Cool News
A Chance Meeting With Jonathan Demme at Francois Truffaut's Grave in Paris... relates to THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE!
Folks, there are places to bump into people... moments to be stunned that you are you and this is your life. For "Shaft" the moment and place was Paris... Truffaut's Grave and the director of Silence of the Lambs... Not too much movie news, but a slice of life in this world of ours and the people that make our films... Tres Cool....
Harry,
This may surprise you, but I am a long time reader who has never posted
anything beyond the chatroom until now (I know you've heard rumours about
guys like me...). So anyhoo, my girlfriend and I are in Paris on vacation
last week and we stayed in Monmartre for the last couple of days. So after
choking on our croissants at the prices to get into the Moulin Rouge (about
$110 Cndn to stand at the bar, FYI) we decide to take a look at the
Monmartre cemetery. Looking at the guide I see that François Truffaut is
buried there and man, I just got to pay my respects. I had some trouble
finding him at first because these four guys are hunched around his grave
putting flowers on it. I then notice the equipment truck about a hundred
feet away and think, Hey, I guess these guys aren't family. There's one guy
crouched down with his back to me and he's speaking English so I ask him if
they're shooting a documentary on Truffaut. Dude turns around and it's
Jonathan Demme. I managed to somehow not shout out "Dude, you're totally
Jonathan Demme!" and was able to talk to him for a couple of minutes. He
said there was a scene in the film involving the grave. I told him I
thought hey, if you've got to have a grave in the movie it was a nice touch
to use Truffaut's even if you can't show the name. He replied "Oh no, you
know it's his. There is definitely a 'Truffaut Grave Moment' in the film."
Now you can make of that what you will. So I wished him luck and walked
away wondering why that title sounded familiar. Now that I've looked it up
I see that Mark Walbergh and Thandie Newton are in it but unfortunately, no
star sightings when they were dressing the set. Nice anecdote though, and a
nice guy. This definitely blows my "standing next to Jane Seymour at a
charity event" story out of the water. I tell you, given the people
involved and the story (remake of Charade) I'm really looking forward to
this one.
Hope you find this interesting,
and just sign me
Shaft!
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+ Expand All
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Cool story. Thanks for sharing it, and thanks to Harry for putting it up ... maybe it's not news, but it is something extraordinary. Anyway it reminds me of a guilty pleasure ... there's a scene in "American Werewolf in Paris" where the protagonist (I guess) has sex with a prostitute on top of Jim Morrison's grave WHILE he's turning into a werewolf. Some Bush song is playing in the background ... the tryst ends in dismemberment for the unfortunate young woman, of course. I must admit I found that scene entertaining, which I'm not sure I can say for the rest of the show. Uh, yes I know this has nothing to do with Demme.
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and that movie was his first, the 400 blows. After that brilliant social commentary he just started jerking himself off, in my opinion. Prove me wrong people.
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I think Last Embrace - and to a lesser extent his Columbo epsiode! - marks Demme down as a safe bet for a remake of Charade... if we need one. But I'm also confident that it won't be a mere rehash. Lord. I just imagined a De Palma version - and despite it's strengths and weaknesses, I think the wit and charm would be 'slightened' to say the least.
Furthermore, is Intolerable Cruelty going to happen? Is the script actually any good? There's a rumour going round that The Bros. wrote it simply as a joke. Not that you can certainly, definitely, confidently say that isn't true of their other movies to date.
Ahhhhhhhh. Just glad that more Demme is on the way. -
Jun 15, 2001 6:39:50 AM CDT
Ibebanging no one can prove you wrong, because subjective matter
by wee willie
Uninformed as your opinion is, you can't be wrong. But what about Shoot the Piano Player, The Wild Child, Day for Night, The Last Metro, Jules et Jim?
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If Truffaut was jerking off in Shoot the Piano Player and Jules & Jim, I like the way he jerks off. Without those 2 films, a huge chunk of movie history would be gone, largely because of their enormous influence on EVERYONE. After his first 3 films, Truffaut took a less stylized approach to filmmaking but there were many gems: Stolen Kisses, Wild Child, Day for Night, Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me, Mississipi Mermaid, Pocket Change (aka Small Change: incorrect translation) and many others. Truffaut made great humanist films with a solid appreciation and understanding of movie history and, without question, he set more scenes in movie theatres than any other director. He was a true movie lover. PS The Demme/Truffaut's grave story was excellent. If I ever encountered that kind of double whammy, I'd probably pass out.
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Man, between the Sandler Deeds remake and this one and things like Planet of the Apes, Hollywood is pissing me off royally. Demme's a talented director no doubt (his Silence of the Lambs is by far one of the best psychological thrillers ever - helped tremendously by the expert lighting and camerawork), but why is Demme doing a remake of a classic? how can he even sink so low as to use to average actors in place of the incredible star power Charade displayed? Wahlberg taking the role of Cary Grant? That's the stupidest thing ever. Marky Mark is not suave, he's not super-spy, he's not quick-witted, he's not the coolest cat to ever grace the screen. He's just a short Southie who thinks acting involves whispering his lines. And Thandie, while a gorgeous woman can not hold a candle to Hepburn's perky, yet sassy style. This movie should not be made! The first was nigh perfect, move on.
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2 years ago, I was at a showing of Stop Making Sense, and the big news was that all 4 members of the Talking Heads would be in attendence. Waiting to get in, I kept seeing this guy who looked familiar, but couldn't place the face. After the movie, the Heads and the director were brought onstage. The Director! Jonathon Demme! That's the guy! Doh! Wish I had taken the chance to say Hi and Thanks. By the way, if you haven't seen Demme's Melvin and Howard yet, do it. Wonderful film. As is Something Wild and Married to the Mob.
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I just finished watching his "The Soft Skin" before I hopped on the site and read the story. Weird. Anyway, Demme is underrated and more people need to see at least one Truffaut film just to have what a wonderful experience I think his flicks are. I feel like a snobby poser cineaste but I think that more people need to put aside the Michael Bays of the world and jump head first into some great movies as they're being made more available in the US. I think the idea of new filmmakers looking to Brett Ratner or McG for inspiration is sad when, even if those guys are okay for what they're doing, 95 % of what Hollywood is vomiting up is meaningless drivel and there are so many profound films that go overlooked by so many.
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Um, Truffaut only made one good movie? Gosh. Jules and Jim, Shoot the Piano Player, Stolen Kisses, and The Last Metro were all good; The 400 Blows and The Story of Adele H., I think, were great. I didn't get much out of The Wild Child, admittedly. Yeah, Truffaut is an itsy bit overrated, but like Orson said, you only need one great one to be remembered. And man, 400 Blows is great.
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I'll take Bergman over Bay. Rosellini over Ratner. Give me Scorsese over Schumacher. I want Fellini not Fargnoli. Ozu over Sena. I'd like some Ray (Satyajit) not Renny Harlin. Truffaut, Godard, and Rohmer over Columbus, Hughes, and Noyce. Good cinema is good cinema. Fanboy dreck is fanboy dreck. It's a sad commentary that this post has the fewest talkbacks.
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Jun 15, 2001 12:53:32 PM CDT
I have some respect for McG...never thought I'd write that
by the_pissboy1
His commentary on Charlie's Angels gave some insight into a man who definitely knows cinema and respects it. He may not be a unique flavor like Aronofsky or Luhrmann's manic energy or have Fincher's morose (borderline redundant with his dogged insistence on always shooting every scene in darkness) take on filmmaking, but McG does exhibit a love for the world of movies that translates well onto screen. I'd hope if someone told McG they looked to him for inspiration, he'd point them toward all the greats he looks to.
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Yes, I am finally saying something positive for once. Ibebanging: I will state that Truffaut's first three films, (The 400 Blows, Shoot the Piano Player, Jules and Jim) constitute the greatest 1-2-3 opening salvo of any directing career. If he'd done nothing afterward, still his reputation would be assured. But he also made the drastically underappreciated Two English Girls (try and find the longer version, it's on tape), sort of the reverse-gender version of Jules and Jim and one of my favorite films ever; I have never, NEVER seen a Hollywood film with such a genuinely mature treatment of romance and sex. Truffaut also made Stolen Kisses, The Wild Child, The Green Room, Small Change, Day for Night...see them sometime and understand how well the man translated turbulent emotion into cinematic language. Yeah, they're sometimes "slow and talky," just like adult men and women are when they're being serious together. I had the opportunity of finding Trauffaut's grave myself on my one and only trip to Paris (to date); that was December of 1998; his simple, nearly unmarked grave affected me as deeply as one of his films. Respect.
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was just an example of the new breed of superficial music video director turned film director. Out of all the fluff from these guys, his fluff was the best. I obviously put Fincher and Jonze in a different group - plus, Spike Jonze's videos were fucking awesome. He did Weezer's "Buddy Holly," "Sabotage" is great, and Wax's vid with just the guy running down the street on fire in slow motion was brilliant (I think that was Jonze) That was off-topic, so, uh, everybody go out and get your hands on "The 400 Blows"
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Oh my God...
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http://us.imdb.com/Name?Truffaut,+Fran%E7ois
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