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22 March 2016
Susan Stone of NPR recently featured a piece on ALONE IN BERLIN. She writes:

The English translation became a surprise hit, selling more than half a million copies, resonating with readers everywhere, especially with Spanish-German actor and director Vincent Perez.

"Something happened in me, it was as if something was calling me, and I needed to tell that story," Perez says.

He wanted his film to portray the pervasive fear that dominates life under a dictatorship.

In one scene, Otto leaves his first postcard in a busy office building. He could be discovered at any moment: on the sidewalk, in the doorway, on each step of the spiraling staircase.

"The fear is one of the main characters in the film," the director says. "I wanted to fill the air, that space in the movie with the fear."

Perez's family lived through that kind of fear. His grandfather was shot by fascists in Spain. After Perez acquired the film rights, he traveled to Germany to do research and learned that his great uncle had been killed in a gas chamber, and another uncle died fighting on the Russian front.

"I understand why I needed to make that film," he says. "Because I wanted to tell their story. But it's not only about their story. It's my story, your story, the story of so many millions of people who suffered from those incredible wars — huge massive destruction, the apocalypse fell on to Europe. We have to be very careful not to start that again. So the movie talks a little bit about that, too."

08 March 2016

Distributor Munro Films has taken rights to Mary McGuckian's biographical drama, THE PRICE OF DESIRE for the UK and Ireland. The story of artist and designer Eileen Gray is an English-Belgian co-production. Orla Brady plays Gray while Vincent stars as architect Le Corbusier. The film will be released in the UK and Ireland on May 27 alongside a feature companion documentary titled "Gray Matters".

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In today's Le Figaro, Vincent discusses some of his favorite Parisien spots in his neighborhood.

The actor is on stage at the City Theatre with Dangerous Liaisons and preparing a new album of photographs of Russia and its people. While a student at the School of Amandiers, he lived in a bachelor apartment near Place de Clichy. Since then he has had several addresses in Paris and moved there three years ago to a large apartment where he lives happily with his wife Karine Silla. She has tastefully decorated the beautiful spaces where their three children live. Life is quiet and harmonious.

Vincent Perez has never settled for his acting. The film he made - Alone in Berlin, based on Hans Fallada's novel - was presented at the Berlinale. He is currently working on a new album of photographs with editor Vera Michalski. It's a book devoted to photographs he took during his years in Russia. It will include around 450 shots as a portrait of "21st-century Russians." Next year an exhibition will complement the book's release.

Le Corbusier Foundation:

I love this corner where great architects worked. I walk a lot on foot and I particularly appreciate the Villa Flora, an amazing building and, of course, Maison La Roche, which houses the Fondation Le Corbusier. I played "Corbu" in an Irish film. I had much interest in his life and his presence here affects me.

Librairie Lavocat:

I could never live without books. My wife is a writer. She also spends her life reading and gets up at night to write. Her latest book, Autour du soleil, was published (Plon). At the Librairie Lavocat, the bookseller, who everyone calls Fred, is a man who advises very well and with whom we can have nice conversations, deep, spiritual. A bookseller is essential. And a neighbor is ideal!

Honoré Restaurant:

I frequent this restaurant well known for the quality of its cuisine. Their meat is very good, but if one wants to settle for a salad, we find it excellent. The atmosphere is pleasant with its beautiful exterior trim, fireplace and white tablecloths. I often meet here for business lunches but I also like to go alone with my wife.

Fromagerie La Fontaine:

A cheese factory where we find the Tomme Vaudoise can only please a native like me from Lausanne. But beyond the mountain air, we find in this family house, which is one of the oldest dairies in Paris, all the more delicious cultural foods of France and beyond, and also homemade gingerbread, which is a treat.

Lac du Bois de Boulogne:

Leaving home, it is very fast to the Bois de Boulogne. When I'm in Paris, I'll run around the lake. I start to jog from home. It's difficult crossing the bridge which spans it. There, you have to stop, and walk and avoid breathing because it is suffocated by exhaust and pollution pots. But in the woods around the lake, it is a delight. I try to do this exercise two or three times a week.

Da Alberto:

With our children, we like to go to this real Italian restaurant. The owner is an authentic Neapolitan and it's a pleasure to hear it! The pizzas are delicious, fresh pasta cooked to perfection and all that makes the charm of the peninsula - the meats like grilled vegetables, desserts - delights us as a family.

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The April issue of Marie Claire magazine celebrates thirteen famous women and their children. Among them  is Vincent's wife Karine and 24-year-old daughter Roxane, fathered by French cinema superstar Gérard Depardieu years before Karine's marriage to Vincent. Roxane's siblings on her father's side include his two children by wife Elizabeth Guignot - Julie and Guillaume (who died in 2008) and 9-year-son Jean by Helene Bizot. In the interview Roxane did not hesitate to announce with her usual frankness that she lives a lesbian lifestyle. She is pursuing her passion for boxing obviously inheriting her father's muscular frame. 

 
05 March 2016

Elle magazine headline - "Vincent Perez lights up the stage in 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses'". Thomas Jean writes, "Eighteen years they had not acted together, the last time being with Chéreau, their common master in 'Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train'. They are great friends off the set... Blanc's Merteuil is the queen of bitches and Perez's Valmont is libidinous like no other. They make a fascinating horny duo... The play succeeds in mixing period costumes and decor, banter and bloodshed to make us gasp for three hours: a libertine thriller, in fact!" The play will continue running at the City Theatre in Paris until March 19th. After that date, three performances will be held at the  Théâtre National de Nice from March 23-25 and finally another three at the Le théâtre de Cornouaille in Quimper from March 29-31. One would think the man deserves a thoroughly restful holiday after this four-month run! I recommend a little village in the Swiss Alps called Wengen where I've spent two holidays. You must take a cog railway to reach it. Peace and quiet with only the sound of cowbells. Yes, no cars!

Here are two new portraits of Vincent that I absolutely love! I think the photographer captured an intense and intelligent maturity.

 
02 March 2016

Armelle Heliot of Le Figaro heaps praise upon Vincent and Dominique Blanc for their performances in LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, now playing in Paris. She describes them as a "fascinating and brilliant couple." She writes that Dominique enchants and inspires authority while remaining deeply enigmatic while Vincent is charming and stunning. Her reaction to the production with its elegant costumes - "we shiver, and we laugh and we cry..." Here's a new photo of the duo:

 

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