Vincent was luxuriating in the Cannes limelight again when he and his wife, Karine, attended the tribute to Maurice Pialat and Daniel Toscan du Plantier on May 17. The photos below show him crossing the street obliging some photographers with an autograph.

There's a Fanfan la Tulipe interview from Cannes at a Swiss television web site. It goes back and forth between Penelope Cruz and Vincent with some film clips, but ends with a few words from Vincent's wife, Karine.

As I listened to some of the commentary the night of the Cannes Opening Ceremony, I realized that many people, even in the media, are not aware of the familial connection between Luc Besson and Vincent. Karine Silla's sister, Virginie, lives with Luc Besson and their two children. Hence, the Besson children are cousins to the Perez children. They've also all worked together. Virginie was the producer (Europa Corp) for Peau d'ange, which was co-written by Karine with Vincent writing and directing. Luc was the producer of two other Perez films - La Felicita non costa niente and Fanfan la Tulipe, and that's why he and Virginie were walking in the same entourage as Vincent during the promenade on the red carpet. In fact, if you taped the Opening Ceremony on TV, you can see Virginie sitting right behind Luc, and Karine, just one seat over, sitting behind Vincent at the Palais des Festivals. French news has reported that Virginie just recently gave birth to daughter Satine (fourth daughter for Luc). You'd never know it because both she and her sister looked absolutely stunning that evening as seen below. (Silla is sometimes spelled Sylla)

Reviews of Fanfan la Tulipe are slowly drifting in. There seems to be more focus on Cannes by the French press at the moment than on critiquing films. The swashbuckler adventure opened the festival on Wednesday evening, but received a lukewarm international response. However, it put French cinema and France's beautiful countryside in the spotlight. And it again put Vincent in the spotlight. Despite any criticism toward the director or screenwriters, Vincent continues to gather worthy accolades for not only being a gifted actor, but also for the many physical challenges he met in the role of Fanfan. In a cinema world of high-tech special effects, such as The Matrix Reloaded, it's refreshing to see an actor do his own stuntwork! Explaining that the choreographed parries and punches harked back more to circus entertainment and traditional sword dueling, Vincent added that the mix of fast fencing and dialogue made him feel "he was starring in a musical."

He took four months to prepare for Fanfan. He worked hard on his fencing, and also trained at the Ecole du Cirque, doing juggling, high wire, trapeze and stunts on horseback. For more comments on fencing, his longtime connection to Cannes Jury President, Patrice Chereau, as well as an overview of his career, read the International Herald Tribune article.

On Tuesday Vincent was a guest on Europe 2 radio station in France. There is a gallery of photos plus several videos you can watch at their online site. This is a really terrific find, and we have to thank Amandine from France for sending info about this interview. As usual, I welcome and very much appreciate all contributions to the VPA. Follow this link and enjoy!

Those living in the USA can watch the Cannes opening ceremony on IFC (Independent Film Channel) at 1 PM (EST). Repeat programs will be shown at 9 PM, 2 AM and 5 AM.

Update: Anyone with IFC will thoroughly enjoy watching the Opening Ceremony. Most of the coverage is focused on Vincent. A must see!!!! There is so much media coverage.

Commentary from Cannes:  PENELOPE CRUZ AND VINCENT PEREZ OPEN THE BALL - The place to be and to be seen was on Cannes' mythical sun-drenched red carpet, where a panoply of bronzed beauties and international stars strode up to the Palace's beckoning gates, acclaimed by an ecstatic crowd. The jury were the first to regale us, followed swiftly by the cast of Fanfan La Tulipe headed by the "Spanish enchantress" Penelope Cruz, dressed from head to toe in black. The original Adeline de la Franchise played by Gina Lollobrigida in 1952, was there by her side, as glamorous as ever. Inside the Grand Theatre Lumiere the opening-night ceremony got under way with Italian actress Monica Bellucci. But it was Vincent Perez and Penelope Cruz who did the honor of officially opening the 56th Cannes Film Festival first in French, Spanish and then in English.

Screened out of competition late last night and already opened in theatres nationwide was the Gallic appetizer Fanfan La Tulipe. A remake of Christian-Jacque's 1952 swashbuckler which won the best director prize at Cannes in the same year. This highly entertaining costume drama full of adventure, comedy and romance certainly brings back to life this 18th century imaginary hero, so much a part of French heritage.

There's a five-minute Real Player interview with Vincent at the Monsieur Cinema Web Site regarding his title role in Fanfan la Tulipe. It begins with the trailer, and then his comments are interspersed throughout the film clips. Here's a chance to practice your French!

On January 24th, I reported that Vincent became a father again, this time to twins - a son and daughter. Finally I have news of their names! His son is Pablo Vicente, which is Spanish for Paul Vincent, and his daughter is Tess. Vincent and Karine have two other children - Roxane, 11 years old (fathered by Gerard Depardieu), and Iman, who just turned 4 on May 2nd.

As many of you know, Vincent hails from Switzerland, though he's a mixture of Spanish and German blood. He grew up in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud, and still has very close ties to his birth country, since his mother, brother and sister still reside there. Many of the Swiss newspapers and magazines regularly print stories about his career, and with all the publicity focused on the Cannes Film Festival, I came across a Swiss magazine called Cooperation, which did a recent interview with him.

Back in November, Vincent went to Taiwan to promote his film, Peau d'ange. He was accompanied by his wife, Karine, and Morgane More, the star of his film. I've posted the 11/15/02 article from the Taipei Times in which Vincent says, "Maybe I have a feminine sensibility. I'm always surrounded by women (meaning his wife and daughters). Women have a vision about the circle of life and death... Karine agrees, "In reality he is not a very macho man."

The DVD and video of Peau d'ange, the first feature-length film directed by Vincent, will be on sale May 28 in France. Those in the U.S. will probably have to wait until it's released in Canada in a compatible Region 2 format. There are no English subtitles. The DVD has quite a few extras - cut scenes, the musical clip - J'ai une pensee, the trailer, a 12-min. feature on making the film, photo gallery, and two short films previously directed by Vincent - Rien dire and L'echange. Thanks to Rafael Cart for this reminder. You can purchase this film at Alapage.com.

Back in 1995, Vincent made a movie called Ligne de vie with Russian/French director, Pavel Lounguine. The film was shot in Moscow and Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and has come to be known by several names. In Russia it's Liniya Zhizni. And in France it's both Ligne de Vie (Line of Life) and La Vie en Rouge (The Life in Red). It happens to be one of my favorite VP films, only because it's an excellent vehicle for showcasing Vincent's comedic talents. I've just posted a new gallery featuring photos that were taken during the shooting of this film.

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