Julie Delpy, 17 ans...

12:07 Friday 31 December 2010


Une vieil article du 13 novembre 1987 ressorti dans L'Express, à l'occasion de la sortie de La Passion Béatrice de Tavernier, nous donne un aperçu du caractère bien trempé de Julie Delpy adolescente.

Extraits:


La malheureuse Julie Delpy subit des sévices à faire dresser les cheveux sur la tête d'un chartreux. Mais la jeune fille, 17 ans, a du tempérament : "J'aime les scènes dures." Elle parle vite, tutoie d'emblée et pose elle-même les questions : "Est-ce que le film va déranger les bigots ?" Le rôle de Béatrice est pour elle le portrait d'une femme moderne : "Un personnage fort et débrouillard, qui refuse le joug des hommes."



Fille unique de deux comédiens, Albert Delpy et Marie Pillet, Julie a connu, dès le couffin, les loges de théâtre. Comme Mozart, elle débute à 5 ans, sur scène, et à 7 ans au cinéma, dans un épisode de Guerres civiles en France, de Joël Farge, intitulé La Semaine sanglante. A 11 ans, elle tue Roland Topor pour les besoins d'un court métrage. Puis tourne avec Godard dans Détective, et Léos Carax dans Mauvais Sang. Enfin, dans le prochain film de Jean-Pierre Limosin, L'Autre Nuit, elle venge ses parents, tués dans un accident de voiture. "Bizarre, je dois avoir un certain rapport avec la mort." On la croit quand elle se dit "volontaire, révoltée, un peu violente". Et prête à toutes les expériences : "Même à la guerre, si je tombe sur un méchant réalisateur."

Happy Birthday!

12:50 Tuesday 21 December 2010




Everything is said: we wish Ms Delpy a very happy birthday on this date; may the year to come be full of joy and success in everything she undertakes...


...and I'd like to thank everyone for visiting the site, and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


Une nouvelle tombée par dépêche AFP aujourd'hui et relayée par TV5 Monde: Julie Delpy a rejoint l'équipe des membres de la Commission d'avance sur recettes, dont le président nommé pour un an renouvelable est Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens, fondateur des éditions POL.

Kézako?


La commission d'avance sur recettes - "vitale pour la création cinématographique" selon le CNC - bénéficiera en 2011 d'un budget de 30 millions d'euros: elle a pour vocation d'aider la production de premiers films ou de films artistiquement ambitieux et considérés comme commercialement "difficiles". (...)

La Commission est composée de trois collèges dotés chacun d'un vice-président et de 25 membres au total qui n'effectuent jamais plus de trois mandats d'un an, afin de préserver leur indépendance - "Il faut que les gens tournent pour éviter tout suspicion", insiste Olivier Wotling.

L'un des collèges se consacre aux premiers films, l'autre aux "seconds films et suivants" et le troisième à l'aide après réalisation, en soutien à la post-production. Le président coiffe ces trois collèges.

Félicitations à l'actrice-réalisatrice pour cette nomination...

Julie Delpy au Québec, février 1995

15:52 Thursday 9 December 2010


Un entretien de Julie Delpy avec Denis Desjardins, journaliste au Québec, a été mis en ligne dernièrement.


Il date de début 1995, alors que l'actrice venait faire la promotion de Trois couleurs: Blanc, de Kieslowski.


L'entretien (en français) est disponible sur le site de la revue Erudit.

Who wants Seraphine's dress?

19:11 Wednesday 8 December 2010

Remember Julie Delpy as the cutest werewolf ever ? Well, Seraphine's wedding dress, from the last spinning scenes of An American werewolf in Paris, is to be sold soon!

(photo: fanpop)

Auction site here for the interested ones.

After a quick research I think the safest way to reach Julie Delpy is to write to her production company, Tempête sous un crâne Productions / Après une recherche rapide, le plus sûr moyen de contacter Julie Delpy semble être de passer par sa société de production:




Julie Delpy
Tempête sous un crâne Productions
34 rue Blomet
75015 Paris
FRANCE


The fanmail site indicates a second address in California, but I wouldn't be sure about this one:


Julie Delpy
Viewpoint
8820 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
USA


Remember that if you want an answer, you should join an envelope with your address; if you write from a foreign country, you can join International Postal Reply Coupons.

N'oubliez pas de joindre une enveloppe timbrée à votre adresse pour la réponse. Si vous écrivez dans un pays étranger, joignez des coupons réponses internationaux (CRI) qui seront utilisés par le destinataire pour vous répondre...

I'll try both addresses and let you know if one - or the two - works. Don't hesitate to let me know if you have an answer yourself!

N'hésitez pas à me faire savoir si vous avez une réponse, par le biais de ces adresses...


Tout est dit dans le titre, le DVD de La Comtesse sort ce jeudi 2 décembre 2010 dans toutes les bonnes boutiques!


Une idée de cadeau pour Noël par exemple...


Possibilité de le précommander sur Amazon!




Les bonus incluent notamment :

- une interview de Julie Delpy par Serge Moati

- des entretiens avec Julie Delpy, Daniel Brühl et William Hurt

A female character you can't forget...

14:26 Thursday 25 November 2010

Monika Bartyzel at Moviefone posted about Girls on film: Being Thankful for Female Characters - and guess who's in the list? Our Céline, of course!

Here is why:

The '90s were a special time for the youth of the U.S. because the young, mainstream characters who came before and after were temporarily shelved for indie heroines, including 'Before Sunrise's' Celine. Julie Delpy's leading character was a natural and
engaging lead who had one very special -- and rare -- attribute: She's one of the few female characters of popular cinema whose worth and storyline are based on her intelligence.

Jesse quickly becomes enamored with Celine because of theoretical discussions and recollections that delve into all manner of discussion. Whimsical revelation flows into crass discourse into idealized dreams and chatter about harsh realities. The two-part series is romantic not because of the romance, but because the respect and lust comes from each character peeling through the other's mind. Neither has to present themselves as some strange and questionable ideal to be romantically liked. They simply have to be honest and smart.

Sur la musique...

16:09 Friday 19 November 2010



Trouvée sur le site de la communauté franco-finlandaise Ranska.net, une interview de Julie Delpy à la sortie de son album:




Comment avez-vous décidé de devenir musicienne?
J’ai étudié la musique enfant et ado, la clarinette, le chant, le solfège puis j’ai un peu arrêté pendant quelques années… jusqu’à ce que je m’y remette il y a 4 ans et que
j’écrive des chansons.

Quels musiciens ou artistes vous ont influencée?
Neil Young, Nick Drake, Lou Reed, Richi lee Jones, jeff Buckley…

Quels sont les principaux avantages et inconvénients quand on est musicienne en France?
Je ne sais pas quoi répondre.

Quelles images avez-vous de la Finlande, des Finlandais?
Les Finlandais, je connais Mika Kaurismäki, il est détendu, sympa, créatif et original. La Finlande, je ne connais pas. J’ai vu des photos et c’est très beau, j’aimerais y venir en été car je suis un peu frileuse.

Connaissez-vous la musique finlandaise / des artistes finlandais?
Non, mais j’aimerais connaître.

Comment pourriez-vous définir votre style musical?
Folk, rock, ballades.

Quel est, dans votre répertoire, le morceau / titre que vous préférez?
Black and Grey et My dear Friend

Faites-vous régulièrement des concerts?
Je commence demain.

Préférez-vous la scène ou le studio? Pour quelles raisons?
La scène car ça fait un peu peur, mais c’est un “adrenalin rush”

Pendant la préparation d’un titre ou d’un album, quel moment ou quelle étape préférez-vous?
Composer seule à LA sur mon canapé, avec mon chat à mes côtés.

Quels artistes écoutez-vous en ce moment?
Ben Harper, Beck, Léo Ferré.

Une question stupide… quelle est, parmi toutes les chansons que vous avez entendues, celle que vous préférez?
“Avec le temps” de Léo Ferré.

Pensez-vous qu’Internet représente une réelle menace pour les artistes (au sujet des droits d’auteurs)?
C’est un probleme à résoudre évidemment, mais en même temps Internet est un moyen de communication unique.

Quels sont vos projets pour les mois / années à venir?
Réaliser mes 2 films, jouer dans un film et préparer mon prochain disque.

Seriez-vous prête à venir dans le “Grand Nord” pour faire quelques concerts?
Oui, avec plaisir, si vous m’offrez des mouffles.

On Bowery today!

11:28 Wednesday 10 November 2010

Found on Flickr (photo by scriptingnews):



Here they are...

14:31 Thursday 4 November 2010




...the first pictures from the set of 2 days in New York !


You can find them all at WireImage; they're dating from the 30th of October. Enjoy!









[Edit] A new photo from Thestar, with Albert Delpy (Julie's father) in it! They look great...

An AFP (Agence France Presse) press dispatch indicated last friday that Julie Delpy had started filming her sequel to "2 days in Paris", "2 days in New York".


PARIS — L'actrice et réalisatrice française Julie Delpy a donné les premiers tours de manivelle de son nouveau film, "Two Days in New York", suite de ses vacances amoureuses "in Paris", a indiqué vendredi son distributeur, Rezo.

The French actress and director Julie Delpy started filming her new movie, "2 days in New York", the sequel to "2 days in Paris", indicated last friday her distributor.

Trois ans après "Two Days in Paris", le tournage a commencé à Manhattan le 25 octobre pour six semaines, a précisé Rezo.

Three years after "2 days in Parisé, filming started the 25th of October in Manhattan and for 6 weeks, said Rezo.

De retour à New York après l'intermède parisien, Marion (Julie Delpy - auteur-réalisatrice-actrice de ses longs métrages) s'est séparée de son compagnon Jake (Adam Goldberg): on la retrouve au côté de son nouvel amoureux, incarné cette fois par l'acteur noir américain Chris Rock.

Back in New York after the Parisian interlude, Marion (Julie Delpy, writer, actress and director) split up with Jake (Adam Goldberg): we find her with her new boyfriend, the afro-american actor Chris Rock.

Pour son (vrai) père qui lui rend visite à New York - sa mère est décédée entre temps, dans la vie comme au cinéma -, le choc culturel est double et son irruption va perturber la vie de la jeune femme.

For her (real) father who visits her in New York - her mother has died, in the film as well as in real life - the cultural shock is double and his intrusion will disturb the young woman's life.

Quant à Chris Rock, il est davantage habitué aux grosses productions humoristiques avec Eddy Murphy qu'aux films d'auteur.

Chris Rock is usually more used to big humorous productions with Eddy Murphy than independent movies.

La sortie est prévue pour la fin de l'année 2011.

Release is expected in the end of 2011.

(Translation from me)

Indeed, Stacy testified at On Location Vacations that "Yesterday walked past “2 Days in New York” feature film on Broome, before Chrystie. Pretty sure I saw Julie Delpy (director and star) on the street."

New Yorkers be alert, give us some news!



Cette semaine un petit récapitulatif des interviews qu'a données Julie Delpy dans le cadre des émissions de Thierry Ardisson - principalement "Tout le monde en parle"...




This week a little recap about the interview that Julie Delpy gave for French television, mainly with journalist Thierry Ardisson in his saturday talk, "Tout le monde en parle"...



On a déjà évoqué ici la première interview de Julie Delpy par Thierry Ardisson dans "Lunettes noires pour nuits blanches", en 1989.

The relationship between Delpy and Ardisson goes back to 1989, when the latter interviewed her for "La noche oscura", by Carlos Saura.


Trois interviews sont désormais disponibles sur Dailymotion, grâce à l'INA - thanks to the French Audiovisual Institute, three interviews are available (in French):

- 2002 : Thierry Ardisson reçoit Julie Delpy à l'occasion de la sortie de son premier film en tant que réalisatrice, Looking for Jimmy/ Julie Delpy is invited for the release of her first film as a director, Looking for Jimmy

- 2003, first and second part: Julie Delpy parle de la sortie de son premier album, Julie Delpy/ Delpy is invited for the release of her first music album

- 2005: Julie Delpy parle de la sortie de Before Sunset/ Delpy is invited for the release of Before Sunset


Parmi les meilleurs morceaux de cette dernière interview, on trouve notamment (à reprendre dans le contexte...)/ Best quotations (to replace in context, of course - traduction from me) :

- "On m'a fait chier, bordel de merde...on m'a fait chier et je me suis cassée" (à propos de son départ aux Etats-Unis...) = "They pissed me off...they pissed me off and I left"

- "Mon futur, je le veux toujours en état créatif" = "I want my future to be always creative"

- "Toutes les religions sont connes...je sens surtout ça depuis que je vis aux Etats-Unis" = "Every religion is stupid...I feel that since I live in the United States"

- "J'aime pas passer des heures à parler de trucs de nanas...j'aime pas parler de mecs pendant des heures..." = "I don't like spending hours speaking about girly things - I don't like speaking about guys for hours"



- "Le look canard je suis pas fan" (en parlant de chirurgie esthétique) = "I'm not fan of a duck face" (speaking about cosmetic surgery)



- "Je suis une femelle dominante" = "I'm an alpha female"...

Gosh how I love her!




About Jean-Luc...

18:46 Sunday 10 October 2010

Nothing new this week, but I found this old interview of Julie Delpy for the Boston Phoenix, after the release of 2 days in Paris in August 2007 - where we learn, among other things, that Jean-Luc is Max, Julie Delpy's own cat.

Here are some extracts:


Is the cat named Jean-Luc because he looks like the director?
No, but I always thought it was funny, and I could imagine Marion would call her cat Jean-Luc because she likes Godard films.
The cat is terrific, though he doesn’t have a lot to work with.
He is terrific.

You still have him?
Yeah, he’s on the bed right now.

(...)

You’ve had experience with some of the top directors of the past 20
years. what have you learned from them?
Kieslowski was very supportive when I decided to go to film school in New York. I spent about a year meeting him quite regularly, talking about writing screenplays and moviemaking
and all that and how to make your films your own and no one else’s. Which is funny, because everyone’s comparing my film to Woody Allen’s. But I really didn’t mean to. I just am, unfortunately, neurotic, and I think it transpires throughout the film and comes out that way. I love Woody Allen; it’s not a bad
compliment, but I know it’s going to backlash on me eventually.

Well, Kieslowski is the Woody Allen of Polish filmmakers.
Which is a very different sense of humor. And Richard Linklater, not in the directing so much, but the fact that he let me write so much of Before Sunset and a lot of Before Sunrise as well, made me realize that I could write — because I had written before but had always been rejected. The fact that my writing was validated in Before Sunset.

Plus sur le tournage du Skylab

18:37 Friday 1 October 2010


Eric Libiot, de L'Express, a eu la chance de pouvoir suivre Julie Delpy sur le tournage du Skylab pendant une journée cet été en Bretagne...

Quelques éléments de son témoignage:


Le mouton n'est jamais facile à diriger. Et, quand il est en troupeau, c'est pire. Alors que l'acteur, même en groupe et pas forcément à poil laineux, est plutôt docile et bêle peu. Julie Delpy l'a appris ce jour de juin, alors qu'elle tournait, en Bretagne, une des scènes de son nouveau film Skylab, chronique familiale située en 1979, avec enfants, beaux-frères, épouses, mémé Lucienne, tonton Hubert et Valérie Bonneton dans le rôle de Micheline, actrice chouchoute maison et pardon pour les autres. Les moutons ne seront peut-être pas dans la version finale, vu leur peu d'empressement à jouer la comédie avec sérieux, les acteurs, si.

Skylab est le quatrième long-métrage réalisé par Julie Delpy (...) "J'aime aussi raconter des histoires différentes. Skylab frise l'autobiographie, et je tourne dans la maison de ma tante, là où j'ai passé mes vacances. En fait, la seule chose que je ne suis pas sûre d'aimer, c'est être actrice." Joli paradoxe, en vérité.


Pourtant, dans Skylab, elle joue Anna, 37 ans, mère d'Albertine, 10 ans, dont on peut supposer qu'elle est la petite Julie: elle en a l'âge, et son prénom, si proustien, est un glissement féminin de celui du vrai père de la cinéaste, Albert Delpy, présentement occupé à jouer Hubert. Tout le monde suit ? Autour de la table, le reste de la famille et une belle brochette de comédiens : Eric Elmosnino, Aure Atika, Bernadette Lafont, Noémie Lvovsky et Valérie Bonneton, géniale mère de famille dans Fais pas ci, fais pas ça et citée deux fois dans cet article, non ce n'est pas trop.

Mais revenons à nos moutons. Plus exactement aux plans d'assiettes. Il faut savoir qu'une scène de repas compte parmi les choses les plus difficiles à réaliser, après les scènes de douche en motel et les coulages de paquebot. Il y a du monde, ça parle et ça reparle, et il faut y sentir le naturel alors que tout est millimétré. Du coup, Julie Delpy avance à petits pas. Une longue préparation. Un plan large, trois prises. Changement d'axe. Cogitation en direct de la mise en scène. Contrôle de la scène tournée. Rectification des mouvements de caméra. Sans se presser. Sans crier. Sans bêler non plus d'ailleurs. (...)

A Paris Match interview

20:43 Saturday 25 September 2010

Just found out a beautiful Paris Match photo of Julie Delpy:




The occasion was The Countess release in France (april 2010), and here are some extracts of the interview from Dany Jucaud (in French):

Paris Match. Quand on cite votre nom, il y a toujours quelqu’un pour dire : “Julie Delpy ? Elle est folle !”
Julie Delpy. [Elle éclate de rire.] C’est ce qu’on dit souvent des femmes qui font plein de choses ! Je déteste me définir, mais une chose est sûre : je suis tout sauf folle. Si je l’étais vraiment, comment pourrais-je faire tout ce que je fais ? Pour ­mener tout ça à bien, j’ai intérêt à avoir les pieds sur terre.

Vous enchaînez les films comme des perles, comment faites-vous ?
J’en réalise deux cette année, mais je n’ai pas tourné en 2009. Cela dit, c’était pour une bonne cause : j’ai eu un bébé ! Mon petit garçon a aujourd’hui 15 mois. J’en suis dingue. Pour l’élever, avec mon mari, on a décidé de faire “un an-un an”. On travaillera chacun son tour, ce qui ne devrait pas poser trop de problèmes. Comme j’écris et que Mark fait de la musique, on peut sans problème rester à la maison.

(...)

Dans ce film, comme dans ceux que vous aviez déjà réalisés, vous n’essayez jamais de vous mettre en ­valeur, contrairement à toutes les actrices. Pourquoi ?
Le maquillage est un déguisement qui ne me ressemble pas. J’aime ce qui est réel. Quand on me fait glamour, je ne me sens pas à mon aise. Je me suis toujours préférée démaquillée, le visage nu, avec un peu de cernes sous les yeux. J’ai pris quelques kilos pour jouer ce personnage, mais j’aurais voulu grossir encore plus. Malheureusement, avec le stress, je n’ai pas réussi. Je ne suis pas du tout ­obsédée par la jeunesse, comme la ­plupart des femmes de mon âge. La peur de vieillir est aussi celle de la mort. Cette course éperdue contre le temps a quelque chose de terrifiant. Une phrase de Shakespeare m’a beaucoup marquée. Quand j’étais petite, je la répétais en boucle : “Et ainsi, d’heure en heure, on mûrit, on mûrit, et ainsi d’heure en heure on pourrit, on pourrit.” Comme vous voyez, toute jeune, j’étais déjà vachement optimiste ! [Rires.]

Catherine Deneuve dit souvent que la beauté est un privilège dont il faut se méfier.
Quand j’étais très jeune, j’avais un physique romantique, assez pur, qui m’a souvent bloquée. Le simple fait d’être une femme peut être un frein. L’autre jour, je suis tombée par hasard sur le dossier de presse de “La comtesse”, j’ai vu que la musique du film était signée de mon nom et de celui de mon mari, Mark Streintenfeld. C’est Mark qui l’a produite, mais c’est moi qui
l’ai composée et orchestrée. On était tous les deux furieux. On n’accepte toujours pas qu’une femme fasse tout. Je ne suis pas une féministe pure et dure, mais il y a de quoi être en colère !

(...)

Qu’avez-vous découvert avec la maternité ?
Je suis encore en train d’analyser la situation ! J’ai perdu ma maman en même temps que naissait mon fils, ce qui a changé énormément de choses en moi. Je suis ­complètement déboussolée. Je suis heureuse, mais une partie de moi est toujours triste. Je pense que ce sera comme ça pendant plusieurs années. J’ai une forme de gravité qui est liée à la naissance de mon fils. Je n’ai pas vraiment changé depuis qu’il est né, mais aujourd’hui, quand j’ai un coup de blues, il me suffit de
penser à son museau de petit chaton, à sa petite frimousse ronde, et j’ai le cœur qui se réchauffe.


(...)

Comment peut-on se juger quand on se dirige soi-même ?
Je fais confiance au jugement des autres. Il y a des acteurs ou des actrices qui jouent contre vous et d’autres qui jouent avec vous. J’ai eu la chance que mes acteurs jouent avec moi. Si une femme est agressive avec moi, je me défends, mais je n’ai aucun rapport de compétitivité avec les femmes. J’adore les actrices et les femmes en général.

New Yorkers, stay alert! Casting has begun for 2 days in New York, the sequel to 2 days in Paris, written and directed by Julie Delpy.

A first ad by Chrystie Street Casting says they need a Vietnamese couple, mid 50'-60', speaking both Vietnamese and English...

All details in the link! Shooting should be this automn/winter in the Big Apple...

"Houba!"

16:38 Tuesday 14 September 2010


Une bonne surprise aujourd'hui puisque l'on apprend que Julie Delpy jouera dans le prochain film d'Alain Chabat, "Houba! Le Marsupilami et l'Orchidée de Chicxulub".

(Source photo)

Dix ans après le triomphe d'Astérix et Obélix : Mission Cléopâtre, le trio du carton gaulois se reforment pour le tournage des aventures du Marsupilami, la célèbre bestiole bondissante à la longue queue et à la fourrure léopard créée par le dessinateur Franquin (Gaston Lagaffe) !


Sous la direction de l'ex-Nul Alain Chabat (qui était au Mexique en août pour les repérages du film), Jamel Debbouze (que nous retrouverons bientôt au générique de Hors-la-loi) et Gérard Depardieu (bientôt dans Potiche) donneront la réplique à la fameuse bestiole.


Le reste de la distribution est prestigieuse et notamment composée du charismatique Lambert Wilson (qui cartonne actuellement au générique du poignant Des hommes et des Dieux, de Xavier Beauvois, Grand Prix du Jury au 63e Festival de Cannes), mais aussi Fred Testot, Liya Kedebe, Géraldine Nakache (Tout ce qui brille), Julie Delpy et le catcheur d'origine indienne The Great Khali.


Ecrit par Alain Chabat et Jeremy Doner, le tournage de cette première adaptation des aventures du Marsupilami qui s'intitulera HOUBA ! Le Marsupilami et l'orchidée de Chicxulub, débutera le 20 septembre en Belgique avant de poursuivre en Amérique Latine pendant trois mois, où, dans le pays imaginaire baptisé "Palombie", nos aventuriers rencontreront la fameuse créature bondissante. (purepeople.com)



A nice surprise today: it has been announced that Julie Delpy will be playing in the next film from famous French actor/cineast Alain Chabat, "Houba! Le Marsupilami et l'Orchidée de Chicxulub". Other actors in this comedy include Jamel Debbouze, Gerard Depardieu, Lambert Wilson...

Filming is normally beginning the 20th of September in Belgium, with some shooting in Latin America (Mexico). Release date in France: 4th April 2012.

She'll always have Paris...

15:00 Wednesday 8 September 2010


Furthermucker gives us a link to a 2007 interview of Julie Delpy in Mean Magazine, after the 2 days in Paris release:

Here are some interesting extracts:


Assuming you've had relationships with French men and American men...
Also German, Italian, Spanish...(laughs)


...How are French and American men different?
I wouldn't say there's a difference. I've been with an American guy who was very
open-minded and I've been with a very uptight American guy. I've been with very
uptight French men and very liberated French men. The only thing is that the
approach to relationships and family is slightly different in America, I would say.


How so?
Well, from my experience, the family is much heavier in Europe. Actually, in Latin countries like France, Italy, Spain, you don't really get rid of your family - ever. I feel like my American friends can kind of cut the ties. In France you don't cut the ties.


(...)

How do you enjoy living in LA?
There are certain things I really love about Los Angeles. For me, being in LA is very easy, peaceful. I lock myself in my room, I get to-good food. It's so simple. I love Paris and I love New York, but LA is good for me. It's like being away and writing. I write things that never get made, things that aren't good. But sometimes they do get made, like this film; and hopefully my next one. For me it's good to write for years; to learn to write in English.

What do you miss most about Paris?
I'm here five months a year, basically. A little more in LA, but a lot in Paris. You know what I miss ? I miss the stuff I put in the film: the cafés, the markets, the subway. I love the subway in Paris.

Ethan Hawke authored two novels. Do you see yourself writing books?
Well, you know what's funny? 2 days in Paris I started as a novel. After 50 pages, it's like: "Fuck it, I just wanna write a movie." I don't have the patience to write a novel. I've tried many times and every time I end up writing a screenplay. I think cinematographically - always.


(...)

Would you consider making a third film with Linklater and Hawke, to
complete a trilogy?
Maybe when we reach 42 or something; yeah, in a few years, or sooner. They all want to do it, but we want to find the right story. It took us years to do the second one.
2 days in Paris is a stranger-in-a-strange-land film. Do you have
favourite movies in that genre?
It's funny, because some people it's kind of a Woody Allen, the film? But I never actually watched Woody Allen films before. I mean, yes! I've seen all the Woody Allen films and actually love the early ones, like Bananas and All You Always Wanted to Know About Sex and Love and Death and stuff.


Je viens de tomber sur la critique ciné de La Comtesse, par Benjamin Gans dans Streetpress.

Une critique qui m'a paru assez originale, et qui rappelle bien les aspects très contemporains de l'adaptation de la vie d'Erzebet Bathory par Julie Delpy:


Pas un nanar à la sauce vampire

La comédienne Julie Delpy a eu le nez creux : elle a compris toute l’intensité dramatique contenue dans l’histoire vraie et tragique de la comtesse hongroise Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614). Ce fait divers historique est à lui seul un scénario idéal dont on s’étonne qu’il n’ait jamais fait l’objet d’une adaptation sérieuse et appliquée. Au contraire, ce personnage a souvent été intégré dans des téléfilms ou de vrais nanars à la sauce vampire (comme Dracula’s Curse 2006).


L'histoire vraie d'une Dracougar

Le film retrace la vie sanglante de la comtesse hongroise Elizabeth Bathory. Celle-ci aurait pris goût au massacre de vierges dont elle tirait du sang frais utilisé comme lotion anti-rides. Plus d’une trentaine de jeunes filles auraient ainsi été sacrifiées au profit de l’épiderme de la dite comtesse. L’angle choisi par la comédienne-réalisatrice est simple et efficace : il n’y a que l’amour pour conduire la comtesse quarantenaire à un tel niveau de folie. Et c’est la passion destructrice qu’elle aurait éprouvé pour le trop jeune Istvan Thurzo de presque vingt ans son cadet (incarné par Daniel Brühl, vous savez, le jeune et « sympathique » officier nazi de Inglorious Basterds) qui l’aurait logiquement menée sur la voie du crime en série et de la quête de la jeunesse éternelle.

Julie Delpy s'en sort avec élégance

Ce parti pris est tenu par un scénario solide et des dialogues ciselés. Et tout est juste dans ce film dont la réalisatrice a su élégamment éviter les écueils trop gore (quoi que… âme sensibles s’abstenir), la mièvrerie romantique ou la reconstitution historique étouffante. Julie Delpy a su tirer profit du budget limité dont elle disposait pour se concentrer sur l’essentiel. Elle a également bénéficié d’une
distribution idéale avec le renfort du prestigieux William Hurt. Seul reproche : une mise en scène qui reste dans des sentiers trop académiques pour nous surprendre. Mais c’est un moindre mal dont on se contenterait volontiers plus souvent.


Cinemovies.fr reminds us of the already existing connexion between Chris Rock, which is very likely to be Marion's new boyfriend in 2 days in New York, Julie Delpy's sequel to 2 days in Paris, and French cinema:

(Picture: newsone)

After seeing his documentary Good Hair we began to see an unexpected dimension of actor Chris Rock's personality. This is being confirmed today by the projects he is involving himself in, and his interest in French cinema.

His taste for French cinema had led him to direct and play in I Think I love My Wife, a remake of Eric Rohmer's film Chloé in the Afternoon. More recently Chris Rock has decided to produce a remake of the French comedy La Première Etoile, an unexpected success of 2009.

His unexpected choices don't stop here, as he has the intention of writing an adaptation of the movie High and Low by Kurosawa, and give the direction to Mike Nichols.

In French here.

The new boyfriend!

21:26 Thursday 26 August 2010


Production Weekly has just announced on Twitter that Chris Rock will be Marion's new boyfriend in 2 days in New York, the sequel to Julie Delpy's 2 days in Paris.

Ioncinema gives us some precisions:


The basic premise sees Delpy's character Marion having to juggle career, kids, ex-boyfriends and her current African American squeeze. The ex-boyfriend in this case, is not Adam Goldberg, but a French former flame -- perhaps in the Romain Duris vein"(....)
Synopsis: This centres again on French woman Marion (Delpy), who has broken up with Jack and now lives in New York with their children. Her Parisian family come to visit her, but the cultural differences between her eccentric father and new American boyfriend will turn out to be explosive. Meanwhile, her sister has had the "good" idea of bringing an ex-boyfriend from Paris and there is the pressure of an upcoming photography exhibition.



2010, the end of a decenny, and with it comes the listing game!

Among the dozens of lists for Best movies of the decade for 2000-2009, two movies featuring Julie Delpy are - very often - short-listed:

Avclub film writers included them both in their 50 best movies of the decade: Waking Life (2001) in position 35:



With Waking Life, writer-director Richard Linklater returned to the freeform philosophical meanderings, laconic rhythms, and college-town sociology of his cult debut Slacker, only this time the proceedings are a whole lot more animated. Literally. Linklater filmed the film’s spiritual seekers and amateur philosophers in digital video, then had Bob Sabiston and his team of animators trace and color the images through low-fi rotoscoping. Like Slacker, Waking Life is informed equally by its creator’s gentle humanism and insatiable curiosity about the world around him. It’s a trippy, mind-expanding journey through the world of ideas, populated by a motley assortment of free-thinkers, eccentrics, actors (including Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, reprising their iconic roles from Before Sunrise), and crackpots. Linklater and Sabiston succeed in creating a hypnotic cinematic dream state that transformed a defiantly non-cinematic parade of monologues and abstract theorizing into a deliriously visual feast for the senses.


...and Before Sunset (2004) (easy guess!) in position 12:



The perfect “will they or won’t they” ending to Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise seemed like exactly the sort of ambiguous question that most emphatically doesn’t require an answer. It takes roots in the viewer’s imagination: Depending on who you are, romantic or cynic, you either believe that Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reunited in Vienna exactly one year later, or that they would only have that one night together, and never see each other again. And yet from their very first scene together in Before Sunset, everything feels right about the sequel—better, even—because the conversation that Hawke and Delpy continue so naturally 10 years later is now seasoned by the experiences they’ve had in the interim. Turns out that one night meant a great deal to both of them, but they aren't necessarily in a position to pick up right where they left off. What follows is every bit as enchanting as the first film, but considerably more complicated and adult, too—and with its own tantalizingly open-ended denouement.


Amongst Waking Life fans stand Roger Ebert, who includes the movie in his 20 favourite films of the decade, about which he wrote:



I have seen "Waking Life" three times now. I want to see it again--not to master it, or even to remember it better (I would not want to read the screenplay), but simply to experience all of these ideas, all of this passion, the very act of trying to figure things out. It must be depressing to believe that you have been supplied with all the answers, that you must believe them and to question them is disloyal, or a sin. Were we given minds in order to fear their questions?


Before Sunset can be found in even more lists, such as (amongst quite a lot) Brian Rowe's one at suite101 ("by far the best sequel of the decade"), or Metacritic's one, where the film appears in number 27 out of a 100.




And you? Would you include these films in your favourite movies of the decade?



After a tumultuous début between Julie Delpy and Krzysztof Kieslowski (see her interview with Ryan Gilbey), the former finally decided in 1992 to accept the role of Dominique in the middle film of the famous trilogy, Three colors: Blue, White and Red - the colors of the French flag in relation with the motto of the French republic: liberty, equality, fraternity.

A quick résumé of the story is to be found at reelviews:




White begins in a Parisian courtroom with the arrival of a lonely, dejected Karol Karol (Zamachowski), clutching a summons and looking downtrodden. Shortly thereafter, his marriage has been dissolved by the court because of his inability to consummate the union, and his beautiful young wife Dominique (Delpy) has claimed that she no longer loves him. Karol is devastated, and
decides to quit Paris for his native Poland.



To make matters worse, he has no passport and no money to obtain one, and after Dominique sets fire to a beauty shop that he and she owned together, the police want him for arson. Fate, however, is not entirely working against Karol, and he finds a friend in his fellow countryman Mikolaj (Janusz Gajos), who helps him back to Warsaw, where he begins rebuilding his life and planning revenge against the woman he still loves.


Interesting analysis include Roger Ebert's one at Chicago Sun-times:




Kieslowski allows a great deal of apparent chance in his stories. They do not move from A to B, but wander dazedly through the lives of their characters. That lends a certain suspense; since we do not know the plot, there is no way for us to anticipate what will happen next. He takes a quiet delight in producing one
rabbit after another from his hat, hinting much, but revealing facts about his characters only when they must be known.




In all of his films, there are sequences that are interesting simply for their documentary content: We're not sure what they have to do with the story, if anything, but we are interested to see them unfolding for their own sake. In "Blue," the heroine's pragmatic reaction to her husband's death gave hints of greater secrets still to come. In "Red," there are two lives that never quite seem to interlock, but always seem about to. In "White," there is the marvelous indirection of Karol's comeback in Poland, the way in which he becomes successful almost by intuition.




The colors blue, white and red in the French flag stand for liberty, equality and fraternity. One of the small puzzles Kieslowski sets up is how these concepts apply to his plot. As Karol deviously sets a snare for thewife he loves and hates - as he gains control of the relationship, in a way - it is hard to see how "equality" could be involved in such a struggle for supremacy. Afterwards, thinking about the film, beginning to see what Kieslowski might have been thinking, we see even richer ironies in his story.

Hal Hinson of The Washington Post also wonders about the "equality" that White is supposed to represent:




The stated subject of Krzysztof Kieslowski's "White," the second film in the Polish director's trilogy based on the colors of the French flag, is equality. But you'd have to stretch the definition of the word to its breaking point to make it fit this tortured love story.



Kieslowski is arguably the most gifted filmmaker working in Europe, and in movies like "Blue" and "The Double Life of Veronique," he has invented a poetic language for exploring the most enigmatic states of the mind and heart. In "White," which details the agonies of obsessive love, his story is more realistic, and his style more prosaic, but the results are no less inscrutable -- and no less engaging.(...)




Kieslowski's style here isn't overtly funny, and about the closest thing to an
outright joke is a sputtering neon sign above the front door of Karol's shabby
hair salon. But slowly, as Karol changes from loser to smooth operator, the film builds up a steady comic momentum. Zamachowski's performance is restrained, but no less hilarious because of it. Surprisingly, his Karol is never funnier than when he is a bigwig. With his hair slicked back and dressed in designer duds, he looks more like a silent-comedy clown than ever.





The film ends with Karol's last-ditch effort to recapture his lost love, and the spin Kieslowski (with writing partner Krzysztof Piesiewicz) puts on his story carries us into sublimely unexpected terrain. In an instant, the film is transformed into a poetic mystery. The denouement -- far too delicious to give away even if I could explain it -- brings us back to the issue of equality. Ultimately, "White" is a love story with a happy ending, and maybe the only one I've ever seen that's both touching and perverse at the same time.

About the mysteries of the film, from Desson Howe:




This all may read like a thriller, but "White" is more of a dramatic conundrum -- a tragicomedy full of explicit questions but only implicit answers. Why do these characters do what they do? What are the meanings of certain gestures? Why was Karol impotent in Paris? As for the finale, it is affecting and baffling: Something is being communicated between Dominique and Karol, but what?



These mysteries are not frustrating. They are intriguing. Kieslowski's films, which include "The Double Life of Veronique" and his 10-part work, "The Decalogue," are made to be watched instinctively. You use the same, appreciative reflex when you listen to music. Only this time, just listen with your eyes.


Fortunately, we have some kind of an answer to the question of Dominique's gestures to Karol at the end of the film (warning: SPOILERS ahead):








I've updated the Photo album with pictures from the 59th Berlin Festival photo call, where The Countess was first released in February 2009. You may remember that Ms Delpy had just given birth to her son, Leo, in January 2009.
From the press conference she held, Julie Delpy explained that:



“I wanted to [tell the story] more like a Greek tragedy instead of being a horror film, which is how this story is usually portrayed.” In telling the story, Delpy viewed the Countess as falling on both sides of the feminist ideal.



“In a way, [the film] is feminist but also non-feminist. I think that it isn’t ‘feminist’ to say women are perfect. There is no such thing as ‘everyone being great,’” said Delpy. “We’re all individuals. People say that if women ruled the world things would be perfect and I don’t think that’s true.”



Delpy also drew parallels with contemporary society’s hypnotic ifatuation with
youth and beauty through the film. “People with power [today] are also exposed. You see it in the entertainment industry with plastic surgery. Some people have a fear of losing youth and beauty. Some people associate that with losing power, and I think people are afraid of aging because they associate it with death - and yeah, I have that fear too.”



As with her promotion of “Two Days in Paris” two years ago, Delpy energetically answered journalist questions with a very comfortable command of English, launching into verbose explanations in both English and French intermittently,
even confessing that she is a bit highly strung.



“I’m hyper and psychotic and I have neuroses,” she said to moments of laughter. “Yet, I’m always tired, but I don’t sleep much. It’s terrible to live with me.”


Filmmaker, the magazine of independent film, makes a flashback this week on Winter 1995:


Winter, 1995, was a great issue. Our cover story was Rick Linklater’s Before Sunrise. Andrew Hindes interviewed Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, while Jean-Christopher Castelli detailed the film’s use of Austrian tax funds for its financing.

Available on line, the article from Jean-Christophe Castelli about making Before Sunrise in Vienna is quite fascinating:


In the chiaroscuro imagination of Hollywood, Vienna is a treacherous place for
Americans, a city where the only thing blacker than the shadows are the intentions of those who operate under their cover. "Down I came to old Vienna, happy as a lark and without a dime" says Holly Martins at the beginning of The Third Man, but in the end, he leaves poorer in everything but heartbreak and disillusion.


Nowadays, Vienna is a far more welcoming place for impoverished Americans – of the filmmaking variety, at least.

Richard Linklater’sBefore Sunrise which shot in Vienna in the summer of 1994, is one of the latest examples of how American independent filmmakers have used European government regional subsidies, not only as a financial resource, but also as a powerful tool for forging productive working relationships with the local film community.


The story of two young people (played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) who meet on a train and spend the night wandering around Vienna, Before Sunrise went beyond using the city as a backdrop, incorporating it as a kind of third character; and the production itself became an unusually successful model of cross-cultural collaboration.


Before Sunrise had a long gestation, and Linklater’s two young lovers wandered through a number of cities before finally arriving in old Vienna. "I wanted a very old, very classical kind of feel," says Linklater. "In the U.S., I had thought about Philadelphia – a good walking city – or San Antonio, which is really old."



Eventually, Europe seemed the logical destination – and not just for the locations. "Part of the reason was to take advantage of the subsidies," says John Sloss, Linklater’s lawyer and the Executive Producer on Sunrise. "The terms for funding are very good from the financial point of view; they are not obtrusive in the filming, they leave you alone. Basically, it’s an interest-free loan, with no continued equity interest." That means filmmakers can get
financial support without having to sell off a lot of territories. Moreover, the loan is repayable only when (and, most importantly, if) the producer’s own financial contribution has been refunded. (...)


Starting in Germany, the producers of Before Sunrise approached the Hamburg and NRW funds, but met with rejection from both. Anne Walker-McBay, Linklater’s long
time producer, speculates that, based on the script (essentially an extended conversation between two characters), the film might have come across as "too European" for some, and therefore risky: "The state of subsidies is such that so
few films make money, most of them lose money; so there’s attention going to balancing that situation, and funding films that make money back, and this tends to be films which might be more ‘American’."



Whether or not a film gets funding is often dependent on factors such as local cultural politics as well as budgets, which are always hard to predict. Ellen Winn, the Munich-based co-producer, advises filmmakers who apply to make sure "that the numbers are realistic, and that you already have some sort of financing going into it, like a distributor’s letter saying that they are supporting this film enough to release it."


Linklater came to Vienna with the advantage of a relatively high profile; while Slacker had gone straight to television in Germany, it had been theatrically released in Austria by Stadtkino, which eventually provided a letter of intent to distribute Before Sunrise. Moreover, Dazed and Confused was one of the big hits of the October, 1993 V’iennale. The attraction was intense and mutual. "We got off the plane and felt that not only could we do it here, we’d really like to do it here," says Walker-McBay. (...)



The main criterion for funding is economic – what the WFF rule book calls the "Vienna Effect," which sounds like the title of a Robert Ludlum novel but is in fact a loose set of requirements that the money be spent locally. With a budget of approximately $3 million, Before Sunrise spent $1.5 million in Vienna, which
made it eligible for a $500,000 subsidy. Local expenses included film stock and processing from a local lab, a largely Austrian crew, the supporting cast, lighting equipment, cameras (the highly regarded Moviecam is an Austrian company), the support structure from the Austrian co-producer, and miscellaneous expenses like hotels and meals. The film was entirely shot and largely assembled in Vienna in July of 1994, with post-production back in Linklater’s home base of Austin.


Foreign producers must find an Austrian partner, who writes the contract and acts as the intermediary with WFF. WFF provides an accredited list of producers from which to choose, and, according to Ainberger, this is one of the most important decisions a filmmaker can make: "Make sure you have a very clear and exact partner in Vienna," he says, recommending a scouting trip of at least two weeks to find a compatible company. Before Sunrise used the services of Filmhaus Wien, a young company which specializes in commercial work and had the
reputation of being, in Walker-McBay’s words, "not so old-school in their thinking. They worked with us for crew hiring, recommending people, and pulled in many favors." Filmhaus partner Gernot St. Schaffler, who now heads up his
company’s L.A. office, saw his involvement with Before Sunrise in terms of long-range payback: "I wanted to prove that you can do feature films on a low budget in Vienna."


For Avi Levi, the production accountant on Before Sunrise, the benefits and costs of shooting in a place like Vienna must be carefully considered. "Vienna is an expensive place," he notes, singling out the benefits for cast and crew as "the most of any country I’ve ever shot in." On the other hand, "they use smaller crews than we do and the prices before the benefits are somewhat lower than here." While the costs might outweigh the benefits in a more complicated shoot involving stunts and special effects, with a relatively simple picture, it’s still worth it – provided the location is necessary to the story.



Before Sunrise’s integration of the city as a third character is precisely one of the factors that attracted the WFF to the project. WFF’s criteria also contain a cultural stipulation of "Vienna Relatedness," with preference given to films which promote the city as a recognizable location. According to Ainberger, "It is not necessary that Vienna is shown as Vienna – in Disney’s Three
Musketeers, it was shown as France – but we like it."


Ironically, "Vienna Relatedness" eventually overtook financial necessity for the filmmakers as well. When Castle Rock Pictures picked up Before Sunrise as part of a first-look deal with Linklater in early 1994, there was no longer any need for a subsidy; in fact, as sole producer, Castle Rock was reluctant to get involved with an extra layer of bureaucracy. (A particular sticking point was the lien on all subsidized production, one of the normal requirements for funding, which was eventually dropped in the face of Castle Rock’s objections.) The filmmakers insisted on working through the WFF, however: "We wanted to make the production as local as possible," says Walker-McBay. "Getting the subsidy seemed like a good way to become politically connected; and you need as many friends as possible when you’re shooting on a low budget!"


These connections were particularly important when it came to lining up locations. Most European cities don’t have film commissions to coordinate things like in America; though Vienna has grown into one of the more film-friendly cities, "it’s not like L.A. where there is shooting on every corner," notes
Schaffler. The city is divided into districts, and securing permissions often involved arguing with local representatives who were more concerned with appeasing constituents bothered by film crews than any long-term benefits. "Austrians are not as direct as we are," notes Walker-McBay. "We like ‘yes’ and
‘no,’ but they’ll go, ‘Isn’t this nice? You want to film here? No problem!’ – this is two months before; and then the day before, they tell us ‘you can shoot until 11,’ but our problem is that the sun goes down at 10 and we need six hours of night shooting. Then, at the last minute, they push it through."



As in all shoots using foreign crews, the filmmakers had to be aware of local working methods ahead of time and compensate accordingly. Linklater brought over his "core group from Slacker," including producer Walker-McBay, director of
photography Lee Daniel, and an American first assistant director. ("They do more with location and set managers," says Walker-McBay. "Their A.D. has a more narrowly defined role than ours.") The rest of the crew was Viennese (though largely English-speaking), and the Americans found themselves adjusting very nicely to a rather more gemütlich feeling than is commonly found on American independent sets: "I like the European attitude," says Walker-McBay. "Most of the crew has a life beyond films – families to go home to, vacations to take – and it’s more relaxed."



Despite the shorter working hours, the Viennese crew were no slackers. Walker-McBay has nothing but praise for their technical expertise, and Linklater marvels at their dedication: "They’re not hellbent people like in the U.S. They have a real respect for the intentions of a movie," he says. "All they wanted
was for me to make the best movie I could." The Austrians seem to have been similarly enriched by working with Linklater: "I’ve never seen anyone so concentrated and hard-working," says Schaffler. "He was in a good mood all the time, and made our life very easy." As John Sloss sums it up, "it went so well that we’d be tempting fate to even say what we should have done better."



Needless to say, the producers of Before Sunrise came away with very few of the war stories that would normally spice up, if not the actual shoot itself, then an article like this one. According to Linklater, several of the locations that he happened to like turned out to be the same ones Carol Reed used for The Third Man, but even these coincidences don’t provide much of a metaphor for the film: for unlike Holly Martins, Richard Linklater came home from Vienna a happy man.


The 10th edition of Cinema au clair de lune (4-22 August, 2010), the open air cine festival organized by Forum des Images in Paris, reserves a good surprise: 2 days in Paris in on the program for the 14th of August, to be seen in the Parc de Choisy (13th arrondissement).

To arouse your appetite, here's the trailer:



A lot has been said about this successful independent film, but one my favourite critics includes the LA Times Carina Chocano one:



"2 Days in Paris" is pure Julie Delpy, figuratively and otherwise. Since first becoming known to American audiences in the early '90s, she's revealed herself to be an artist of sundry and unexpected talents, with a distinctive voice and point of view.



Most of these are on display in her first feature-length movie, which she wrote, directed, produced, edited, scored and stars in, opposite Adam Goldberg. She cast her real-life parents, Marie Pillet and Albert Delpy, as her parents in the movie. Finally, for what one can only assume is good measure, she sings the song that plays over the end credits, accompanied by the slinky French pop band Nouvelle Vague. If one were to learn that Delpy manned the craft services table between takes, it would come as no great surprise.



(...)



At first blush, "2 Days in Paris" looks like it's going to be the story of a culture-clashing couple. But slowly and rather slyly, Delpy zeros in on something much more subtle and complex. What interests her are not the superficial differences between people from different countries -- your skinned rabbit is my tourist in a Bush/Cheney T-shirt, and so forth -- but the way in which the distances between people, genders and cultures (the very distances we rely on to grant us the perspective needed to see how completely insane other people, genders, cultures really are) seem to shift constantly according to circumstances.



One moment, Jack is categorically rejecting all modes of European public transport (in case of terrorist attack), and the next he is recoiling from his compatriots because they have bad taste in books. Likewise, Marion chafes at Jack's American provincialism one moment, and can't believe how xenophobic Parisian taxi drivers are the next. No sooner has either one of them settled on a single, hidebound world-view than a situation arises to smack them out of it.



The more Jack -- who doesn't speak a word of French -- interacts with Marion's family, the more entrenched he becomes in abstract absolutes. "I'm an American," he tells one of Marion's exes. "What's mine is mine!" And yet, not long before this he found himself fending off Marion's father Jeannot's insinuation that all Americans are ignorant of French and even American literature. Jack may be covered in tattoos, but when Marion's former hippie mother (her first words of dialogue are "Can't those poor exploited nurses go on strike? This isn't America!") lets him in on a little secret about her sexual past, he's instantly transformed into a prig and a prude.



Naturally, the worm eventually turns, and Marion is left furious and sputtering after a chance encounter with an ex-lover who used his "immersion in Thai culture" (he worked for a foreign aid organization) as an excuse to do some very bad things. Is the German eco-activist (Daniel Brühl, seeming like he just walked off the set of anti-globalist caper "The Edukators") that Jack meets at a fast-food chain an Earth-saving "fairy," as he claims, or is he a terrorist? Delpy's wry, acerbic sense of humor and privileged perspective make her the ultimate outsider-insider, perfectly positioned to ask the most astute questions.



Eventually, a kind of synthesis arises from the battle of the perspectives -- that is, that there are no absolute ideas and no fixed identities. One man's freedom, as we know, is another man's French.


Amongst the film's admirers stands also Roger Ebert, from the Chicago Sun-Times:



(...) Marion and Jack wander about Paris, talking in that way that lovers have when they're beginning to get on each other's nerves. But, no, this is not a retread of Richard Linklater's "Before Sunset" (2004), in which Delpy and Ethan Hawke walked and talked around Paris. It is a contemplation of incompatibility, as Paris brings out a side of Marion that Jack has never quite seen: Is she a radical political activist and a shameless slut, or does she only act like one? She runs into old boyfriends so often it makes Paris seem like a small town, and attacks one of them, in a restaurant, for taking a sex vacation to Thailand.



At home, her father quizzes Jack on French culture, and her mother is so eager to wash and press his clothes that he barely has time to get out of them. Both of Delpy's parents are professional actors, and so these are only performances, I hope. In addition to casting her parents, Delpy puts her mark on this film in many other ways: She starred, directed, wrote, edited, co-produced, composed the score and sang a song. When a women takes that many jobs, we slap her down for vanity. When a man does, we call him the new Orson Welles.




Delpy in fact has made a smart film with an edge to it; her Jack and Marion reveal things about themselves they never thought they'd tell anybody, and we wonder why they ever went out on a second date. Much has been made of the similarities between Delpy here and Diane Keaton in "Annie Hall" but if Delpy's character found a spider as big as a Buick in the bathroom, she'd braise it and serve it up for lunch.




Which is an oblique way of saying that Julie Delpy is an original, a woman who refuses to be defined or limited. Her first great roles were in Bertrand Tavernier's "Beatrice" (1987), Agnieszka Holland's "Europa Europa" (1990) and Krzysztof Kieslowski's "White" (1994); she was in Linklater's "Before Sunrise" "Waking Life" and "Before Sunset" and she dumped Bill Murray at the beginning of Jim Jarmusch's "Broken Flowers." In between, she studied film at NYU and made herself available for 30 student productions.



What she has done here is avoid all temptation to recycle the usual lovers-in-Paris possibilities, and has created two original, quirky characters so obsessed with their differences that Paris is almost a distraction. I don't think I heard a single accordion in the whole film.


Julie Delpy herself has been interviewed a lot about her film, the motives for it and the major themes - men and women relationships, and cultural differences. Here is a great interview from empireonline:





Les films en Bretagne, the internet site created to promote film shooting in Brittany, have made a photo coverage of some of Skylab shooting, which ended at the beginning of July, 2010 (the Breton part, at least).

All photos here and now, in the photo album too.



(Julie Delpy and her father, Albert Delpy)


As a reminder:

The story takes place in 1979, during summer holidays in a family house in Brittany. For the grandmother birthday, the whole family - aunts and uncles, cousins, children are reunited during a restless week-end. A familial chronic as well as a chronic of a peculiar time, told by Albertine, 10 years old.

The film stars, among others,Julie Delpy, Eric Elmosnino, Aure Atika, Noémie Lvovsky, Bernadette Lafont, Emmanuelle Riva, Vincent Lacoste, Albert Delpy, Valérie Bonneton, Denis Menochet, Sophie Quinton, Marc Ruchman, Michèle Goddet, Jean-Louis Coulloc’h, Candide Sanchez.




The shooting film, about fifty technicians and forty actors (adults and children), stayed four weeks in Paimpont (Ille-et-Vilaine dept), with a 2-days shooting in Saint-Pierre-Quiberon (Morbihan dept).




Release date is expected in Spring 2011.


























Yesterday Philip Horne from The Telegraph picked "the 10 best celluloid paeans to the City of Light", and guess what? 2 of them star Julie Delpy, our favourite French-American actress!

(photo from Françoise)



America’s love story with France and things French can be a stormy affair – remember the redneck rage a few years back at the "cheese-eating surrender monkeys"? But Hollywood’s vision of France and Frenchness, often of actual Americans in Paris, can be a gloriously heady experience.


Amongst the 10 telling cases of American infatuation with France:


Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 1995/2004)

A magnificent, delightful, moving pair of films about the power, vicissitudes and uncertainties of love, made nine years apart with the same actors (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy). This spontaneous-feeling pair of movies, the latter a masterpiece, constitutes what Linklater calls "romance for realists": his characters find themselves forced to decide – in the city of lovers – whether one’s life should be ruled by deep intuitions.



Killing Zoe (Roger Avary, 1993)

Avary has had a chequered career since co-writing Pulp Fiction to say the least (he’s now in jail for manslaughter through drunk driving), but while unpleasant and unsettling in subject matter and full of sex, drugs and violence, and critically dismissed, his story of a hippyish American criminal called Zed (Eric Stoltz) joining old friends for a bank job in Paris only to find too late they’re drug-crazed murderous losers wins passionate admirers.


More about Killing Zoé in another post...