USA: Hereafter," Clint Eastwood's latest film starring Matt Damon premieres in New York

Record ID: 220010

  • Title: USA: Hereafter," Clint Eastwood's latest film starring Matt Damon premieres in New York
  • Date: 18th October 2010
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 10, 2010) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CLINT EASTWOOD, MOVIE DIRECTOR, SAYING: "I don't know about it. But I am in no rush to find out."
  • Embargoed: 2nd November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA85Q8HMERS4S7WMEMGPPOU1MEW
  • Story Text: Hereafter," Clint Eastwood's latest movie that explores the possibility of afterlife, had its New York premiere on Sunday (October 10) during the closing night of the 48th annual New York Film Festival. Through the eyes of three distinct characters --a blue-collar American with psychic abilities, a French political journalist and a London schoolboy, "Hereafter" asks the question of what happens after death. Academy award winning director Eastwood, who has previously made movies with heavy undertones such as "Million Dollar Baby" and "Gran Torino" said that "death" is not a topic that he actively thinks about. It was a coincidence that he liked the script that was sent to him by Steven Spielberg, who took on the role of executive producer for the project.
    "Just the individual material. (Peter) Morgan wrote a very good script, at least in my opinion, I just wanted to tell the story," Eastwood said. "That doesn't mean that you are doing a particular thing, you are searching out that kind of material. Each thing just stands on its own," he added.
    Actor Matt Damon plays one of the lead characters in "Hereafter," and is in the role of George Lonegan, a psychic medium who finds his special abilities a curse and is trying to break free from people who seek to have a moment with their passed loved ones.
    "He's a lonely guy and this gift that he has has made him very lonely," Damon said about his character. "And the script is just beautifully written. And Clint and I didn't talk a lot I think we both sort of saw the same thing when we read the script," he added. After previously working together on "Invictus" it is the second time that Damon and Eastwood work together on a movie project.
    Besides Damon's character, the film also tracks the life of Marcus, a young boy from London who just lost his twin brother, and Marie LeLay, a popular French anchor woman who has a near-death experience after getting hit by a tidal wave in Southeast Asia. Screenwriter Peter Morgan said that he wrote the story instinctively, and that he had no special reason for creating three main protagonists.
    "The story just comes to you and you write it," Morgan said. "Sometimes I think that if I think about it too much I wouldn't do it at all because you sort of paralyze yourself. This is just how it felt right, and this is how I wrote it."
    Cecile de France, a Belgian actress who plays "Marie" in the film, said that she does not believe in afterlife, but added that while during research for her role found many testimonies and evidence that argued otherwise..
    "I wanted to do some research about that (afterlife) and I read a lot of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and Dr. Moody's book," de France told Reuters. "And it was very interesting because there is a big mystery and there was no answer. Nothing is proven, science hasn't dismissed the mystery yet, but there was million and million of testimonies of near death experiences," she said.
    When asked if he believed in afterlife, 80-year-old Eastwood answered: "I don't know about it. But I am in no rush to find out."
    "Hereafter" open widely in theaters in the U.S. on October 22nd.
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