NEWS: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006

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Last week Jeanne Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour was aired on France 2 television. Be sure to click on the highlighted title for both production photos and film scenes. The French media reported that over six million viewers tuned into the two-night special on October 16 and 17. The mini-series will be available for purchase on DVD on November 8. Apparently it's being released with its original title as well as La Pompadour. It's a little confusing... If you visit alapage.com, you'll find one edition and at fnac.com, a different one.

In an interview, Vincent discussed his royal character - "Louis XV did not remain beloved for a long time. He was very popular at the beginning of his reign until he was obliged to publicly confess his wanton morals, rather incompatible with his title of a 'very Christian' king. In the end he survived but his reputation was sullied forever! Obviously, he liked to escape from its responsibilities. He had courtesans... That amuses me. I played him very macho. His relationship with Pompadour - his sincere love and endurance for this woman, sensible and intelligent from a different world - is interesting from the point of view that she evokes changes for women. He learns how to listen to them, to respect them, etc ".

In preparing for his role, Vincent said he read up on the king to give depth to his character. He says, "For example,  Louis XV was a very conservative king, marked by the figure of his great-grandfather Louis XIV. He had, in particular, a panic-like fear of God. He was really paralyzed by the fear of death, of  punishment. He saw signs everywhere. It was one of his essential characteristics, a point on which Pompadour, resolutely atheistic, was in opposition with him."

When co-star Hélène de Fougerolles was asked about her scenes with Vincent, she responded, "Talk about filming with one of the most beautiful French actors of his generation, you ask? Not unpleasant. I must admit that at the time of Queen Margot, I was madly in love with him. I remember I was only 19 years, and I was supposed to hold the door for him in a scene. It was my great moment of emotion. And now here I am Pompadour and it is he who runs after me! He has an elegance that is absolutely astounding when he's in costume." Ladies, are we all in agreement?

Check out all the new photos from the press conference in Moscow regarding Vincent's next film, Apocalypse Code.

At the end of September Vincent was in Los Angeles apparently looking for a producer for his next project. Word has it that he succeeded though I have no clue about the particular project. He was interviewed at that time by Savoir, a French-American magazine, and hopefully I'll obtain a copy when it becomes available. It has been reported by Europa Corp that the Perez-directed film, The Secret, will be released in 2007 though no exact date has been given.

Here are some recent photos of Vincent and Karine. On the right are a set of photos taken on Tuesday evening at a party celebrating the opening of the Adidas Flagship store on the Champs Elysees. On the left is a photo taken on Saturday at the Van Cleef & Arpel's "A Day in Paris" party, which was held at the Tuileres Gardens in Paris. The man in the photo is the jewelry house chairman, Stanislas de Quercize.
 

Thanks to Dasha of Russia, we have our first translated interview with Vincent regarding his latest film, Apocalypse Code. Another Russian friend sent along these new photos from the press conference in Moscow on September 21. Many thanks to all friends of the VP Archives who are helping to keep us informed these days!

We learn from Vincent in this recent interview that his film, The Secret, apparently still has no distributor, so he has no information about its release. He does say it will be screened in the USA first and then France. He also adds that it has been sold to other countries, but none are specified. Here are a couple new photos sent in from Cathy, a David Duchovny fan.

If I only understood Russian, I'd have a ton of news for you. I spent some time last night browsing through the Russian web sites and there was quite a bit of information on the filming of Apocalypse Code, including some interviews with Vincent. If any fans are fluent in Russian, please step forward and offer a helping hand! It would be very much appreciated by all who visit the VP Archives. I did come upon more film production stills, as well as several more photos from the press conference.You can view them on the newly posted film page.

Though Vincent was in Moscow on Thursday, he was back in France by Friday evening attending the stage production of Ben-Hur at the Stade de France.

On June 4th Vincent, along with his wife Karine, daughter Iman and stepdaughter Roxane, attended an event in Paris called "Creation d'enfants de celebrites pour Celine". Here are some photos from that evening.
 

Some Russian and French fans have kindly sent in several photos from the press conference for Apocalypse Code in Moscow on Thursday. Little did I know that the film's stars were in attendance along with producer Sergei Zhigunov. Thank for sharing them!

Finally some news in English about the Russian film Beautiful starring Vincent and Anastasia Zavorotnyuk. It has now been retitled  Apocalypse Code. At a press conference on Thursday the film's producer, Sergei Zhigunov, announced that the film will likely be shown in 50 to 55 countries and will be released in cinemas between May and October 2007. He says, "We have serious experience in selling pictures globally." He explained that filming has taken place in France, Italy, Norway, Malasia, Russia and Ukraine. Referred to as Russia's largest-scale film project, it may be screened at the Cannes Film Festival next May. The scene of the final battle between the two heroes played by Vincent and Anastasia is now being filmed in Moscow.

Tomorrow evening France's channel TSR will be broadcasting the first half of the TV dramatic mini-series on the life of Madame Pompadour. The telefilm is called Jeanne Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour with Hélène de Fougerolles in the title role. The cast includes Vincent, Charlotte de Turckheim , Rosemarie La Vaullée and Charlotte Valandrey.  The DVD, entitled La Pompadour, will be released in France on November 8, 2006. As far as I know, there are no English subtitles and the DVD would have to be converted to Region 1 format unless you have an all-region DVD player. According to production notes, the screenwriters, Alexandra de Broca and Olivier Pouponneau, decided to highlight the passion in the love between Jeanne Poisson and King Louis XV. It was an affair that lasted twenty years in spite of the scandal it caused. Director Robin Davis says, "Sensuality is promised!"