Will Ferrell is set to star in and produce a new comedy for CBS Films called The 100 Year-Old Man. The movie is based on the book written by Jonas Jonasson called The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.
According to Variety, Ferrell will play a man named Allan "who escapes from a nursing home on his 100th birthday. His time on the run reveals that he took part in several defining events of the 20th century."
That sounds absolutely fantastic! This is going to be a great role for Ferrell to play! When talking about the actor playing this character, the author of the book said:
“My character, Allan, knows the art of being funny just by being. That is something Will Ferrell masters to perfection. Great humor with small measurements. I am happy that Allan is now in his hands.”
This will be the second...
According to Variety, Ferrell will play a man named Allan "who escapes from a nursing home on his 100th birthday. His time on the run reveals that he took part in several defining events of the 20th century."
That sounds absolutely fantastic! This is going to be a great role for Ferrell to play! When talking about the actor playing this character, the author of the book said:
“My character, Allan, knows the art of being funny just by being. That is something Will Ferrell masters to perfection. Great humor with small measurements. I am happy that Allan is now in his hands.”
This will be the second...
- 8/24/2017
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
HBO’s sci-fi western “Westworld,” is the heavy favorite to win for contemporary and fantasy production design. The question is whether two nominations for both its western theme park and futuristic programming center actually doubles its chances — or cancels it out. Competition comes from the dystopian minimalism of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the richly Gothic “Penny Dreadful” (nominated last year), and the Vatican beauty of “The Young Pope.”
Meanwhile, the royalty glam of Peter Morgan’s “The Crown” is the heavy favorite to win for period production design, with competition from the Old Hollywood trappings of “Feud: Bette and Joan,” the nightmarish ’80s sci-fi of “Stranger Things,” the alt history of “The Man in the High Castle” (nominated last year), and perennial contender, “Masters of Sex.”
The Dueling Dystopias
The imagination and scope of “Westworld” was unrivaled. In re-imagining Michael Crichton’s adult theme park gone berserk, Jonathan Nolan and...
Meanwhile, the royalty glam of Peter Morgan’s “The Crown” is the heavy favorite to win for period production design, with competition from the Old Hollywood trappings of “Feud: Bette and Joan,” the nightmarish ’80s sci-fi of “Stranger Things,” the alt history of “The Man in the High Castle” (nominated last year), and perennial contender, “Masters of Sex.”
The Dueling Dystopias
The imagination and scope of “Westworld” was unrivaled. In re-imagining Michael Crichton’s adult theme park gone berserk, Jonathan Nolan and...
- 8/7/2017
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
“A Ghost Story” (A24) joined the recent surge of strong limited openers. Boasting top reviews, David Lowery’s offbeat Sundance hit nabbed a wider than usual arthouse audience. A24 is terrific with the right project at casting a wider specialized market net, so this should join several recent titles led by “The Big Sick” (Amazon Studios/Lionsgate) and “The Beguiled” (Focus Features) that have found wider interest as they expand.
This weekend, as breakout “The Big Sick” reaches a wider audience, it’s on its way to becoming the biggest specialized release of 2017 so far — and Amazon’s biggest grosser to date. It looks perfectly positioned for its nationwide break this Friday.
Syria documentary, likely Oscar-contender “City of Ghosts” (IFC) opened in New York only, landing high-end reviews for a reality-based theatrical release.
Opening
A Ghost Story (A24) – Metacritic: 87; Festivals include: Sundance, Seattle, Bam 2017
$108,067 in 4 theaters; PTA (per theater average...
This weekend, as breakout “The Big Sick” reaches a wider audience, it’s on its way to becoming the biggest specialized release of 2017 so far — and Amazon’s biggest grosser to date. It looks perfectly positioned for its nationwide break this Friday.
Syria documentary, likely Oscar-contender “City of Ghosts” (IFC) opened in New York only, landing high-end reviews for a reality-based theatrical release.
Opening
A Ghost Story (A24) – Metacritic: 87; Festivals include: Sundance, Seattle, Bam 2017
$108,067 in 4 theaters; PTA (per theater average...
- 7/9/2017
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
By Lee Pfeiffer
Olive Films has released the now obscure 1941 British film noir "Pimpernel Smith" starring Leslie Howard, who also directed. The movie (known as "Mister V" in the United States) was released in 1941 at a time when England was hanging on by a thin thread as Hitler dominated most of Europe. As with all of the countries involved in WWII, the British film industry relied heavily on top stars appearing in inspiring movies that would boost public morale. This was especially true in England which saw its major ally, France, capitulate to Hitler in a matter of weeks, leaving the island nation standing alone against the Nazi menace. . At the time "Pimpernel Smith" was released in July 1941 (American would not enter the war until the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of that year), the Brits were enjoying a spate of good news. After the disastrous experience of the British expedition force in Dunkirk,...
Olive Films has released the now obscure 1941 British film noir "Pimpernel Smith" starring Leslie Howard, who also directed. The movie (known as "Mister V" in the United States) was released in 1941 at a time when England was hanging on by a thin thread as Hitler dominated most of Europe. As with all of the countries involved in WWII, the British film industry relied heavily on top stars appearing in inspiring movies that would boost public morale. This was especially true in England which saw its major ally, France, capitulate to Hitler in a matter of weeks, leaving the island nation standing alone against the Nazi menace. . At the time "Pimpernel Smith" was released in July 1941 (American would not enter the war until the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of that year), the Brits were enjoying a spate of good news. After the disastrous experience of the British expedition force in Dunkirk,...
- 6/18/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Lionsgate has released the UK trailer for its upcoming historical drama/thriller “Churchill.” The film about the legendary British Primer Minister hails from Australian director Jonathan Teplitzky (“The Railway Man”), from a screenplay by British author/historian Alex von Tunzelmann. Brian Cox toplines the film.
Read More: Hugh Jackman and Noomi Rapace to Star in Michael Mann’s Ferrari Biopic
Here is the plot summary: In June 1944, allied Forces stand on the brink: a million soldiers are secretly assembled on the south coast of Britain, poised to invade Nazi-occupied Europe. Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, Churchill is a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Read More: ‘The Sweet Life’ Trailer: Chris Messina and Abigail Spencer’s Melancholic Road Trip Turns Into a Touching Love Affair...
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Here is the plot summary: In June 1944, allied Forces stand on the brink: a million soldiers are secretly assembled on the south coast of Britain, poised to invade Nazi-occupied Europe. Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, Churchill is a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Read More: ‘The Sweet Life’ Trailer: Chris Messina and Abigail Spencer’s Melancholic Road Trip Turns Into a Touching Love Affair...
- 3/21/2017
- by Yoselin Acevedo
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Steve Shill, who won a directing Emmy for his work on Season 4 finale of Dexter, has been tapped to direct the epic series All the Queen’s Men from a script written by Stewart Harcourt (Churchill’s Secret, Dexter). The series, which is being developed for Tayox TV and Ingenious Media, is based on historical novels The Wild Irish and The Queen’s Bastard by bestselling author Robin Maxwell. All the Queen’s Men has been described as a “action-packed…...
- 1/30/2017
- Deadline TV
Netflix’s sleek period drama The Crown has captivated audiences with its peek into the private life of Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy), but many fans may be wondering how much of the glamorous series is based on real life. While some elements — like the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s frosty relationship with the royal family and Princess Margaret’s romance with the dashing Pete Townsend — are true, several key elements of the series are either totally made up or exaggerated for dramatic effect. (And let’s be honest, even the life of a royal sometimes needs TV magic to make it more watchable.
- 11/19/2016
- by Maria Mercedes Lara
- PEOPLE.com
Focus Features-Working Title production Darkest Hour to star Gary Oldman as Churchill.
Focus Features is joining Working Title production Darkest Hour, from director Joe Wright, and has set a November 2017 release date for the prestige project.
Gary Oldman will star as Churchill in the biopic which will chart the story of the early days of Churchill’s premiership when he had to decide between a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for his ideals in the face of a host of pressures.
Joining Oldman are John Hurt as Neville Chamberlain, whom Churchill succeeded as Prime Minister; Lily James (Cinderella) as Churchill’s personal secretary; Golden Globe Award nominee Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI; and Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas as Churchill’s wife, Clementine.
Production on Darkest Hour is set to begin this fall.
Focus will hold worldwide rights to the film and will release in the Us on November...
Focus Features is joining Working Title production Darkest Hour, from director Joe Wright, and has set a November 2017 release date for the prestige project.
Gary Oldman will star as Churchill in the biopic which will chart the story of the early days of Churchill’s premiership when he had to decide between a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for his ideals in the face of a host of pressures.
Joining Oldman are John Hurt as Neville Chamberlain, whom Churchill succeeded as Prime Minister; Lily James (Cinderella) as Churchill’s personal secretary; Golden Globe Award nominee Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI; and Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas as Churchill’s wife, Clementine.
Production on Darkest Hour is set to begin this fall.
Focus will hold worldwide rights to the film and will release in the Us on November...
- 9/6/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Focus Features-Working Title production Darkest Hour to star Gary Oldman as Churchill.
Focus Features is joining Working Title production Darkest Hour, from director Joe Wright, and has set a November 2017 release date for the prestige project.
Gary Oldman will star as Churchill in the biopic which will chart the story of the early days of Churchill’s premiership when he had to decide between a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for his ideals in the face of a host of pressures.
Joining Oldman are John Hurt as Neville Chamberlain, whom Churchill succeeded as Prime Minister; Lily James (Cinderella) as Churchill’s personal secretary; Golden Globe Award nominee Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI; and Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas as Churchill’s wife, Clementine.
Production on Darkest Hour is set to begin this fall.
Focus will hold worldwide rights to the film and will release in the Us on November...
Focus Features is joining Working Title production Darkest Hour, from director Joe Wright, and has set a November 2017 release date for the prestige project.
Gary Oldman will star as Churchill in the biopic which will chart the story of the early days of Churchill’s premiership when he had to decide between a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for his ideals in the face of a host of pressures.
Joining Oldman are John Hurt as Neville Chamberlain, whom Churchill succeeded as Prime Minister; Lily James (Cinderella) as Churchill’s personal secretary; Golden Globe Award nominee Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI; and Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas as Churchill’s wife, Clementine.
Production on Darkest Hour is set to begin this fall.
Focus will hold worldwide rights to the film and will release in the Us on November...
- 9/6/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
The sheer infinity of World War II stories has proven to be one of cinema’s most renewable sources of inspiration, and — like a puzzle that slowly reveals its with the addition of every new piece — each movie made about that extraordinary period of time has the effect of enhancing them all. But with so many stories to tell, it’s unsurprising that even some of the most remarkable ones have been overlooked (if only, as is often the case, because there doesn’t seem to be much money in telling them).
Sean Ellis’ “Anthropoid” may not be a particularly compelling piece of drama, but it earns its place in the pantheon of World War II movies by virtue of the urgency with which it reaches into the pages of Czech history books, retrieves an enormously pivotal episode from them, and renders it for all to see on the silver screen.
Sean Ellis’ “Anthropoid” may not be a particularly compelling piece of drama, but it earns its place in the pantheon of World War II movies by virtue of the urgency with which it reaches into the pages of Czech history books, retrieves an enormously pivotal episode from them, and renders it for all to see on the silver screen.
- 7/2/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
First look at Brian Cox as the wartime leader as Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, James Purefoy and Ella Purnell join cast.
Salon Pictures has announced that principal photography has begun in Scotland on its new feature film, Churchill.
Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy) plays the Second World War leader in the 48-hours preceding D-Day in May 1944, when Churchill had to prepare a final attempt to crush Hitler’s encroaching army.
The cast is rounded out with Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter, Testament of Youth) as wife Clemmie Churchill, with John Slattery (Mad Men) as General Eisenhower, James Purefoy (Rome) as King George VI, and rising-star Ella Purnell (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Tarzan) joining the cast as Churchill’s secretary.
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man), the film is written by British historian and author Alex von Tunzelmann in her feature debut.
Churchill was developed with the assistance of the BFI. Producers are [link...
Salon Pictures has announced that principal photography has begun in Scotland on its new feature film, Churchill.
Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy) plays the Second World War leader in the 48-hours preceding D-Day in May 1944, when Churchill had to prepare a final attempt to crush Hitler’s encroaching army.
The cast is rounded out with Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter, Testament of Youth) as wife Clemmie Churchill, with John Slattery (Mad Men) as General Eisenhower, James Purefoy (Rome) as King George VI, and rising-star Ella Purnell (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Tarzan) joining the cast as Churchill’s secretary.
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man), the film is written by British historian and author Alex von Tunzelmann in her feature debut.
Churchill was developed with the assistance of the BFI. Producers are [link...
- 5/24/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Mad Men and Spotlight star to play opposite Brian Cox in Churchill, one of five films in production for Embankment Films.
Mad Men and Spotlight star John Slattery will play Us Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower in upcoming biopic Churchill, which will star Brian Cox as the eponymous British war-time leader.
Shoot is due to get underway on May 23 in Scotland on the feature from The Railway Man director Jonathan Teplitzky.
Miranda Richardson and Suki Waterhouse will co-star in the feature, which Embankment Films launched at Afm last year and will continue selling in Cannes.
Eisenhower served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and would go on to serve as 34th President of the Us from 1953 until 1961.
Stanley Tucci had previously been lined up for the role but was unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts.
Churchill is one of five productions to get underway for Embankment between April 11 and...
Mad Men and Spotlight star John Slattery will play Us Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower in upcoming biopic Churchill, which will star Brian Cox as the eponymous British war-time leader.
Shoot is due to get underway on May 23 in Scotland on the feature from The Railway Man director Jonathan Teplitzky.
Miranda Richardson and Suki Waterhouse will co-star in the feature, which Embankment Films launched at Afm last year and will continue selling in Cannes.
Eisenhower served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and would go on to serve as 34th President of the Us from 1953 until 1961.
Stanley Tucci had previously been lined up for the role but was unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts.
Churchill is one of five productions to get underway for Embankment between April 11 and...
- 4/28/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Brian Welsh to direct drama about lead up to D-Day landing.
Brian Cox (The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) is newly attached to star in Churchill, a UK drama about the build up to the D-Day landings.
Brian Welsh, director of Bifa-winning feature In Our Name and TV series The Escape Artist, will direct historian Alex von Tunzelmann’s script, which is being sold at Afm by Embankment Films.
UK producers Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of Salon Pictures produce the story of the tense build up to the D-Day landings and the relationship between British Prime Minister Churchill and his wife Clemmie.
Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, the script depicts Churchill as a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Only the unflinching support of his unflappable wife Clementine...
Brian Cox (The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) is newly attached to star in Churchill, a UK drama about the build up to the D-Day landings.
Brian Welsh, director of Bifa-winning feature In Our Name and TV series The Escape Artist, will direct historian Alex von Tunzelmann’s script, which is being sold at Afm by Embankment Films.
UK producers Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of Salon Pictures produce the story of the tense build up to the D-Day landings and the relationship between British Prime Minister Churchill and his wife Clemmie.
Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, the script depicts Churchill as a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Only the unflinching support of his unflappable wife Clementine...
- 11/4/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Brian Welsh to direct drama about lead up to D-Day landing.
Brian Cox (The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) is newly attached to star in Churchill, a UK drama about the build up to the D-Day landings.
Brian Welsh, director of Bifa-winning feature In Our Name and TV series The Escape Artist, will direct historian Alex von Tunzelmann’s script, which is being sold at Afm by Embankment Films.
UK producers Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of Salon Pictures produce the story of the tense build up to the D-Day landings and the relationship between British Prime Minister Churchill and his wife Clemmie.
Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, the script depicts Churchill as a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Only the unflinching support of his unflappable wife Clementine...
Brian Cox (The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) is newly attached to star in Churchill, a UK drama about the build up to the D-Day landings.
Brian Welsh, director of Bifa-winning feature In Our Name and TV series The Escape Artist, will direct historian Alex von Tunzelmann’s script, which is being sold at Afm by Embankment Films.
UK producers Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of Salon Pictures produce the story of the tense build up to the D-Day landings and the relationship between British Prime Minister Churchill and his wife Clemmie.
Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, the script depicts Churchill as a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Only the unflinching support of his unflappable wife Clementine...
- 11/4/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
To all cinephiles! This one is for you!
What a surprise was in store for us when we went to see “We Weren’t Just Bicycle Thieves. Neorealism” on its opening night of its qualifying run for Oscar submission in the documentary category.
The footage!
It took two and a half years to clear it all! The best scenes of Neorealistic cinema illustrate points on how Neorealism changed the lexicon and language of film in the same way that the Renaissance changed the visual language of art with linear perspective and its humanistic point of view.
The commentary!
Speaking about the influence of the Italian post-war Neorealism upon their filmmaking choices are Bertolucci, the Taviani Brothers, Scorsese, Olmi, Umberto Eco, Gabriel Garcia Marquez… the only reason Antonioni and Fellini did not speak was because they were no longer living when the movie was made. The interviews were not “talking heads”; they were conversations in which the great directors expressed their connections with Neorealism as they spoke to Carlo Lizzani.
Carlo Lizzani, the narrator and host of this documentary is an elegant 91 year old man who worked as scriptwriter, assistant director to every Neorealistic director and director in his own right. He starred in movies 1939-1954.
I loved him dancing in "Bitter Rice" (which he cowrote) with the women workers. That was the first Neorealistic movie I saw, dubbed on TV, when I was about eight. It was so puzzling to me, seeing this woman in a rice field with her skirt hiked up in a very provocative way, calling to someone with her words not matching her lips.
I really did not understand what sort of movie I was seeing… Similar to the first time I saw Chantal Akerman’s "Jane Dielman" which was rather Neorealistic too, though a product of the early ‘70s.
The production value!
The room, a fascinating “study” filled with objects of Neorealistic movies where the Lizzani seemed to belong was actually a room built from scratch by production designer Maurizio di Clemente within the walls of the oldest film school in Italy, Centro Sperimentale de Cine. When Lizzani opened windows, they looked out upon landscapes of these great Neorealistic movies. The technology of today was used in service of high art. Opening windows itself was a Neorealistic device.
The book!
You will want to read it all and show it off on your coffee table. Interviews, philosophic discussions, pictures and detailed listings of all the Neorealistic movies are splendidly displayed.
The education!
My view of cinema — both post war Italian cinema and today’s cinema shifted into an informed appreciation of how much Neorealism changed our vision of what a film could be.
Neorealism came to fruition with the rebirth of Italy after the war and lasted to 1954. Actually as Carlo Lizzani explains, it began in 1939 “with the first rumblings of an anti-fascist rebellion… as well as among many intellectuals and cineastes, increasingly unanimous in their refusal of so-called “White Telephone” cinema.”
“Before Neorealism, films were called ‘Bianchi Telefono’ after the white telephones that Hollywood movies showed in the so-called ‘White Telephone’ cinema for the way they featured Hollywood-style living rooms where that status symbol was invariably set center stage. It may have been a typical object in certain Hollywood mansions or Middle-European villa, but hardly in the average Italian home,” says Lizzani.
The interview!
Gianni Bozzacchi, the film’s director, writer and producer is a Renaissance man and his stories are funny, deeply moving and extremely interesting! This is someone you want to talk to for hours.
Watching this labor of love was an experience I will always treasure.
Rarely do we see a film about the art of film…Todd McCarthy’s "Visions of Light" comes to mind but others fade into PBS TV memories. This is a cinematic, highly technological and artistic feat. The Dp was Fabio Olmi the son of Ermanno Olmi.
After the screening, Bozzacchi stayed for a Q+A and the next day I continued to question him in the home of producer Jay Kanter where he was staying. After two and a half hours, I still wanted more. But the issue of condensing it all to a blog was weighing on me.
“Everything was planned and laid out in great detail, scripted and planned to the second so that filming 91 year old Lizanni for two hours a day took exactly 8 days to complete.”
Bozzacchi had previously made movies and in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He worked in Los Angeles with Greg Bautzer, who, for nearly 50 years, was one of the premier entertainment attorneys in Hollywood and with Kirk Kerkorian who needs no introduction. He wrote, directed and produced “I Love N.Y.” which was sold internationally by Walter Manley. It presold widely including to Australia where it played six weeks. But for the U.S. release, Manley edited it, and Bozzacchi moved away from it and took the DGA pseudonym, the credited name Alan Smithee.
Why did you leave filmmaking for so long?
I still remember that film, starring Christopher Plummer, Virna Lisi, Scott Baio, Jennifer O’Neill, but that was my last until “Neorealism”.
In 1986 I saw the industry was changing and I chose to step out in order to watch it as an outsider. What was ‘Show Business” was becoming a 'Business Show’. Marketing led to creating a show which led to creating a sales industry. “
“I decided to change direction and do only what I really wanted to do. I took ten years developing a big project ‘Oh Brave New World: The Renaissance’ for TV. It is now in pre-production. I thought of the Neorealism project and of The Enzo Ferrari story for which I now have a deal with Tribeca and Robert De Niro.
What did you do before you were a filmmaker?
I quit school at 13. From 1966 to 1974, at 20 I entered the jet set and became a photographer.
Elizabeth Taylor was shooting ‘The Comedians’ in Africa by Graham Greene. In Dahomy (today it’s Benin) they rebuilt part of Haiti. In the photo agency I worked no one wanted to go there, so I went. I knew Elizabeth Taylor’s face very well so I photographed her with light; no retouching was needed. After seeing a photo I took of her, Richard Burton said to me, ‘You want to join our family? Elizabeth needs you.’ I only spoke Roman, no English. I worked with her for 14 years and her two kids were my assistants. I also worked on 162 films as a special photographer, reading the scripts and shooting scenes for magazine layouts, working with “the making of the film” format.
It was when I stopped as a photographer in ‘75 that I began to think of producing films like the cult film “ China 9, Liberty 37” directed by Monte Hellman and starring Sam Peckinpah, Warren Oates and Fabio Testi and I wrote a book ExpoXed Memory about my life.
There is a relationship of all my projects to Neorealism, and of Neorealism to the Renaissance. All our projects are ready to go.
What are you doing in L.A.?
We have formed a new company with producer Jay Kanter and other partners who love film rather than the business of film. “We Weren’t Just Bicycle Thieves: Neorealismo” is the first to come out of the gate.
“The Listener” is the next project I will direct. It is based on the semi-autobiographical book, Operation Appia Way, by the Italian politician Giulio Andreotti. Andreotti served as Prime Minister of Italy seven terms since the restoration of democracy in 1946.
Yes he was the subject of Paolo Sorrentino’s film “Il Divo”. The book is about phone tapping, abuse of power and violations of personal privacy as is so often employed in politic, spying, etc. Andreotti had studied to be a priest but became a politician and this is about the birth of wire tapping which took place in the Roman catacombs and tapped the phones of Pope Pius Xii in conversations with Churchill, Churchill and the King of Italy, Mussolini and Hitler, Roosevelt and the Pope. The scenarios alternate between New York and Rome today and flashbacks to past times.
The production coordinator of “Neorealismo”, Julia Eleanora Rei, also has a project on Eleanora Duse and Gabriel D’Annunzio. Known as ‘Duse’, this Italian actress is known for her words of wit and wisdom, ‘The weaker partner in a marriage is the one who loves the most’ and ‘When we grow old, there can only be one regret – not to have given enough of ourselves’. She is also known for her long romantic involvement with the poet and writer, the controversial Gabriele D’Annunzio. They are now targeting a star for the film, although, says Bozzacchi, ‘Today the script is the star’.
What films are most important to you?
Those shown in this documentary, especially "Open City" where the scene of shooting down Anna Magnani still makes me feel angry.
Every week the Neorealistic filmmakers met in a café or restaurant. They did not have lots of money, had only one camera and not much film. But they created a way to tell a story very realistically, hiding the camera and shooting the people as they are.
Cary Grant pleaded De Sica to star in ‘The Bicycle Thief’, but he would have disrupted the Neorealist aspect; he was too recognizable. In the scene where three men stop the thief , other citizens joined in thinking it was real. If they saw it was Cary Grant, the scene never could have happened. The little boy in the film, played by Enzo Staiola, was scared the mob would turn on him.”
It was surprising to see Enzo Staiola in conversation during the movie. He said that ‘De Sica invented this whole story about how he made me cry. When I looked at him in surprise, he said: ‘Don’t worry, it’s just cinema…you’ll understand later’.
They also changed the way to shoot in sequence, called ‘piano sequenza’. Before a film was done in steps, with a storyboard, with cuts, three camera povs. Actors and the camera depended on the director. Now the camera follows the actor as he or she moves. This went from Rossellini to Fellini who always used the system; but Fellini, who shows a new reborn Italy, did not want direct sound. Fellini directs saying, ‘pick up drink’ or ‘turn right’ or ‘look left’ and then afterward he would add the sound. He showed Italy out of war time in ‘La Dolce Vita’.
What happened after ‘Neorealism’?
Pontecorvo was born in the time of Neorealism and he brought it to Algiers (‘Battle of Algiers’). He was going to make a doc there but then decided on fiction. He wrote notes on his hand.
Who were the French, German and U.S. adherents to Neorealism?
Truffaut and Melville, Wim Wenders with ‘American Friend’ and ‘Paris, Texas’, Coppola with ‘Apocalypse Now’. Cassavetes was a producer of Neorealism; he took it to his era. Scorsese did with ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Mean Streets’.
What do we see about Neorealism today?
If you really love movies, with all of today’s technology, you must bring in realism. With the new technology there will be a new wave of new realism. New filmmakers are very straight. Honesty and realism on the screen will come out. We’re at the sea floor now, coming back. Tell me a story that I can feel and see emotion…that is the legacy of Neorealism.
The final scene was great ...
There was a great sense of collaboration on this film.
What made that so related to Neorealism?
Neorealism also had the full participation of everyone. Directors heard and listened to the community. Clint Eastwood does this too. He would be great directing the Ferrari movie…depending on the script of course.
I love you story about the dog being an actor who allowed for transitions and covered discontinuities in film.
What about catering Italian style?
Take a look at the film's trailer Here.
What a surprise was in store for us when we went to see “We Weren’t Just Bicycle Thieves. Neorealism” on its opening night of its qualifying run for Oscar submission in the documentary category.
The footage!
It took two and a half years to clear it all! The best scenes of Neorealistic cinema illustrate points on how Neorealism changed the lexicon and language of film in the same way that the Renaissance changed the visual language of art with linear perspective and its humanistic point of view.
The commentary!
Speaking about the influence of the Italian post-war Neorealism upon their filmmaking choices are Bertolucci, the Taviani Brothers, Scorsese, Olmi, Umberto Eco, Gabriel Garcia Marquez… the only reason Antonioni and Fellini did not speak was because they were no longer living when the movie was made. The interviews were not “talking heads”; they were conversations in which the great directors expressed their connections with Neorealism as they spoke to Carlo Lizzani.
Carlo Lizzani, the narrator and host of this documentary is an elegant 91 year old man who worked as scriptwriter, assistant director to every Neorealistic director and director in his own right. He starred in movies 1939-1954.
I loved him dancing in "Bitter Rice" (which he cowrote) with the women workers. That was the first Neorealistic movie I saw, dubbed on TV, when I was about eight. It was so puzzling to me, seeing this woman in a rice field with her skirt hiked up in a very provocative way, calling to someone with her words not matching her lips.
I really did not understand what sort of movie I was seeing… Similar to the first time I saw Chantal Akerman’s "Jane Dielman" which was rather Neorealistic too, though a product of the early ‘70s.
The production value!
The room, a fascinating “study” filled with objects of Neorealistic movies where the Lizzani seemed to belong was actually a room built from scratch by production designer Maurizio di Clemente within the walls of the oldest film school in Italy, Centro Sperimentale de Cine. When Lizzani opened windows, they looked out upon landscapes of these great Neorealistic movies. The technology of today was used in service of high art. Opening windows itself was a Neorealistic device.
The book!
You will want to read it all and show it off on your coffee table. Interviews, philosophic discussions, pictures and detailed listings of all the Neorealistic movies are splendidly displayed.
The education!
My view of cinema — both post war Italian cinema and today’s cinema shifted into an informed appreciation of how much Neorealism changed our vision of what a film could be.
Neorealism came to fruition with the rebirth of Italy after the war and lasted to 1954. Actually as Carlo Lizzani explains, it began in 1939 “with the first rumblings of an anti-fascist rebellion… as well as among many intellectuals and cineastes, increasingly unanimous in their refusal of so-called “White Telephone” cinema.”
“Before Neorealism, films were called ‘Bianchi Telefono’ after the white telephones that Hollywood movies showed in the so-called ‘White Telephone’ cinema for the way they featured Hollywood-style living rooms where that status symbol was invariably set center stage. It may have been a typical object in certain Hollywood mansions or Middle-European villa, but hardly in the average Italian home,” says Lizzani.
The interview!
Gianni Bozzacchi, the film’s director, writer and producer is a Renaissance man and his stories are funny, deeply moving and extremely interesting! This is someone you want to talk to for hours.
Watching this labor of love was an experience I will always treasure.
Rarely do we see a film about the art of film…Todd McCarthy’s "Visions of Light" comes to mind but others fade into PBS TV memories. This is a cinematic, highly technological and artistic feat. The Dp was Fabio Olmi the son of Ermanno Olmi.
After the screening, Bozzacchi stayed for a Q+A and the next day I continued to question him in the home of producer Jay Kanter where he was staying. After two and a half hours, I still wanted more. But the issue of condensing it all to a blog was weighing on me.
“Everything was planned and laid out in great detail, scripted and planned to the second so that filming 91 year old Lizanni for two hours a day took exactly 8 days to complete.”
Bozzacchi had previously made movies and in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He worked in Los Angeles with Greg Bautzer, who, for nearly 50 years, was one of the premier entertainment attorneys in Hollywood and with Kirk Kerkorian who needs no introduction. He wrote, directed and produced “I Love N.Y.” which was sold internationally by Walter Manley. It presold widely including to Australia where it played six weeks. But for the U.S. release, Manley edited it, and Bozzacchi moved away from it and took the DGA pseudonym, the credited name Alan Smithee.
Why did you leave filmmaking for so long?
I still remember that film, starring Christopher Plummer, Virna Lisi, Scott Baio, Jennifer O’Neill, but that was my last until “Neorealism”.
In 1986 I saw the industry was changing and I chose to step out in order to watch it as an outsider. What was ‘Show Business” was becoming a 'Business Show’. Marketing led to creating a show which led to creating a sales industry. “
“I decided to change direction and do only what I really wanted to do. I took ten years developing a big project ‘Oh Brave New World: The Renaissance’ for TV. It is now in pre-production. I thought of the Neorealism project and of The Enzo Ferrari story for which I now have a deal with Tribeca and Robert De Niro.
What did you do before you were a filmmaker?
I quit school at 13. From 1966 to 1974, at 20 I entered the jet set and became a photographer.
Elizabeth Taylor was shooting ‘The Comedians’ in Africa by Graham Greene. In Dahomy (today it’s Benin) they rebuilt part of Haiti. In the photo agency I worked no one wanted to go there, so I went. I knew Elizabeth Taylor’s face very well so I photographed her with light; no retouching was needed. After seeing a photo I took of her, Richard Burton said to me, ‘You want to join our family? Elizabeth needs you.’ I only spoke Roman, no English. I worked with her for 14 years and her two kids were my assistants. I also worked on 162 films as a special photographer, reading the scripts and shooting scenes for magazine layouts, working with “the making of the film” format.
It was when I stopped as a photographer in ‘75 that I began to think of producing films like the cult film “ China 9, Liberty 37” directed by Monte Hellman and starring Sam Peckinpah, Warren Oates and Fabio Testi and I wrote a book ExpoXed Memory about my life.
There is a relationship of all my projects to Neorealism, and of Neorealism to the Renaissance. All our projects are ready to go.
What are you doing in L.A.?
We have formed a new company with producer Jay Kanter and other partners who love film rather than the business of film. “We Weren’t Just Bicycle Thieves: Neorealismo” is the first to come out of the gate.
“The Listener” is the next project I will direct. It is based on the semi-autobiographical book, Operation Appia Way, by the Italian politician Giulio Andreotti. Andreotti served as Prime Minister of Italy seven terms since the restoration of democracy in 1946.
Yes he was the subject of Paolo Sorrentino’s film “Il Divo”. The book is about phone tapping, abuse of power and violations of personal privacy as is so often employed in politic, spying, etc. Andreotti had studied to be a priest but became a politician and this is about the birth of wire tapping which took place in the Roman catacombs and tapped the phones of Pope Pius Xii in conversations with Churchill, Churchill and the King of Italy, Mussolini and Hitler, Roosevelt and the Pope. The scenarios alternate between New York and Rome today and flashbacks to past times.
The production coordinator of “Neorealismo”, Julia Eleanora Rei, also has a project on Eleanora Duse and Gabriel D’Annunzio. Known as ‘Duse’, this Italian actress is known for her words of wit and wisdom, ‘The weaker partner in a marriage is the one who loves the most’ and ‘When we grow old, there can only be one regret – not to have given enough of ourselves’. She is also known for her long romantic involvement with the poet and writer, the controversial Gabriele D’Annunzio. They are now targeting a star for the film, although, says Bozzacchi, ‘Today the script is the star’.
What films are most important to you?
Those shown in this documentary, especially "Open City" where the scene of shooting down Anna Magnani still makes me feel angry.
Every week the Neorealistic filmmakers met in a café or restaurant. They did not have lots of money, had only one camera and not much film. But they created a way to tell a story very realistically, hiding the camera and shooting the people as they are.
Cary Grant pleaded De Sica to star in ‘The Bicycle Thief’, but he would have disrupted the Neorealist aspect; he was too recognizable. In the scene where three men stop the thief , other citizens joined in thinking it was real. If they saw it was Cary Grant, the scene never could have happened. The little boy in the film, played by Enzo Staiola, was scared the mob would turn on him.”
It was surprising to see Enzo Staiola in conversation during the movie. He said that ‘De Sica invented this whole story about how he made me cry. When I looked at him in surprise, he said: ‘Don’t worry, it’s just cinema…you’ll understand later’.
They also changed the way to shoot in sequence, called ‘piano sequenza’. Before a film was done in steps, with a storyboard, with cuts, three camera povs. Actors and the camera depended on the director. Now the camera follows the actor as he or she moves. This went from Rossellini to Fellini who always used the system; but Fellini, who shows a new reborn Italy, did not want direct sound. Fellini directs saying, ‘pick up drink’ or ‘turn right’ or ‘look left’ and then afterward he would add the sound. He showed Italy out of war time in ‘La Dolce Vita’.
What happened after ‘Neorealism’?
Pontecorvo was born in the time of Neorealism and he brought it to Algiers (‘Battle of Algiers’). He was going to make a doc there but then decided on fiction. He wrote notes on his hand.
Who were the French, German and U.S. adherents to Neorealism?
Truffaut and Melville, Wim Wenders with ‘American Friend’ and ‘Paris, Texas’, Coppola with ‘Apocalypse Now’. Cassavetes was a producer of Neorealism; he took it to his era. Scorsese did with ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Mean Streets’.
What do we see about Neorealism today?
If you really love movies, with all of today’s technology, you must bring in realism. With the new technology there will be a new wave of new realism. New filmmakers are very straight. Honesty and realism on the screen will come out. We’re at the sea floor now, coming back. Tell me a story that I can feel and see emotion…that is the legacy of Neorealism.
The final scene was great ...
There was a great sense of collaboration on this film.
What made that so related to Neorealism?
Neorealism also had the full participation of everyone. Directors heard and listened to the community. Clint Eastwood does this too. He would be great directing the Ferrari movie…depending on the script of course.
I love you story about the dog being an actor who allowed for transitions and covered discontinuities in film.
What about catering Italian style?
Take a look at the film's trailer Here.
- 10/21/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Elizabeth has Elizabeth, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and The Virgin Queen; Victoria has Young Victoria and Mrs. Brown; heck, Elizabeth 2 is still alive and even she has The Queen. And yet what does Queen Anne, who ruled Britain from 1702 to 1714, get? Absolutely squat — until now. According to Deadline, The Lobster's Yorgos Lanthimos is making a Queen Anne biopic called The Favourite, and Kate Winslet, Emma Stone, and Oilvia Colman are all in talks to star. The film is reportedly centered on the "political machinations behind the scenes" of Anne's rule. Colman would play Anne; Winslet would play her friend Sarah Churchhill, wife of the popular Duke of Marlborough; and Stone would play Abigail Masham, Churchill's young protégé, who ended up usurping her in the Queen's affections. (And, it was rumored, enjoyed an affair with her.) So, basically, it's All About Eve in bodices. Can't wait!
- 9/24/2015
- by Nate Jones
- Vulture
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