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 Last night
Ralph Lauren hosted
a black-tie dinner to show off his largest store in Europe on the
Boulevard Saint-Germain. No surprise that Vincent and Karine were
there! Several French cinema stars attended and were fascinated by
the painstakingly restored details of the 17th-century building.
Among those present were Jean Reno, Anouk Aimée, Isabelle Huppert
and Gerard Depardieu, who was asked by Women's Wear Daily what he
loved about America. He responded, "The election of Barack Obama"
while Vincent answered with, ""I love the American lifestyle: summer
camp for my kids, the movies, yes, the burgers." On a personal note,
I rarely take pleasure in Mrs. Perez's wardrobe choices but the
fabric in this gown is absolutely regal! For more photos, visit the
2010 Special Events Page.
 It's
amazing that Vincent was actually in China just the day before
promoting his film, "Demain
des l'aube" at the 7th French Film Panorama. In
partnership with the Embassy of France in China, Unifrance -
responsible for promoting French cinema worldwide - organized the
seventh edition of the Panorama of French Cinema from April 1 to 30.
A delegation of French filmmakers and actors participated in a press
conference on April 13th. Before arriving in Beijing, however, the
French entourage had traveled to Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai
and Chengdu to promote the screening of 13 recent French feature
films and 12 shorts. Vincent, receiving a warm
welcome from Chinese film enthusiasts, said he was "very touched by
the fans" and was happy to know that many of his films are
distributed in China with "Fanfan la tulipe" and "Queen Margot"
being the most popular. Commenting on Beijing, he said, "It really
impressed me the first time I visited. It has changed a lot. It's
incredible. The city is under construction so there are lots of new
things. It's very beautiful."
Vincent actually found an old
friend during the press conference. Chinese actress Yu Nan,
who was in the French film,
"Rage", was one
of the guests. Yu won the best actress award at the 2001 Deauville
Film Festival and it was Vincent who
presented her the award. "We have not met
for nine years," Yu told China Daily. "But the moment we met we
recognized each other. It felt very magical. I am happy to see more
cultural exchanges between China and France."
Vincent also made a new friend - Chinese singer Shang Wenjie,
who sat beside him and was able to speak
fluent French, having majored in the language at
Shanghai-based Fudan University. She is also the winner of Super
Girls, the Chinese version of American Idol. "I love so many
French films," she told the press conference. "But since
a certain someone is sitting here beside
me, my favorite one, I would say, is 'Fanfan
la tulipe'."
 Gallic
minimajor StudioCanal has taken worldwide rights outside Spain
to Daniel Benmayor's
BRUC, now in post-production. This genre, rarely
explored in Spain, is one of the most-awaited productions coming
out of Barcelona. Total financial costs for the film was 5.4
million euros. It will make its Spanish premiere on October 8,
2010. It appears that the film will be put through some or all
of StudioCanal's direct distribution operations, which include
Optimum Releasing in the UK, Kinowelt in Germany and StudioCanal
in France. Vincent plays Alain Maraval, captain of the Imperial
Guard, entrusted with hunting down Bruc (Juan José Ballesta) the
Catalan drummer boy who gave Napoleon's army its first taste of
defeat. Here are a couple photos showing Vincent with some of
the cast with the third photo showing Ballesta as the drummer
boy. You can view the teaser trailer
at this link.
Photographer Sinisha Nisevic
had Vincent play the role of model for the December 2009 issue of
L'uomo Vogue, the Italian version of Vogue Hommes International.
The result certainly isn't flattering. Nor can you credit it for
interesting visualization though he definitely dazzles us with his
couples photo shoot of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.
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Here are some cute photos of
Vincent and his wife Karine posing with Sulli on the red carpet
during the New Generation Year Launch at Disneyland Paris on
March 27, 2010.
 Apparently
Vincent has been playing the role of the photographer
these days. I came across the first photo to the left taken at
the Jean Paul Gaultier Fashion show and then the remaining
photos below were taken for the March 27th edition of Madame
Figaro, in which First Lady of France, Carla Bruni, is
the guest editor for the weekly magazine and interviews Bono
on such subjects as political
commitment, God, Ireland, Bob Dylan. You can
read the interview in English
at this link. I
especially was intrigued with how Bono defines religion in his
life, very similar to mine.
With all the videos now available online,
it's a damn shame I don't understand French! Nevertheless, for
those of you who do, here is
another link to a November 2009 interview by
Marc-André Lussier for ARTV. |
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Taking into account that Vincent dated a famous model (Mrs. Nicholas Sarkozy/Carla
Bruni) and is married to a former model as well (Karine Silla), it's
no surprise that he
has become a fixture in the fashion world for many years becoming a regular at the Parisian catwalks. Today he is the
new face of the IKKS label for men's clothing. IKKS is celebrating
its 10th anniversary and recently unveiled their new ad campaign for
their 2010 Spring/Summer collection. Actress Virginie Ledoyen is
representing the women's clothing
line. The photo session for this new campaign took place in a small studio
where the two stars were
photographed in daylight by Nathaniel
Goldberg, famous for his
fashion pictures and portraits.
According to IKKS, the
pair embody the discreet charm of successful
people who manage to be at the same time casual
and smart. They chose Vincent for his sexy
masculinity and naturally he appears utterly seductive. Virginie
represents the modern French woman, authentic, beautiful without
sophistication and a brunette. (Are you tired like me of America's
female celebs with their bleached hair and fake boobs?) You can view a terrific video of the photo
session
at this link and be sure to check out the IKKS gallery on
this site by clicking on the photos below.
In a recent interview with
Madame Figaro in conjunction with the IKKS ad campaign, Vincent
acknowledged that when he was younger, he often made terrible
clothing decisions but has since been educated, in particular by his
wife who continues to help and advise him. He says he's living proof
that tastes can be learned. He recognizes the spirit of IKKS
in himself with his desire to wear contemporary and comfortable
clothing with an elegant style without fuss. He does admit that the
most beautiful clothing for the body is, of course, its nudity! When
asked what was his idea of femininity, he responded, "I very much
like Catherine Deneuve's answer - 'a little virility'." And his idea
of maculinity? "A little femininity." He lastly commented on
audacity, a character trait he desires to have more often - "I
encourage my children not to be fearful, but to be daring because I
admire those who dare to push convention. I have proof of my own
audacity sometimes in my work. Recently I am surprised that I
finally dared to write a script! It's an adaptation of the
novel, 'Seul dans Berlin' by Hans Fallada. I hope to carry it out
this year if all goes well. It was necessary to fight against my own
lack of confidence to actualize this project."
French-Algerian actor Kad
Merad has decided to try his hand at directing and is presently
filming his first feature film, a comedy called "Monsieur Papa".
Besides helming the film, he will also star alongside Vincent and
Michele Laroque. The actress may be familiar to some of you because ten
years ago she co-starred with Vincent in the romantic comedy, "Epouse-moi".
This week the cast and crew are on location on the beaches in the
Dieppe region of France.
 Just
in time for Easter, we have a photo of Vincent cuddling with an
armful of stuffed animals. The famous TiJi chain has organized a
charity event at the Palais de Tokyo. The Magic Web, chaired
by Alain Chabat, invited several celebrities to pose for studio
Harcourt with their cuddly toys of childhood. Among them were
Vincent, Charlotte Rampling, Charles Berling, Yvan Attal and
Virginie Ledoyen. From March 24 thru April 14, these portraits will
be on exhibition. They will then be auctioned off on April 15 at the
museum and will also be included in a book published by
Editions L'Oeil Open. All profits from the auction and a portion of
the sale of the book will be donated to the The Magic Web to support
their new proposal of disseminating movies to hospitalized children
who cannot go to the cinema. You can view a video of Vincent's photo session
at this link. |
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 Last October Vincent was busy
on location in Marseille doing a French telefilm called "L'epreuve", which
has since been retitled "Trahie!" (Betrayed!). It was broadcast
on TF1 television on February 27th. Directed by Charlotte
Brändström, the cast also includes Cristiana Reali, Cyril Lecomte,
Valeria Cavalli and Franck Adrien. You can watch the trailer
at this link. The 95-minute seductive thriller has the
following snynopsis - Louise is happy. She's expecting a child with
Paul, the man she's been with for almost five years. They travel to
the south of France for what she thinks will be a romantic getaway,
but no sooner do they arrive, then Paul suddenly disappears. Louise
finds out that her lover's real name is Antonio Costa and that he is
a former robber and a murder suspect. As the police start to harass
her and Paul's former accomplices threaten her, Louise's life
suddenly turns into a nightmare. The film was also screened in
competition at the Festival de Luchon in early February.
  The
third volume of Vincent's comic book, "La Forêt",
was published on January 6, 2010. Illustrator Tiburce Oger infuses
splendid color and energy into the many sets and costumes throughout
the trilogy. He certainly has created a strong and unique graphical
style, setting him apart from other artists. I think Vincent made a
wise decision when he chose him to illustrate his tales. In this
third installment, it is clear that Vincent had fun giving his
characters more madness allowing himself to be fully creative in the
plot and all its twists. The trilogy comes highly recommended as a
literay epic in the comic book world. You can watch a video of a
recent interview with Vincent regarding his book on the
TF1 web site. |
