the top Spanish film is Filmax's "The Hairy Tooth Fairy", which has earned €2.14 million ($2.9 million) to date.
Spanish cinema has earned €19.3 million ($26.3 million) in 2007, just €4 million more than the top-grossing film, "Spider-Man 3".
Meanwhile, U.S. films have set new boxoffice opening-weekend records.
In the first six months of the year, Spanish cinema snagged just 7.18% of boxoffice revenue, compared with 15.86% for the same period in 2005 and 9.43% in 2006. About 3.7 million moviegoers have purchased tickets for Spanish films out of a total 45.8 million tickets sold.
Unlike in previous years, 2007 has yet to release a locomotive for the industry, such as Pedro Almodovar's "Volver", Agustin Diaz Yanes' "Alatriste" or Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth", which all premiered last year.
So far, the top Spanish film is Filmax's "The Hairy Tooth Fairy", which has earned €2.14 million ($2.9 million) to date.
Spanish cinema has earned €19.3 million ($26.3 million) in 2007, just €4 million more than the top-grossing film, "Spider-Man 3".
Meanwhile, U.S. films have set new boxoffice opening-weekend records.
LONDON -- Three of Europe's capitals have been picked by European Film Promotion to host Picture Europe!, a campaign to put local boxoffice hits into theaters across the continent.
Handpicked theater locations in London, Berlin and Madrid will play host to three weeklong programs that will kick off in April in Madrid with German filmmaker Sebastian Schipper's "A Friend of Mine", EFP said Wednesday.
Other films lined up by the promotional organization include Feliks Falk's "The Collector" (Poland), Pol Cruchten's "Little Secrets" (Luxembourg) and Tudor Giurgiu's "Love Sick" (Romania).
The program then moves to Berlin in mid-April and winds up in London on June 8, opening with the 2006 Spanish hit "Alatriste" by Agustin Diaz Yanes.
The Berlin program will include Barbara Albert's "Fallen" (Austria), Fausto Brizzi's "The Night Before the Finals" (Italy) and Kiran Kolarov's "L's Revolt" (Bulgaria), organizers said.
Handpicked theater locations in London, Berlin and Madrid will play host to three weeklong programs that will kick off in April in Madrid with German filmmaker Sebastian Schipper's "A Friend of Mine", EFP said Wednesday.
Other films lined up by the promotional organization include Feliks Falk's "The Collector" (Poland), Pol Cruchten's "Little Secrets" (Luxembourg) and Tudor Giurgiu's "Love Sick" (Romania).
The program then moves to Berlin in mid-April and winds up in London on June 8, opening with the 2006 Spanish hit "Alatriste" by Agustin Diaz Yanes.
The Berlin program will include Barbara Albert's "Fallen" (Austria), Fausto Brizzi's "The Night Before the Finals" (Italy) and Kiran Kolarov's "L's Revolt" (Bulgaria), organizers said.
- 3/22/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- A bit like "Braveheart" with a Castilian accent, Agustin Diaz-Yanes' "Alatriste" is a lavishly-mounted but only intermittently engaging epic adapted from the bestselling series of novels by Arturo Perez-Reverte.
Exquisitely photographed and anchored by a quietly assured performance by Viggo Mortensen as 17th century soldier-turned-mercenary Diego Alatriste, the picture has an episodic, stitched-together feel that prevents it from taking the viewer on the kind of fully involving journey into another time and place required in order to hit a commercial bull's-eye.
Still, there are sufficient high points to ensure that it plays solidly, especially in Spanish-speaking markets.
Speaking of Spanish-speaking, Mortensen in fact does his own, having lived several years in Argentina and Venezuela. When we first meet his unconditionally committed Alatriste, he's on a cold, grim battlefield in Flanders, fighting the good fight for the declining Spanish empire.
Upon his return home, honoring the dying wish of a good friend killed during an ambush, Alatriste raises the man's son, Inigo (Unax Ugalde), while putting his trusty sword to use as a hired assassin.
But the Spain that greets him has fallen into a cesspool of corruption, abetted by a weak monarch, the scheming Count-Duke Olivares (Javier Camara) and the all-powerful Holy Inquisition. Alatriste nevertheless manages to keep his head above it all, even as he exposes a vulnerable side carrying on a longtime affair with the famous, but spoken for, actress Maria de Castro (Ariadna Gil).
An actor with the kind of unspoken presence that doesn't need a lot of fancy dialogue, Mortensen works to considerable advantage here, convincingly taking on the physical demands of his role in equal measure with his character's unshakable integrity.
The supporting players are, for the most part, equally well cast, with sturdy character work by Camara, Gil and a sympathetic turn by young Ugalde.
Filmmaker Agustin Diaz Yanes ("Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead"), who also penned the adaptation, scores full visual points even if the 135-minute production hits its share of dull patches, incorporating stirring, beautifully lit compositions informed by the paintings of Velazquez, masterfully captured by cinematographer Paco Femenia.
ALATRISTE
20th Century Fox
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Agustin Diaz Yanes
Based on the "Adventures of Captain Alatriste" novels by Arturo Perez-Reverte
Cinematographer: Paco Femenia
Production designer: Benajmin Fernandez
Editor: Jose Salcedo
Costume designer: Francesca Sartori
Music: Roque Banos
Cast:
Alatriste: Viggo Mortensen
Angelica de Alquezar: Elena Anaya
Count-Duke Olivares: Javier Camara
Franciso Quevedo: Juan Echanove
Copons: Eduard Fernandez
Maria de Castro: Ariadna Gil
Inigo Balboa: Unax Ugalde
Running time -- 135 minutes
MPAA rating: Not yet rated...
Exquisitely photographed and anchored by a quietly assured performance by Viggo Mortensen as 17th century soldier-turned-mercenary Diego Alatriste, the picture has an episodic, stitched-together feel that prevents it from taking the viewer on the kind of fully involving journey into another time and place required in order to hit a commercial bull's-eye.
Still, there are sufficient high points to ensure that it plays solidly, especially in Spanish-speaking markets.
Speaking of Spanish-speaking, Mortensen in fact does his own, having lived several years in Argentina and Venezuela. When we first meet his unconditionally committed Alatriste, he's on a cold, grim battlefield in Flanders, fighting the good fight for the declining Spanish empire.
Upon his return home, honoring the dying wish of a good friend killed during an ambush, Alatriste raises the man's son, Inigo (Unax Ugalde), while putting his trusty sword to use as a hired assassin.
But the Spain that greets him has fallen into a cesspool of corruption, abetted by a weak monarch, the scheming Count-Duke Olivares (Javier Camara) and the all-powerful Holy Inquisition. Alatriste nevertheless manages to keep his head above it all, even as he exposes a vulnerable side carrying on a longtime affair with the famous, but spoken for, actress Maria de Castro (Ariadna Gil).
An actor with the kind of unspoken presence that doesn't need a lot of fancy dialogue, Mortensen works to considerable advantage here, convincingly taking on the physical demands of his role in equal measure with his character's unshakable integrity.
The supporting players are, for the most part, equally well cast, with sturdy character work by Camara, Gil and a sympathetic turn by young Ugalde.
Filmmaker Agustin Diaz Yanes ("Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead"), who also penned the adaptation, scores full visual points even if the 135-minute production hits its share of dull patches, incorporating stirring, beautifully lit compositions informed by the paintings of Velazquez, masterfully captured by cinematographer Paco Femenia.
ALATRISTE
20th Century Fox
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Agustin Diaz Yanes
Based on the "Adventures of Captain Alatriste" novels by Arturo Perez-Reverte
Cinematographer: Paco Femenia
Production designer: Benajmin Fernandez
Editor: Jose Salcedo
Costume designer: Francesca Sartori
Music: Roque Banos
Cast:
Alatriste: Viggo Mortensen
Angelica de Alquezar: Elena Anaya
Count-Duke Olivares: Javier Camara
Franciso Quevedo: Juan Echanove
Copons: Eduard Fernandez
Maria de Castro: Ariadna Gil
Inigo Balboa: Unax Ugalde
Running time -- 135 minutes
MPAA rating: Not yet rated...
- 9/19/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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