BUT ABANDONED THAT WHEN HE FOUND AUSTRALIAN COMMERCIAL ONLINE
The picture here is from Toronto on Monday, but the interviews in this story happened at Venice. First, the picture: Brian De Palma at the Hollywood Reporter's TIFF Video Lounge.Now, the interviews from Venice. De Palma discussed technology and the internet as a source for visual ideas with Loud Vision's Francesca Magini. De Palma mentioned that for the commercial created by the executives in Passion, he had originally come up with an idea inspired by Christopher Nolan's Inception. Here is the passge from the interview:
I find it fascinating, the possibility of developing visual forms through the use of new technologies. In "Redacted" all the narrative forms had originated from the web. In this case, the very idea of the commercial is taken from a true story that I found on the Internet: there was a video shot by two girls, one had a cell phone tucked in her back pocket that filmed everyone who turned to look at her ass. This video has been a huge success, especially because it seemed to have been completely made by amateurs. It turns out that the girls were, in fact, two executives of an advertising company and that the video was a real commercial.
It [the internet] provides a wealth of information and images. Do you believe this is an opportunity for enrichment or a threat?
I think it is an extremely useful tool; it is like a huge library, and during the making of a film, it's really valuable because it not only allows you to quickly search information on the location, the actors, but also to find inspiration and ideas. You need to choose what is most functional to the story you want to tell. I had several ideas for the ad to be included in the film; originally, I thought of a commercial inspired by "Inception," which I loved: it was an extremely sophisticated and particular idea, but it did not convince me at all. I needed something more concrete and real, so I continued to do research and when I found the video shot by the girls I thought it was perfect and I used it.
"MAKE 3 BATMANS TO MAKE 'INCEPTION'; WE'VE LOST THE BEAUTY OF FILM"
In a Venice interview with Le Monde's Aureliano Tonet, De Palma again referred to Inception, this time in the context of how in Hollywood, you have to make so many films you don't really want to make in order to make that one special one. Here is a passage from the article:
"In the street, nobody looks at the trees or the sun. We're glued to our screens. For the films in the movie, I was inspired by an amateur clip that was posted on the web in Australia and sex videos shot with smartphones, with a subjective point-of-view."
A reference to the Ponzi scheme indicates, moreover, how these cathedrals of glass are fragile: "The economic crisis does not scare me. Hollywood has always been in crisis," says De Palma, who failed to achieve his last two projects, respectively on the scandals of Jessica Lynch [Print The Legend] and John Edwards [Tabloid]. "I've worked in all genres; I've experienced the triumphs and disasters, the independents and the major studios. Make three "Batman" in order to make Inception, like Christopher Nolan, I have neither the time nor the inclination. A blockbuster, it is primarily a series of endless meetings ... I prefer to shoot in Europe, with small budgets. We lost the beauty of film. I try to find it," sighs the admirer of Steven Soderbergh and Wes Anderson.
Still suffering setbacks he suffered in the 2000s, he keeps a grudge against the press: "As soon as Terrence Malick makes a film, it's a miracle in your eyes ... My films are often misunderstood, probably because I am a very visual director." I dare to ask if Passion, his duet for actresses (Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace), can be read as an insight into the Hollywood psyche: "After seeing the film, my agent told me that it was like attending a day's work in his office," he said, grinning.
Updated: Friday, September 14, 2012 7:04 PM CDT
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