Film Index PROFILE
MELANIE LAURENT Born 21 February 1983
Background Born and raised in Paris, Melanie Laurent has Obelix to thank for her acting career. Gerard Depardieu was playing the comic strongman in the movie adaptation when he spotted a 14- year-old Laurent hanging out on set and handed her an audition, and subsequently a role, in his 1999 directorial effort The Bridge. She certainly comes from good film stock; her dad is a voiceover artist who gives The Simpsons’ Ned Flanders a Gaelic reworking and her maternal grandparents designed movie posters. Mum is a ballerina. Her biggest role to date was starring in Quentin Tarantino’s World War Two bonanza Inglourious Basterds. What’s she up to now? Laurent plays a virtuoso violinist with a mysterious past in Le Concert. The music act is not just confined to the silver screen as she is currently also working on her debut album, which is being produced by her boyfriend Damien Rice. She’s just finished playing Ewan McGregor’s girlfriend in Mike Mills’ Beginners. She has also directed a short film that was selected for Cannes and a porno for Canal Plus as part of the X Femmes project.
On luck playing a part in her career ‘When I was little I wanted to be a singer and a director. The actress thing just appeared because of Depardieu and if I didn’t meet him maybe I would be another person today.
On making a porn film ‘The strangest thing is the first ten minutes when you have to say some weird and very strange lines to your porn actor. After that, the difficult part is just the mise-en- scene. It’s just like making any movie. It’s almost like dance in the way you have to direct bodies and I was very proud of the result. I wanted to make some beautiful shots, and for me it was great training as a director. Interesting fact Her grandfather survived deportation by the Nazis and now gives advice to Laurent on Jewish characters she should play. (Kaleem Aftab) ■ Le Concert is on selected release from Fri 9 Jul.
56 THE LIST 8–22 Jul 2010
The Killer Inside Me (18) ●●●●● (Michael Winterbottom, US, 2010) Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba. 109min. With this vicious character study of a seemingly contemplative cowboy (Affleck) who is sent to the outskirts of town to run off a prostitute, Winterbottom utilises Jim Thompson’s controversial pulp novel to explode the myth that the 1950s was a time of innocence. Fascinating, but not for the squeamish. Glasgow Film Theatre. Killers (12A) ●●●●● (Robert Luketic, US, 2010) Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl, Tom Selleck. 100min. Witless, unfunny and lacking in any kind of chemistry between the leads, this action comedy is a forgettable dud. General release. ✽✽ Leaving (15) ●●●●● (Catherine Corsini, France, 2009) Kristin Scott Thomas, Sergi López, Yvan Attal. 86min. See feature, page 30 and review, page 51. Glasgow Film Theatre; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Letters to Juliet (PG) ●●●●● (Gary Winick, US, 2010) Amanda Seyfried, Marcia DeBonis, Gael García Bernal. 105min. Airy, lightweight trifle which takes inspiration from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and, more peculiarly, the alleged phenomenon that many lovelorn people write letters to said Juliet. Selected release. Lorca and Surrealism: Un Chien Andalou & Viaje a la Luna (15) (Luis Buñuel/Frederic Amat, Spain/France, 1929/1929) 90min. Double bill of Surrealist work Un Chien Andalou and rebel poet Federico Garcia Lorca’s reply Viaje a la Luna, followed by a discussion with Catalan artist and director Frederic Amat and Professor Maria Delgade, Queen Mary, University of London. Weston Link, Edinburgh. The Men who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (12) (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1945) Denjirô Ôkôchi, Susumu Fujita, Kenichi Enomoto. 60min. Banned in Japan for the first seven years of its existence, this film was made in 1945 as the country stood in ruins and was seen by some as a shocking allegory for the state of Japan at the time. The story comes from a traditional tale about a nobleman who must cross a checkpoint disguised as a commoner, requiring his servant to beat him in order to make the disguise more convincing, but thereby breaking one of the central tenets of the feudal code. Part of Kurosawa season. Glasgow Film Theatre. Meredith Monk: Inner Voice (15) (Babeth M VanLoo, Netherlands/USA, 2009) 82min. An investigation of the creative force behind composer, singer, director, choreographer and creative Meredith Monk. VanLoo’s documentary follows her on a concert tour of Italy and sees her making Songs of Ascension. Part of On Stage, On Screen. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Milenge Milenge (12A) (Satish Kaushik, India, 2010) Kareena Kapoor, Aarti Chhabria, Shahid Kapur. 125min. Bollywood romance. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Monsters vs Aliens 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Rob Letterman, US, 2009) Voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie. 94min. Can a self-doubting but individualist team of monsters overcome a mob of self- confident, mass-produced aliens? Eye- popping to watch, leavened with self- referential humour that makes it easy to digest, but also playing things so painstakingly safe that any resonance evaporates the moment the end credits roll. Cineworld Parkhead, Glasgow; Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. Nanny McPhee & The Big Bang (U) ●●●●● (Susanna White, US, 2010) Emma Thompson, Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Gyllenhaal. 109min. Sequel to the popular 2005 family film. This time Gyllenhaal is single mum Isabel Green (hubbie is off to fight the Hun in WW2) with three out of control nippers to contend with and two insufferably posh evacuee cousins about to arrive on their farm. Selected release. Nénette et Boni (15) ●●●●● (Claire Denis, France, 1996) Gregoire Colin, Alice Houri, Jacques Nolot, Vincent Gallo.
103min. Claire Denis’ powerful portrait of two Marseille teenagers brought together at turning points in their lives. Stunning soundtrack by Tindersticks. Part of Denis season. Cameo, Edinburgh. The Other Final (PG) ●●●●● (Johan Kramer, Netherlands, 2002)Football fanatic and agency director Johan Kramer brought together the world’s lowest ranking national football teams – Bhutan and Montserrat – to let them battle it out. A Take One Action screening. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (PG) ●●●●● (Chris Columbus, Canada/US, 2010) Brandon T Jackson, Steve Coogan, Uma Thurman. 118min. Big screen adaptation of Rick Riordan’s first fantasy adventure novel featuring Greek mythology-baiting child Percy Jackson. Possible franchise? We think so. Selected release. Porgy & Me (15) ●●●●● (Susanna Boehm, Germany, 2009) 86min. A documentary following the New York Harlem Theatre as they perform the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess, dealing with the race issues it raises. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Predators (15) ●●●●● (Nimród Antal, USA, 2010) Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Laurence Fishburne. 106min. See Also Released, page 52. General release. The Prestige (12A) ●●●●● (Christopher Nolan, US/UK, 2006) Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Davie Bowie. 130min. The Memento director adapts Christopher Priest’s novel of rival stage magicians in turn-of-the-last- century London. The non-linear chronology interweaves the three stories of Rupert Angier (Jackman) and Alfred Borden’s (Bale) magic tuition, Angier’s journey to meet a mad scientist (Bowie), and Borden awaiting the gallows for his rival’s murder. With gloomy style and dazzling substance, Nolan pulls off his trick. Part of Magic Cinema season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Prince of Persia – The Sands of Time (12A) ●●●●● (Mike Newell, US, 2010) Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley. 115min. This video game adaptation sees Gyllenhaal star as a prince who must keep a powerful, mythical object called the Sands of Time out of the hands of villains. Tedious, zero chemistry big budget adventure. Selected release. The Princess and the Frog (U) ●●●●● (Ron Clements/John Musker, US, 2010) Voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David. 97min. Set in 1920s Louisiana and featuring Disney’s first African-American Princess, this culturally important, beautiful and evocative (of a New Orleans that no longer exists) film may not have the standout musical numbers of some of its stablemates but is an old fashioned treat all the same. Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. Queen Margaret University (15) (Various, UK, 2010) 90min. Selection of short films and documentaries from graduate students from Queen Margaret University. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Rabbit Proof Fence (PG) ●●●●● (Phillip Noyce, Australia, 2002) Everlyn Sampi, Kenneth Branagh, David Gulpilil. 94min. It’s the humanity of Noyce’s storytelling which is the most salient feature of this film about Australia’s Stolen Generation. The didacticism of this true story of the abduction of three aboriginal children from their tribe, and their resettlement at a prison-like camp for the training of mixed race children into white culture is hidden beneath its story of human struggle and endurance. Noyce forgives all. Even Branagh’s Mr Neville, who we first encounter explaining the bizarre semi- fascist eugenics that motivate him, is seen as not so much evil as profoundly wrong- headed. The children are the natural stars, with performances perfectly measured to their ages and situations. Part of 25 Years of Filmhouse. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Rashomon (12) ●●●●● (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1951) Toshio Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori. 88min. Responsible for introducing Japanese cinema to the world market, this extraordinary film recounts four people’s versions of a violent incident involving a nobleman and a bandit. Part of Kurosawa season. Glasgow Film Theatre. Ratcatcher (15) ●●●●● (Lynne Ramsay, UK, 1999) William Eadie, Tommy Flanagan, Mandy Matthews. 93min. Seen through the eyes of 12-year-old James Gillespie, a sensitive boy haunted by the drowning of a neighbour’s son, Ratcatcher paints a bleakly realistic picture of Glasgow family life. Ramsay uses meticulous framing, unusual camera angles and atmospheric images to capture the subtle
Family Fun Day Hurry, free movies! Three great films – The Red Balloon, The Jungle Book and The General
(pictured) showing back to back in the open air from 11am-4pm – absolutely gratis. The reason? Filmhouse is 25 years old. ■ Festival Square, Edinburgh on Sat 17 Jul.