Vinyan

[GreenEyesToo]

Thanks, Renata! I understood a few words, but he spoke soooooo fast at times. Thank goodness for your expertise!

[rufianren]

Thanks guys! I wish I could do more - the spirit is so willing but the schedule, a dementia-ed mum, and a possible looming root canal treatment make the flesh less than super-human. ;D

Yeah, I think Du Welz does have a bit of a crush on Beart, or at least is quite in awe of her. She's pretty up there on the fabulous French actress/babe ladder. For of a view of that ladder I recommend the film "Huit Femmes" (Eight Women) which has them all, from the oldest (Danielle Darrieux) to Ludivine Sagnier, who was then the young ingenue. Beart is in there, as well as Deneuve and Fanny Ardant. It's a weird film, but an amazing display of French females.

Renata

[rai]

Here's a new Vinyan clip. I like the look. No Rufus in this one.

www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=7388

Rai

[rai]

Vinyan is definitely being shown at the Toronto Film Festival, which is Sept 4-13. Fabrice Du Welz is scheduled to be there.

The official schedule of screening times will be live on the TFF webpage next Tuesday.

www.tiff08.ca/default.aspx

Rai

[Tinkerdog]

www.bloody-disgusting.com/film/1586/gallery

There are now 30 pictures with about two that I do not believe have been displayed here.

[peach]

This was in the NY Times . Didn't see it listed at the Toronto Film Festival. Hope it gets picked up.


By REUTERS
Published: August 31, 2008
Filed at 10:25 a.m. ET

Skip to next paragraph VENICE (Reuters) - French actress Emmanuelle Beart and the Belgian director of her latest movie have defended "Vinyan," amid concerns that the film which opens with the 2004 tsunami may be insensitive to people affected by the tragedy.

The horror story, which had its premiere at the Venice film festival, stars Beart and Briton Rufus Sewell as a couple who lose their son in the disaster but refuse to believe he is dead.

They embark on a dangerous journey to the jungle of the Thai-Myanmar border to look for him, but stumble across a terrifying world ruled by savage children.

"I don't want to be unpleasant to people who have really suffered from the tsunami," said director Fabrice Du Welz.

"I tried to be as respectful as I can," he told Reuters in an interview on Sunday. "I am, with Vinyan, respectful with people," he added, speaking in English.

"There is no provocation with me. I am really at peace with that. I don't want to shock anyone who suffered from that terrible disaster. There is no footage from the tsunami."

The only direct reference to the disaster is at the start, with a series of underwater shots and muffled sounds.

The remaining narrative follows the desperate and devastated couple several months after the tsunami occurred.

Beart said the tsunami was not the subject of the film.

"The story is that they lost their son," she told Reuters. "It happened in the tsunami but it happens in other ways and elsewhere, so I don't want to justify myself."

"UNBALANCED" PICTURE?

Du Welz heard some people were "irritated" by the fact that "Vinyan" dealt with the tsunami. The Times newspaper this week quoted a couple who lost a daughter in the tidal wave as saying that to turn tragedy into entertainment so soon was "outrageous."

The director said he felt that media coverage of the tsunami tended to focus on Western victims more than locals.

"It shocked me the way one life is not equal to one life.

"That's why I tried to tell ... the (story of) that wonderful couple with everything -- beauty, health, money, a career, a beautiful wife, and they lost something, a part of them. And they can't deal with that."

Critics have likened "Vinyan," which drains the jungle of color and light, to "Heart of Darkness," Joseph Conrad's novella about an adventure in the Congo that was adapted for the big screen in Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now."

It also recalls William Golding's "Lord of the Flies," about a group of children stranded on an island.

Du Welz said he was nervous about giving a lead role to an established star like Beart, because his image was of someone who would make impossible demands and Beart might be reluctant to take on the physically challenging role.

Beart said difficult conditions -- driving rain, mud and jungle shooting -- helped her with the part, which was draining both physically and emotionally.

At one point the 45-year-old said she was concerned for Sewell, who appeared to be showing the strain of portraying a father who loses his son and then begins to lose his wife.

"I saw that at one point he was on the edge," she said. "Maybe he wouldn't like me to say it, but I saw it in his eyes."

[rufianren]

The official site for Vinyan is up: www.vinyan-lefilm.com/

I have a moderately high-speed connection but it is not working that well for me (maybe it just doesn't like Opera but I'm too lazy to check it out). (Addendum - just got called off to the neighbour's, get back and hear the most awful racket... the Vinyan site is making white flashes and machine gun noises on the screen - either it doesn't like my computer or vice versa! Proceed with caution. ;D)

Du Welz wrote about Venice and Toronto - nothing earth-shattering but I will try to translate any pertinent bits. Basically the film is getting a mixed reception and this worries him a bit.

My best friend's son saw it in Venice and liked it, though he apparently was not too impressed by Beart... hmmm....

Renata

[rufianren]

du Welz has updated his blog (nothing earth-shattering, he's mostly moaning because he's being called a lamer version of Gaspar Noé) but he mentions Roof en passant...

"On Thursday evening the preview was simple and pleasant. It took place at the Cinéma du Panthéon, a small venue with 200 seats. [There was] A "well-watered" reception after the screening which went quite well - as far as I could tell... People seemed happy and some of them did not hide their enthusiasm...

Almost all the team was there, except Rufus, decidely unreachable since January and filming a Jerry Bruckheimer series "Eleventh Hour" in Los Angeles."

Renata

[sharman]

Has anybody seen it yet? Is it really, really shocking and depressing?

It's on in a cinema rather far away, and I am not sure if I'd not better wait for the DVD.

[sharman]

There are some behind the scenes pictures by the photographer Marcel Hartmann here:

www.hartmann-marcel.com/marcelhartmann/makingof/3/2/127/fabrice_du_welz_vinyan.html

No new ones with Rufus, but I liked the behind the scenes ones with the kids and Béart.