CONTENTS PAGE 3 4-7
EDITORIAL LE MANS ‘66 American car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle the law of physics and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford and challenge Ferrari in the 24-hours of Le Mans in 1966.
8-11
A BEAUTIFUL DAY in the NEIGHBORHOOD Based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod.
12-15
A HIDDEN LIFE A conscientious objector Franz Jaggerstatter refusal to fight for the Nazis in World War II
16-19
MARRIAGE STORY Noah Baumbach’s incisive and compassionate look at a family breaking up and a family staying together.
20-23
BLACKBIRD A terminally ill mother arranges to have her family together one last time before she dies.
24-27
BABYTEETH When seriously ill teenager Milla falls madly in love with small-time drug dealer Moses, it’s her parent’s worst nightmare.
28-31
THE REPORT Idealistic Senator Staffer Daniel J Jones, tasked by his Boss to lead an investigation into the CIA’s Post 9/11 Detention and Interrogation Program, uncovers shocking secrets
32-35
BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2019 One of LFF’s finest years.
36-39
AN EASY GIRL Naima is 16 and lives in Cannes. She has given hrself the summer to choose what she wants to do with her life.
40-43
MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND An exploration of the history, artistry and emotional power of cinematic sound
44-47
PRESS CONFERENCE OF “THE IRISHMAN” With Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino.
48-51
THE IRISHMAN A mob hitman recalls his possible involvement with the slaying of Jimmy Hoffa.
52-55
THE FRIEND Matt welcomes his best friend Dane to help out when he learns his wife is terminally ill.
56-59
THE TWO POPES Behind Vatican walls, the conservative Pope Benedict and the liberal future Pope Francis must find common ground to forge a new path For the Catholic Church.
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POSTER: LE MANS’66
PHOTO CREDITS: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX: 1,4,6,7,60 SONY PICTURES RELEASING: 8,10,11 FOX SEARCHLIGHT: 12,14,15 NETFLIX: 16,18,19,48,50,51,56,58,59 LIONSGATE: 20,22,23 CELLULOID DREAMS: 24,26,27 CURZON: 28,30,31 WILD BUNCH: 36, 38,39 DOGWOOF: 40,42,43 IMAGE.NET: STX INTERNATIONAL: 52,54,55 GARETH CATERMOLE: 33,34,35,43,47,51 JOHN PHILLIPS:20,22,23,31 TIM P WHITBY:56,58,59
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
We would like to thank the following for their invaluable help in providing material for this magazine: Image.net. Jake Garriock at Curzon.com. Delegate team at BFI, Nicki Foster@premiercomms.com. Will Taylor@organicpublicity.co.uk, Jane Knox at Netflix. Lydia Debus and Kate Hudson at DDA
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EDITORIAL 345 films were screened at BFI’s 63rd London Film Festival, opening with “The Personal History of David Copperfield” and closing with “The Irishman”. The queues began, the red carpets unrolled, the talent arrived, ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ gained momentum as the doors opened at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square and the Vue and the National Film Theatre, South Bank, Waterloo, Embankment Garden Cinema, and the Curzon Mayfair. Yes, it was that time of year when London celebrated the creative art of film with its own festival and why we, Movies by Mills devote this issue to LFF by reviewing and highlighting a selected number of films which it feels were the Best of the Fest. Our cover feature review is the Headline Gala “Le Mans ‘66”. Directed by James Mangold, starring: Matt Damon and Christian Bale.
Other films reviewed are “Married Story”, “The Friend”, “The Irishman”, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood”, “The Two Popes”, “Blackbird”, “Babyteeth”, “A Hidden Life”, ”The Report”, “An Easy Girl, “Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound”
Enjoy the read Brian Mills
Magazine Editor
Paul Ridler
Magazine Designer
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LE MANS ‘66 Directed by James Mangold Starring: Caitriona Balfe, Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal We’re on the verge of something and now you tell me I can’t have the best man in the world behind the wheel. Carroll Shelby
Audiences be racing movie “Le Mans” in now had been
ready for a white-knuckled ride, this is the best motor of all-time! That is taking into account Steve McQueen’s 1972, which until the best.
The original title of this film was “Ford v Ferrari” and how Henry Ford II took to deciding to challenge Ferrari and build a racing car to win the 24 hour Le Mans in 1966. The narrative is the same, only the title changed.
Selby, a former racing driver turned car designer, and Ford needs to rely on him, and reluctantly has to bow to his demands to use Ken Miles as the racing driver of their car. The key to the story that takes it to the chequered-flag is the power of the motor racing sequences and the brotherly love of Selby and Miles, the latter treats the car as a living thing and feels it and talks to it. When it feels something is wrong, he pulls in for a pit-stop and gets it fixed. The cinematography, sound design and editing, story and imagery are excellent; also experience some funny moments at the pit stops. Off the track there is the emotional feelings expressed by the family on-lookers of Ken’s wife Molly ( Caitriona Balfe) and their son Peter (Noah Jupe) Molly’s knowledge and understanding of cars reflects on what it means to be a racing driver’s wife as well as her love and devotion to him. While Peter watches and learns from his father who is his hero and absorbs all he does. So, what is the director’s take on the narrative of the film? “My feeling about making the was the camaraderie and I think that comes across in the film.
These guys (Matt Damon & Christian Bale), I have known for a long time and the crew. We are all friends, so, the feeling in the film is accomplishing togetherness. I think Ford’s mission to win Le Mans was to prove something about themselves, it wasn’t pure, it wasn’t a racer’s need to win, it was a corporation’s need to win, which is different.”
- James Mangold
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And Christian Bale’s take? “They(Drivers) live life in a raw manner like they literary didn’t know if they were going to get out of the car and that made them incredibly alive and so it transcended the whole notion of being a racing movie but it is a story about friendship told at 200 miles per hour. I never trained. So, I always feel that every single job I take, I start from scratch. I don’t like to imagine that I have any technique or bag of tricks to fall back on so, I think that’s what keeps me excited each time and there is always that fear that I really don’t know what I’m doing. It’s like I’ve never gone to college and I’m surrounded by a group of people who always gone to college; they’re all smart and they’re all from educated families. Similarly, they started to do a film and they really know what they’re doing and I’m bull shitting my way through it by creating it. And about working with James Mangold and Matt Damon?
You are stuck in a room at close quarters and it can be very intense and it can be bloody hilarious watching Jim and his crew. I mean him and Phedon Papamichael are like Shelby and Miles.” - Christian Bale And Matt Damon’s take on making the film?
“I’m not a car person, but we do spend our lives collaborating creatively with groups of people of trying to make things together so, that was very relatable, and Jim made something more than a ‘car movie’. A lot of your problems as an actor can be solved by the director. Steven Soderbergh once described directing to me as making a giant mosaic, the size of a city block from an inch and a half away. And they have to keep so many things in their head and understand what specific moment it has in a film and so, any notes he would give us, or adjustments were so specific because he exactly new what he needed. Jim creates an environment where everybody is throwing their ideas at him as it should be. If you suggest 50 things and he accept one of them, you’ve contributed something really important for the movie. I learn a ton on every movie I’m on. Every director works a little differently. It’s always fascinating to watch great directors work. And I’ve wanted to see Christian work in person since I first him on screen and I was really blown away. It’s funny you talk about being insecure in your process. What struck me was: first of all; he is very generous. Actors can be selfish or generous in their process, but he is incredibly generous and helpful to all the actors around, but you get to work and see him. He’ll never tell you this: you look and realize the thousands of hours got him to that point, and yet his still completely free the moment it is shot. It was just awesome working with him” - Matt Damon
LE MANS‘66 WILL BE THEATRICALLY RELEASED TH IN THE UK ON NOVEMBER 15 www.moviesbymills.com
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Ken Miles (Christian Bale) in Le Mans ‘66
Selby (Matt Damon) in Le Mans ‘66 6
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Ken Miles (Christian Bale) & Selby (Matt Damon) in Le Mans ‘66
Matt Damon publicity shot for Le Mans ‘66
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A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD Directed by Marielle Heller Starring: Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Susan Kelech Watson, Chris Cooper I think the best thing we can do is to let people know that each one of them is precious - Fred Rogers
This film is based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod and his experience interviewing him, and the impact he had on him. Two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in undoubtedly the feel-good film of this year’s London Film Festival. Fred Rogers entertained and enchanted children with his television show for 30 years. He also tackled problems which they may have to face as they grew up. Roger’s motto was – ‘If you can mention it, you can manage it’.
The title of the film indicates that someone involved in the story may have been one of many people to suffer from what’s been referred to as The Mandela Effect in which a person remembers a pop culture reference differently from how it actually occurred. The effect has caused people to believe that there is an alternate reality in which these things were the way they remember: As the trailer shows for the film, as Mister Rogers (Tom Hanks) enters the set on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood he sings: “It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood…” but a lot of people recall the words to the song being “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood..” which would give indication that either someone in the film either doesn’t know the lyrics to the song or they remember it differently (as those who suffer from The Mandela Effect have been known to do). Director Marielle Heller said during the London Film Festival that Tom Hanks extended look at the camera in the restaurant scene was the first artistic decision she made on the film. The script had this down as just a moment, where you couldn’t be certain if he was looking at the 8
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audience. Heller prolonged this, making sure viewers knew he’s looking at you. How did the whole project come about and for Heller to get Tom Hanks to play another real person, which he said that he didn’t want to do anymore? It was Marielle Heller’s friendship with Tom’s son Colin that helped get Tom for the movie. Here is Marielle’s take on that: “I met Tom Hanks at a kid’s party. We started talking and he was talking about this article that he had read in The New York Times about women filmmakers and I said I’m in that, and he said “Wait, you are? Who are you?” At that point, I had just made “Diary of a Teenage Girl”, and I said I made this movie and he said “Oh, I need to see your movie”, and then he went and watched my movie and we had a meeting and then we formed a really nice relationship and then we were trying to find something to work on together and we kept in touch over the years and sent each other scripts and nothing was quite the right fit and when this movie came to me. Everybody said we always wanted Tom Hanks for that part. But he turned it down. He doesn’t really want to play anymore real people. Well, I said, I get that and that’s valid but he’s perfect for this part. So, let’s just give it a try and I think within a week he signed on and everyone was like: how did you do that? You’re magic! I swear that is the one time in my life that that will ever happen. I think we all got pretty emotional when we saw him in costume for the first time. The camera test we had with him with the full outfit and the eyebrows and the wig and we actually did the camera test where we filmed the movie in the original studio, where Mister Rogers filmed the Neighborhood in QED in Pittsburgh. The narrative is really about an unlikely friendship between Mister Rogers (Tom Hanks) and Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys). Vogel has been assigned to write a brief piece on Rogers for Esquire. But he finds himself pursuing the idea of how much of the public version of Mr. Rogers we see on TV is the real Mr. Rogers. Lloyd has deep personal issues to overcome like the resentment he has for his father (Chris Cooper), plus how he feels about his own uncertainty about being a new dad with his wife Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson). By researching the piece on Rogers, he comes to terms with issues in his own life.
At times the film seems overplayed, though Tom Hanks fits the part of Rogers like a glove. Rhys too, is impressive as Vogel. All-in-all it is good entertainment.
UK THEATRICAL RELEASE: DECEMBER 6TH
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Mister Rogers (Tom Hanks) in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Mister Rogers (Tom Hanks) in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 10
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Mister Rogers (Tom Hanks) & Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Marielle Heller on set with Tom Hanks for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
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A HIDDEN LIFE Directed by Terrence Malick Starring: August Diehl, Valerie Pachner, Michael Nyqvist, Matthias Schoenaerts I can’t do what I believe is wrong. We have to stand up to evil - Franz Jagerstatter “A Hidden Life” follows the real-life story of Austrian peasant farmer Franz Jagerstatter (August Diehl) who refuses to fight for the Nazis in World War II. Born and bred in the small village of St. Radegund, Jagerstatter is working his land when war breaks out. Married to Franzika (Valerie Pachner), the couple are important members of the tight-knit rural community. They live a simple life with the passing years marked by the arrival of the couple’s three girls. Franz is called up to basic training and is away from his beloved wife and children for months. Eventually, when France surrenders and it seems the war might end soon, he is sent back from training. With his mother and sister-in-law Resi, he and his wife farm the land and raise their children amid the mountains and valleys of upper Austria. As the war goes on, Jagerstatter and the other able-bodied men in the village are called up to fight. Their first requirement is to swear an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler and the 3rd Reich. Despite the pleas of his neighbors, Jagerstatter refuses. Wrestling with the knowledge that his decision will mean arrest, and even death, Jagerstatter finds strength in Fani’s love and support. Jagerstatter is taken to prison, first in Enns, then in Berlin and waits months for his trial. During his time in prison, he and Fani write letters to one another and give each other strength. Fani and their daughters are victims of growing hostility in the village over her husband’s decision not to fight. After months of brutal incarceration, his case goes to trial. He is found guilty and sentenced to death. Despite many opportunities to sign the oath of allegiance, Jagerstatter continues to stand up for his beliefs. Terence Mallick has probably made his most evangelical movie to date. All of his previous films have had a spiritual backbone to them but A Hidden Life with its protagonist being a conscientious objector expounds and challenges the director’s beliefs in no uncertain terms. Multiples moments like when Franz looks towards the heavens and calls for God to show him a sign to guide him. What does he hear? The rumbling of a thunderstorm hovering atop the Alps surrounding his hometown of St. Radegund, the sound of the wind caressing the wheat fields around the village; the voice of his wife Fani and their three little girls. Once World War II breaks out and jettisons him in a dim-light world of military prisons and court tribunals, it’s the sound of broken 12
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limbs and bodies thudding on floors; the echo of air raid sirens; the loud bang of gunshots. In a body of work infused with the question of faith, mankind’s distance and proximity to God has never felt as pressing a concern as it does in A Hidden Life, a period piece homing in on the real-life story of a man who refused to enlist for the Nazis, and paid the ultimate price for his defiance. The film is shot in gorgeous wide-angles by Jorg Widmer (previously credited as camera crew for The Tree of Life, the first break in the Malick-Lubezki duo in a while, A Hidden Life feels like a return to more linear, traditional narratives for a director whose last four 2010 narrative works from The Tree of Life to Song to Song, had played with more labyrinthine, multi-layered structures. Coming in as 173 minutes running time, it is Malick’s longest movie to date (director’s cuts excluded), but also his structurally most accessible. Of those three hours, it takes about one for farmer Franz to meet the fate he’s restlessly prayed to be spared from. A pacifist and profoundly devout Christian, the man’s abhorrence for a war he sees as unjust is so deep-seated he cannot bring himself to swear loyalty to Hitler and the Nazi Germany Austria had recently been annexed to. And in a remote village home to a handful of families of farmers, bakers and blacksmiths, it’s only a matter of time before the man’s resolute ant-war sentiment and refusal to join fellow soldiers at the frontline is interpreted by Radegund denizens as an act of betrayal, stab in the back to the many families whose sons have already been shipped to the front, and never returned. “What’s happened to our country?” asks Franz, as he eschews alcohol-fueled confrontations with the belligerent village Mayor, and finds refuge in Fani’s embrace. “Don’t people know evil when they see it?”. But in Malick’s script voiceover it becomes a long, uninterrupted conversation between husband and wife, and between husband and God. Frustratingly, we watch the unheeded plea of a man struggling to preserve his humanity intact as the world around him plunges deeper and deeper into evil, and worse, watches motionless and indifferent as evil blossoms and spreads and becomes normalized. As Malick’s films go, one might like to revisit “The Thin Red Line” which looked at war on a much broader level where war is depicted as a criminal. It stills rates as one of Malick’s best films. But having said that, there are still plenty of Malick’s creative fingerprints on A Hidden Life to satisfy cineaste’s worldwide.
A HIDDEN LIFE IS THEATRICALLY RELEASED TH IN THE UK ON JANUARY 17 2020
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Franz (August Diehl) & Fani (Valerie Pachner) in A Hidden Life
Fani (Valerie Pachner) in A Hidden Life 14
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Franz (August Diehl) & Judge Lueben (Bruno Ganz) in A Hidden Life
Franz (August Diehl) in A Hidden Life
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MARRIAGE STORY Directed by Noah Baumbach Starring: Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta What I love about Charlie is that he loves being a Dad. It is almost annoying how much he loves it. He cries easily at movies. He is very competitive. He is very clear about what he wants. He is a great dresser, never looks embarrassing. He is all of my moods steadily; he doesn’t make me feel bad about them. He rarely gets defeated; which I feel I always do. - Natalie Here is the most anticipated movie of the London Film Festival and few would disagree with that statement. It has the combination to open any heart: about a couple getting divorced even though they still love each other; Natalie (Scarlett Johansson) is a leading stage actress for her husband’s downtown theatre group. Charlie (Adam Driver) is a noted rising director of avant-garde theatre. They have been married for ten years and are now seeing a marriage counsellor to prevent a divorce.
Everything starts quite amenably enough with each of them stating what they love about each other. But things begin to get quite nasty when the divorce proceedings begin. Nicole’s celebrity divorce attorney Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern) backs her as she takes the 8-year old Henry (Azhy Robertson) to L.A. and Charlie asks for child custody trough his second -rate lawyer Bert Spitz (Alan Alda). When things go against him, he hires Jay, a very expensive no-nonsense attorney. Nicole, who initiated the divorce, moves back to Los Angeles and signs up to do a TV pilot with the potential of it becoming a serial. She reunites with her irreverent mom (Julie Hagerty) and her neurotic sister Merritt Weaver and is good with her decision to be back in L.A. it is here that she feels her roots are. Tension peaks in a verbal showdown in the L.A. apartment which Charlie has rented. It becomes an L.A. versus New York, lifestyle divorce, where both sides make their cases and we the viewer are free to choose the one to favor. What really raises the standard of this movie is the writing and acting. Noah Baumbach has delivered a memorable screenplay which he directs with dexterity and an emotive knowingness of marriage and the complications of divorce. The film is studded with little subtleties
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showing how Natalie and Charlie understand each other like when Natalie picks-up on Charlie’s carelessness of forgetting to tie his shoelaces. “I think we should talk”, - Natalie “Okay”. – Charlie Long pause. Natalie giving Charlie a quizzical look, expecting a reply. “I don’t know where to start”. – Charlie. There are also glittering gems of naturalness when neither Natalie or Charlie know what to say: And what was Noah Baumbach’s take on making the movie? “The movie provided material and an opportunity for me to explore many genres. I mean essentially, it’s a love story. But there are also aspects of it which seem absurd like a screwball comedy or things that are scary like a thriller; the legal systems involved, but it’s kind of procedural in that way and because I wanted to feel that they needed it. I wanted it to be a musical. So, in a way it was just being inside the material, bringing the actors in, my collaborators in early. We were all kind of in the head space of it, in there together and then you trust that the other stuff is going to happen.” And Adam Driver, who plays Charlie? “We rehearsed two weeks before we started shooting. Noah, the way he works is very theatrical. Obviously, there is the theme of theatre that runs throughout the movie. It begins with the performance, he’s a theatre director, she’s an actor. There’s this kind of ritual of getting divorced, performing for the judge. Somehow, human moments are documented and then read back to you in this kind of clinical performance. The way Noah writes, we don’t change the dialogue, nor do you want to. Which it doesn’t mean it’s restrictive at all. It is just that those are the boundaries. But the intent you can change. Content is where your improv is. Everything is blocked out. In the long fight scene, the serving scene – blocked out, very much like a play. So, then we kind of forget about that. With good writing, there are endless questions you can ask yourself in playing the scenes. There is only one way of doing it. I think we were fortunate. In a long run of a play, you do eight shows a week for five months and only at the end do I feel like, do I have an understanding of it. But with Noah, the way he manufactures the schedule, so you have the luxury of long takes and a lot of time to explore the meaning of intent with the line. It’s a combination of things. We rehearsed it a lot but also you are working with great actors and have a lot of time, a lot of options, a great script and a great director”.
Marriage Story is a work of art that everyone who worked on it should be proud of.
Released 6th December (Internet) www.moviesbymills.com
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Charlie (Adam Driver) in Marriage Story
Natalie (Scarlet Johansson) in Marriage Story 18
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Natalie (Scarlet Johansson) & Charlie (Adam Driver) in Marriage Story
Henry (Azhy Robertson) & Charlie (Adam Driver) in Marriage Story
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BLACKBIRD Directed by Roger Michell Starring: Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Mia Wasikowska, Sam Neill, Lindsay Duncan This is a new version of a Danish film called “Silent Heart” and the same writer who wrote that also wrote this. As in the original film, Blackbird follows the same storyline of three generations of a family coming together over a weekend. A sick mother’s wish to die before her disease worsens and gets harder to handle as old conflicts come to the surface. How did Roger Michell go about directing this film? “I don’t think any of us had made a film like this because there are only 8 actors; there are no extras, there no other human beings in the whole film. We all went and lived in this house in the middle of nowhere. We kind of suffered from Stockholm Syndrome and fell in love with each other and bizarrely at the end of the shoot, we all got tattooed.” Susan Sarandon gives an outstanding performance as Lily who makes her family understand that it is her wish to end her own life before her terminal disease renders her incapable of doing so. Her devoted husband, Paul (Sam Neil) accepts her wish with dignity to spend one last weekend with her as loving and as physically painless as it can be, helping her to end her own life. Tensions rise when the rest of the family arrive carrying baggage’s of problems, Lily’s daughters particularly: Jennifer (Kate Winslet) and Anna (Mia Wasikowska) The latter totally against her mother conceding defeat, much to the disapproval of Jennifer. The film offers up the question of what would one do in such a situation of facing death and choosing euthanasia? With her family around her, Lily decides she wants to leave his world with a smile rather than a frown. It is this sequence that is the highest point of the entire film because Lily decides that she wants to have one last dinner and for it to be a Christmas dinner. The table is set. Lily dresses for this special occasion and looks beautiful.
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Everyone gets a chance to say their piece about Lily and there are a few revelations that need an answer, but it is Jennifer and Ann who pull the biggest crackers. Jennifer says that she witnessed her Dad and Liz (Lesley Duncan) passionately kissing each other. To aghast friend and family, Lily explains that she knew about their feelings towards each other and condoned it. Paul was her husband who she loved dearly, and Liz was her best friend and she wanted to know that Paul would be happy, and Liz would too, and together they would be. That was Lily’s wish. When it was Paul’s turn to speak, he was overcome with emotion, stating how much he loved his wife. The roundtable sentiments continued making Lily smile and tear-up but then the ambiance of benevolence and love was broken by Anna’s outburst. To horrified faces, Anna tells Lily that she was a bad mother to her; she never loved her. Where was she when she needed her? When she was so depressed and unloved that she attempted to kill herself? Where were you then? Lily admits that she didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me? You always wanted to be independent and I understood that. I left you alone to have that independence.
I have always loved you. You are precious to me. When the time comes, Lily chooses Jennifer and Anna to be with her at the end. It is a beautifully played scene to close a beautifully made film. Susan Sarandon’s sensitivity imbeds every scene and is one of the finest actresses on the screen today.
SUSAN SARANDON Feature Films SWEET HEARTS DANCE 1988 JOE 1970 FLEUR BLEUE 1971 LADY LIBERTY 1971 LOVIN’ MOLLY 1974 THE FRONT PAGE 1974 THE GREAT WALDO PEPPER 1975 THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW 1975 DRAGONFLY 1976 CHECKERED FLAG OR CRASH 1977 THE GREAT SMOKEY ROADBLOCK 1977 THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT 1977 PRETTY BABY 1978 KING OF THE GYPSIES 1978 SOMETHING SHORT OF PARADISE 1979 ATLANTIC CITY 1980 LOVING COUPLES 1980 TEMPEST 1982 THE HUNGER 1983 THE BUDDY SYSTEM 1984 COMPROMISING POSITIONS 1985 THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK 1987 BULL DURHAM 1988
THE JANUARY MAN 1989 A DRY WHITE SEASON 1989 WHITE PALACE 1990 THELMA & LOUISE 1991 LIGHT SLEEPER 1991 THE PLAYER 1992 BOB ROBERTS 1992 LORENZO’S OIL 1992 THE CLIENT 1994 LITTLE WOMEN 1994 SAFE PASSAGE 1994 DEAD MAN WALKING 1995 TWILIGHT 1998 ILLUMINATA 1998 FOR THE LOVE OF JULIAN 1998 STEPMOM 1998 CRADLE WILL ROCK 1999 ANYWHERE BUT HERE 1999 JOE GOULD’S SECRET 2000 IGBY GOES DOWN 2002 THE BANGER SISTERS 2002 MOONLIGHT MILE 2002
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Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Lindsay Duncan, Rainn Wilson, Mia Wasikowska, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Anson Boon in “Blackbird”
Roger Michell photo shoot for “Blackbird 22
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Bex Taylor-Klaus photo shoot for “Blackbird”
Lindsay Duncan photo shoot for “Blackbird
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BABYTEETH Directed by Shannon Murphy Starring: Ben Mendelsohn, Essie Davis, Emily Barclay, Eliza Scanlen This is the worst possible parenting that I could imagine - Anna Milla (Eliza Scanlen) a young teenage girl is falling in love with Moses (Toby Wallace) who is a smalltime drug dealer and her parents are not happy with that. Milla discovers a lump under her arm and is diagnosed that she has cancer. But she shows so many people how to live: her parents, Moses, a sensitive music teacher, a budding child violinist, and a disarmingly honest pregnant neighbor. Milla has learnt to live life like you have nothing to lose, to let go and find grace in the glorious chaos of life. The theme is how far you will go for love. The film is a heartwarming story and attempts, and I feel succeeds, in convincing you that you can understand the situation that these characters are in because the story is believable. You want Milla to pull through and know that with her visionary strength and will power that she will overcome all obstacles in her path. You understand Moses and know that what may first appear that his feelings towards Milla is lust not love, and he isn’t leading her on – he really loves her. What was Shannon Murphy’s take on directing the film? “It is a very difficult film to describe. You can talk about the many elements in the film.” Babyteeth purports to be a serious movie being as the protagonist Milla has cancer, but it finds humour in its narrative against a background of anxiety and tragedy. The escape from Milla’s bleak horizon comes with the arrival of Moses who literally saves her life by stopping her from a suicidal jump. It was at Venice Film Festival that Shannon Murphy admitted it’s a struggle to answer questions about being a female filmmaker, because it feels it takes away from the artistry of what we’re trying to do. “I think the conversation is really important in the right context, where it’s a panel particularly about that. Otherwise it overshadows this film”.
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Babyteeth is a bittersweet comedy and is one of only two films directed by women out of 21 in the London Film Festival’s main competition. Last year, Australian director Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale was the only female-directed film in competition. It is a very emotional film and Shannon Murphy can be proud of making it as her first feature and was the highlight of this section of the LFF program, which included eight other films. Let us reprise Shannon Murphy’s comments on her film at Venice. “It sounds like many films you’ve seen before, but it’s not. I would describe it as a dysfunctional family drama, but it’s also a very intense love story, between Milla and Moses and at the same time, it’s a very complicated relationship between Milla and Moses and at the same time it’s a very complicated relationship between a young girl who is an only child which is very powerful relationship with her parents and how that’s shifting and causing her parent heartache because all they want to do is cocoon her and all she wants to do is fly away”. On finding the right balance between comedy and drama? “I think it was something we were constantly thinking about. How do you have the duality in every moment. How do we stay really honest to it, because great humour comes from being truthful and the same with drama. So, often, all of us are all very open and free and have a goofy sense of humour. So, we played a lot on the set. We were very generous to one another, and what I often do with the actors, I give myself quite a few options. When you are making a film and you are trying to balance all those elements, you want to know that you have many things to play with in the edit. So, I do direct quite quickly, and I get them to change things a lot for me at times and that helps, so that when I’m cutting it, I can get the balance right. I can change a moment that was funny into something more serious and the options to balance it out. I don’t like using music in a way that we are used to. So, often I will try to find something that will have the impact I’m looking for but not to be too obvious a choice. And interesting example is the children singing towards the end. I had heard this piece of music on the radio one day and then we re-recorded it in Australia with some children and we just knew once we tried it that was the right piece, but it takes so much trial and error to find out what works. Visually? I see things when I read scripts. So, this is why I knew that Babyteeth was right for me. I read it and I could already see the visuals, and along with the design team, we were always pushing each other on how we could go further in honouring the work but also progressively in some ways to illuminate something new. Colour is so important in my work. Milla starts off wearing yellow, colours. When she meets Moses, she starts to wear lilac, and he starts to wear lilac and they start to combine the colours they choose to wear. And the result is, the symbolism works like the rest of the film.
AT PRESENT, THERE IS NO THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE FOR “BABYTEETH”.
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Milla (Eliza Scanlen) in Babyteeth
Henry (Ben Mendelsohn) in Babyteeth 26
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Henry (Ben Mendelsohn) in Babyteeth
Milla (Eliza Scanlen) in Babyteeth
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THE REPORT Directed by Scott Z Burns Starring: Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Jon Hamm, Corey Stoll, Sarah Goldberg, Michael C Hall It was my second day of grad school. Next day I changed all my classes to National Security. - Daniel Jones
The Report is a thriller based on actual events. Idealistic staffer Daniel J Jones (Adam Driver) is tasked by his boss Senator Dianne Feinstein (Annette Bening) to lead an investigation of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program created in the aftermath of 9/11. Jones relentless pursuit of the truth leads to findings that uncover the lengths to which the nation’s top intelligence agency went to destroy evidence, subvert the law, and hide a shocking secret from the American public. Be prepared for torturous scenes in this expose of political cover-up. It’s publicity hype of selling it as a thriller is a misnomer; there is nothing in the narrative that will have you holding your breath or get you gripping your seat or even entertaining you in its two hours running time. The only thing that even keeps you in your cinema seat is Adam Driver. Undoubtedly, he is one of the most talented actors in movies today. Though this movie is a lesser title in his filmography, it is a mere blip in his career; check this out: Frances Ha, While We’re Young, Paterson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Marriage Story, and the film he is currently making in Brussels: Annette, directed by Leos Carax. If we eavesdrop on Scott Burns and get his take on what was his biggest challenge on making The Report.
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Tackling a complex subject: One thing I did with this script which previously as much was we did a lot of helped to hear out loud. When you read over again, you lose track of what you emotions were.
I hadn’t done table reads. It something over and didn’t see. What the
So, I went to a theatre technique, put some people in a room, whose opinions I really admire.
Of course, this film is based on a true story, so Adam Driver is playing Daniel Jones, who really did this. He was around most of the time which was a great help to Adam Driver. Here is Daniel Jones take: The important thing is that it is the story of the report itself, of this 52-page summary that Scott tells so well in that 2 hour narrative. So, we are excited for the public to see it. The Report has played at Sundance, Telluride, Toronto, Zurich and now the London Film Festival.
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Diane Feinstein (Annette Bening) in The Report
Denis McDonough (Jon Hamm) in The Report 30
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Jennifer Fox, Annette Bening, Scott Z. Burns, Adam Driver & guest. Photo shoot for The Report
Adam Driver signing for fans at the opening of The Report
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BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2019 CELEBRATES WITH A PROGRAMME TO BE ENVIED AND THE TALENT CAME OUT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR FILMS AND WALK THE RED CARPET. DEV PATEL ARMANDO IANNUCCI BEN WHISHAW MARTIN SCORCESE ROBERT DE NIRO AL PACINO HARVEY KEITEL RAY ROMANO RIAN JOHNSON DANIEL CRAIG JAMIE LEE CURTIS CHRIS EVANS ANA DE ARMAS TOM HARPER EDDIE REDMAYN FELICITY JONES HIMESH PATEL MARIELLE HELLER MATTHEW RHYS SUSAN KELECHI WATSON CHRIS COOPER MICHAEL WINTERBOTTOM STEVE COOGAN ISLA FISHER SUSAN KELECH WATSON
ANNETTE BENING JAMES MANGOLD CAITRIONA BAIFE ADAM DRIVER LAURA DERN ALAN ALDA RAY LIOTTA ROBERT EGGERS ROBERT PATTINSON SHIA LABEOUF DAKOTA JOHNSON ZACK GOTTSAGEN FERNANDO MEIRELLES JONATHAN PRYCE THOM ZHIMMY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ROGER MICHELL KATE WINSLET SAM NEILL SHANNON MURPHY ELIZA SCANLEN ESSIE DAVIS BEN MENDELSOHN KRISTIN STEWART BENEDICT ANDREWS
….and more As always MbM was there to cover the Fest! 32
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Adam Driver at London Film Festival for opening of Marriage Story
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Al Pacino signing autographs following screening of The Irishman
Director Noah Baumbach being greeted by Laura Dern prior to screening of Marriage Story 34
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Edith Bowman & Al Pacino at “The Irishman� international Premiere at the 63rd BFI London Film Festival
Talent pose for Photo Shoot for Marriage Story: Ray Liotta, Adam Driver, Noah Baumbach, Laura Dern, David Heyman and guests
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AN EASY GIRL Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski Starring: Mina Farid, Zaina Dehar, Benoit Magimel First time on a boat and you live in Cannes? - Phillipe There’s a first time for everything - Naima Naima (Mina Farid) is 16 and lives in Cannes. She has given herself the summer to choose what she wants to do with her life. Then her cousin Sofia (Zaina Dehar) with her alluring lifestyle, arrives to spend the holidays with her. Together, they will share an unforgettable summer together. The director Rebecca Zlotowski’s view of her film: “The title is mischievous and instantly calls into question the cliché by playing with the very attribution it aims to refute: this girl called ‘easy’ is in my view a powerful girl. I wanted to propose a different look at a woman whom society at best mocks, at worse despises. And if easy girls existed, then what would a difficult girl be? What is an easy life? Does such a thing exist? This is how is how we should understand the film’s Pascalian highlighting of her crucial choice of occupation. How much it is due to chance: a chance reunion with a cousin one summer, whose example, with all its highs and lows, makes you decide to seize your independence: the coincidence of having a body that opens up possibilities and pleasures. As is often the case, there was a double starting point: sentimental on one hand, political on the other, with a powerful desire for fiction triggered by my encounter with Zaina Dehar. The emotional starting point was the death of Philippe Elkoubi, the casting director with whom I’ve always worked: to try and overcome the sorrow that overwhelmed me, I immersed myself in work. Above all I needed to write an impulsive film – sun, sex and pleasure. At that time I was also preparing a TV series, Les Sauvages (shot after the film and due to be broadcast in September on Cana Plus), and I decided spending two years of my life on a dark, heavy project, cut off from the joys of cinema. So, I turned to this film to find that which belongs only to cinema, with the freedom only cinema allows, which would speak more personally, more independently – a less collective work from the series. Very quickly I understood that the subject would be the question of power, of domination on every front: physical, sexual, cultural, financial. Of course, that year, which had been focused on the Weinstein affair, had led everyone, me included, to think about these issues in one way or another, but I hadn’t had to wait for that to become interested. Years before, I’d cut out a magazine story, a first-person narrative told in the manner of a witness report, about two young women and some married men on the Riviera who spent time on luxury yachts, and the trade-off that took place between them: gifts, invitations, dinners, in 36
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exchange by tacit agreement for the young women’s presence, their bodies, nights of partying and pleasure. But against all expectations, and despite the moral tone I imposed on this exchange despite my better judgement, the young woman talked of the sweetness of that summer, its constant caress, its civility – even its romanticism, despite the hypocrisy that underlay their relationships with these men. This story touched me by its strength and by its sweetness. If the subject imposed itself quickly, it was because of an encounter – between Zahia Dehar and myself. A young French woman of Algerian origin who became famous a few years ago after a story splashed across the headlines, Zahia had an unprecedented career (in the sense Eric Rohmer gives this word in “Suzanne’s Career”) a remarkable trajectory. Her perfectly arched silhouette, her mystery, her shyness and the air of the unknown that surrounded her, all had left a powerful impression on me as on everyone else – an immediate sympathy for her, as for all women, often social defectors, who are victims of public baying for blood…but I had no idea that I would meet her one day. The fact that we are so foreign to one another attracted me at the start: the way Zahia emphasizes her femininity in the most heightened and cliched way - docility, silence, sophistication, the geisha disguise, tipping her into a camp aesthetic of which she is fully aware. That’s where I stood when I heard from her on Instagram. I was surprised she even knew my name…I saw her clips and was stunned when I heard her speak, (How many women, today, are omnipresent in the public sphere without us ever hearing their voices?)I discovered she speaks in an extraordinary elegant manner: literary, anachronistic, entirely free of slang, restrained, reserved, with the unfathomable accent of a Lebanese, Syrian or Italian, impossible to define, the opposite of the young women who gravitate toward reality TV. The spoken speech of an Eric Rohmer character, that allured me instantly. I immediately thought of “La Collectionneuse” examined domination, exploitation, liberalism, cynicism and naivete, insouciance and pragmatism, discipline, love games. Without at all wanting to attempt a remake, faithful or not, I wanted with “An Easy Girl” to enter into a dialogue with him in order to make a film of its time, light, quick and bright. A dialogue between the other legacies that run through the film’s subconscious: Zuchini’s “Girl With a Suitcase”, the girl seduced and abandoned by Pietro Germi…the guitar of Rene Clement’s “Plein Soleil”, the two friends in “Adieu Philippine” and the pick-up artists in “Blue Jeans” both by Jacques Rozier…a personal mini pantheon of sorts. A dialogue with all these films, a relationship with adventure rather than love. Sensations rather than feelings. A perfect subject for cinema. A modern idea, not seeing Sofia as tricked by her emotional immaturity and searching deep within love to dress some buried wound that would make her a victim. For her young cousin Naima, Sofia absolutely represents a positive and free model of the independence that she lacks in order to seize her destiny as she wants to, even if for her that means going to school, taking power through her studies to become a chef de cuisine – a more traditional journey but not without its own courage. It was this courage that seduced me right away in the young Mina Farid, here making her screen debut. I met her in Cannes during the festival exactly one year ago; she lived there, we knew we were going to shoot on the Riviera, we weren’t sure which city yet,(we needed yachts with pavement cafes an d onlookers opposite, an image that anchored the film in my mind from the beginning and Mina entered the room and right away made me feel as I was the one being auditioned. Her childish obstinate orphan’s strength overwhelmed me. This is a detailed and absorbing insight by Rebecca Zlotowski into the making of “An Easy Girl”, which screened in the Journey section at the London Film Festival. I must mention how refreshing it was to see Benoit Magimel again who was in the outstanding Little White Lies. Here, in An Easy Girl he plays Philippe a friend of the rich yacht owner.
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Sophia (Zahia Dehar) & Naima (Mina Farid) in An Easy Girl
Sophia (Zahia Dehar), Naima (Mina Farid), Phillippe (Benoit Magimel), Andres (Nino Lopes) in An Easy Girl
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Naima (Mina Farid) & Dodo (Lakdhar Dridi) in An Easy Girl
Dodo (Lakdhar Dridi) & Naima (Mina Farid)in An Easy Girl
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MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND DIRECTED BY MIDGE COSTIN FEATURING: Walter Murch, Ben Burtt, Barbra Streisand, Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Sofia Coppola, Ryan Coogler, Frances Ford Coppola, Erik Ardahl, Joan Allen, Richard L Anderson, Karen Baker Landers, Bobbi Banks, Mark Berger An exploration of the history, artistry, and emotional power of cinema sound, as revealed by legendary sound designers and visionary directors, via interviews, clips from movies, and a look at their actual process of creation and discovery. Directed by veteran Hollywood sound editor Midge Costin, the critically acclaimed, award-winning film goes behind the scenes to reveal the hidden power of sound in cinema: to introduce us to the unsung heroes who create it; to experience their behind-the-scenes creative genius; and to hear insights from the entertainment industry’s mist legendary directors with whom they collaborate. Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound reveals the hidden power of sound in cinema…..and our lives. Through film clips, interviews and archival footage – an enlightening and nostalgic look at many of Hollywood’s biggest box office hits – the film captures the history, impact and unique creative process of this overlooked art form and the artists behind it. Filled with insights from legendary directors, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Robert Redford, David Lynch, Ang Lee, Sofia Coppola and Ryan Coogler, among others – who share revealing stories about the award-winning work their sound collaborators help to create.
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In this documentary we witness the wild creativity of some of the industry’s most-respected key sound designers – including Oscar winners: Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now), Ben Burtt (Star Wars), Gary Rydstrom ( Saving Private Ryan), Lora Hirshberg (Inception), Cece Hall (Top Gun), Anna Behlmer (Braveheart), Bobbi Banks (Selma), who in pursuing their art and desire to push the medium , are the very people who will go down in the history of cinema as developing sound into the immersive storytelling force it is today. Audiences will discover many unsung collaborators for the key creative artists they are, in a domain that has for too long been characterized as ‘technical’. Producer/director Midge Costin holds the Key Rose Chair in the Art od Sound Editing, endowed by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts. Launching her career at a time when very few women were cutting FX in Hollywood. Costin’s credits as a sound editor include such Oscar-nominated film as Crimson Tide and Armageddon.
AMONG THE FILM CLIPS USED IN THIS OUTSTANDING FILM ARE: STAR WARS ET APOCALYPSE NOW A STAR IS BORN SAVING PRIVATE RYAN THE GODFATHER ORDINARY PEOPLE LOST IN TRANSLATION LAWRENCE OF ARABIA CITIZEN KANE
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Recording a Bear’s growl for Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Adjusting Sound Levels for Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound 42
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Midge Costin, Bobette Buster, Karen Johnson, Sandra Chandler and David J Turner at event for Making Waves: The Art of Making Cinematic Sound
Sandra Chandler, David J Turner, Allyson Newman and Thomas G Miller at an event for Making Waves: The Art of Making Cinematic Sound
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PRESS CONFERENCE THE IRISHMAN At The Mayfair Hotel th Sunday 13 October 2019 Introduction by Tricia Tuttle, Festival Director.
“Good afternoon and welcome to the Press Conference to the closing night of the BFI London Film Festival and the international premiere of Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman”. ”Raging Bull”, “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”, “Taxi Driver”, “Good Fellas”, “Casino”, “Gangs of New York”. I could really go on, but it seems frivolous to stop when you’re talking about masterpieces from Martin Scorcese, but he’s done it again with “The Irishman”. He is also a champion of film culture and preservation and he is a BFI Fellow and it is a honour to have him here. And for the film and those of you who have seen it, you know it’s complex and ambitious and deeply satisfying work of cinema. It also features actors working at the top of their game: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and an ensemble cast. There are a few ways that any film festival director would want to close a film festival and with a Martin Scorsese film, but in a year when we have seen such incredible cinema across the festival, there is really no other way to close the festival to bring down the house tonight. I’m really excited to say that working in partnership with Netflix who have been really wonderful and supportive of the festival, we’re going to ADC cinemas worldwide and that will be in the UK and Ireland. Francine, take it away.”
Francine: “So, Ladies and Gentlemen, will you please welcome to the stage Martin Scorsese and what an amazing line-up we have here. Just before I open it to the press. I wonder rather than I go down and ask you individual questions, this is I’m sure is something that everybody will have something to say about. In some ways we look at this line-up along here (Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Martin Scorcese) and say why did it take so long; you know each other and know the project has been in your mind for awhile in one way or another. So give us a little bit of context of how “The Irishman” came together?
MARTIN SCORCESE: “Well, it goes back to some special work that Bob and I were involved in 20 or some odd years. We were trying to get another project going and based on that developed into something else and we never quite settled on the project and the last time we really worked together was in 1995 – “Casino” and so from that point on, we would always check with each other with what we were doing and I could fit into his plans and vice versa and ultimately, we did think we’re get involved with..what was it? “The Winter of Frankie Machine” 44
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ROBERT DE NIRO (smiling) Yeah. MARTIN SCORCESE: “He wasn’t enthusiastic about it. We decided we had to do something. I think it was 2010. No, 2008.”
JANE ROSENTHAL: 2007 MARTIN SCORCESE: “We couldn’t settle on something. So, this was the project we thought we would have some possibilities. I was really looking for something with a project which would enrich where we had gone: the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. You know, just trying to replicate what we were trying to do at the beginning of our careers wouldn’t be enriching in anyway, and so you were about to direct “The Good Shepherd” and Eric Roth who was writing that, and Eric knowing that we were trying to do something called Frankie Machine about a hitman who had retired, Eric gave you a book called “I Hear That You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt for research.”
ROBERT DE NIRO: “Yeah, we were talking about it and he said that he had just read it and it had just come out and I said I’ve got to read that book and then when Marty and I were preparing and that was about 2 years earlier, when we were committed to Frankie Machine. Marty started to show me films like Jean Gabin films.”
MARTIN SCORCESE: “And Melville’s “Le Doulos” and get a sense of that about the time you did “Casino”. I felt it was similar.”
ROBERT DE NIRO: “And I read the book for research for the character and after I read it I got to together with Marty and said: you’ve got to look at this because I think this is something you’ll want to do. And that was it.
JANE ROSENTHAL: “So we were ready to commit to Frankie Machine and it was going to be financed by Paramount and we were on a call together and Brad was going to give us the green light and in the middle of this conversation, Bob said there is this other book. We’re thinking about that could be research and maybe we could combine these two movies and Brad said that you want to take a ‘go’ movie and take it into a ‘development’ project. And Steve, Marty and Bob worked together, and we optioned, “We Hear You Paint Houses” and Frankie Machine went away and Steve delivered a script in 2009”.
MARTIN SCORCESE: “The point is that we were trying to find something we felt right with. I don’t know how you define right. It’s ambiguous…we felt comfortable with it in a way and something we couldn’t articulate and once he described this character to me. I felt that he had a good sense of it and I said that this is something we could really explore and see what we come up with and what really might be of value and getting Al involved and Joe Pesci and the rest of the cast and so we took a chance and Steve Zach and Paul and a wonderful script and it took a number of years. Why? Well…”
ROBERT DE NIRO: “Steve wrote the script which was terrific as Marty says and then it was the matter of getting everyone’s schedules to line-up and Marty who was doing “Hugo” coming over. I don’t know when you were doing “Hugo”
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MARTIN SCORCESE: “2009…2010” ROBERT DE NIRO: “I said to Marty if he was okay if we just let it out there when we talk our interviews. Usually I’m very superstitious about that and usually it doesn’t happen. But I thought that in this case we had no backers and no people really interested in the idea. We were doing it with Al and Joe. I talked to Marty; Al and Joe are okay and we had a reading of the script. I don’t know what year that was…”
JANE ROSENTHAL: “Was January, right before you were going to do “Silence”. We had the opportunity to get everyone together and we taped a reading - 2012. I personally believe that was all we would have of “The Irishman” and we went off to shoot “Silence”. Another delay, but a good one”.
FRANCINE:
”If I could bring in Al Pacino in here…What was your initial reaction on playing Jimmy Hoffa?”
AL PACINO: “I’ve known Marty and Bob a very long time. So, when Bob came to me, called me about it, it sounded really interesting: the opportunity to work with him was very important to me and I really wanted to..for years. We almost worked together Marty and I at different things and of cause Bob and I have worked together. We’ve known each other since we were young actors”.
MARTIN SCORCESE: “The first we had with Al and we talked about it, a hotel in LA”.
AL PACINO: “That’s right, the hotel. Yes, it’s all coming back to me.”
MARTIN SCORCESE: “He looked at me and said: Is this going to happen? Because the complications, schedules. No real enthusiasm to say the least about financing made it something that is a nice dream. We were pretty clear, and Jane was. The reading was the one time we heard or seen it and we knew that going in, but somehow we pursued.”
AL PACINO: “But I think that reading was very well orchestrated. Bob arranged it so that, I guess you could say the right people were there to listen to it, that was very affecting. They got excited.”
MARTIN SCORCESE: “They still didn’t give us the money.” AL PACINO: “I didn’t know about that part.” MARTIN SCORCESE: “It was an enjoyable reading.” AL PACINO: “You can feel it though in the room, there was a live wire there. It had life to it. So, I always thought it would happen, but then I thought, I don’t think so.”
ROBERT DE NIRO: “I get a call from Al “Is it going to happen? Is it going to happen? Don’t worry. Hold on. We’re working on it.” 46
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Jane Rosenthal, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro & Martin Scorsese at the Mayfair Hotel press conference of “The Irishman” during the 63rd BFI London Film Festival
Al Pacino & Robert De Niro at the Mayfair Hotel press conference of “The Irishman” during the 63rd BFI London Film Festival
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THE IRISHMAN Directed by Martin Scorsese Starring: Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel Hiya, Frank. Would you like to be a part of history? - Jimmy Hoffa Yes, I would. - Frank Sheeran The opening shot of “The Irishman” floats down corridors and around corners accompanied by a radio hit from the past, “In the Still of the Night” by the Five Satins, and we’re in a nursing home. We make our way past doctors and orderlies, coming to rest in a quiet room furnished with tables and chairs. An old man is waiting, he’s name is Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro)he is the titular character we have come to see and he is going to tell us about his unsavory associates and criminal activities – a mobster’s reminiscence of notorious and historical episodes, many of them involving cold blooded murder. Frank believes the name Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) doesn’t mean much anymore. Back in the decades after World War II, though, when organized crime were mighty forces in the land, the name stirred fear and admiration in the hearts of politicians, racketeers and ordinary working people. Hoffa, in the 1950s, he was as well-known as Elvis Presley. “In the 60s he was bigger than the Beatles” says Frank. In 1992 Danny DeVito directed “Hoffa” which starred Jack Nicholson as the notorious labor leader. It is interesting to compare Scorsese’s “The Irishman” with “Hoffa”, obviously DeVito’s film concentrated on the Union Leader rather than the mobsters, but where “Hoffa” succeeded it understood the contradictions between their corruption and his own compromises. “The Irishman” portrays Hoffa as a disarmingly tender Hoffa. Frank Sheeran claimed his involvement in Hoffa’s demise, not everyone believed him. Scorsese, working from Steve Zaillian’s adaptation of a book by Charles Brandt (called “I Heard You Paint Houses), assembles a kind of gangland killings; with Robert De Niro’s character Frank, being the ultimate hitman. Every so often the screen freezes and a caption appears supplying the date and manner of a minor character’s eventual death; which really has all to do with eventual death.
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What really interests Scorsese are feelings rather than facts; we see Frank making a living as a truck driver in Pennsylvania after serving in World War II and then becoming a soldier in the Philadelphia mob, working mostly for Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci). Russell, whose cousin (Ray Romano) is a mob lawyer, connects Frank with Hoffa. For harsh and lean times, the two bosses command Frank’s loyalty for the next 20 years or more. The sequence between Frank and the mobster’s lawyer is a gem: “Under the contract, management can only fire a driver on very specific charges. So, did you ever show up late?” - Ray Romano
“No”. – Frank “Did you ever drink on the job?” - Ray Romano “No”. - Frank “Did you ever hit anybody? - Ray Romano “On a job?”
- Frank “Yeah”. - Ray Romano “I don’t think so”. – Frank “Alright then. We don’t have nothing to worry about”. – Ray Romano This is Scorsese’s least sentimental movie of mob life, and for that reason his most poignant. Hoffa, for all his belligerence, is also neurotic bout certain things: He can’t stand it when an upstart Teamster rival, Anthony Provenzano (Stephen Graham), shows up late for a meeting wearing shorts. Hoffa ruthlessly focuses on money and power, unless there’s the possibility of an ice cream sundae. It is not that Pacino and Scorsese make Hoffa loveable, but rather that they render him as normal as he could be. Russell and Frank are big shots in their own right. The movie also jumps back in time when Frank and Russell took their wives on a journey showing a middle-class married life. It is in the quiet moments that the film really holds you. The forward motion of time leads to moving backwards too. Scorsese has digitally ‘de-aged’ his principal actors, De Niro in particular, and while the effect takes some getting used to, it doesn’t take you out of the picture any more than makeup or prosthetics might. DeNiro’s face appear a little blurry when he is supposed to be in his 40s and 50s, but even more so is that the body it’s attached to seems to belong to the actor’s present day, 76-year-old self. Like the characters they play, the film is quite a revelation.
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Robert Niro giving a Talk at The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square
Harvey Keitel arriving at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square for “The Irishman” 50
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Al Pacino, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro after press conference of “The Irishman”
Al Pacino, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro after press conference of “The Irishman”
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THE FRIEND Directed by Gabriella Cowperthwaite Starring: Dakota Johnson, Casey Affleck, Jason Segal, Gwendoline Christie “The Friend” was one of the added films to the London Film Festival and was screened at the Curzon Mayfair. It was also one of the most emotional and rewarding films that I have seen this year, and if you want to really understand the impact that a film can make in your life, then “The Friend” is a powerful example. After learning that his wife, Nicole Teague (Dakota Johnson) has six months to live, Matt Teague (Casey Affleck) welcomes the support of his best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segal) into their home to help out. His impact on the whole family is much greater than anyone could have imagined. Here is how Dakota Johnson described working on the film and how it affected her. “The process of making this movie completely changed me, probably the greatest experience I’ve had on a set, and in that, I found that the connection you have with each other and every human being in your life is the most important thing you’ll ever do. Your worth is not measured by your success or how much you get done or how much you get paid. It is measured on how you give and receive love and respect. So, in that way, I want to treat everyone that I meet, that I come across and that I know, like I have learned from this film “The Friend” and I’m fully open to do more in cancer research.” After seeing this film, you might find that you have a deeper respect for friendship, if you haven’t already.
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GABRIELLA COWPERTHWAITE: Highlighted films in her filmography; “City Lax: An Urban Lacrosse Story” (Documentary) “Blackfish” (Documentary) “Megan Leavey” (Feature film)
DAKOTA JOHNSON: Daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. Granddaughter to Tippi Hedren. Played Anastasia in “Fifty Shades of Grey”. Amelia Ritter in David Fincher’s “The Social Network”. Her next film: “Covers”. A love story set in the Los Angeles Music Industry. CASEY AFFLECK: “Good Will Hunting” as Morgan. “Gone Baby Gone” as Patrick Kenzie. “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” as Bob Muldoon. “Manchester By The Sea” as Lee Chandler. “Ghost Story” as C. “The Old Man & The Gun as John Hunt. “Light of My Life” as Dad. JASON SEGAL:
“The Five-Year Engagement” as Tom Solomon. “This is 40” as Jason. “The Discovery” as Will.
Jason Segal, Dakota Johnson & Casey Affleck
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Gabriella Cowperthwaite, Dakota Johnson, Jason Segal at event for The Friend
Bryce Dallas Howard at event for The Friend 54
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Dane (Jason Segal), Molly (Isabelle Kai), Evie (Violet McGraw) in The Friend
Nicole (Dakota Johnson) in The Friend
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THE TWO POPES Directed by Fernando Merelles Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce, Juan Minujin “Do you know The Beatles? - Joseph Ratzinger. “Yes, I know who they are”. - Jorge Bergoglio “Of course you do”. - Joseph Ratzinger. “Eleanor Rigby” - Jorge Bergoglio “Who? - Joseph Ratzinger “Eleanor Rigby” - Jorge Bergoglio “No, I don’t know her” - Joseph Ratzinger “You know, “The Yellow Submarine” - Jorge Bergoglio “That’s silly, very funny”. -Joseph Ratzinger
On the face on it, a film that has religion on the menu doesn’t offer much in the way of a main course that would suggest it would be appetizing, but if you add something that would spice it up a bit then you might just have a totally different dish altogether and that something is comedy. What is delivered to your table is a succulent and well presented a la carte by the writer Anthony McCarten which emphasizes all the flavours and with the director, Fernando Merelles creates something memorable: a storyline that that put Popes together and two great actors, Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce in top form. It was in 2013 when we witnessed an incredible moment in history, when the Catholic Church passed its leadership to the ‘liberal’ Pope Francis from the resigning arch-conservative Pope Benedict. Nobody steps down from being Pope. It just doesn’t happen, or at least extremely rarely. It hasn’t happened in hundreds of years. So, this was huge, and not a lot is truly known about how it all went down. 56
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“The Two Popes” probably isn’t going to be recorded as a factual account of that monumental event but it was one of the most surprising films at this year’s festival. There is the usual buzz about awards from the publicists; namely the coveted Oscar, but a film that could rightly fit into the comedy genre, would have to join the queue of the growing number of expected nominees if it wants to stand a chance, and that isn’t taking anything away from the excellent performance of the film’s leading actors: Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce who deliver very funny repartee that makes them a good double-act.
FERNANDO MERIELLES: “I’m not very optimistic about our future but there is something that is really out of place in the world today. Most of you probably feel the same. I’m not talking about Trump or the crazy Guy who is the President of Brazil right now.
Our future is really in danger and Pope Francis is one of the main voices in the world today or one of the few voices who is really trying to build bridges as everyone else is building walls; economical walls. I think we are really going through a dystopian world which we love to picture in films, its that what we are building I’m afraid. Because I liked how Pope Francis sees the world: he sees it as a Brotherhood. I wanted to know more about him, intrigued to know where his idea came from. So, this script came, and I was invited direct the film. It is a brilliant script as you shall see. JONATHAN PRYCE: “I like what it has to say, not necessarily about the Catholic Church, but society in general and how we should lead our lives caring for our fellowman. Old Christian values that have kind of slipped away, throughout Europe anyway”. Regarding the Popes?
“There is a mutual respect between the two Popes, and there was a reason. The film puts forward a reason why Benedict wanted Francis to become Pope and Francis Begoglio was the reluctant Pope. He was on his way to resigning from the Church altogether, and as the result of this meeting; he couldn’t do anything about it - there had to be a vote. and he was a Cardinal and was included in the vote and what most people didn’t know, was the vote when Benedict was made Pope was that Begoglio was second in line”. And what was it like working with Anthony Hopkins? “We treated each other with due respect and enjoyed working together. And you always know that you have the presence of Fernando Merielles who you knew was going to give it a different kind of energy than that you might expect from two old men talking”.
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Antony McArten & Eva Maiwald attend “The Two Popes” international premiere during the 63rd London Film Festival
Jonathan Pryce & Juan Minujin attend The Two Popes” international premiere during the 63rd BFI London Film Festival 58
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Tracey Seaward attends “The Two Popes” international premiere during the 63rd BFI London Film Festival
Jonathan Pryce, Fernando Mereilles, Juan Minujin attends “The Two Popes” international premiere during the 63rd BFI London Film Festival.
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