Oh boy. The real world is becoming one giant Onion article.

Wow. Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem have officially joined the cast. Maybe Angelina Jolie too. Filming is now scheduled to start in June.

On the face of it, it sounds like the kind of film Tony Scott should be doing, but interesting nonetheless.

There is an article posted on screendaily about Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac that has a few new details. :

In the wake of reports that Charlotte Gainsbourg is set to star in Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, producer and Zentropa co-founder Peter Aalbæk Jensen has revealed that the film is to be two separate feature-length parts.

Shooting on both films is due to begin in August near Cologne, with the project supported by North-Rhein Westphalia.

“We are making two films. It is a big operation. I personally hope that we should be ready for Cannes next year,” Aalbæk Jensen commented. “We will shoot both and edit both – and we want to finish both at the same time.”

As previously reported, there are likely to be two versions of each film: one which will be explicit and one which will be softer. “We will probably blur the central points of the human body for the release worldwide but we will probably make one unblurred that will be for screening maybe in Cannes.”

The film traces the erotic life of a woman from the age of zero to 50. The first part will deal with her childhood and adolescence. The second part will deal with her adulthood.

Aalbæk Jensen would not confirm casting but said “we have some pretty big names in the movie which proves that in spite of his (von Trier’s) strange quotes from Cannes last year, his value for actors to work with him has never been better.”

It is probably going to be in quite a different vein (perhaps more Anaïs Nin?) but that write up is reminding me a little of those Jan Bucquoy films The Sexual Life of the Belgians 1950-1978 and its second part Camping Cosmos.

I would hope that an uncensored cut is released somewhere on Blu-ray and wouldn't just be intended for festivals.

Godard is now shooting a new feature, Goodbye to Language, in 3D. Read more here:
http://thefilmstage.com/news/jean-luc-g ... -assemble/

First shots of Brian DePalma's Passion.

What's the consensus on the original?

I like it. It wasn't the best Corneau film I've seen, but it is certainly worth searching out for.

And it's on Netflix

Fine performances, dumb movie. There are several recent French thrillers that are much better, but de Palma might be able to turn it into something interesting.

Looks like David Gordon Green's remake of Suspiria is actually happening: Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan) and Isabelle Huppert star; Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love)--who was involved with the 2008 incarnation of the project--may still be producing. Green's putting together a great team, but this is still going to be a huge "wait-and-see."

Some more info on the rest of the cast and creative team.

Hm, not who I had in mind, but I was looking forward to her turning up in a substantial role again. Orphan was sort of a gem in its own right.

Agreed: Orphan is pretty fantastic, and she was great in it.

Regarding Fuhrman's casting, here are some of Green's thoughts on the project (specifically in light of Black Swan):

That is a hell of a cast and crew. The only one I'm not so sure about is DGG himself. He's proven himself to be an extraordinary visual stylist, but can he do justice to one of the most stylish horror films ever made?

I've always thought Suspiria was an odd film to want to remake since it's purely an exercise in style, and the narrative is not that interesting on its own. It doesn't promise many opportunities to put your own stamp on. So is DGG trying to redo the look of Suspiria (an inherently losing battle) or does he just want to make a movie about ballerinas and witches?

Also, haven't DGG's films become less and less stylish over time?

That's the part that worries me. He's moved away from tastefully sunlit Malickian abstraction to... well, I don't quite know how to describe the visual style of Pineapple Express and Your Highness. Grimy classicism?

I'm also curious about who will do the score since the original Goblin one is at least as important as the cinematography in making the film great.

I thought Pineapple Express had a pretty striking visual style, but I'm with you on Your Highness looking like a rather flat collection of quickly built sets. I think he still has the talent in him, he just used it for something different for a while. I don't know that a director can just lose something like that, can he?

Well, yeah, he can. It probably isn't hard to come up with examples of directors (or other artists) who just suddenly lost their ability to do what they used to be able to do. People change, and creativity is such an inconstant thing anyway that you can wake up one day and find you no longer have the type of inspiration you used to have. And an extended period not using the faculty in question definitely doesn't help.

So the question is whether or not DGG is still the same guy who made George Washington.

I'm hoping that the proper answer to the "why remake Suspiria?" question is: to give the new filmmakers licence to unleash a crazy visual spectacle. That's basically the property's brand, and if Green et al. don't deliver, it will be a pointless exercise.

Best case scenario: Green gets to become as over-the-top a version of himself as Argento was of himself in the original. (I have to admit, I'd love to see what an ultra-trashy, ultra-gothic Terrence Malick film would look like.)

Worst case scenario: The remake's aim is to make the plot more coherent and make us care more for the characters. Set to Marilyn Manson covers of 80s hits.

No ballerinas:


Re-working of the plot and characters may not be a problem: Green's stated desire to make the 'fairy tale' version of the film while forgoing psychology makes me think that he understands the plot of Suspiria need be nothing more than a skeleton on which to hang the (hopefully magnificent) set-pieces, while the cast/characters need only to lead us around the environment (and die in horrible ways).

Speaking of which, Green has also said that he plans not to "soften" the violence--a noble intention, but best of luck to him: Argento wanted to make the original film with children around the age Green is using, but the producers wouldn't allow it (and he was dealing with his own family!).

As for the score, it sounds like we won't be hearing Goblin's original, but that it will be drawn upon extensively:

A couple of tidbits on Godard's Goodbye to Language 3D (yes, the "3D" is part of the title, at least for now):