Berlinale Pt. 2: Red Carpet, Movies To Watch For
Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 1:41PM One of the best things about A-list festivals is that you get red carpet ogling inbetween all the big ticket movies. Oh sure, you get that at medium sized festivals too but the celebrities and movies are more regional and less Klieg lit. So who was at Berlinale? Hailee Steinfeld was despite also showing up at US events and London events in the same week (I didn't include her in the lineup because she's been featured so much lately). That girl has probably logged more air miles in the past month than you have all year!
Here's a small sampling of stars.
From left to right: Dominic Cooper had a new film at the festival called The Devil's Double (more on that in a bit). He must weigh 120 lbs. He is always wearing the slimmest most form fitting suits that money can buy and constant cardio workouts can provide; Diane Kruger, still enjoying that post-Basterds boost, was there to push Unknown (#1 at the US box office this weekend); Gabourey Sidibe, who everyone griped would be hard to cast after Precious is doing pretty well for herself, don't you think? In addition to Showtime's The Big C she is in Yelling to the Sky (Zöe Kravitz has the lead role) which premiered in Berlin ; Diane Lane and Josh Brolin were there for the True Grit premiere (Bridges and Steinfeld also attended) looking more doubly attractive than ever, yes?
The other extra special thing about international red carpets is that the European stars get way more attention than they do at US events. And some of them are more than deserving of flashbulbs.
From left to right: Ludivine Sagnier and Sibel Kekilli, two TFE favorites from France and Germany respectively, were at the fest. Ludivine co-stars with Dominic Cooper in The Devil's Double. Sibel attended the True Grit premiere but she didn't have a film of her own to push this time. However -- GEEKY FREAKOUT ALERT -- I didn't know this but she's playing "Shae", Tyrion's beloved prostitute in HBO's Game of Thrones. Yes; Diane Kruger gets featured twice because everyone knows she's a clotheshorse; German star August Diehl, who shares Inglourious Basterd's best chapter (the one in the cellar) with Kruger and Michael Fassbender, headlines the German film Wer Wenn Nicht Wir (If Not Us, Who) which won the Alfred Bauer, a prize that rewards innovation in films; And finally Spain's Carmen Maura, who we've loved since the late 80s on account of all of those delicious Pedro Almodóvar movies (she's still the reigning champ of his filmography, having starred in 8 to Penélope Cruz's 4.) is part of the star ensemble in Les femmes du 6ème étage.
A Few Movies To Be on the Lookout For
That film of Maura's translates to Women on the 6th Floor but according to Obsessed With Film, who call it "shamelessly enjoyable", it's being called Service Entrance for English markets. It's about a rich Frenchman who becomes obsessed with Spanish maids living above him in the servants quarters. Maura's delightful Volver daughter Lola Dueñas is also in the cast.
The Cooper/Savignier movie mentioned earlier called The Devil's Double is about a man forced into being the body double for one of Saddam Hussein's sons. Cooper plays both roles, body double and the son of Hussein and he's reportedly great in it though the reviews of the film are not as kind, likening it to Scarface for its Big lurid violent sensationalism. But Ludivine & Dominic? I'm in.
Once I started investigating what played beyond the prize winners, there were too many movies thatsounded interesting, particularly the Bollywood drama about a black widow 7 Khoon Maaf starring Priyanka Chopra as a black widow and Naseerudin Shah (we love him) as the eldest of several of her usually doomed husbands. It turns out, it's playing in NYC right now. There's also a French animated film from the director of Kirikou and the Sorceress (2005) called Les Contes de la Nuit and a new Chen Kaige movie Sacrifice that Variety thinks is a return to form of sorts. So let's just end with an all star Shakespeare that we know you'll eventually have a chance to see.
Ralph Fiennes directs Vanessa Redgrave in Coriolanus
Ralph Fiennes modern dress Shakespearean adaptation Coriolanus, didn't win any prizes but reviews were interesting with Vanessa Redgrave being held up for significant praise. That's no surprise in terms of reviews. Can this film eventually wow Oscar voters? They tend to prefer their Shakespeare in period traditional form but Oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave hasn't been in the mix since (gulp) 1992, so it would sure be nice to see her on the red carpet again if the performance is as wonderful as we hope.
My sadness about this movie pre-viewing is that Linus Roache does not appear. When Fiennes was doing this on stage a decade ago, Linus Roache (Priest, Wings of the Dove, Batman Begins, etcetera) was his much raved about co-star. I had just moved to New York when they were doing it at BAM and I was so poor I didn't even consider going. Sadness.
Roache belongs to that unfortunate club of Wonderful Actors Who Never Get High Profile Work (at least not since the 90s) and he's been replaced in the film version by Gerard Butler. First he has to settle for Law & Order and now he's dumped for Butler, King of Bad Movies? What a world. What a world.
See also: previous Berlinale post for the jury awarded films
Reader Comments (5)
Ugh, I really hope August Diehl's new look is for a role.
The Berlinale films I most want to see are:
1. Pina: That poster! That trailer! Gorgeous!
2. Nader and Simin: Every single review I've read was ecstatic.
3. Here: I like Ben Foster and it sounds like a film I might enjoy.
4. También la lluvia: Gael!
5. Sleeping Sickness: Seems to be a case of love it or hate it. From what I've seen so far, I think it might be the former for me.
6. Almanya: Supposedly it does for Turkish Germans what "Goodbye Lenin!" did for East Germans. Sounds fun.
7. The Future: Miranda July
8. If Not Us, Who: Mostly for the actors. Lena Lauzemis is said to be great in this and then, of course, there's also August and another actor from that Inglorious Basterds cellar chapter, Alexander Fehling.
You said it re: Linus Roache. Like you, I'm also appalled that he's been relegated to subpar (and now non-existent) television and wasn't even recognized by any career-boosting award shows for the awesome job he did with that lawyer character. Anyone who doubts what an actor this man is should take a gander at the scene in Priest when he confesses that he's taken a bottle of pills.
Unfortunately, I think Linus's involvement with that weirdo cult he's in has a lot to do with his not getting much high-profile work. You'd think his "guru" would want him to be a huge success, but he's probably happy keeping a low profile and taking half of Linus's TV and off-Braodway earnings. But I digress.
Yes, here's hoping that Linus gets some love soon, and is given his rightful place back in the pantheon of People Who Can Really Act and Are Given Plum Movie Scripts.
7 Khoon Maaf is also playing in Montréal this week. Though I'm normally allergic to Bollywood, maybe I should see it.
I posted a comment a while ago, but it didn't go through. I blame it on the gazillion of links I included.. I guess I'll just try again without the links...
I love August Diehl, but he looks pretty fug here. Hope it's for a role.
The Berlinale films I most want to see are:
1. "Pina": The poster! The trailer! The reviews! I hope to see it later this week, can't wait. It looks gorgeous.
2. "Nader and Simin": Every single review I've read was ecstatic.
3. "Sleeping Sickness": Seems to be a case of love it or hate it. From what I've read so far I think I might belong to the first group.
4. "Here": I like Ben Foster and this sounds like something I might enjoy.
5. "También la lluvia": Gael!
6. "The Future": Miranda!
7. "Almanya": Supposedly does for Turkish Germans what "Goodbye Lenin" did for East Germans. Sounds fun.
7. "If not us, who": Mostly for the actors. Lena Lauzemis is said to be great and then, of course, there's also August Diehl and another actor who was in that cellar scene, Alexander Fehling (Wilhelm, the new dad).
SETTLE for "Law & Order"? You think an actor who had to essentially take the place of the legendary Sam Waterston in "Law & Order" was SETTLING?
And watching him on "Law & Order", I agree he should get more high-profile work, but not all actors are that lucky. No reason to jump on the Hate Butler Bandwagon, however. Maybe Roach wasn't suitable for Fiennes' vision of the film. Judging by the images, Butler certainly looks the part of a brutal guerilla warrior. Moreso than Roach might have, methinks.