De Palma a la Mod

Monday, May 14, 2012

'PASSION' POSTER GOES TO MARKET AT CANNES
AND RAINER BOCK ADDED TO CAST CREDITS AT IMDB

The above poster is being used to represent Brian De Palma's Passion for SBS Productions and Wild Bunch Distribution at the Film Market of the Cannes Film Festival, which opens on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the IMDB has added Rainer Bock to its Passion cast credits, where he is listed as "Inspector Bach." Bock, pictured here, is a veteran German actor of the stage, TV, and film. He has appeared in Steven Spielberg's War Horse, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, and Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon. In 2008, Bock appeared in Caroline Link's A Year Ago In Winter, which featured Passion's Karoline Herfurth in a starring role.

Also of note is a post from Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere, who visited Studio Babelsberg on Friday, one week after the Passion crew likely cleared out of there. Wells' post includes a couple of interesting videos he took while being given a tour of the studio. In one video, the tour guide, Eike Wolf (Studio Babelsberg's head of corporate communication), shows Wells where parts of Cloud Atlas were recently filmed, and in another, they walk through a room full of props, including a copy of the British prime minister's book from Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer.

Posted by Geoff at 5:13 PM CDT
Updated: Monday, May 14, 2012 5:55 PM CDT
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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

'PASSION' SET PIC WITH DE PALMA & RAPACE

This picture is tiny, but it shows Brian De Palma and Noomi Rapace rehearsing a circular dolly-track at Gendarmenmarkt while shooting Passion. The film was shot in Berlin between March and May.

Posted by Geoff at 10:09 PM CDT
Updated: Wednesday, May 9, 2012 10:11 PM CDT
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DE PALMA: DOMINIC COOPER IS NOT IN 'PASSION'
I asked Brian De Palma whether or not Dominic Cooper is indeed part of the cast for Passion, and he replied that he is not. After a Media Biz report from the Berlin Film Festival in February listed Cooper as part of a cast that includes Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, and Karoline Herfurth, it was widely reported and accepted that Cooper was indeed part of the cast. It is now clear that he is not.

Posted by Geoff at 12:07 AM CDT
Updated: Wednesday, May 9, 2012 12:09 AM CDT
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Tuesday, May 8, 2012

FIRST OFFICIAL STILL FROM 'PASSION'
AND A PLOT SYNOPSIS THAT LEAVES AN EXTRA TEASE

Just a week ahead of the Cannes Film Festival, Indiewire's The Playlist has the first official still from Brian De Palma's Passion (above), as well as a synopsis (initially posted at the Wild Bunch sales site) that amps up the anticipation level:

An erotic thriller in the tradition of "Dressed To Kill" and "Basic Instinct", Brian De Palma's PASSION tells the story of a deadly power struggle between two women in the dog-eat-dog world of international business. Christine possesses the natural elegance and casual ease associated with one who has a healthy relationship with money and power. Innocent, lovely and easily exploited, her admiring protégé Isabelle is full of cutting-edge ideas that Christine has no qualms about stealing. They're on the same team, after all... Christine takes pleasure in exercising control over the younger woman, leading her one step at a time ever deeper into a game of seduction and manipulation, dominance and humiliation. But when Isabelle falls into bed with one of Christine's lovers, war breaks out. On the night of the murder, Isabelle is at the ballet, while Christine receives an invitation to seduction. From whom? Christine loves surprises. Naked she goes to meet the mystery lover waiting in her bedroom...

Such a tease...! So, aside from a naked Rachel McAdams, there is one more new piece of information to glean from the above: it looks like the movie theater of the original Alain Corneau film (Love Crime) has been changed to the ballet. Knowing of De Palma's love for Powell & Pressburger's The Red Shoes, and recalling Carlito's longing for Gayle in the beautifully heartbreaking ballet class scene in De Palma's Carlito's Way, this sounds intriguing, to say the least.
(Thanks to Mary!)

Posted by Geoff at 1:33 PM CDT
Updated: Wednesday, May 9, 2012 12:26 AM CDT
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Monday, May 7, 2012

VIDEO: 'CARRIE' PANEL AT TEXAS FRIGHTMARE
P.J. SOLES SAYS DE PALMA'S VISION BROUGHT HORROR GENRE TO OSCARS

FrontRow's Adam Donaghey posted an account of the final day of this past weekend's Texas Frightmare convention, which included a Carrie panel made up of Piper Laurie, Nancy Allen, and P.J. Soles. "When asked how they originally perceived the script," writes Donaghey, "the cast of Carrie all agreed they thought it was satirical. Piper Laurie remarked that she’d even prepared some physical comedy bits, including pulling herself around the set by her hair. Director Brian De Palma’s response was something to the nature of, 'No, you can’t do that – you’ll get a laugh!'" Donaghey adds that "Carrie‘s major claim to fame is that it was a benchmark for genre films receiving Academy Award noms. '[Carrie] lead the charge,” said P. J. Soles, “Not because it was a Stephen King film, but because of De Palma’s vision.'"

Posted by Geoff at 8:03 PM CDT
Updated: Monday, May 7, 2012 8:04 PM CDT
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Thursday, May 3, 2012

'PASSION' INCLUDES FASHION SHOW SCENE, ETC.
FOR MUSEUM-SET SCENES, CORNELIA OTT DESIGNED FIVE SCULPTURES, "WITH WATCHES IN BELLIES & BREASTS"

An article posted today by Märkische Allgemeine's Ricarda Nowak (dated May 4, 2012), states that shooting on Brian De Palma's Passion wraps up on Saturday. The article features an interview with production designer Cornelia Ott, who talks about the way she and the Babelsberg Art Department transformed 30 of the film's Berlin locations, including a catwalk for a fashion show, which was filmed at the Sofitel hotel (a room of which is pictured below). Most interestingly, Ott designed five sculptures used in the scenes filmed at the Bode Museum, "with elegant watches stuck in their breasts and bellies," according to the article. What follows is an English translation of the first three paragraphs of the article (the fourth and final paragraph simply lists credits and plot for the film).

Salvador Dali-inspired sculptures appear to be in the Bode Museum, with elegant watches stuck in their breasts and bellies. Normally, visitors marvel at the Wilhelminian-built consumer product, but for the new thriller Passion by director Brian De Palma, the Bode Museum was transformed into a movie set. Berlin is the secret star of the movie. The Scarface director filmed on 30 original locations - which the Art Department of Studio Babelsberg either remodeled or supplemented.
For the shooting at the Bode Museum, where a reception of the watchmaker Bulgari takes place, production designer Cornelia Ott said the Babelsberg craftsmen were responsible for the construction of five sculptures, which were used as exhibit supports. In the paint workshop, various surfaces were imitated: white and green marble, bronze, gold bronze, stainless steel.
"For the most part, the locations got a new feature," said the production designer. Thus, the Schöneberg Town Hall served as the "London office" of an advertising agency. In the historical room of the Sofitel hotel, a fashion show was filmed: The art department made a transparent catwalk, so that the light from the illuminated floor below could be used. The metal workshop from the studio was also used to construct the iron frame designed for the catwalk. The studio craftsmen have "built my designs with excellent virtuosity," praised Cornelia Ott, who has worked several times with the Studio Babelsberg group, on international productions such as Unknown (2011) and Brothers (2009). And Art Department Chairman Michael Düwel was pleased to have been able to work for Brian De Palma.

Posted by Geoff at 8:25 PM CDT
Updated: Friday, May 4, 2012 4:21 PM CDT
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Wednesday, May 2, 2012

'SISTERS'/'PHANTOM' DOUBLE FEATURE AT UCLA TONIGHT
DE PALMA/PRESSMAN/FINLEY FILMS SCREENED FROM 35MM PRINTS

Tonight at 7:30, UCLA Film & Television Archive presents a Brian De Palma double feature at the Million Dollar Theater. The two films, Sisters (1973) and Phantom Of The Paradise (1974), also happen to have been produced by Edward R. Pressman, and they both star William Finley, who passed away last month. Both will be screened in 35mm, with the Sisters print courtesy of the Edward R. Pressman Collection at the Academy Film Archive.

Posted by Geoff at 5:20 PM CDT
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Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Posted by Geoff at 12:39 AM CDT
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Monday, April 30, 2012

MORETZ: PEIRCE & DE PALMA ARE GOOD FRIENDS
"THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT THE MOVIE... WE'RE TAKING A LOT OF HIS NOTES," BUT REALLY GOING BACK TO THE BOOK

In an MTV Movies Blog video posted today, Chloe Moretz tells Josh Horowitz that the Carrie remake, being directed by Kimberly Peirce, is getting input from Brian De Palma himself. Asked if she has seen De Palma's version, Moretz replied, "Yeah, I saw the De Palma movie actually during... I was making Let Me In at the time. And that's when I first saw it. No, I mean, De Palma's movie is absolutely amazing, and we're definitely taking... you know, Kim is actually really good friends with De Palma, and, you know, they're talking about the movie and everything, and they're good friends. So we're taking a lot of his notes and stuff, but what we're really doing is we're taking the book, and we're breaking the book down, and we're putting a lot of elements from the book into our story. So it's... it's more of like a Black Swan version of it. So you really see the mythology in the character, and you really see everything going on with Carrie, and it's darker."

Posted by Geoff at 4:54 PM CDT
Updated: Monday, April 30, 2012 5:01 PM CDT
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Sunday, April 29, 2012

MORETZ: DE PALMA'S 'CARRIE' ONE OF BEST MOVIES EVER
SAYS NEW VERSION WILL BE MORE PSYCHOLOGICAL, LIKE 'BLACK SWAN'

Coming Soon's Silas Lesnick got to discuss the upcoming remake of Carrie with Chloe Moretz, who is taking on the lead role in Kimberly Peirce's new version. Here is what Moretz had to say about the Brian De Palma version, and the new take on it:

I start that June 1st... It's going to be very well done. I don't want to jinx it, but [Peirce] is a genius, genius, genius director. I would never do it with someone that I don't trust. I trust her more than a lot of the directors I've worked with. She's the right woman for the job.
I'm actually not looking at the original, even though De Palma's movie was one of the best movies ever made. It's completely iconic and I'm proud to be able to be doing a retooling of it. We're kind of going off the book. It's darker and much more psychological. More Black Swan. You're really looking into her mind and it really looks into the relationship of Margaret and Carrie. It's set in modern time, so it's a lot different.

Lesnick got Moretz to talk about the clothes her Carrie will be wearing: "It's something that's very different from me. It's an out of body thing. I'm becoming a totally different person for it. I'm letting go of all of my self-esteem issues and just kind of going into it. You have to."

And finally, the article delves into the fan-made poster art pictured here:

Although shooting won't begin for another month, Moretz and Peirce have already been impressed with the outpouring of fan support and, in particular, the fan-made poster pictured above. Designed by Pierre-Luc Boucher, the teaser was posted to his Deviant Art page and soon found its way to Peirce.

"That was a cool poster!" Moretz laughs. "Kim sent that to me. She said, 'Oh my god, you've got to look at this. It's really, really, really cool!' We both felt so pumped. Now we're chomping at the bit to get in there."

Posted by Geoff at 6:28 PM CDT
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