NEWS: MAY-AUGUST 2005

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There have been few updates, not because I've been remiss, but  there simply has been no news to report. As you know, from April to July, Vincent was seriously at work in Montreal directing his second feature film, The Secret, starring David Duchovny, Lili Taylor and Olivia J. Thirlby. Now he's in post-production and expected to debut his film on April 12, 2006 in France. Since it's filmed in English, I assume it will eventually be distributed in the US. Here's one more production photo. Hopefully we'll see more soon.

If you're French and have children, you may be interested in the CD called "Le Journal d'un Brave Chien" narrated by Vincent with seven other actors - Robin Renucci, Jules Fremeaux, Cecile Cassel, Delphine Cogniard, Elodie Marteau, Fleur Sulmont and Philippe Pujolle.  This CD tells the imaginary diary of a young dog. A little bit too sensitive, and sometimes too loving, this sympathetic animal acts as a personification of our fears, our shyness, etc. Through his way of discovering the world and life, young children (from four years old) will learn a lot about education and growing and building an identity. The story was written by Olivier Cohen with original music by Gerard Conde. The CD will be released on September 12th. It is available through Audio-archives.com in France and Cityhallrecords.com in the US.

Last night Part 1 of LE JUGE premiered on French television with the final part of the TF1 mini-series to be aired next Monday evening. Vincent plays Captain Marc Steiner, an elite police officer of the GIPN in Paris, who is summoned to Marseilles by a judge (played by Francis Huster) who is in permanent danger imposed by the local mafia. To complicate matters, Steiner is not only a friend of the judge's but was once the lover of the judge's wife Judith (played by Natacha Amal), thus creating a "wolf in the sheep fold" situation. Steiner is described as a person who doesn't talk much and seems to maintain a certain amount of mystery as well as  signs of  some inner turmoil, such as washing his hands as soon as he is confronted with an embarrassing situation. Vincent says, "Like Vincenzo, an instinctive director, I try to imagine myself under the living conditions of the hero giving freedom to his physical and emotional manifestations. When asked about the difference between television and cinema, he immediately answers,  "Time. Television requires an immediate success of the play whereas there is patience in cinema; however, what one loses in quantity, one gains in spontaneity." As  posted under the May 4th update, the DVD will become available on June 9th and can now be pre-ordered at Amazon.fr.

In conjunction with the airing of Le Juge, yesterday's Le Parisien published an interview with Vincent, in which he discusses his decision to do this TV mini-series. It sounds like he wanted to diversify and playing a cop was a new role.

Filming for The Secret continues in Montreal through July 9th. Here are the first two production photos from Europa Corp. The top one shows lead star Samantha Marris, played by Olivia Thirlby, with her mother Hannah, played by Lili Taylor. The bottom one appears to be taken during the same rainy scene.

Vincent took some time off from shooting The Secret to lend support to his lead star, David Duchovny, whose film House of D just  opened in Montreal. This is Duchovny's first attempt at directing, and though the reviews have been highly critical, it hasn't stopped the X-Files actor from dreaming of directing in the future. On May 7th the pair attended a screening with a Q&A session at the AMC Forum Theatre and also dropped by the 4th Annual Denim and Diamonds Fundraiser at Bonsecours Market. Part of the proceeds will help establish the much needed Wellness Centre for cancer patients and their families. [Note the heavy beard!]

Another article on The Secret:

Shhh! It’s The Secret!
You may remember Vincent Perez as the handsome one in Cyrano De Bergerac. Or the handsome one in La Reine Margot. Failing that, you might have spotted his handsome turn in The Crow: City of Angels (although we hope for your sake you didn’t). But now older, wiser and slightly less devastating, he’s turning to directing, and has lined up an interesting cast for his first English language production, The Secret, with fellow actor / director / handsome bloke David Duchovny in the lead.

The film is based on a Japanese novel by Keigo Higashino, which was turned into a Japanese film called Himitsu in 1999. It tells the story of a man whose life is devastated when a bus carrying his wife and daughter goes over a cliff. The wife dies in hospital, but the daughter lives – sort of. When she regains consciousness, it appears that she has been possessed by her dead mother.

While it sounds like another psychological horror, the film goes for tears rather than fears. However, it is rumoured to have a few surprises in store for those not familiar with the novel or original Japanese film. Lili Taylor is playing the wife, with newcomer Olivia J. Thirlby as the couple’s daughter. French super-director turned über-producer Luc Besson will co-produce the movie with his wife Virginie Silla (who’s also Perez’s sister-in-law).

The DVD of Le Juge will be released on June 9, 2005 (Region 2 format). You can pre-order at Amazon.fr. This French TV mini-series was filmed for TF1 last fall in Paris and Marseilles. Directed by Vincenzo Marano, it stars Francis Huster, Vincent and Natacha Amal. The DVD includes a "making-of" feature. The story takes place in Marseilles where a judge (Huster) is about to break the biggest case in his career - bringing powerful Godfather Roger Marino to justice. Threatened with death, the judge is put under the protection of an elite police officer, Marc Steiner (Perez).