The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Bernardo Bertolucci says TV shows better than Hollywood now Posted: 28 May 2013 08:21 AM PDT  AFP file pic of Bernardo Bertolucci.ROME, May 28 — When he was 12, Bernardo Bertolucci looked in a mirror and imagined himself as John Wayne. Now, at 73, he is confined to a wheelchair but is still a towering figure of Italian cinema. Today, the Oscar-winning director is disappointed with the Hollywood that once inspired him and prefers television series such as "Mad Men", saying they are better casted and better directed than big screen productions. Bertolucci discussed his love affair with American culture - and his disdain for what Hollywood is producing today - on Monday night when he was honoured by the American Academy in Rome. "Jazz was the first music I heard in my life and jazz for me meant America," Bertolucci told the crowd at the gala benefit to fund grants for artists. The Academy, the oldest American overseas centre for independent study of the arts and humanities, honoured Bertolucci with the prestigious McKim award, whose previous recipients include conductor Riccardo Muti, composer Ennio Morricone, director Franco Zeffirelli and writer Umberto Eco. "I saw 'Stagecoach' and for me (director) John Ford became Homer," he said of the classic American Western film made in 1939, a year before he was born in the northern Italian city of Parma. "I was in front of a full-length mirror and what I was seeing at 12 wasn't me, it was John Wayne." But today, the director who made "Last Tango in Paris", "The Last Emperor" and "Novecento", says the Hollywood that once excited him now depresses him. "My generation had an affair with American culture, there's no doubt about it. A street lamp and a fire hydrant made me sing in the rain." "But the American films I like now do not come from Hollywood studios but from television series, like 'Mad Men', 'Breaking Bad', 'The Americans'," he said in interview after acceptance speech. Sad Hollywood "I like when they last 13 episodes but then there is a new series coming with another 13 episodes," he said, laughing, comparing them to novels printed in instalments in 19th century newspapers. "Apart from a few independent productions, I think that everything that comes from Hollywood is generally sad. It makes me very sad". Last year Bertolucci made his first feature film in nearly a decade with "Me and You," about an introverted 14-year-old teenager who tells his mother he is going on a ski trip but spends a week in the family basement with his drug addicted half-sister. Like "Last Tango in Paris", which caused a scandal in Italy and beyond in 1972 for its sex scenes with Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider, "Me and You," was shot mostly indoors. Bertolucci has spent a lot of time indoors since a back injury about 10 years ago confined him to a wheelchair, which he referred to at Monday night's event only as "the recent time of my life." Still, despite physical and emotional difficulties resulting from the wheelchair confinement, Bertolucci says he wants to do what he can to promote culture between countries. "Exchange of culture is the salvation of the world," he said, recalling how his father set him off on a quest for new experiences when he gave him a copy of "Moby Dick" as a young boy. While he was still too young to read it, he said he knew that "somewhere there was a big landscape and a huge sky". This year, Venice will be the backdrop for Bertolucci's vision when he serves as head of the international jury at the 70th edition of the Venice Film Festival, which runs from August 28 to September 7 in the lagoon city. "I am going to nurture myself with cinema. To be the president of the jury will give me a great joy. I will be able to see beautiful experimental films," he said. As for his own creative plans, Bertolucci is holding his cards close to his chest. "I have some ideas but they are still amorphous, still at the germination stage," he said. — Reuters |
| French lesbian love story wins top prize at Cannes Posted: 27 May 2013 05:50 PM PDT
"La Vie d'Adele — Chapitre 1 & 2" (Blue is the Warmest Colour) was chosen from a field of 20 films exploring sex, violence and emotional anguish which were vying for the Palme d'Or, one of the most coveted film awards after the Oscars. Critics picked the three-hour film as a possible winner at the 66th Cannes festival, but wondered if its explicit lesbian sex scenes — one lasting up to 10 minutes — would deter the jury deciding the awards led by US filmmaker Steven Spielberg. In an unusual move, Spielberg said the award would be shared between Kechiche and his two lead actresses Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux as they were central to the film's success. "I think it will get a lot of play ... I think this film carries a very strong message, a very positive message," Spielberg told journalists. "It was the perfect choice between those two actresses and this incredible very sensitive and observant filmmaker." Spielberg said he supported same-sex marriage, but downplayed any suggestion the award was to promote this cause. Festival director Thierry Fremaux said the film was timely, as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched in Paris on Sunday to protest France's recent legalization of same-sex marriage. "Everyone who is against same-sex marriage or love between two people of the same sex must see the film," he told Reuters. Kechiche, a Tunisia-born actor who made his directorial debut in 2000, was virtually speechless as he accepted the award, which he dedicated to the youth of France and Tunisia who, during the Arab Spring, "wanted only to live, speak and love freely." "La Vie d'Adele" is an emotional tale of love and sexuality centred on 15-year-old Adele (Exarchopoulos) and her lover Emma (Seydoux) that follows the course of their tumultuous relationship.
Critics had also considered as a forerunner "Inside Llewyn Davis" about a struggling New York folk singer by the American Coen brothers Ethan and Joel, which was named as runner-up. The third prize went to Japanese director Kore-Eda Hirokazu for the baby-swapping drama "Soshite Chichi Ni Naru" (Like Father, Like Son) while the best director award went to Mexico's Amat Escalante for his brutal look at Mexico's drug war, "Heli". American Bruce Dern, 76, won a best actor award in Alexander Payne's road trip film "Nebraska," beating out Michael Douglas, who was widely praised for his performance as flamboyant pianist Liberace in Steven Soderbergh's "Behind the Candelabra." French actress Berenice Bejo ("The Artist") won the best actress award in Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's tense domestic drama "Le Passe" (The Past). Before the ceremony, stars including Kim Novak and Laetitia Casta signed autographs and posed for photographers on the red carpet in blazing sunshine, a contrast to the festival's opening ceremony on May 15 when umbrellas took over in the rain. The awards ended the 2013 edition of the world's largest film festival, where up to 40,000 film professionals also bought and sold titles on the bustling marketplace hidden away from the glitzy promotional circuit of parties and stunts. — Reuters |
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