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FILMINTERVIEWS
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
When Rachel McAdams Met Woody Allen BY HIKO MITSUZUKA WHEN HE SIGNED ON TO PLAY PAUL, A DASHING yet pompously intelligent art history buff, in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, Michael Sheen received pages of the script covering only his scenes with stars Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams. The British actor didn’t learn of the film’s plot developments until he bumped into Marion Cotillard in New York before shooting started. It was then that she informed him of her own role in the film and what the story actually entailed. He also didn’t realize what (or whom) his character would be involved with until after production had wrapped. The revelation made his experience on the movie all the more enchanting and sweeter. Such surprises (along with several scene-stealing cameos) pop up in the legendary director’s most recent film, billed as a valentine to the City of Lights. Wilson plays Gil, a novelist who accompanies his fiancée Inez (McAdams) on a trip to the French capital to spend time with her family. With the hope of being creatively stimulated by his foreign surroundings, Gil begins to take midnight walks throughout the streets of the city and stumbles upon something – for lack of a better
Campus Circle > Film > Interviews description that may risk spoiling the rest of the film – magical. Experiencing the magic of Paris was something the former Mean Girl immediately welcomed with open arms when she started shooting on location. “People really take time to enjoy life there,” McAdams says. “There’s this kind of quality of just enjoying life for what it is and not letting it pass you by.” Reteaming with her Wedding Crashers costar, McAdams felt at ease working with Wilson again. However, it was challenging to play a character who didn’t get lost in that aforementioned magic. “She was outrageous at times and could be quite extreme. I liked her practicality, that she didn’t pretend to be swept away and was quite honest about that.” Another challenge, especially during her scenes with Wilson, was not playing the object of desire. “I was happy to play into it. I was the cat, and he was the mouse; I would always have my hand, my paw, on his tail and never let him go too far away from me, and then Woody totally saw it differently and said, ‘Stop fondling him! You’re always touching him!’” Enter Sheen as Paul, Inez’s college crush who makes an appearance in town and creates some ripples in the couple’s relationship. Both McAdams and Sheen consider working on an Allen film one of the greatest opportunities of their careers. “One of the things I found really fascinating about working with Woody was that he’s sort of un-modern in terms of the way he works with actors,” Sheen says. “The modern idea is that you play subtext, and it’s what’s going on under the surface that is of interest in the scene. Woody is anti-subtext; He doesn’t want anything going on under the scene. He just wants you to play the surface of the scene as much as you can to the point where he wants you to improvise constantly. He encourages you to allow the story to do the work so the story reveals the story rather than the actor revealing the story.”
MOVIEREVIEWS
8
Owen WIlson and Rachel McAdams in Midnight in Paris McAdams enjoyed the freedom she was given on set. After all, allowing actors to breathe and use the space they’re in is something Allen is known for and what many critics and fans attribute to his success. He’s also known for his idiosyncratic approach to actors when trying to get them on board. McAdams remembers, “He almost tried to talk me out of it. We had a meeting in New York, and he said, ‘I really would like you to play this part, but if you don’t want to do it, that’s fine, and we’ll do something else.’ I was like, ‘No, no, no! I want to do it!’ It was very endearing, and I was flattered.” Another actor the director managed to cast in the film was France’s First Lady, Carla Bruni. For Sheen, it was one of the high points of his experience on the movie. “We had great wide-ranging conversations,” he recalls fondly. In fact, the entire movie was an amazing experience. When asked if there was one thing he learned from working on a Woody Allen film, Sheen uses the lesson Gil learns after his late-night run-ins with several famous faces: “Enjoy life.” Midnight in Paris releases in select theaters May 20.
Campus Circle > Film > Movie Reviews
Earthwork
Grade: B
(Shadow) Sometimes artists are so self-conscious that they refuse to share what they’ve created with anyone for fear others might not “get” it or fear they might be criticized by those they trust the most. But for Midwestern crop artist Stan Herd there’s no greater joy than sharing his farmland designs with the world. Outside of playing college basketball, though, how do you get noticed in Lawrence, Kan.? Earthwork tells the true story of Herd (played by John Hawkes) who tills his soil to turn plants, rocks and vegetation into beautifully textured compositions. After years of his work going unseen, Herd makes a last ditch effort for recognition by taking a project in New York City and paying out of pocket to undercut any competitors. The project puts strain on his wallet and marriage, but as he and his crew (made up of homeless tunnel dwellers) work the land, those who look down from their high-rises are inspired by the rural artwork. Hawkes, recently Oscar nominated for Winter’s Bone, gets his hands dirty in another wonderful performance showing Herd’s palpable yearning to be seen. The homeless assistants add heart and humor of the story, with standout performances by Zach Grenier and James McDaniel. The film’s most honest moments ask what benefit art provides and what Herd’s work is ultimately worth, especially when it’s so temporary and seen by so few. It’s an interesting question that feels self-aware for director Chris Ordal, who has made a film that is out of the mainstream and few are likely to see. But as Ryan, a graffiti artist played in the film by Chris Bachand, says, “Pictures are forever.” With Earthwork, Ordal captures Herd’s story and his art in perpetuity. It’s an enjoyable and inspiring portrayal of what some will go through when compelled to share their vision with the outside world.
—Matthew Kitchen Earthwork releases in select theaters May 20.
Campus Circle 5.18.11 - 5.24.11
Roger Arpajou
FILM
L’Amour Fou (IFC) When translated from French, l’amour fou means mad, passionate love. When witnessed in the new documentary, L’Amour Fou, it also means unyielding heartbreak, era-defining brilliance and quiet, somber mourning. Set around the Christie’s auction of millions of dollars worth of furniture, artwork and other home decorations, the documentary is the story of Yves Saint Laurent and his lover and business partner of 50 years, Pierre Bergé. Opening with a static black-and-white shot of the press conference where Saint Laurent announced his retirement from fashion, his placid dignity pockmarked by flashbulbs that made him flinch, the designer bids farewell to a career that made him a legend. The audience then finds themselves at Saint Laurent’s funeral as Bergé bids farewell to the man he shared his life and career with for five decades. Considering Saint Laurent and Bergé met in 1957 at Christian Dior’s funeral, it’s a fitting start to the story of their relationship – which eventually crumbled under Saint Laurent’s depression, work ethic and substance abuse – and partnership – which birthed some of the greatest fashion of the 20th century. That initial sense of sadness and longing pervades the film, as a melancholy piano accompanies a slow pan through the home the couple once shared, lingering on a pair of Saint Laurent’s signature glasses and a handwritten note before it sweeps over the works of art – from Picasso to GrecoRoman marble statues to gilded animal figurines – studding the impeccably appointed Parisian home. These treasures
Pierre Boulat
NEWS
Yves Saint Laurent (right) in 1961, from L’Amour Fou comprise the sale that Berge prepares for, mustering the courage to claim he’s happy watching the art “flying off like birds to find a new perch.” Getting deeper into their story, the film chronicles Saint Laurent’s first triumphs as the head designer of Dior, the opening of his own house in 1962 after being fired by Dior, through runway shows and nightclub outings, into home movies where Andy Warhol strolls around and Mick Jagger pecks out notes at the piano. Theirs was a life flooded with fabulousness as even their French bulldog, who was painted by Warhol, used to hit the Parisian nightclub scene with YSL at the height of the Me Decade. But beyond the beauty and glamour, best experienced through archival footage of Saint Laurent’s shows, where the audience would greet him with thunderous applause, L’Amour Fou quickly loses steam as relics of their lives are boxed up and prepared for auction. While it’s a fascinating world to witness, the film is best when it focuses on the splendor of YSL. Grade: B—Sasha Perl-Raver L’Amour Fou releases in select theaters May 20.