ITALY: Titanic star Kate Winslet and U.S. Actor Harvey Keitel attend Venice film festival to promote new film "Holy smoke"

Record ID: 705492

  • Title: ITALY: Titanic star Kate Winslet and U.S. Actor Harvey Keitel attend Venice film festival to promote new film "Holy smoke"
  • Date: 19th September 1999
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE)(English) HARVEY KEITEL SAYING "It's not the first time I've worn a dress, there's not much I can say about that, it's a cute thing between us now but in terms of the story it was a profound moment for the character that Anna and Jane wrote on his way toward trying to rescue his drowning soul." (VENICE, ITALY)(SEPTEMBER 5, 1999)( REUTERS) KATE WINSLET, HARVEY KEITEL AND 'HOLY SMOKE' DIRECTOR JANE CAMPION ON THE CATWALK ON THE VENICE LIDO TO ATTEND THE PREMIER OF THEIR MOVIE AND THEN AFTERWARDS AT THE MOVIE PARTY AT VENICE'S FAMOUS HOTEL DES BAINS. (SOUNDBITE)(English) KATE WINSLET SAYING "I've been lucky to be doing my chosen career for many years now - so it was interesting in being quite solid in myself and then having to go into this role - playing someone younger than me and didn't know where she was going and asking lots of questions. The experiences I had when I was 19 or 20 really helped me with playing this character and I could put all those things into this. REPORTER ASKS - HAVE YOU BROKEN AWAY FROM YOUR ASSOCIATION WITH TITANIC. "Never. Never. But I'm proud of that, because it was so huge and everyone will remember it forever and I will think 'well yeah I was in that film' So I'm proud of that." (SOUNDBITE)(English)HARVEY KEITEL SAYING "I feel it's good for us as actors and writers and directors to come and meet the people - and look at them and say 'Hello.' AND THAT RED DRESS? "It was immaterial to me - what was important was the journey of the character." (SOUNDBITE)(English) KATE WINSLET SAYING "Normally I find myself just going and doing chunks of press on my own and it's so nice Jane's here, Harvey's here, loads of people from the movie I haven't seen for a year - and my husband is here of course! Really, really overwhelmed - it's an amazing thing when you've grown up on the work of Harvey Keitel and admired the work of an actor like that as I have always done and I thought one day I'd love to meet him and then I was working with him and I couldn't believe it and I had so much respect for him - his process and what he achieves in all the roles he plays and to hear today that was reciprocated was incredible." CUTAWAY. AUSTRALIAN MOVIE DIRECTOR JANE CAMPION SAYING "Not fucking bad. Not 'F-ing' bad"
  • Embargoed: 4th October 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: VENICE, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVAAKVF90ZOTJS5XVZCKDUKTNOK2
  • Story Text: Titanic star Kate Winslet and enigmatic US actor Harvey Keitel lit up Venice this weekend, when they attended the festival to promote 'Holy Smoke,' Jane Campion's intriguing study of religious cults in India.
    Titanic star Kate Winslet lit up the Venice film festival this weekend - breezing into town with Harvey Keitel to promote their new collaboration 'Holy Smoke' and in keeping with the fests theme of sex and romance she made sure she had her husband in tow.
    'Holy Smoke' is another collaboration between Australian director Jane Campion and Harvey Keitel, after "The Piano."
    An intriguing tale of Indian cults, Keitel plays a former cult guru who now specialises in 'de-toxing' cult members.
    Winslet plays a young Australian girl on the eve of adulthood, searching for an identity.She joins a cult in India but leaves and when she returns home, her family bring in Keitel to try and help her restore her equilibrium.
    But Keitel's character is on a journey of his own, searching for his own meaning in middle-age and finds himself falling in love with Winslet.
    The two clearly got on well on set and were frank, but not gushing, in voicing their admiration for each other's work when speaking at a press conference at the weekend.
    Winslet saying, "Excuse me while I just pump up Mr.
    Keitel's ego here but about two months before I was sent the script I did an interview and the journalist asked me who were the actors I've most admired and I said Harvey - I've always loved his work particularly Reservoir Dogs.So to be able to work with him was just wonderful."
    Keitel reciprocated, when he could make himself heard over the sound of mobile phones in the conference room, saying, "Let me do something here I shouldn't do at this junction and volunteer something.I'm an old former marine and they say 'never volunteer.' So bare with me, I want to say something about Kate, about this fierce young talent, those phones, I have a great deal of admiration and respect for her as a person.After Titanic it's obvious Kate could have chosen any film she wanted and made a great deal of money and instead of going for the money, she chose two projects, 'Hideous Kinky' and this one, where there was not a lot of money, to take this personal walk, to try and determine who she is."
    Attending the movie's party at the Hotel Des Bains, Winslett also spoke of 'Titanic.' Asked if she had now finally put the blockbuster behind she said, "Never.Never.But I'm proud of that, because it was so huge and everyone will remember it forever and I will think 'well yeah I was in that film.' So I'm proud of that."
    Winslet, who also had husband Jim Threapleton in tow, spoke of her delight at attending the Venice festival, saying, "I like the feel of the fact that people are here to see movies and they're genuinely interested in seeing as much as they can and that's the whole point of film festivals and in comparison to other festivals I've been to it doesn't seem so much about the clothes that you're wearing or how you look everyday and for me that's what I like about it."
    Keitel felt the same way, saying, "I feel it's good for us as actors and writers and directors to come and meet the people, and look at them and say 'Hello.' So what did Director Jane Campion think of the performances she got from Winslet and Keitel, "Not fucking bad.
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