UK: French actors Jean Du Jardin and Berenice Bejo walk the red carpet at London Film Festival for their celebrated silent movie "The Artist"
Record ID:
220665
UK: French actors Jean Du Jardin and Berenice Bejo walk the red carpet at London Film Festival for their celebrated silent movie "The Artist"
- Title: UK: French actors Jean Du Jardin and Berenice Bejo walk the red carpet at London Film Festival for their celebrated silent movie "The Artist"
- Date: 3rd November 2011
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (OCTOBER 18, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ODEON WEST END CINEMA FILM POSTER "THE ARTIST" ACTOR JEAN DU JARDIN GREETING FANS FILM PRODUCER HARVEY WEINSTEIN SPEAKING TO MEDIA VARIOUS OF ACTRESS BERENICE BEJO TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) BERENICE BEJO, ACTRESS, SAYING: "It was actually not so different because I actually talk during the set and what I say you can't hear but you can read it. So as an actress I work exactly the same. What was really different is trying to be an American actress in the thirties. Obviously I'm French and I'm not even French, I'm Argentinean so I had to find a way of moving, talking, everything is even more than French, you know Americans are so -- expressive and I had to find that and that's all I've been working on." VARIOUS OF BEJO TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) BERENICE BEJO, ACTRESS, SAYING: "Because the story is beautiful and -- people can relate to the story and I think when the story is good whatever it's 3D or not I mean -- you don't care and there's room for everything. I mean I love 3D and I love animation movies so I just think people are not stupid and when you know they have a good story they wanna go and see it. It's not a question of effects." VARIOUS OF DU JARDIN TALKING TO MEDIA BEJO TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) BERENICE BEJO, ACTRESS, SAYING: "I think the movie should -- should go to the Oscars and deserves something. There is definitely a director behind this movie and point of view very strong -- and I think ya -- he deserve it now." DU JARDIN TALKING TO MEDIA WEINSTEIN WALKING INTO CINEMA DU JARDIN TAKING PHOTOGRAPH WITH FAN / WALKING ON RED CARPET
- Embargoed: 18th November 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVA85922YWU1HPL33AZHBN21KH58
- Story Text: After much appraise at Cannes director Michel Hazanavicius' black-and-white silent movie "The Artist" gets the red carpet treatment at the BFI London Film Festival.
Leading actor Jean Du Jardin was there to happily sign autographs, shake hands with fans and briefly speak to some of the media.
He was joined by Berenice Bejo, his female co-star who plays a rising Hollywood starlet named Peppy Miller.
"The Artist" is a romance set in Hollywood in the late 1920s and early 1930s as cinema was undergoing a seismic shift from silent to sound.
Central hero George Valentin, a moustachioed, larger-than-life screen idol, refuses to believe that sound is the future, and after the economic crash of 1929 falls on hard times.
Up-and-coming actress Peppy Miller meets him and falls in love, but as he fades from the limelight she becomes a superstar and their paths diverge.
Du Jardin and Bejo share the screen with U.S. actors John Goodman, as the ruthless studio boss, and James Cromwell, who takes the role of Valentin's faithful butler Clifton.
Tension and emotion come through the old-fashioned crafts of larger-than-life acting and a full orchestral score in this movie.
While the absence of sound throughout most of the film will be a new experience for many cinema goers, Berenice Bejo explains playing a silent movie actress was less a challenge.
"I actually talk during the set and what I say you can't hear but you can read it. So as an actress I work exactly the same. What was really different is trying to be an American actress in the thirties. Obviously I'm French and I'm not even French, I'm Argentinean so I had to find a way of moving, talking, everything is even more than French, you know Americans are so -- expressive and I had to find that and that's all I've been working on," the actress said.
The film, a return to 1920s cinema, is in sharp contrast to many other recent film releases this year, many of which offer high-tech 3D blockbuster spectacles.
But while not resenting modern technologies, Bejo says the movie has other qualities to offer.
"Because the story is beautiful and -- people can relate to the story and I think when the story is good whatever it's 3D or not I mean -- you don't care and there's room for everything. I mean I love 3D and I love animation movies so I just think people are not stupid and when you know they have a good story they wanna go and see it. It's not a question of effects," Bejo said.
The film has indeed received many positive reviews by critics, and after Du Jardin's award triumph at Cannes "The Artist" has become surrounded by Oscar talk.
"I think the movie should -- should go to the Oscars and deserves something", Bejo said, adding: "There is definitely a director behind this movie and point of view very strong -- and I think ya -- he deserve(s) it now."
"The Artist" is due for release on November 23 in the UK.
The 55th London film festival runs until October 27. Other films to premiere there include George Clooney's "The Ides of March", Lynne Ramsay's "We Need to Talk About Kevin" starring Tilda Swinton and the closing film "The Deep Blue Sea" by Terence Davies. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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