Vincent Now Directing His First Feature Film!

July's issue of Studio magazine has Luc Besson on the cover. He happens to be the executive producer of Peau d'ange, the new film Vincent is now directing. The article states that Vincent decided to cast 17-year-old Morgane More in a principal role after seeing her in Saint Cyr shown last year at the Cannes Film Festival. All filming is being done at Besson's studio. The movie is slated for a release during the first trimester of 2002. Many thanks to Laure Masseglia of France for passing along this information! It remains to be seen whether or not Vincent has bowed out of his role in Voyez Comme on Danse (See How We Dance), which begins filming in early July.

And many thanks to Mathieu Sebban of Mulhouse, France who just sent me the following article dated June 29 - Vincent Perez has wanted to stand behind the camera for a long time. In 1992, he began with E'change, a short film with Dominique Blanc. Then there was Rien Dire, another short film with his wife, Karine Silla, and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi. A third film was done for a campaign against drugs. Today the actor is directing Peau d'ange, his first feature-length film, produced by Luc Besson's company, Europa. Filming is taking place in and around Paris and Anjou. The hero of Queen Margot began filming May 14 and will continue through July. Peau d'ange is a love story and stars Guilliaume Depardieu, Morgane More, Olivier Gourmet, Magalie Woch, Andre Marcon, Dominique Blanc, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Jean-Philippe Ecoffey.

Vincent's costume from The Crow: City of Angels was recently auctioned on Ebay and purchased by one bidder for $1000. I'm green with envy. Love that long leather coat....

Bride of the Wind continues to be shown around the country. I was able to see it in NYC and have written my own review, which unfortunately echoes the sentiments of the film critics. Biopics are not easily transferred to the screen; however, they can be done exceptionally well with the right direction and script, such as 1997's Wilde, based on the life of Oscar Wilde. Overall, the critics at least give Vincent high marks for his performance. He engaged me every moment he was on screen and I think he was well cast. It was refreshing to see a new side of Vincent as the sometimes moody and quick-tempered Oskar, but it was also highly pleasurable to see him in his lighter moments, where he performs with great panache. In those scenes he really shines and brings home a face of familiarity.

"Played by the striking French actor Vincent Perez, Kokoschka is far and away the film's liveliest, wittiest presence, especially when he takes to escorting a life-size Alma doll around town after the flesh-and-blood version has rejected him." ...Film Critic Bob Strauss, LA Daily News

Mr. Strauss also comments on the film's music as a "soundtrack to die for." Some of the movie reviews are a bit disappointing, but Vincent's reputation remains intact, and this role will certainly bring more prestige and respect for his acting talents. I have anticipated this film for so long, and now having seen the trailer, my expectations are at an all-time high. I was surprised by the poster (to the left) that the newspapers used this past weekend, since it shows Sarah Wynter with Simon Voehoeven, rather than with Pryce or Perez.

Remember that the film will open nationwide over the next two or three weeks. For our Canadian neighbors, it opens (in English) in Toronto and Vancouver on June 15th and in Montreal on June 22nd.

The following are excerpts from the pressbook:

Director Bruce Beresford wanted a Kokoschka who would be tempting, dangerous and utterly sensual. He found that mix in Vincent Perez, who became an international star with charismatic and sensual performances in the Oscar-winning Indochine and Cannes winner Queen Margot. Perez also offered an authentic edge: he himself studied as a sculptor and painter in his native Switzerland before dedicating himself to acting.

Comments from Sarah Wynter: "Vincent has a wonderful fiery quality and it was quite inspiring to watch him work. He brought out the wild sparks that resulted in Alma's most exciting love affair."

Background on Oskar Kokoschka: The most fiery of Alma's romances was her whirlwind, explosive affair with the expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka, who had a reputation as the enfant terrible of Vienna, a wild man who could out-party, out-think, out-fight and out-romance any other artist in Vienna. He fell in love with Alma with the same intensity of passion he brought to his art, and referred to her as "my wild creature."

Considered the enfant terrible of the Vienna art scene, Oskar may have been the only one of Alma's lovers who truly understood her ­ and thus became her enemy. Kokoschka was madly in love with Alma to the point of madness and obsession. But during their 3-year affair, she repeatedly refused to marry him.

Hoping to win her heart, he painted a masterful portrait of her with "The Bride of the Wind," depicting her as the "wild creature" he knew her to be, and himself as the lover who keeps her safe from the tumult of outside world. The painting had the opposite effect, perhaps because Alma did not like to be exposed, and feared being imprisoned by love.

Despite their intensely romantic liaison, she cut off all contact with Kokoschka for the rest of her life. Kokoschka did indeed create a human-size, life-like doll of Alma which he carried around Vienna, even taking it to the opera, after their breakup. In a final exorcism of Alma's spirit, he "killed" the doll at an infamous party in Dresden.

Bride of the Wind has opened today in NYC and the LA area. In New York it's playing at the Angelika Film Center and Clearview's 1st and 62nd Street Theater. On the West Coast, it's playing at the Westside Pavilion Cinema in West LA, Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, at the Edwards South Coast Village 3 in Santa Ana,  Laemmle's Monica Fourplex in Santa Monica, Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, and the Town Center 5 in Encino. The film reportedly only opened in these eight theaters.

Critic Bonnie Churchill describes Bride of the Wind as "a movie for romantics! The glory of Vienna, the music of love and a heroine who fills life to the brim!" Unfortunately, male reviewers are not as charmed by this film. Most criticism is aimed at Bruce Beresford's uneven and dull direction and the lack of dramatic vigor in Marilyn Levy's script. Some even point to their disappointment in Sarah Wynter's performance, such as The New York Post. However, they do comment favorably on the "lavish decor and lush soundtrack."

Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter comments that, "Perez and Schmolzer come off the best because they get to play nutty painters." So far there is no criticism of Vincent's performance though Kevin Maynard of Mr. Showbiz reports on "a 'look, Ma, I'm crazy' turn from Vincent Perez." From the following adjectives used to describe Oskar, you can begin to imagine Vincent's scenes - wild man, intense artist-type, possessive, emotional, maniacally jealous, eccentric, distraught, impulsive, passionate, fiery, tempermental and hotheaded.

The only promotion I've come across was last night's interview with Jonathan Pryce on NPR's "Fresh Air" show with Terry Gross. It was conducted via telephone earlier in the week as Mr. Pryce is currently starring on the London stage in My Fair Lady. He commented very briefly on the film.

Roger Hall of Film Music Review had these comments - "Whether or not this soundtrack will appeal to you depends on your interest in classical music and especially in the music of Mahler. The symphonic movements are well chosen and fit very well as a listening experience...
Well produced and recorded, with well over an hour of music, this is a soundtrack highly recommended for the classical music lover."

Two more days for the premiere of Bride of the Wind. It looks like it will open in NY and LA on June 8, and then shortly after that in other cities. Camera Cinemas in San Jose, CA now give their opening date as June 15, as does the Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post and Denver Post. For the best info, visit Hollywood.com on June 15 and click on "Showtimes". Type in any city and check whether it's being shown at a nearby theater.

There was a private screening recently in New York when composer Stephen Endelman gave some interesting background on how he integrated the music for the film. I had the chance to listen to the soundtrack a couple times and am quite enthralled with it. It's difficult to fully comment on it not having seen the film yet, but it certainly evokes melancholy, longing and passion. Here's a review of the music from Amazon.com.

I've also posted an interesting article from the LA Times called "Fitting for a Woman Ahead of Her Time - Sarah Wynter used pop hits to get through key scenes as Alma Mahler, the Viennese muse with great foresight."

Thanks to Rafaël Cart of France, we have a little more information on Peau d'ange, the feature-length film that Vincent is directing, as reported on May 16th. The cast includes Morgane Moré, Guillaume Depardieu, Valéria Bruni-Tedeschi, Dominique Blanc, Karine Silla and Amandine Chauveau. The script is written by both Karine and Vincent, as well as Jerome Tonnerre. The story is about two lovers who cross paths one night with only the girl believing it was a night of love. However, destiny will bring the two together again. The credits are given as: A Vincent Perez film, a Europa Corp. Production. Vincent has previously directed three short films - L'echange (1992), Rien Dire (1998) and Hier, tu m'as dit demain (2000).

Here is some added information that appeared in Italian publications regarding the yacht dinner at Cannes on May 12th. Thanks to Cinzia Masina of Belgium for helping with the translation.

"This year Cannes celebrates on the sea. No more cocktails at Martinez. No more posh dinners at Majestic's. This 54th Film Festival will be filled with beach brunches and dinners on important boats; and, indeed, one can count many super yachts harboured in front of the Croisette. The Savanora, for example, is a yacht with a glorious past. Ataturk used to sail with it for his cruises on the Mediterranean Sea. It was restyled two years ago, and now it measures 136 meters with a crew of 48 men and 17 suites signed by Christian Dior. Here the guests will avoid all the festival stress, pampered by high-level comfort (every suite has its own wash & iron service). Victor Azria, the American multi-millionnaire who launched Fisher Island as the 'place to be' for the international jet-set, has rented the Savanora to producers and businnessmen during the two weeks of the festival. The result? Being a guest of the Savanora is the new status-symbol - the VIP are there. On Saturday, May 12th Fawaz Grousi organized a dinner on board in honor of Carole Bouquet, who was wearing a necklace of black diamonds by De Grisogono, worth 640 million lire. At her side was her boyfriend Gerard Depardieu, Vincent Perez, Prince Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, as well as high society women, Sandra Carraro and Marta Marzotto."

A week from today Bride of the Wind will have a limited opening. There hasn't been much publicity, not even a trailer yet. It appears that the film will make the arthouse circuit throughout the summer. My local theater will be showing it in mid-July when I'm vacationing in Maine - bad timing! Hopefully I'll be able to catch it in NYC this month. I'm not sure any of the cast will be making promotional appearances. Be on the lookout though as you scan through the list of  talk show guests in the next couple weeks.

Some of you have expressed different opinions on the photo that's now being used on the home page. I would appreciate some feedback on whether you like this particular photo or would prefer another one from the Archives. In other words, I welcome your favorite choice. You can e-mail me at the bottom of this page. Merci!

Le Libertin has still not hit theaters in the US though it is presently playing in the UK. The DVD for Epouse-moi is still being listed on French web sites, but it is, in fact, unavailable at this time. It's frustrating because it does have the English subtitles, which the video does not have. The VCD of Talk of Angels can be purchased at videocds.com for $7.99 plus shipping. I'm happy with my copy (which I can now watch on my computer), though I had secretly hoped that this format would contain some of those scenes you see in the trailer that were ultimately cut.

The Vincent Perez Archives