Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”) is set to star in Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God,” which started shooting last week in Naples, the Oscar-winning director’s hometown.
Production of Sorrentino’s new pic, which is produced by Fremantle-backed The Apartment for Netflix, has since moved to the Sicilian island of Stromboli, according to a well-placed source who on Monday confirmed Italian press reports regarding both Servillo’s casting and the film’s shoot.
Fremantle did not respond to request for comment.
Described by Sorrentino in promotional materials as an “intimate and personal film,” “The Hand of God” marks Sorrentino’s return to making a film mainly set, and shot, in his native Naples, 20 years after his feature debut “One Man Up” in 2001, in which Servillo played a cocaine-addled club singer.
Servillo, a frequent fixture in Sorrentino’s work, has since performed in four other films by the Neapolitan director.
Production of Sorrentino’s new pic, which is produced by Fremantle-backed The Apartment for Netflix, has since moved to the Sicilian island of Stromboli, according to a well-placed source who on Monday confirmed Italian press reports regarding both Servillo’s casting and the film’s shoot.
Fremantle did not respond to request for comment.
Described by Sorrentino in promotional materials as an “intimate and personal film,” “The Hand of God” marks Sorrentino’s return to making a film mainly set, and shot, in his native Naples, 20 years after his feature debut “One Man Up” in 2001, in which Servillo played a cocaine-addled club singer.
Servillo, a frequent fixture in Sorrentino’s work, has since performed in four other films by the Neapolitan director.
- 9/14/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
With the Emmy Awards nominations set for Tuesday, it is a good time to back at a few of the greatest Emmy-winning and Emmy-nominated performances from some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
Ingrid Bergman, “The Turn of the Screw” (1959)
The Oscar-winning Swedish actress certainly ended the 1950s on a different note than she began the decade. After making her U.S. film debut opposite Leslie Howard in 1939’s “Intermezzo,” Bergman became one of the top Hollywood stars earning her first Oscar for 1944’s “Gaslight.” Married with a young daughter, she shocked the U.S. when she had an affair and became pregnant by famed Italian director Roberto Rossellini during the production of “Stromboli.” She was even denounced in Congress for her affair. The couple did marry, have three children including actress Isabella Rossellini and made several films together before they divorced in 1957. All was forgiven by 1956 when she won...
Ingrid Bergman, “The Turn of the Screw” (1959)
The Oscar-winning Swedish actress certainly ended the 1950s on a different note than she began the decade. After making her U.S. film debut opposite Leslie Howard in 1939’s “Intermezzo,” Bergman became one of the top Hollywood stars earning her first Oscar for 1944’s “Gaslight.” Married with a young daughter, she shocked the U.S. when she had an affair and became pregnant by famed Italian director Roberto Rossellini during the production of “Stromboli.” She was even denounced in Congress for her affair. The couple did marry, have three children including actress Isabella Rossellini and made several films together before they divorced in 1957. All was forgiven by 1956 when she won...
- 7/24/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The writer/director of The Love Witch talks about her favorite classic women’s pictures.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Love Witch (2016)
Baby Face (1933)
Stromboli (1950)
Europa ’51 (1951)
Fear (1951)
Duel In The Sun (1946)
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
Blonde Venus (1932)
Nora Prentiss (1947)
Woman On The Run (1950)
Wait Until Dark (1967)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Imitation of Life (1969)
Little Women (2019)
Emma (2020)
My Cousin Rachel (2017)
Sex and the City (2008)
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
The Reckless Moment (1949)
Sudden Fear (1952)
Torch Song (1953)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Other Notable Items
The Captain Trips virus in Stephen King’s novel The Stand (1978)
Marlene Dietrich
Mae West
Jennifer Jones
Joan Crawford
Joan Bennett
Gene Tierney
Barbara Stanwyck
The Hays Code
Cary Grant
Marilyn Monroe
Ingrid Bergman
Roberto Rossellini
The Academy Awards
Bette Davis
Jennifer Jones
Gregory Peck
Joseph Cotten
Travis Banton
Josef von Sternberg
Catherine the Great
The Criterion Collection
Kent Smith
Dan Duryea
Douglas Sirk
Jane Austen
Mildred Pierce TV miniseries...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Love Witch (2016)
Baby Face (1933)
Stromboli (1950)
Europa ’51 (1951)
Fear (1951)
Duel In The Sun (1946)
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
Blonde Venus (1932)
Nora Prentiss (1947)
Woman On The Run (1950)
Wait Until Dark (1967)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Imitation of Life (1969)
Little Women (2019)
Emma (2020)
My Cousin Rachel (2017)
Sex and the City (2008)
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
The Reckless Moment (1949)
Sudden Fear (1952)
Torch Song (1953)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Other Notable Items
The Captain Trips virus in Stephen King’s novel The Stand (1978)
Marlene Dietrich
Mae West
Jennifer Jones
Joan Crawford
Joan Bennett
Gene Tierney
Barbara Stanwyck
The Hays Code
Cary Grant
Marilyn Monroe
Ingrid Bergman
Roberto Rossellini
The Academy Awards
Bette Davis
Jennifer Jones
Gregory Peck
Joseph Cotten
Travis Banton
Josef von Sternberg
Catherine the Great
The Criterion Collection
Kent Smith
Dan Duryea
Douglas Sirk
Jane Austen
Mildred Pierce TV miniseries...
- 5/19/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
With his first short film, the animated “Yùl and the Snake,” Gabriel Harel won Europe’s Cartoon d’Or for the continent’s best animated short film, given at the 2016 Cartoon Forum in Toulouse. Now, Harel’s awaited sophomore effort, the animated “The Night of the Plastic Bags,” competes at UniFrance’s MyFrenchFilmFestival, and is available on a swathe of VOD platforms around the world. The short world-premiered at last year’s Cannes Festival, in Directors’ Fortnight.
Trained at Valence’s celebrated La Poudrière animation school in France, Harel delivers in his second short a dark story – with the rhythm of an ecological thriller – about 39-year-old Agathe, who is obsessed with having a child in a world conquered by plastic bags. As in “Yùl,” Harel has chosen to shoot in B&w with select objects — the devilish bags— in pop-out colors. “The Night” is produced by French Kazak Productions, behind Manele Labidi’s “Arab Blues,...
Trained at Valence’s celebrated La Poudrière animation school in France, Harel delivers in his second short a dark story – with the rhythm of an ecological thriller – about 39-year-old Agathe, who is obsessed with having a child in a world conquered by plastic bags. As in “Yùl,” Harel has chosen to shoot in B&w with select objects — the devilish bags— in pop-out colors. “The Night” is produced by French Kazak Productions, behind Manele Labidi’s “Arab Blues,...
- 1/18/2020
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
August 29 marks the 103rd anniversary of the birth of legendary film star Ingrid Bergman. Born in Stockholm, she was working in Swedish and German films during the 1930s, when one of her Swedish films, 1936’s “Intermezzo,” caught the eye of powerful Hollywood producer David O. Selznick. He announced that he planned to remake “Intermezzo” in English and would bring Bergman to Hollywood to star. The only problem was that Bergman didn’t speak English, but she turned out to be a fast learner, and the combination of her work ethic and her radiant beauty put Bergman well on her way to becoming an authentic movie star.
Not only did Bergman become an audience favorite, but her acting skills earned her the respect of moviegoers and Hollywood producers alike. In the course of her four-decade film career, Bergman was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three for “Gaslight,” “Anastasia” and “Murder on the Orient Express...
Not only did Bergman become an audience favorite, but her acting skills earned her the respect of moviegoers and Hollywood producers alike. In the course of her four-decade film career, Bergman was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three for “Gaslight,” “Anastasia” and “Murder on the Orient Express...
- 8/29/2018
- by Tom O'Brien and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Any list of the greatest foreign directors currently working today has to include Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The directors first rose to prominence in the mid 1990s with efforts like “The Promise” and “Rosetta,” and they’ve continued to excel in the 21st century with titles such as “The Kid With A Bike” and “Two Days One Night,” which earned Marion Cotillard a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
Read MoreThe Dardenne Brothers’ Next Film Will Be a Terrorism Drama
The directors will be back in U.S. theaters with the release of “The Unknown Girl” on September 8, which is a long time coming considering the film first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. While you continue to wait for their new movie, the brothers have provided their definitive list of 79 movies from the 20th century that you must see. La Cinetek published the list in full and is hosting many...
Read MoreThe Dardenne Brothers’ Next Film Will Be a Terrorism Drama
The directors will be back in U.S. theaters with the release of “The Unknown Girl” on September 8, which is a long time coming considering the film first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. While you continue to wait for their new movie, the brothers have provided their definitive list of 79 movies from the 20th century that you must see. La Cinetek published the list in full and is hosting many...
- 8/7/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The Video Essay is a joint project of Mubi and Filmadrid Festival Internacional de Cine. Film analysis and criticism found a completely new and innovative path with the arrival of the video essay, a relatively recent form that already has its own masters and is becoming increasingly popular. The limits of this discipline are constantly expanding; new essayists are finding innovative ways to study the history of cinema working with images. With this non-competitive section of the festival both Mubi and Filmadrid will offer the platform and visibility the video essay deserves. The seven selected works will be shown during the dates of Filmadrid (June 8 - 17, 2017) on Mubi’s cinema publication, the Notebook. Also there will be a free public screening of the selected works during the festival. The selection was made by the programmers of Mubi and Filmadrid.Telefoni NeriA video essay by Hannah LeißAs a reaction to the...
- 6/9/2017
- MUBI
NEWSBarry Jenkins' MoonlightThe New York Film Festival has announced its main slate, which among many of the year's better known titles includes new films by Barry Jenkins, Hong Sang-soo and Alison Maclean. The closing night film will be James Gray's The Lost City of Z.Recommended VIEWINGThe teaser for Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. We are notable fans of this too often derided filmmaker.Another future-set teaser: Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi flick Arrival, which is to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.A third teaser, this one for Woody Allen's series for Amazon, Crisis in Six Scenes.Aussie director John Hillcoat made one of the more under-appreciated big budget films this year, Triple 9, and now he returns to the director's seat for a video for Massive Attack, featuring Hope Sandoval and Cate Blanchett.Recommended READINGThe ShallowsIn a moment when any...
- 8/10/2016
- MUBI
Helena Bonham Carter & Cary Elwes star in Lady Jane (1986)On this day in history as it relates to the movies
1553 Lady Jane Grey takes the throne in England. Her reign is just nine days long and Helena Bonham Carter plays her in her feature film debut (filmed just before A Room With a View though it was released second)
1856 Nikola Tesla, famed inventor and futurist is born in the Austrian empire. He's later played by David Bowie in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige (2006) but isn't it strange that he has never received his own major biopic given his fame and eccentricity and pop culture relevances (bands named after him, characters based on him, etcetera)?
1871 Marcel Proust, French novelist is born.
1925 The "Monkey Trial" in which a man is accused of teaching evolution in science class, begins in Tennessee. It's later adapted into a famous play and the Stanley Kramer film...
1553 Lady Jane Grey takes the throne in England. Her reign is just nine days long and Helena Bonham Carter plays her in her feature film debut (filmed just before A Room With a View though it was released second)
1856 Nikola Tesla, famed inventor and futurist is born in the Austrian empire. He's later played by David Bowie in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige (2006) but isn't it strange that he has never received his own major biopic given his fame and eccentricity and pop culture relevances (bands named after him, characters based on him, etcetera)?
1871 Marcel Proust, French novelist is born.
1925 The "Monkey Trial" in which a man is accused of teaching evolution in science class, begins in Tennessee. It's later adapted into a famous play and the Stanley Kramer film...
- 7/10/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Stina Gardell, Pia Lindström, Stig Björkman with Anne-Katrin Titze Photo: Adrienne Halpern
Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (Jag Är Ingrid) opened in the Us at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on Friday with the director Stig Björkman and Pia Lindström joining me for a post screening discussion. Pia, Roberto Rossellini, Isabella Rossellini and Ingrid Rossellini appear in Stig's film to comment on their mother, whose life story had been fodder for the press. It is truly fascinating to catch the constantly moving movie star from different angles in her home movies. Letters and diary entries read by Alicia Vikander guide us through the decades from Sweden to Hollywood to Italy and Paris and London.
Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, Michael Curtiz' Casablanca, Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli, Leo McCarey's The Bells Of St. Mary's, and Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata are revealed to have special meaning. The memory of a distinctive Rossellini...
Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (Jag Är Ingrid) opened in the Us at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on Friday with the director Stig Björkman and Pia Lindström joining me for a post screening discussion. Pia, Roberto Rossellini, Isabella Rossellini and Ingrid Rossellini appear in Stig's film to comment on their mother, whose life story had been fodder for the press. It is truly fascinating to catch the constantly moving movie star from different angles in her home movies. Letters and diary entries read by Alicia Vikander guide us through the decades from Sweden to Hollywood to Italy and Paris and London.
Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, Michael Curtiz' Casablanca, Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli, Leo McCarey's The Bells Of St. Mary's, and Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata are revealed to have special meaning. The memory of a distinctive Rossellini...
- 11/16/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Chis Marker's Chat écoutant la musiqueThere are dog people and there are cat people, this we know, and there are even people who claim to be of both—though latent sympathies remain unspoken, like with a parent and which child is their favorite. With the Vienna Film Festival welcoming me with a tumbling collection of dog and cat short films spanning cinema's history—the Austrian Film Museum, an essential destination each year collaborating with the Viennale, is hosting a “a brief zoology of cinema” throughout the festivities—it is clear that filmmakers, too, have their preference. Silent cinema decidedly prefers the more easily trained and exhibited canine, with 1907’s surreal favorite Les chiens savants as a certain kind of cruel pinnacle. For the cats, Chris Marker, already the presiding figure over so much in 20th century art, I think we can easily claim is the cine-laureate. One need not know...
- 11/8/2015
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
Ingrid Bergman ca. early 1940s. Ingrid Bergman movies on TCM: From the artificial 'Gaslight' to the magisterial 'Autumn Sonata' Two days ago, Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” series highlighted the film career of Greta Garbo. Today, Aug. 28, '15, TCM is focusing on another Swedish actress, three-time Academy Award winner Ingrid Bergman, who would have turned 100 years old tomorrow. TCM has likely aired most of Bergman's Hollywood films, and at least some of her early Swedish work. As a result, today's only premiere is Fielder Cook's little-seen and little-remembered From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973), about two bored kids (Sally Prager, Johnny Doran) who run away from home and end up at New York City's Metropolitan Museum. Obviously, this is no A Night at the Museum – and that's a major plus. Bergman plays an elderly art lover who takes an interest in them; her...
- 8/28/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Rialto Pictures has acquired Us and Canadian theatrical rights to director Stig Björkman's "Ingrid Bergman - In Her Own Words," a feature-length documentary tribute to the icon. The documentary has also been selected for this fall’s New York Film Festival and is set to open at New York’s Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on November 13 and L.A.’s Nuart on December 11. This could be good fodder for the Academy to honor one of its own. "In Her Own Words" met warm reception out of this year's Cannes Classics program, where it received a special Golden Eye for Best Documentary. Melding home movies, rare personal effects and more, the documentary charts the life and career of the three-time Oscar winner, including her notorious love affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini, whom she married and with whom she moved to the Italian arthouse, collaborating on "Stromboli" and "Voyage to Italy" and more.
- 8/27/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Fear
Written by Sergio Amidei and Franz von Treuberg
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
German/Italy, 1954
The moral furor that erupted when Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman began their much-condemned affair in 1950 did not, thankfully, hinder their productivity or their creativity. Despite the outrage, the two embarked on a cinematic collaboration that produced a series of excellent films in a relatively short period of time. While their marriage lasted until 1957, their final feature together was Fear (1954), out now on a new DVD from the British Film Institute. Though the film’s home video release is a welcome one—any Rossellini film made available is a good thing—the film itself pales in comparison to their earlier efforts.
Just as he had on many of his brother’s films, Renzo Rossellini provides the score, which here is instantly redolent with the sounds of a thriller. The opening likewise looks as if it’s a standard film noir,...
Written by Sergio Amidei and Franz von Treuberg
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
German/Italy, 1954
The moral furor that erupted when Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman began their much-condemned affair in 1950 did not, thankfully, hinder their productivity or their creativity. Despite the outrage, the two embarked on a cinematic collaboration that produced a series of excellent films in a relatively short period of time. While their marriage lasted until 1957, their final feature together was Fear (1954), out now on a new DVD from the British Film Institute. Though the film’s home video release is a welcome one—any Rossellini film made available is a good thing—the film itself pales in comparison to their earlier efforts.
Just as he had on many of his brother’s films, Renzo Rossellini provides the score, which here is instantly redolent with the sounds of a thriller. The opening likewise looks as if it’s a standard film noir,...
- 8/25/2015
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
★★★★☆ On his 40th birthday the Italian director Roberto Rossellini received a surprise gift. It was a letter from the Hollywood star Ingrid Bergman: enchanted by his Rome, Open City (1945), she offered to come and make a film with him. She signed off the letter with the only Italian she then knew - "ti amo". Thus began a five feature film partnership and a scandalous love affair that resulted in the break-up of Bergman's marriage and a child born out of wedlock. This period between 1949 and 1955 saw the release of the three films in this collection: Stromboli (1950), Journey to Italy (1954) and Fear (1954), rereleased this week on Blu-ray by the BFI.
- 7/28/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
The stench of Grace Kelly biopic “Grace Of Monaco,” which opened Cannes in 2014 before ending up as a literal Lifetime Movie, was hard to wash off the Croisette. This year, another film focusing on an iconic female actress (and Hitchcock lead) of classic Hollywood proved far more successful, with the screening in the Cannes Classics sidebar of “Ingrid Bergman In Her Own Words.” A documentary, rather than a biopic (thank Christ) “In Her Own Words,” from filmmaker Stig Björkman, is a Swedish film that looks to do exactly what it sets out to in the title: to tell the story of the star of “Casablanca,” “Notorious” and “Stromboli,” among others. Björkman does so through Bergman's own personal diary, along with home movie footage and personal photographs. The film was made with the blessing of her family, with daughter Isabella Rossellini being the one who initially suggested making the film. As the film’s trailer,...
- 7/17/2015
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Cobie Smulders, The Lego Movie voice of Wonder Woman and The Avengers' Maria Hill, on the Oceana blue carpet Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Swimmingly integrating Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli and Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid with Livia Firth's (aka Livia Giuggioli) Green Carpet Challenge, or blue, I had a conversation with Oceana Media Advisory Board member, Cobie Smulders, the host of the First Annual Nautica Oceana City & Sea Party.
The evening before, at BAMcinemaFest, Cobie presented the premiere of Kris Swanberg's Unexpected in which she stars with Gail Bean, Anders Holm and Elizabeth McGovern.
Oceana Media Advisory Board member, Cobie Smulders: "I've always wanted to be under the sea." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Oceana supporters include Diane Lane, January Jones, Morgan Freeman, Mary Steenburgen, Jeff Goldblum, Pierce Brosnan, James Cameron, Harrison Ford, Barbra Streisand, Sting, Josh Lucas, Jason Priestley,...
Swimmingly integrating Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli and Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid with Livia Firth's (aka Livia Giuggioli) Green Carpet Challenge, or blue, I had a conversation with Oceana Media Advisory Board member, Cobie Smulders, the host of the First Annual Nautica Oceana City & Sea Party.
The evening before, at BAMcinemaFest, Cobie presented the premiere of Kris Swanberg's Unexpected in which she stars with Gail Bean, Anders Holm and Elizabeth McGovern.
Oceana Media Advisory Board member, Cobie Smulders: "I've always wanted to be under the sea." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Oceana supporters include Diane Lane, January Jones, Morgan Freeman, Mary Steenburgen, Jeff Goldblum, Pierce Brosnan, James Cameron, Harrison Ford, Barbra Streisand, Sting, Josh Lucas, Jason Priestley,...
- 6/25/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Sometimes (Ok, frequently) the Academy drops the ball. Cary Grant gave his fair share of pantheon performances ("His Girl Friday," "Bringing Up Baby," "The Awful Truth"), none of which garnered him a nomination for Best Actor (he was instead honored for "Penny Serenade" and "None But the Lonely Heart"). Ingrid Bergman's work in "Casablanca," "Notorious" and "Stromboli" was similarly ignored. This year's Oscar candidates are no different, and with that in mind, here are the 15 best performances from the current acting nominees that weren't nominated for an Oscar. Patricia Arquette, "Lost Highway" (1997)"Lost Highway" is sometimes overshadowed by David Lynch's later masterpiece "Mulholland Drive," but it's a rewarding film in its own right, a nightmarish look at repressed guilt, barely-hidden jealousy and self-deception. Arquette (giving a canny double-performance as...
- 2/7/2015
- by Max O'Connell
- Indiewire
What do film directors Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Agnès Varda, Robert Wise, Fred Zinnemann, Luis Buñuel, Alain Resnais, Roman Polanski, Sidney Lumet, Robert Altman, Louis Malle, Richard Linklater, Tom Tykwer, Alexander Sokurov, Paul Greengrass, Song Il-Gon, Alfonso Cuarón, and Alejandro Iñárritu have in common? More specifically, what type of film have they directed, setting them apart from fewer than 50 of their filmmaking peers? Sorry, “comedy” or “drama” isn’t right. If you’ve looked at this article’s headline, you’ve probably already guessed that the answer is that they’ve all made “real-time” films, or films that seemed to take about as long as their running time.
The real-time film has long been a sub-genre without much critical attention, but the time of the real-time film has come. Cuarón’s Gravity (2013), which was shot and edited so as to seem like a real-time film, floated away with the most 2014 Oscars,...
The real-time film has long been a sub-genre without much critical attention, but the time of the real-time film has come. Cuarón’s Gravity (2013), which was shot and edited so as to seem like a real-time film, floated away with the most 2014 Oscars,...
- 10/18/2014
- by Daniel Smith-Rowsey
- SoundOnSight
Walking to the castle in Unrelated: "Anna wears that looks like a maternity dress. It belonged to Kathryn Worth's mother."
In part 2 of our conversation Joanna Hogg and I discuss the influence of Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli on Archipelago, how Edith Head would not have come upon Tom Hiddleston and Kathryn Worth's capes in Unrelated, the many roles Viv Albertine and Liam Gillick have in Exhibition, A Nos Amours starting with Chantal Akerman, Catherine Deneuve in Jacques Demy's Donkey Skin, and games people play.
Anne-Katrin Titze: Unrelated, Archipelago, Exhibition, each have totally distinct concepts about costumes.
Joanna Hogg: It's so much about the different stories. With Unrelated, there is a dress that Anna wears that looks like a maternity dress. It belonged to Kathryn Worth's mother. Stéphane [Collonge] and myself were looking at what Kathryn has of her own clothes that might fit into the story.
In part 2 of our conversation Joanna Hogg and I discuss the influence of Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli on Archipelago, how Edith Head would not have come upon Tom Hiddleston and Kathryn Worth's capes in Unrelated, the many roles Viv Albertine and Liam Gillick have in Exhibition, A Nos Amours starting with Chantal Akerman, Catherine Deneuve in Jacques Demy's Donkey Skin, and games people play.
Anne-Katrin Titze: Unrelated, Archipelago, Exhibition, each have totally distinct concepts about costumes.
Joanna Hogg: It's so much about the different stories. With Unrelated, there is a dress that Anna wears that looks like a maternity dress. It belonged to Kathryn Worth's mother. Stéphane [Collonge] and myself were looking at what Kathryn has of her own clothes that might fit into the story.
- 6/22/2014
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Isabella Rossellini and Salman Rushdie with Antonio Monda. Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The 2014 Le Conversazioni literary festival celebrating the relationship between art, architecture, literature, and film took place at the Morgan Library & Museum on Thursday, May 8 in New York. Artistic Director of Le Conversazioni, Antonio Monda, discussed with Isabella Rossellini and Salman Rushdie films that influenced their lives and work.
Isabella Rossellini chose Charlie Chaplin's The Circus (1928), Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli (1950), A Trip To The Moon (Voyage Dans La Lune,1902) by Georges Méliès and Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959).
Salman Rushdie picked François Truffaut's Jules Et Jim (1962) and three of the most influential science fiction movies from the second half of the 20th century, two of them directed by Stanley Kubrick. Dr Strangelove (1964) and his 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). His fourth selection was Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982).
Dancing In The Dark from The Bandwagon
Eight clips,...
The 2014 Le Conversazioni literary festival celebrating the relationship between art, architecture, literature, and film took place at the Morgan Library & Museum on Thursday, May 8 in New York. Artistic Director of Le Conversazioni, Antonio Monda, discussed with Isabella Rossellini and Salman Rushdie films that influenced their lives and work.
Isabella Rossellini chose Charlie Chaplin's The Circus (1928), Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli (1950), A Trip To The Moon (Voyage Dans La Lune,1902) by Georges Méliès and Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959).
Salman Rushdie picked François Truffaut's Jules Et Jim (1962) and three of the most influential science fiction movies from the second half of the 20th century, two of them directed by Stanley Kubrick. Dr Strangelove (1964) and his 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). His fourth selection was Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982).
Dancing In The Dark from The Bandwagon
Eight clips,...
- 5/10/2014
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Moon, the opposite of the sun, hovers over us by night, the opposite of day.
In F.W. Murnau’s Tabu (1931), Reri, the sacred maiden of the small island of Bora Bora, writes this to her lover Matahi:
And indeed, when Matahi chases after her, the moon spreads its path on the sea.
He runs and swims after her, moving faster than a normal human being, defying the laws of gravity.
Miraculously, he catches up to the boat.
Thus, he must die, sinking back into a void…
…while ghost ships linger on in the distance…
…carrying another hopeless romantic, and a moving corpse—A second Nosferatu.
The moon is absent in Murnau’s earlier film, made nearly ten years before Tabu, but it is in the one he made nearly five years after Nosferatu, when George O’Brien leaves his wife for a midnight rendezvous with another woman.
And indeed,...
In F.W. Murnau’s Tabu (1931), Reri, the sacred maiden of the small island of Bora Bora, writes this to her lover Matahi:
And indeed, when Matahi chases after her, the moon spreads its path on the sea.
He runs and swims after her, moving faster than a normal human being, defying the laws of gravity.
Miraculously, he catches up to the boat.
Thus, he must die, sinking back into a void…
…while ghost ships linger on in the distance…
…carrying another hopeless romantic, and a moving corpse—A second Nosferatu.
The moon is absent in Murnau’s earlier film, made nearly ten years before Tabu, but it is in the one he made nearly five years after Nosferatu, when George O’Brien leaves his wife for a midnight rendezvous with another woman.
And indeed,...
- 3/17/2014
- by Neil Bahadur
- MUBI
‘Rome, Open City’ movie returns: 4K digital restoration of Roberto Rossellini masterpiece at London’s BFI Southbank (photo: Anna Magnani in ‘Rome, Open City’) A restored digital print of Roberto Rossellini’s best-known film, Rome, Open City / Roma, città aperta is currently enjoying an extended run — until April 5, 2014 — at London’s BFI Southbank. Inspired by real-life events and made right after the liberation of Rome, Rome, Open City stars Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero, and Maria Michi. Though not a local box office hit at the time of its release, Rome, Open City, shot with a minuscule budget in the ravaged streets of Rome, became one of the most influential movies ever made. Its raw look, "documentary" feel, and scenes shot on location (though studio sets were used as well) inspired not only other Italian directors of the post-war years, but filmmakers everywhere, including those in Hollywood (e.g.
- 3/11/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ingrid Bergman’s romance with Italian filmmaker Robert Rossellini was always destined to be a tabloid sensation. Both were international stars in their own way, both were married to other people, and the suddenness of their relationship – on the set of Stromboli, their first film together – coupled with Bergman’s subsequent pregnancy (their son was born before Stromboli even came out), made for a story too compelling for any self-respecting (or self-loathing) entertainment journalist to ignore. Yet unlike most such things, that nugget of intrigue has stuck with them even amongst the most ardent cinephiles today. It’s a facet impossible to ignore, and seems entrenched in analyzing their legend and work.
Why? Well, the reason is fairly simple: she lost it at the movies. It was a screening of Rossellini’s astounding Rome, Open City and Paisan that so moved her to contact him, expressing her admiration and hoping they could eventually work together.
Why? Well, the reason is fairly simple: she lost it at the movies. It was a screening of Rossellini’s astounding Rome, Open City and Paisan that so moved her to contact him, expressing her admiration and hoping they could eventually work together.
- 1/24/2014
- by Scott Nye
- SoundOnSight
News.
Michel Brault, one of the great Canadian filmmakers, passed away at the age of 85. Our community has started a couple of threads to commemorate the acclaimed artist in our forum. The Mill Valley Film Festival kicks off tomorrow and runs until the 13th. We've written on a few of the highlights: 12 Years a Slave; Gloria; Like Father, Like Son; The Missing Picture; and The Wind Rises. Also make sure to check out the digital restoration of My Neighbor Totoro (one of this author's all-time favorites). Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street currently clocks in at three hours, much to the chagrin of Warner Bros. Its slated November release date is reportedly unlikely to hold as the distributors are asking the filmmaker to make some cuts. Rumors say Scorsese may not bend so easily, making a 2013 release uncertain at this point. Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof was detained upon...
Michel Brault, one of the great Canadian filmmakers, passed away at the age of 85. Our community has started a couple of threads to commemorate the acclaimed artist in our forum. The Mill Valley Film Festival kicks off tomorrow and runs until the 13th. We've written on a few of the highlights: 12 Years a Slave; Gloria; Like Father, Like Son; The Missing Picture; and The Wind Rises. Also make sure to check out the digital restoration of My Neighbor Totoro (one of this author's all-time favorites). Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street currently clocks in at three hours, much to the chagrin of Warner Bros. Its slated November release date is reportedly unlikely to hold as the distributors are asking the filmmaker to make some cuts. Rumors say Scorsese may not bend so easily, making a 2013 release uncertain at this point. Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof was detained upon...
- 10/2/2013
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
In 1947, Ingrid Bergman dashed off an admiring letter to Italian director Roberto Rossellini. Inspired by his neorealist classics "Rome, Open City" and "Paisan," she suggested he might use her multilingual talents. "I am ready to come and make a film with you," she wrote, as though it were destined all along. To watch the fruit of their collaboration is to believe it was. Together, Bergman and Rossellini produced a tabloid affair, a marriage, three children, and a trilogy of boldly emotional, quasi-experimental films about love among the ruins. "Stromboli" (1950) "Europe '51" (1952), and "Voyage to Italy" (1954), available today in a lushly appointed boxed set from the Criterion Collection, bear the fingerprints of disaster: displaced persons' camps, memories of air raid sirens, abandoned palazzos; volcanic eruptions, catacombs, skulls; collapsing marriages, dead children, communal scorn. "For some time I matured this idea of treating, after the war dramas, this postwar tragedy,"...
- 9/25/2013
- by Matt Brennan
- Thompson on Hollywood
While their scandalous love affair and subsequent marriage eclipsed the five collaborative films they made together, this month Criterion brings Roberto Rossellini’s Ingrid Bergman headlining Voyage trilogy to the collection, comprised of their first three ventures, Stromboli (1950), Europe ’51 (1952) and Journey To Italy (1954). None of these titles would be deemed a commercial success, even while several notable critics and filmmakers would champion them, such as Francois Truffaut and Eric Rohmer.
As their marriage crumbled after three children (one of whom would go on to become famed actress and model Isabella Rossellini), Bergman would eventually overcome the notoriety that had banished her from Hollywood to win two more Academy Awards, while Rossellini would go on to make other acclaimed titles, though the failures of his work with Bergman made it difficult to secure funding. The specter of their scandal (they were both married to others at the time of their affair...
As their marriage crumbled after three children (one of whom would go on to become famed actress and model Isabella Rossellini), Bergman would eventually overcome the notoriety that had banished her from Hollywood to win two more Academy Awards, while Rossellini would go on to make other acclaimed titles, though the failures of his work with Bergman made it difficult to secure funding. The specter of their scandal (they were both married to others at the time of their affair...
- 9/24/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Cinephiles the world 'round are no doubt familiar with the mission of The Criterion Collection to preserve culturally significant classic and modern films, and so each month's release of 5 such films on Blu-ray offers movie-lovers a chance to add some of history's most enduring films to their collection. This September, The Criterion Collection has a number of recognizable titles debuting in HD, including the beloved La Cage Aux Folles, John Le Carre's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, the singular collaboration between Ingmar Bergman and Ingrid Bergman Autumn Sonata, Richard Linklater's Austin, Texas tribute Slacker, and a collection of 3 films by Roberto Rossellini starring Ingrid Bergman (Stromboli, Journey to Italy, Europe '51). For details on all of the above and the custom made extras Criterion commissioned for them, read on.
Read more...
Read more...
- 8/21/2013
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
Riffing on Terek Puckett’s terrific list of director/actor collaborations, I wanted to look at some of those equally impressive leading ladies who served as muses for their directors. I strived to look for collaborations that may not have been as obviously canonical, but whose effects on cinema were no less compelling. Categorizing a film’s lead is potentially tricky, but one of the criteria I always use is Anthony Hopkins’s performance in Silence of the Lambs, a film in which he is considered a lead but appears only briefly; his character is an integral part of the story.
The criteria for this article is as follows: The director & actor team must have worked together at least 3 times with the actor in a major role in each feature film, resulting in a minimum of 2 must-see films.
One of the primary trends for the frequency of collaboration is the...
The criteria for this article is as follows: The director & actor team must have worked together at least 3 times with the actor in a major role in each feature film, resulting in a minimum of 2 must-see films.
One of the primary trends for the frequency of collaboration is the...
- 7/24/2013
- by John Oursler
- SoundOnSight
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 24, 2013
Price: DVD $79.95, Blu-ray $79.95
Studio: Criterion
George Sanders and Ingrid Bergman's marriage falls apart in Roberto Rossellini's Journey to Italy.
In the late 1940s, the incandescent Hollywood star Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca ) found herself so moved by the revolutionary Neorealist films of Roberto Rossellini (Open City) that she sent the director a letter, introducing herself and offering her talents. The resulting collaboration produced a series of films that are works of both sociopolitical concern and metaphysical melodrama, each starring Bergman as a woman experiencing physical dislocation and psychic torment in postwar Italy. It also famously led to a scandalous affair and eventual marriage between filmmaker and star, and the focus on their personal lives in the press unfortunately overshadowed the extraordinary films they made together.
Stromboli, Europe ’51, and Journey to Italy are intensely personal portraits that reveal the director at his most emotional and the...
Price: DVD $79.95, Blu-ray $79.95
Studio: Criterion
George Sanders and Ingrid Bergman's marriage falls apart in Roberto Rossellini's Journey to Italy.
In the late 1940s, the incandescent Hollywood star Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca ) found herself so moved by the revolutionary Neorealist films of Roberto Rossellini (Open City) that she sent the director a letter, introducing herself and offering her talents. The resulting collaboration produced a series of films that are works of both sociopolitical concern and metaphysical melodrama, each starring Bergman as a woman experiencing physical dislocation and psychic torment in postwar Italy. It also famously led to a scandalous affair and eventual marriage between filmmaker and star, and the focus on their personal lives in the press unfortunately overshadowed the extraordinary films they made together.
Stromboli, Europe ’51, and Journey to Italy are intensely personal portraits that reveal the director at his most emotional and the...
- 6/24/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
For September, the theme of the Criterion Collection's slate seems to be actor Ingrid Bergman. Criterion will introduce the deluxe box set "3 Films by Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman," a trio of intensely dramatic collaborations between the game-changing Italian director and one of Hollywood's greatest stars, who would later become his wife. The much-anticipated release features "Stromboli," "Europe '51," and "Journey to Italy": films that have never been available on DVD or Blu-ray in the Us. They will soon be available with the trademark array of exciting extras. Continuing the Bergman streak is the release of "Autumn Sonata," the only film Bergman ever made with director Ingmar Bergman, now on DVD and Blu-ray. Rounding out the crop of DVD and Blu-ray releases is "La Cage aux Folles," the groundbreaking comedy that was ahead of its time, telling the story of a gay couple who are the manager and star...
- 6/18/2013
- by Madeline Raynor
- Indiewire
It’s that time of year again, where weekend after weekend brings more cities being destroyed in louder and louder fashion on the big screen. But fret not, Criterion has just the sustenance you need to survive. The famed distribution label has released their schedule for September and it includes some new additions and a few reissues. On the new front is a set of three films by Italian neorealist Roberto Rossellini that all star Ingrid Bergman. Included in the set are “Stromboli,” “Europe ‘51” and “Journey To Italy.” All three films of course will feature extensive bonus features including a short film Rossellini completed with Bergman between “Stromboli” and “Europe ‘51” called “The Chicken.” Also new to the Criterion Collection is the 1978 French comedy, “La Cage Aux Folles.” It’s perhaps most famous at this point for spawning both a Broadway musical and the Mike Nichols-helmed 1996 remake “The Birdcage.” Don...
- 6/18/2013
- by Cain Rodriguez
- The Playlist
Roberto Rossellini's half-improvised neo-realist masterpiece uses the ruins of Pompeii as an unforgettable metaphor for a marriage
In terms of cinema history, Roberto Rossellini's Journey To Italy (1954) is one of the most important films you've never seen. The third part of an informal trilogy of Italian movies starring his wife Ingrid Bergman – the others are Stromboli (1950) and Europa 51 (1952) – it follows an English couple (Bergman and George Sanders) visiting Naples to sell off an inherited villa, as their unfamiliar and enforced intimacy starts eating away at the fabric of their union. As he idles with other expats and their marriage proves a transient, temporary thing, she immerses herself in the ruins around Pompeii and Herculaneum, all the while feeling rebuked and chastened by the ancient permanence of everything around her.
Rossellini, the grand old man of Italian neo-realism, is the only film-maker of 1945 to hold true to its tenets throughout his creative life.
In terms of cinema history, Roberto Rossellini's Journey To Italy (1954) is one of the most important films you've never seen. The third part of an informal trilogy of Italian movies starring his wife Ingrid Bergman – the others are Stromboli (1950) and Europa 51 (1952) – it follows an English couple (Bergman and George Sanders) visiting Naples to sell off an inherited villa, as their unfamiliar and enforced intimacy starts eating away at the fabric of their union. As he idles with other expats and their marriage proves a transient, temporary thing, she immerses herself in the ruins around Pompeii and Herculaneum, all the while feeling rebuked and chastened by the ancient permanence of everything around her.
Rossellini, the grand old man of Italian neo-realism, is the only film-maker of 1945 to hold true to its tenets throughout his creative life.
- 5/6/2013
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
This Berlin flew by! A good overview is that of Screen Daily and if we're lucky, you can read it here without subscribing. My own activities flowed from two sources:
1) Education: I taught and led tours of the market for Berlinale's Talent Campus Meet the Experts, for Deutsche Welle Akademie Film Festival Workshop, and for Ina Sup, a TV, film and new media school based in France and linked to the French National Audiovisual Institute (Ina). This is the most rewarding work, seeing what talent is coming up in our world, seeing ideas take hold as the students learn about the market.
2) Our Consulting: Another pillar of our company, aside from blogging and professional education, is strategic planning with filmmakers. This Berlinale was very intense and very energizing for my partner Peter Belsito and me, with Beyond the Moonwalk having found a berth for international sales representation with Steve Arroyave's Arrow Entertainment and a U.S. distribution commitment, and more actively involving, with Donna Deitch's The Catcher, where a series of meetings with top German and Canadian producers and sales agents gave the project the momentum of a race horse bound for first place!
What follows are my impressions of various other Berlin events as they passed by -- ever so quickly -- but still with enough eye-catching power to capture my attention in the first place.
I was happy to see Jeff Lipsky and Adopt Films' co-managing executive Tim Grady cleaning up with 3 acquisitions; no time to waste anymore as the third Bingham Ray memorial pointed out to those who have the mind to realize the message. Sister (L'enfant d'en haut) by Ursula Maier (Isa: Memento, Swiss rights with FilmCoopi), I hear is A+, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) (Isa: Rai Trade) won the Golden Bear, and Chris Petzold's Barbara, all in Competition.
American indie works-in-progress have been granted a second chance to screen for European indie distributors (EuropaDistribution) at the upcoming Paris Film Festival in June. I have been invited to be on the jury of "U.S. in Progress" and am thrilled at the prospect. I was honored to have been invited to be on the jury in Wroclaw at the American Film Festival in November as well, for the first edition of this chance for U.S. filmmakers to win post-production and cash prizes. This is where the film Now, Forager was picked up by fledgling international sales agent, the only international sales agent in Poland, New Europe Sales founded by Jan Naszewski [jnaszewski At gmail.com] and Anja Sosic [anja At NewEuropeFilmSales.com]. The film went on to screen at Rotterdam Film Festival. Even hotter news will be forthcoming from Moma and The New York Film Society's New Directors/ New Films about one of the films at the Aff's "U.S. in Progress". If you missed it in Poland you will be able to see it in New York this April!
I was lucky to see two films during the market and after the market closed, this last Saturday and Sunday, when I caught some more films I was unable to see earlier due to my "real" work. Of the films I saw here in Berlin, here are my unique :) comments for what they're worth.
Children of Srikandi (Panorama) is a very personal account by a female filmmaker collective in Indonesia on what it means to be a lesbian in their society. The sweet intimacy of the film overrides its non-professional veneer (the "filmmakers" were all non-professionals). In fact, this could serve as a template for other non-professionals who want to tell their stories. Schools come to mind as possible candidates for this sort of filmmaking, as does my own pet project, The Literacy Project. The Indonesian contingent here in Berlin was interesting and sociable as they met their audience and fans. They were hosted by Berlin based producers Laura Coppens who is a doctorate student in ethnological studies in Zurich and Angelika Levi, doc filmmaker (My Life, Part 2 about growing up Jewish in Berlin).
Bergman & Magnani: The War of the Volcanos. This invitation-only work in progress with Wide House uses a unique way to show the emotion filled and the biggest jet-set love scandal of all times, the story of Roberto Rossellini, Anna Magnani and Ingrid Bergman as Rosellini and the volcanic Anna Magnani ended their relationship after making Volcano (1950) and the married Ingrid Bergman and Rossellini began theirs with the filming of Stromboli (1950), the name of the second volcano on this Aeolian Island which has been in almost continuous eruption for 2,000 years. The visuals of their stories are illustrated entirely with the scenes from movies starring them as they enact the real life emotions and the commentary of the doc. I am most interested to see how well this technique succeeds.
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die (Isa: Rai Trade) is a moving illustration of the transformative power of art as hardened criminals in an Italian prison rehearse and perform Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. The the 80 + year old Brothers Taviani deserve recognition for their artistic excellence. I can't argue with Mike Leigh and the jury's judgement except that on my emotional meter, Rebelle (War Witch) was the real winner.
Rebelle (War Witch) by Kim Nguyen (Isa: Films Distribution) should have won the Golden Bear. The Silver Bear for Best Actress was awarded to Rachel Mwanza, but this film is so deeply moving on the most primal levels, maintaining its African roots while touching our most sensitive emotions of parents, love, rape, pregnancy and infants as they are experienced by a female child soldier from ages 12 to 14. It should also win Best Foreign Language Film in next year's Academy Awards. Produced by the industry vets Marie-Claude Poulin and Pierre Even, it is yet another feather in the cap of the the Canadian film industry.
Dieter Kosslick observed that with 15 Competition titles confirmed at the time Screen International interviewed him, “both thematically and geographically, we have many films coming this year from Asia, and particularly China and Indonesia. There is also an interesting focus on France this year, beginning with the opening film Farewell My Queen (Les adieux a la reine) (Isa: Elle Driver) and going through all of the festival’s sections. Moreover, we have two French jury members [Francois Ozon and Charlotte Gainsbourg] in the International Jury.“ Eight titles selected to date have German majority or minority participation, so German filmmakers and (co-)producers will again enjoy a record presence in the Competition on a par with 2011’s tally of eight films involving German directors or German production partners." He also notes Competition films' trending toward "times of upheaval and new departures... with many films coming from Africa and Arab countries". My observation of the 23 Competition films finally selected is that the nostalgic look back at European aristocracy and top social tiers (A Royal Affair, Bel Ami, Farewell My Queen) and its mores stands in stark contrast to today's upheavals of families and children (Childish Games, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Postcards from the Zoo, Just the Wind, Mercy, Shadow Dancer, Sister, Rebelle, Home for the Weekend, Jayne Mansfield's Car, Coming Home). Seven other films continue the theme of social upheavals: Tey - which deal with childhood memories of Senegal experienced by an American, Captive about Phillipine hostages, Barbara an Eastern German looking to move to the West, Caesar Must Die about prisoners finding art in their sequestered lives, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate about upheavel during the Ming Dynasty, White Deer Plain about upheavel towards the end of Imperial China, The Flowers of War about the upheavel of China by the Japanese in World War II. The exceptions, Tabu and Meteora, deal with love, the Saving Grace.
Two major disappointments were Steven Soderberg's Haywire (Isa: Mandate) and Stephen Elliott's Cherry. Both about women, they left me puzzled with what the plot was about. Pretty, well done and negligible.
This Berlin Diary Part 2 will continue after I work on my new and soon-to-be launched website! I have spent an entire day on this blog and I still have much more to write!
1) Education: I taught and led tours of the market for Berlinale's Talent Campus Meet the Experts, for Deutsche Welle Akademie Film Festival Workshop, and for Ina Sup, a TV, film and new media school based in France and linked to the French National Audiovisual Institute (Ina). This is the most rewarding work, seeing what talent is coming up in our world, seeing ideas take hold as the students learn about the market.
2) Our Consulting: Another pillar of our company, aside from blogging and professional education, is strategic planning with filmmakers. This Berlinale was very intense and very energizing for my partner Peter Belsito and me, with Beyond the Moonwalk having found a berth for international sales representation with Steve Arroyave's Arrow Entertainment and a U.S. distribution commitment, and more actively involving, with Donna Deitch's The Catcher, where a series of meetings with top German and Canadian producers and sales agents gave the project the momentum of a race horse bound for first place!
What follows are my impressions of various other Berlin events as they passed by -- ever so quickly -- but still with enough eye-catching power to capture my attention in the first place.
I was happy to see Jeff Lipsky and Adopt Films' co-managing executive Tim Grady cleaning up with 3 acquisitions; no time to waste anymore as the third Bingham Ray memorial pointed out to those who have the mind to realize the message. Sister (L'enfant d'en haut) by Ursula Maier (Isa: Memento, Swiss rights with FilmCoopi), I hear is A+, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) (Isa: Rai Trade) won the Golden Bear, and Chris Petzold's Barbara, all in Competition.
American indie works-in-progress have been granted a second chance to screen for European indie distributors (EuropaDistribution) at the upcoming Paris Film Festival in June. I have been invited to be on the jury of "U.S. in Progress" and am thrilled at the prospect. I was honored to have been invited to be on the jury in Wroclaw at the American Film Festival in November as well, for the first edition of this chance for U.S. filmmakers to win post-production and cash prizes. This is where the film Now, Forager was picked up by fledgling international sales agent, the only international sales agent in Poland, New Europe Sales founded by Jan Naszewski [jnaszewski At gmail.com] and Anja Sosic [anja At NewEuropeFilmSales.com]. The film went on to screen at Rotterdam Film Festival. Even hotter news will be forthcoming from Moma and The New York Film Society's New Directors/ New Films about one of the films at the Aff's "U.S. in Progress". If you missed it in Poland you will be able to see it in New York this April!
I was lucky to see two films during the market and after the market closed, this last Saturday and Sunday, when I caught some more films I was unable to see earlier due to my "real" work. Of the films I saw here in Berlin, here are my unique :) comments for what they're worth.
Children of Srikandi (Panorama) is a very personal account by a female filmmaker collective in Indonesia on what it means to be a lesbian in their society. The sweet intimacy of the film overrides its non-professional veneer (the "filmmakers" were all non-professionals). In fact, this could serve as a template for other non-professionals who want to tell their stories. Schools come to mind as possible candidates for this sort of filmmaking, as does my own pet project, The Literacy Project. The Indonesian contingent here in Berlin was interesting and sociable as they met their audience and fans. They were hosted by Berlin based producers Laura Coppens who is a doctorate student in ethnological studies in Zurich and Angelika Levi, doc filmmaker (My Life, Part 2 about growing up Jewish in Berlin).
Bergman & Magnani: The War of the Volcanos. This invitation-only work in progress with Wide House uses a unique way to show the emotion filled and the biggest jet-set love scandal of all times, the story of Roberto Rossellini, Anna Magnani and Ingrid Bergman as Rosellini and the volcanic Anna Magnani ended their relationship after making Volcano (1950) and the married Ingrid Bergman and Rossellini began theirs with the filming of Stromboli (1950), the name of the second volcano on this Aeolian Island which has been in almost continuous eruption for 2,000 years. The visuals of their stories are illustrated entirely with the scenes from movies starring them as they enact the real life emotions and the commentary of the doc. I am most interested to see how well this technique succeeds.
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die (Isa: Rai Trade) is a moving illustration of the transformative power of art as hardened criminals in an Italian prison rehearse and perform Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. The the 80 + year old Brothers Taviani deserve recognition for their artistic excellence. I can't argue with Mike Leigh and the jury's judgement except that on my emotional meter, Rebelle (War Witch) was the real winner.
Rebelle (War Witch) by Kim Nguyen (Isa: Films Distribution) should have won the Golden Bear. The Silver Bear for Best Actress was awarded to Rachel Mwanza, but this film is so deeply moving on the most primal levels, maintaining its African roots while touching our most sensitive emotions of parents, love, rape, pregnancy and infants as they are experienced by a female child soldier from ages 12 to 14. It should also win Best Foreign Language Film in next year's Academy Awards. Produced by the industry vets Marie-Claude Poulin and Pierre Even, it is yet another feather in the cap of the the Canadian film industry.
Dieter Kosslick observed that with 15 Competition titles confirmed at the time Screen International interviewed him, “both thematically and geographically, we have many films coming this year from Asia, and particularly China and Indonesia. There is also an interesting focus on France this year, beginning with the opening film Farewell My Queen (Les adieux a la reine) (Isa: Elle Driver) and going through all of the festival’s sections. Moreover, we have two French jury members [Francois Ozon and Charlotte Gainsbourg] in the International Jury.“ Eight titles selected to date have German majority or minority participation, so German filmmakers and (co-)producers will again enjoy a record presence in the Competition on a par with 2011’s tally of eight films involving German directors or German production partners." He also notes Competition films' trending toward "times of upheaval and new departures... with many films coming from Africa and Arab countries". My observation of the 23 Competition films finally selected is that the nostalgic look back at European aristocracy and top social tiers (A Royal Affair, Bel Ami, Farewell My Queen) and its mores stands in stark contrast to today's upheavals of families and children (Childish Games, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Postcards from the Zoo, Just the Wind, Mercy, Shadow Dancer, Sister, Rebelle, Home for the Weekend, Jayne Mansfield's Car, Coming Home). Seven other films continue the theme of social upheavals: Tey - which deal with childhood memories of Senegal experienced by an American, Captive about Phillipine hostages, Barbara an Eastern German looking to move to the West, Caesar Must Die about prisoners finding art in their sequestered lives, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate about upheavel during the Ming Dynasty, White Deer Plain about upheavel towards the end of Imperial China, The Flowers of War about the upheavel of China by the Japanese in World War II. The exceptions, Tabu and Meteora, deal with love, the Saving Grace.
Two major disappointments were Steven Soderberg's Haywire (Isa: Mandate) and Stephen Elliott's Cherry. Both about women, they left me puzzled with what the plot was about. Pretty, well done and negligible.
This Berlin Diary Part 2 will continue after I work on my new and soon-to-be launched website! I have spent an entire day on this blog and I still have much more to write!
- 3/10/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Ingrid Bergman, more than anyone else from the golden age of cinema, had a face made for the silvery light of black-and-white movies. The adjectives get overused -- luminescent, radiant -- but watch her in "Casablanca," "Gaslight," "Notorious," or any of her other black-and-white classics, and she really does appear to be lit from within. Maybe it was those Swedish cheekbones. Maybe it was her professed disdain for the heavy makeup worn by other screen goddesses of the era. Maybe it was the heartbreakingly pure smile of the dentist's wife. Or maybe it was some kind of inner flame -- a burning ambition, an iron will, steely courage -- that forged her character and gleamed in her eyes. Whatever it was, Ingrid Bergman -- who died 30 years ago, on August 29, 1982, and who was born on the same day, 67 years earlier -- had an inner glow that emanates from her films even now,...
- 8/28/2012
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Above: Ernie Gehr's Auto-Collider Xv.
The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.
Galas
A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)
Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)
The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)
Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)
Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)
English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)
Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)
Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)
Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)
Looper (Rian Johnson,...
The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.
Galas
A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)
Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)
The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)
Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)
Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)
English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)
Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)
Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)
Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)
Looper (Rian Johnson,...
- 8/22/2012
- MUBI
You could count me as enthusiastic for this year’s initial New York Film Festival lineup — no, I won’t even bother listing all the auteurs — so hats off to Lincoln Center for making it all the better. In unveiling their Masterworks, Cinema Reflected, On the Arts, and Special Events selection, it’s become evident that 2012 will bring forth a glut of outside-the-lines works.
The most notable of these would be an 8k Lawrence of Arabia restoration; a documentary “preview” from Oliver Stone; Odd Man Out, the follow-up to 2008′s excellent Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired; the acclaimed Kubrick documentary, Room 237; something about Ingmar Bergman & Liv Ullmann; and even The Princess Bride. Talk about something for everybody.
Read the list below:
Masterworks
Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962, UK/USA)
The screen’s greatest epic returns in a magnificent 8K restoration. A Sony Pictures Repertory release.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David Hand,...
The most notable of these would be an 8k Lawrence of Arabia restoration; a documentary “preview” from Oliver Stone; Odd Man Out, the follow-up to 2008′s excellent Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired; the acclaimed Kubrick documentary, Room 237; something about Ingmar Bergman & Liv Ullmann; and even The Princess Bride. Talk about something for everybody.
Read the list below:
Masterworks
Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962, UK/USA)
The screen’s greatest epic returns in a magnificent 8K restoration. A Sony Pictures Repertory release.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David Hand,...
- 8/21/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud Capped Star) directed by Ritwik Ghatak in 1960 will be screened in Tiff Cinematheque programme at the Toronto International Film Festival 2012.
“A young woman desperately struggles to keep her family out of poverty in this fiercely moving masterpiece by the great, perennially under-recognized Indian auteur Ritwik Ghatak,” is the synopsis on the festival’s website.
The other films to screen in this section are: The Bitter Ash by Larry Kent, Dial M for Murder by Alfred Hitchcock, Loin du Viêtnam by Joris Ivens, William Klein, Claude Lelouch, Agnès Varda, Jean-Luc Godard, Chris Marker, Alain Resnais; Stromboli by Roberto Rossellini and Tess by Roman Polanski.
Also see, Toronto 2012 announces 10 Indian films of Mumbai City to City Program.
“A young woman desperately struggles to keep her family out of poverty in this fiercely moving masterpiece by the great, perennially under-recognized Indian auteur Ritwik Ghatak,” is the synopsis on the festival’s website.
The other films to screen in this section are: The Bitter Ash by Larry Kent, Dial M for Murder by Alfred Hitchcock, Loin du Viêtnam by Joris Ivens, William Klein, Claude Lelouch, Agnès Varda, Jean-Luc Godard, Chris Marker, Alain Resnais; Stromboli by Roberto Rossellini and Tess by Roman Polanski.
Also see, Toronto 2012 announces 10 Indian films of Mumbai City to City Program.
- 8/1/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
The 2012 Toronto International Film Festival line-up got another boost with today's announcement of the Midnight Madness, Vanguard and Documentary selections which include films from the likes of Barry Levinson, Don Coscarelli, Rob Zombie, Martin McDonagh, Ben Wheatley, Michel Gondry and Alex Gibney and include titles such as Aftershock, Dredd, Seven Psychopaths, Pusher, Sightseers, The We and the I, The Gatekeepers, Finding Nemo 3D, Hotel Transylvania and a Cinemateque selection that includes Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder, Roman Polanski's Tess and Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli. Considering Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master was recently added to the official selection as a Special Presentation I am going to have my hands full when it comes to screenings, but I will definitely make sure to catch McDonagh's Seven Psychopaths, which is one of my most anticipated films of the year. Otherwise, the schedule will determine which ones I check out. The...
- 7/31/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Following up an already stellar initial line-up, the Toronto International Film Festival 2012 has announced additional sections including Midnight Madness, Documentaries and Vanguard. When the clock strikes 12, some titles one will be able to see include the highly anticipated Seven Psychopaths, from In Bruges director Martin McDonagh. There’s also the world premiere of the horror anthology The ABCs of Death, as well as Dredd and Eli Roth‘s Aftershock and new films from Rob Zombie and Barry Levinson.
The documentary section brings new films from Alex Gibney, Ken Burns and an interesting one titled How to Make Money Selling Drugs, featuring interviews with 50 Cent, Eminem and more. Rounding out the Vanguard section is many titles screened elsewhere, including the excellent documentary on The Shining, Room 237, as well as the next from Kill List director Ben Wheatley, Sightseers (Cannes review). We also have Luis Prieto‘s Pusher remake, and Michel Gondry...
The documentary section brings new films from Alex Gibney, Ken Burns and an interesting one titled How to Make Money Selling Drugs, featuring interviews with 50 Cent, Eminem and more. Rounding out the Vanguard section is many titles screened elsewhere, including the excellent documentary on The Shining, Room 237, as well as the next from Kill List director Ben Wheatley, Sightseers (Cannes review). We also have Luis Prieto‘s Pusher remake, and Michel Gondry...
- 7/31/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Crystallizing various facets of his Comédies et Proverbes cycle while radically departing from others, the diaristic 1986 beauty Le rayon vert is one of Éric Rohmer’s greatest studies of light, voices, and mercurial human sensation. Delphine (Marie Rivière) has the look of a doleful sylph and the torturous task of searching for enjoyment after plans for her summer holiday are abruptly cancelled. Cherbourg, the Alps, and Biarritz are some of the spots the Parisian secretary passes through, but she’s no innate adventurer: She literally runs away from potential suitors and gets woozy easily (no meat, no sailing, no swings), friends compare her to a plant and to the Capricorn goat alone on the mountain, “sort of in transit” is her own description. The protagonist’s comic sidekick in anybody else’s film, here she’s an achingly demanding woman as determined to have love on her own terms as Dreyer’s Gertrud.
- 6/11/2011
- MUBI
The Cinema de la Plage where screenings of classic films are held at 9:30 each night; click for a larger look
Photo: Brad Brevet I already mentioned how Warner Home Video would be releasing a *new* Stanley Kubrick Blu-ray collection, this time including high definition versions of Lolita and Barry Lyndon with previously released HD versions of Spartacus, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut and a new 40th Anniversary Edition of A Clockwork Orange. That set hits Blu-ray on May 31, but Kubrick's now-40-year-old A Clockwork Orange will be hitting the Cannes Croisette a little bit earlier than that.
Another, late night look at the Cinema de la Plage; click for a larger look
Photo: Brad Brevet It had been previously announced, but yesterday the Cannes Film Festival made it official that A Clockwork Orange would be part of the...
Photo: Brad Brevet I already mentioned how Warner Home Video would be releasing a *new* Stanley Kubrick Blu-ray collection, this time including high definition versions of Lolita and Barry Lyndon with previously released HD versions of Spartacus, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut and a new 40th Anniversary Edition of A Clockwork Orange. That set hits Blu-ray on May 31, but Kubrick's now-40-year-old A Clockwork Orange will be hitting the Cannes Croisette a little bit earlier than that.
Another, late night look at the Cinema de la Plage; click for a larger look
Photo: Brad Brevet It had been previously announced, but yesterday the Cannes Film Festival made it official that A Clockwork Orange would be part of the...
- 4/27/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Cannes Film Festival's unveiled its Classics program today: "Fourteen films, five documentaries, surprises, a Masterclass (Malcolm McDowell), new or restored prints: The program is based on proposals from national archives, cinematheques, studios, producers and distributors. Rare classics to discover or re-discover, they will be presented in 35mm or high definition digital prints."
The Films
The first round of descriptions comes straight from the Festival.
A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la lune) by Georges Méliès (France, 1902, 16'). "The color version of Georges Méliès most famous film, A Trip to the Moon (1902) is visible again 109 years after its release: having been long considered lost, this version was found in 1993 in Barcelona. In 2010, a full restoration is initiated by Lobster Films, Gan Foundation for Cinema and Technicolor Foundation for Heritage Cinema. The digital tools of today allows them to re-assemble the fragments of 13 375 images from the film and restore them one by one.
The Films
The first round of descriptions comes straight from the Festival.
A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la lune) by Georges Méliès (France, 1902, 16'). "The color version of Georges Méliès most famous film, A Trip to the Moon (1902) is visible again 109 years after its release: having been long considered lost, this version was found in 1993 in Barcelona. In 2010, a full restoration is initiated by Lobster Films, Gan Foundation for Cinema and Technicolor Foundation for Heritage Cinema. The digital tools of today allows them to re-assemble the fragments of 13 375 images from the film and restore them one by one.
- 4/26/2011
- MUBI
Cannes Classics is a recent addition to the festival, and will enjoy its 8th instalment this year. Part of the line-up of this section of the fest is screened at Ceinema de la Plage, that’s right, on the beach. You’ve got to admit that it’s pretty cool – an open-aired screening of a classic film on the French Riviera, away from the exclusivity of the Palais, and able to be enjoyed by Panini-eating passers-by on the Croisette. There should be more of this at the festival, it’s good for the soul.
This year’s line-up of films includes work by Stanley Kubrick, Bernardo Bertolucci, Euzhan Palcy (currently being honored by MoMA in New York) and Jerry Schatzberg, whose photograph of Faye Dunaway is embedded into this year’s festival poster above.
Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal will present a screening of “A Bronx Tale” to celebrate ten...
This year’s line-up of films includes work by Stanley Kubrick, Bernardo Bertolucci, Euzhan Palcy (currently being honored by MoMA in New York) and Jerry Schatzberg, whose photograph of Faye Dunaway is embedded into this year’s festival poster above.
Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal will present a screening of “A Bronx Tale” to celebrate ten...
- 4/26/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Cannes Classics is a recent addition to the festival, and will enjoy its 8th instalment this year. Part of the line-up of this section of the fest is screened at Ceinema de la Plage, that’s right, on the beach. You’ve got to admit that it’s pretty cool – an open-aired screening of a classic film on the French Riviera, away from the exclusivity of the Palais, and able to be enjoyed by Panini-eating passers-by on the Croisette. There should be more of this at the festival, it’s good for the soul.
This year’s line-up of films includes work by Stanley Kubrick, Bernardo Bertolucci, Euzhan Palcy (currently being honored by MoMA in New York) and Jerry Schatzberg, whose photograph of Faye Dunaway is embedded into this year’s festival poster above.
Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal will present a screening of “A Bronx Tale” to celebrate ten...
This year’s line-up of films includes work by Stanley Kubrick, Bernardo Bertolucci, Euzhan Palcy (currently being honored by MoMA in New York) and Jerry Schatzberg, whose photograph of Faye Dunaway is embedded into this year’s festival poster above.
Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal will present a screening of “A Bronx Tale” to celebrate ten...
- 4/26/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
With wild stories about the behaviour of Charlie Sheen circulating daily and the news that he has been fired from his hit TV show Two and a Half Men today, I began thinking about some of the most notorious cases of scandal in Hollywood’s sordid past!
As it appears that Sheen’s career may be heading towards oblivion, read on to discover the 10 most infamous scandals and just how they affected the stars responsible for them…
10. Winona Ryder’s Bargain Shopping Spree
When troubled actress Winona Ryder took a trip to the Beverly Hills Saks department store in December 2001, the sales assistants must have thought their luck was in in terms of commission! But no, Ryder decided that $6000 was too much to spend on a bundle of designer goodies that included a Gucci dress, Marc Jacobs jumper and a Dolce & Gabbana handbag, amongst other things…
Caught trying to pilfer the lot,...
As it appears that Sheen’s career may be heading towards oblivion, read on to discover the 10 most infamous scandals and just how they affected the stars responsible for them…
10. Winona Ryder’s Bargain Shopping Spree
When troubled actress Winona Ryder took a trip to the Beverly Hills Saks department store in December 2001, the sales assistants must have thought their luck was in in terms of commission! But no, Ryder decided that $6000 was too much to spend on a bundle of designer goodies that included a Gucci dress, Marc Jacobs jumper and a Dolce & Gabbana handbag, amongst other things…
Caught trying to pilfer the lot,...
- 3/8/2011
- by Stuart Cummins
- Obsessed with Film
The new wave 40 years early. The soft side of Jean-Pierre Melville. Nicole Kidman makes the unmakeable. Somewhere out there is an alternative history of film – David Thomson unearths 10 lost works of genius
Erotikon (1920)
Forget 1920, this is an absolutely modern comedy about romance and sex, directed in Sweden by Mauritz Stiller. We should remember that when MGM brought Greta Garbo from Sweden in the mid-20s, she was almost baggage in the deal that hired Stiller, one of the sharpest and most sophisticated of silent directors, but a man who would be crushed by Hollywood. Stiller needs to be recovered (like his contemporary, Victor Sjöström), and Erotikon has an instinct for attraction and infidelity that simply couldn't be permitted in American films of the same period. It's also marvellous to see that, nearly 100 years ago, Swedish cinema was in love with its country's cool light and with actresses as warm but ambiguous as Tora Teje,...
Erotikon (1920)
Forget 1920, this is an absolutely modern comedy about romance and sex, directed in Sweden by Mauritz Stiller. We should remember that when MGM brought Greta Garbo from Sweden in the mid-20s, she was almost baggage in the deal that hired Stiller, one of the sharpest and most sophisticated of silent directors, but a man who would be crushed by Hollywood. Stiller needs to be recovered (like his contemporary, Victor Sjöström), and Erotikon has an instinct for attraction and infidelity that simply couldn't be permitted in American films of the same period. It's also marvellous to see that, nearly 100 years ago, Swedish cinema was in love with its country's cool light and with actresses as warm but ambiguous as Tora Teje,...
- 8/19/2010
- by David Thomson
- The Guardian - Film News
Liv Ullmann, Ingrid Bergman, Autumn Sonata Ingrid Bergman‘s best on-screen performance, as Liv Ullmann‘s painfully self-centered mother in Ingmar Bergman‘s Autumn Sonata, can be appreciated on Friday, August 6 — Ingrid Bergman Day — on Turner Classic Movies. TCM’s "Summer Under the Stars" film series continues with twelve Bergman movies, including more "esoteric" entries such as the aforementioned Autumn Sonata — actually one of director Bergman’s most accessible efforts — and Roberto Rossellini‘s psychological drama Europa ’51. The other scheduled Bergman vehicles, with the possible exceptions of Rossellini’s Stromboli and Guy Green‘s A Walk in the Spring Rain, have been shown a number of times on TCM. Among those are Intermezzo, which introduced the Swedish actress to American audiences in 1939; Casablanca, which won the 1943 Best Picture Oscar and turned Bergman into a superstar; and George Cukor‘s 1944 psychological thriller Gaslight, which earned Bergman the first of her two...
- 8/6/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon make a decent fist of South African accents in Invictus. But they are the latest in a long line of actors trying too hard
As someone who was born and brought up in South Africa, I was particularly interested to discover how Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon managed with the notoriously difficult South African accent in Clint Eastwood's Invictus. Actually, there are many South African accents, so a distinction has to be made between Nelson Mandela (Freeman), an English-speaking Xhosa, and François Pienaar (Damon), an English-speaking Afrikaner. The two Americans had a fairly good shot at it, despite sometimes betraying their origins, and Freeman slipping occasionally into Dalek mode. For most audiences, however, who don't have an ear especially attuned to the nuances of South African accents, Freeman and Damon will sound authentic enough.
This follows worthy but inconsistent efforts by Denzel Washington and...
As someone who was born and brought up in South Africa, I was particularly interested to discover how Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon managed with the notoriously difficult South African accent in Clint Eastwood's Invictus. Actually, there are many South African accents, so a distinction has to be made between Nelson Mandela (Freeman), an English-speaking Xhosa, and François Pienaar (Damon), an English-speaking Afrikaner. The two Americans had a fairly good shot at it, despite sometimes betraying their origins, and Freeman slipping occasionally into Dalek mode. For most audiences, however, who don't have an ear especially attuned to the nuances of South African accents, Freeman and Damon will sound authentic enough.
This follows worthy but inconsistent efforts by Denzel Washington and...
- 1/19/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
For nearly 15 years after his 1945 masterpiece Open City became a critical and commercial phenomenon, director Roberto Rossellini never stopped making great movies, including his related neorealist classics Paisan and Germany Year Zero, and the Ingrid Bergman vehicles Stromboli, Europa ’51, and Journey To Italy. Trouble is, audiences and critics unfairly abandoned him—his affair with Bergman was even denounced on the floor of the U.S. Congress—and by 1959, he was still searching haplessly for redemption. Re-teaming with Open City screenwriter Sergio Amidei, Rossellini cannily seized upon a perfect moment in Italian history to make Il Generale ...
- 4/15/2009
- avclub.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.