Latest News - The Vincent Perez Archives

24 June 2019

About a year ago, announcement was made that Vincent was starring in a Chinese film along with Sophie Marceau. Director Xiaolong Zheng was turning Giacomo Puccini's TURANDOT opera into a film. The lead roles were given to Dylan Sprouse and Guan Xiaotong. Vincent and Sophie's roles were not described. The film, shot in English and Mandarin, is presently in post production and has not yet been given a release date. The story is a fantasy romance which follows Princess Turandot, who is cursed by a mysterious power emanating from three Mazovian bracelets that were given to her as birthday gifts. The life draining effects of the bracelets cause the princess to become cruel and gradually she loses her humanity. Those who come to court her must solve three riddles, one for each bracelet, and only then will she be freed from the power of the bracelets. In the event any of the questions are not answered correctly, the attempted solver would be put to death. One day, Calaf, an ordinary citizen, risks his life to answer the riddles to save her and inadvertently uncovers his own extraordinary past.

Here are some production photos:

15 June 2019

The 33rd edition of the Cabourg Romantic Film Festival opened on Thursday, June 13th. This year's jury president was Sandrine Bonnaire and among the jury members this year was Vincent.

You can watch a French interview with Vincent by Premiere magazine at this link. Here's their photo of him wearing a more traditional suit and tie.

08 June 2019

Yesterday Vincent attended the French Tennis Open at Roland Garros.

01 June 2019

The third edition of the Vincennes Images Festival was held last week and Vincent was one of the new members of the jury. He was invited especially as a photographer and accomplished portraitist. The festival also gave him a chance to present his exclusive exhibition called "Mirror Games". Vincent was asked how his experience as an actor and director help him to create portraits.

"It is rather my job as a director, when I lead actors, that comes into play. There, it is about getting in touch, to establish a link between the subject and the photographer. It is a way, little by little, to try to get closer to the individual. Often, before pressing the shutter button, I say, 'Do not show anything. Do not express anything.' The subject then wonders what it means. The mask falls, there is something real that shows through. That's when I take the picture. There is a little of that, in the acting direction. When an actor makes too much, it becomes flat, uninteresting. And sometimes, in a hold, there is a moment of truth. In front of the editing table, that's what we'll remember."

"One time a friend wanted me to photograph her. She came home, we did a series of portraits. She is immediately back in poses. She was reassured to be in control of the image she was giving. That does not interest me. It's something everyone can do. I strive to create an intimate relationship where something pure, human, emerges from photography. In Paris Photo, often, I do not feel this pinch, while very great photographers are in the spotlight. I find that the photographs are too much tampered with. In these conditions, among all the exhibitors, galleries, I have the reflex to go to the purest images, the simplest possible."

23 May 2019

As usual at this time of year, Vincent made a few CANNES appearances, which can be viewed in the 2019 Cannes gallery. The first set of photos were taken at the Official Trophee Chopard Dinner on May 20th and his arrival can be seen at this youtube link. How wonderful to see he got a haircut and the heavy beard is gone as well as those black glasses though I'm wondering why wife Karine didn't bother doing her hair for the occasion. The second set of photos were taken at the premiere of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" on May 21st, and the last set is from the Roubaix Une Lumiere Party on the following day.

The following photos were taken on April 12th at the Diner du Cinema at a Madame Figaro event in Paris:

12 April 2019

On April 1, Vincent and his wife attended the premiere of "Mon Inconnue" in Paris. In the past few months, we've seen these childlike braided pigtails on Roxane Depardieu, Karine's 27-year-old daughter. Now Karine dons them. Why?

In the upcoming film, L'AUTRE CONTINENT (Territory of Love), Vincent plays a doctor. You might remember he took on that role once before in the 2009 American film "Inhale". This film is a France-Taiwan co-production that will debut in France on June 5. It premiered at the Les Arcs Film Festival in December and Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter wrote a review. Here are some excerpts:

An aspiring writer�s plans to pen a novel is upended by a literally ill-fated relationship in Territory of Love, French filmmaker Romain Cogitore�s romance drama starring Deborah Francois and Paul Hamy. Boasting beautiful people and scenic landscapes aplenty and effective performances from the leads � with both stars contributing engaging turns in manifesting their characters� emotional ebbs and flows, and surprisingly convincing delivery of their Mandarin lines � the film should find quite a bit of love in territories well beyond its domestic shores.

'Territory' is at its strongest during its first Taiwan-set half, as Cogitore�s screenplay unleashes Maria�s adventurous, headstrong persona onscreen and sets her up against Olivier�s very different personality traits. While the film does feature quite a few snapshots of touristic landmarks on the island, it never falls into the trap of becoming merely an exotic travelogue; Maria and Olivier are shown to be immersing themselves into the routines of their new surroundings, as the temples, markets and bustling alleyways provide an invigorating playground for them to develop themselves and also their relationship.
Thomas Ozoux�s camerawork manages to effectively convey the characters� fluctuating physical and emotional states. Florence Vassault�s editing, meanwhile, helps to heighten the tension in the proceedings, especially when the film slowly glides towards terminal-illness melodrama.

11 March 2019

You may have noticed that Vincent's name is among the cast of "At Eternity's Gate", the film about tormented painter Vincent van Gogh during his final years in Arles, France. Vincent's role is so minor that he appears on screen for less than one minute. To the left is a screen capture from one of his scenes. Why does a major French movie star accept such a role! It's a mystery. I saw the film last night and thought that Willem Dafoe in the role of van Gogh was one of his very best characterizations and certainly worthy of an Oscar nomination. I have been a great admirer of Willem's for over 30 years and have seen over 25 of his films. This is not an easy film to recommend because the director's artsy bent [such as actors delivering their lines while staring into the camera] can be overbearing at times but do see it simply for Willem's powerful and beautiful performance! I got a kick out of seeing my favorite Danish actor, Mads Mikkelsen, in the role of a priest when he's played so many bad guys. Actually he has played a priest once before in the black comedy, "Adam's Apples", but this time it was a serious role and he was wonderful, as usual.

So many members of Vincent's family are multi-talented. His stepdaughter Roxane (Depardieu) recently had an exposition of her art work at the Maison Bronzini in Villeneuve-l�s-Avignon. Having studied at the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles, she is now an illustrator, designer, painter and sculptor. Her African roots permeate her work with images of animals and imaginary characters.

Here are some recent photos of Vincent's oldest daughter Iman, looking as beautiful as ever, at the Evian x Virgil Abloh launch party during Paris Fashion Week last month.

The 3rd edition of the Vincennes Images Festival (VIF) will be held May 24-26 with Vincent among its jury members. The contest is dedicated to amateur photography and photography lovers and Vincent has been invited as a photographer and accomplished portrait artist. He said, "I accepted the invitation to meet people and share this passion that we have in common. It's rewarding to have a reflection on photography today, on trends, but also to discover the work of photographers."

Here are some comments Vincent made regarding his photography work:

"It is always rewarding to watch the work of amateur photographers, of which I am a part. I might take the opportunity to show a more recent personal work. I am curious to see how people might react."

"We are watered with images, which provokes a kind of trivialization. I have an Instagram account, on which I post some photos. But I pay attention to this addiction to digital. I ask myself a lot of questions about that. I try to go back to the fundamentals of photography. Take a photo and not thirty-six thousand during a session. To feel this moment, this latent anxiety, of what is created in the image. The work around the old-fashioned printing is of crucial importance to me."

"I have a great passion for Irving Penn's work. This should be blatant on my next series of photos, where I wanted to find these sensations of natural light. I tried to reform a kind of workshop in which I bring characters, a little particular. I like when photography questions. When it jostles sometimes. When there is a unique moment that is created. Unlike my latest works, these are works conducted 'in partnership' with my subjects. We build something together around an exchange, while my photographs of Russia were the result of meetings during a trip."

"There is this quote from American photographer Diane Arbus that I like a lot that said: 'What I like is to go where I have never been.' What I need is that. It's to go where I have not gone yet. If not? Otherwise, it does not make sense anymore."

On Thursday Vincent launched the second edition of the Rencontres 7e art Lausanne, a Swiss festival dedicated to heritage films. Iman attended as well. Here are some photos from the March 7-10 event: