|
|
|
|
|
JUNE-DECEMBER 2022 NEWS |
|

|
Home |
News | Biography
| Filmography |
Theatre |
Photography |
Press |
Gallery |
|
20 September 2021 |
On August 23, the
first trailer for the Chinese fantasy film THE
CURSE OF TURANDOT
was released. Directed by Xiaolong Zheng, the film is an ancient
Chinese adaptation of a Puccini opera. From the
trailer, you can see dramatic, sweeping shots of Ancient China and
the world of swords, sorcery, chivalry and romance. Both Vincent and
Sophie Marceau have minor roles but at least Sophie appears on the
film's poster. I haven't a clue why this famous French cinema pair
would do this film. Though there is no release date yet, it did make
its debut at the 2021 Shanghai International Film Festival in early
June. Screenwriter Wang Xiaoping said that although the film has a
magical and magnificent ancient costume "coat", the core is still an
expression of realism. The film uses traditional Chinese cultural
symbols such as textiles, silk, and fireworks as carriers to express
beautiful appeals for tolerance, peace and love. You can view the
trailer
at this link.
Back in early August Vincent
posted some photos of his lockdown in Bangkok, the location for
filming the Apple TV series SHANTARAM. The first photo shows
him in a rather interesting vehicle with the image enhanced by the
mirror view. In the second photo, he's shown with his Thai boxing
trainer during a workout.
|
|
27 July 2021 |
From the Bangkok Post -
July 26, 2021:
The production of the
Apple TV Plus series SHANTARAM will be suspended
following the introduction of tightened lockdown measures, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday, saying all concerned
parties are trying to find the best way out of the problem.
Shooting for the series, which initially began in Australia, was
moved to India early last year when the Covid-19 pandemic began.
However, when the outbreak spiraled out of control there, the
set was moved to Thailand with the crew arriving on July 14.
However, as a new wave of Covid-19 infections swept across
Thailand, the Centre of Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA)
issued more restrictions on activities and movement, which
effectively forced the suspension of the series being shot by
Paramount Television and Anonymous Content for Apple TV Plus on
a budget of over US $100 million.
|
21 July 2021 |
Here are a couple photos of Vincent with cast
members from his latest film project.
I found a little more history
on SHANTARAM. Russell Crowe was the first to express
interest but when it
went into film development in 2004, it had
Johnny Depp attached as the star. Warner
Bros. paid $2 million for the rights to the story, and the studio
had Australian filmmaker Peter Weir lined up to direct. But by 2006,
Weir was off the project because 'his
interpretation of it differed greatly from
that of the studio and producers." Johnny
Depp tried again in 2013. After losing its
director, the 'Shantaram'
film project stalled until 2013, when Depp brought it back to
life. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, at that time Depp was
attached as both star and producer, and he was courting Joel
Edgerton to direct. But ultimately, nothing came of it. By 2015,
Warner’s rights to the project had expired.
This left the project open for someone else to scoop up. And
in January 2018, US production company Anonymous Content acquired
the rights. That’s the version currently in production with
Anonymous and Paramount making it into a series for Apple TV.
Production for the TV series began in October 2019. The plan was to
shoot 10 episodes split between Victoria in Australia and India. By
mid-December of that year, two episodes had been
shot. But in February 2020,
Paramount Television halted filming and put the show on hiatus. It
wasn’t because of the pandemic, though. Instead, they put things on
hold because showrunner Eric Warren Singer was behind on writing the
necessary episodes. Singer was forced out, and then the pandemic
hit. Filming finally started up again in
May 2021 and will continue until the end of the year. The cast and
crew were filming in Australia, and
then production was moved to Thailand.
The cast is headed by British actor Charlie Hunnam, Presently,
Steven Lightfoot is the showrunner,
writer, and executive producer. AppleTV
has not yet announced a premiere date.

In an April 2020 interview
regarding the 3rd edition of the Rencontres du 7e Art, which
ultimately had to be canceled due to the pandemic, Vincent was asked
about the festival's poster, which paid homage to Marlon Brando.
"The urge to pay him
homage came quickly, naturally, as our festival was created to take
advantage of the immense careers of those who gravitate to the world
of cinema. I also read the book entitled 'The
Last Days of Marlon Brando", signed by
Samuel Blumenfeld, who will also be giving a lecture at the
Rencontres du 7e Art. We will also be showing the film
'On The Waterfront'
and the documentary 'Listen to me Marlon',
where Brando himself narrates the episodes of his life, as he
recorded tapes like others keep a diary."
"Brando
has been able to shake up the codes with a completely new form of
animality in the way a role is played. So from the start of his
career he was revered, everyone referred to him as a genius. He
certainly ruined several generations of actors, in the sense that
everyone wanted to be Brando. A myth was born.
This glory put him in a position that made him lose the
meaning of his life, yet one made up of important social struggles -
he fought for blacks, condemned the genocide of Native Americans.
This brilliant, learned and humanistic man has become a sort of
paranoid ogre who has withdrawn into his home, with real military
artillery hidden under his bed. A house in which he saw his son kill
his daughter's companion. One expression says that glory is the
shining mourning of happiness, his life illustrates this perfectly.
This fallen angel, overweight and rejected by Hollywood at the end
of his life, voluntarily destroyed this iconic image by turning in
ridiculous films, which had for only merit to be at the top of the
pile of the scenarios which one sent him. It’s sad to see that fame
and Hollywood have devoured such a magnificent being from within!"

"I retain the image of
a genius, which marked me deeply when I first started seeing his
films, around the age of 15. The movie 'Via
Zapata' introduced me to director Elia
Kazan, Actors Studio. By rebounding it changed my life, because
that's when I decided to become an actor...
For me, his masterpieces are 'A
Streetcar Named Desire' in which, for the
first time, carnal impulses are dramatized by sulphurous inflamed
paces between exposed virility and passionate neurosis,
'Viva Zapata', a
fine example of a man who has power and shares it exclusively with
others, and 'On The Waterfront',
a powerful and overwhelming love story, featured in our poster.
We could do all the Meetings of the 7th Art on him, as his
filmography is impressive, strange and iconic."
|
|
27 June 2021 |
Vincent's next acting project
is a television series called SHANTARAM, presently filming in
Melbourne, Australia. The drama thriller is based on the novel of
the same name by Gregory David Roberts. The story drew
inspiration from Roberts' own life and
tells the story of a man on the run from an Australian prison
looking to get lost in the teeming city of Bombay. Cut off from
family and friends by distance and fate, he finds a new life in the
slums, bars and underworld of India. The novel is
described as an exploration of love, forgiveness and courage on the
long road to redemption. It has been published in 39 languages in 42
territories worldwide and sold more than 6 million copies to date.
The series will consist of ten episodes,
with Vincent starring in seven of them. The book's description of
his character Didier Levy is as follows - "A magnificently corrupt
modern dandy, infamous for his infatuations with attractive young
men". Since the novel was published in 2003, several parties
have expressed interest in a film adaptation including Johnny Depp.
The series will be distributed through streaming service Apple TV+.

Last year Vincent's
Franco-Senegalese wife Karine Silla had her latest book "Aline
et les hommes de guerre" published,
and on Friday, she attended a dedication ceremony in Dakar
coinciding with the official launch of "Intelligence magazine".
Present were several writers and personalities from the world of
media and culture as well as Vincent's mother-in-law and son Pablo.
The book outlines the journey of Aline Sitoé Diatta,
highlighting the bravery of the priestess
of Cabrousse who led
the fight for the emancipation of her people during
colonization.
|
|
|

|
|