Archive for the ‘Nick Ormerod’ Tag
*VIDEO* Nick Ormerod and Declan Donnellan talk about Bel Ami and Robert Pattinson 1 comment
Bel Ami Review by ‘The Reel Bits’ (Australia) 2 comments
Here’s a good Bel Ami review by The Reel bits
Robert Pattinson broods and swoons his way through this beautifully shot costume drama from a duo of theatre veterans.
Guy de Maupassant’s second novel, Bel Ami, or, The History of a Scoundrel, is ideal fodder for a cinematic costume outing. The subject of several films, including Germany’s Bel Ami (1939) and the first English-language, The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947), it is surprising that this hasn’t been given the lavish post-Merchant-Ivory production values until now. Yet rather than falling to the familiar roster of BBC graduates, British stage veterans Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod get behind the cameras for the first time for this sumptuous adaptation.
It is the 1880s in Paris, and Georges Duroy (Robert Pattinson) has just returned from the French Army after a three year stint in Algeria. All but destitute, a chance encounter with the older Charles Forestier (Philip Glenister), a newspaper editor, literally opens the door to Parisian high society. Invited to dinner at Forestier’s home, he first encounters the three women who will ultimately change his life: Madeleine (Uma Thurman), Forestier’s wife and the real brains behind the throne, helps Georges secure a job at her husband’s powerful newspaper; the flirtatious Clotilde (Christina Ricci), with whom Georges starts an affair, and the older Madame Rousset (Kristin Scott Thomas), who has connections that could make or break anybody in Paris. Georges will not stop until he at the top of their world.
Outside of the Twilight Saga franchise, star Pattinson has had little success in securing any major crossover roles, with Water for Elephants and Remember Me sharing some critical if not box office success. Bel Ami won’t be the film that proves Pattinson to be a box office draw in his own right, but it does solidify his ability to transition between genres, and his upcoming work with David Cronenberg on Cosmopolis will undoubtedly push this over the edge. While his role is largely a mixture of brooding and seducing, Pattinson is the consummate nineteenth century rogue, and perhaps the perfect choice for Georges.
Like the Paris depicted, the women are far more important than the men, and the trio of Ricci, Thurman and Scott Thomas are a force to be reckoned with. Ricci in particular, who has been struggling to find a ‘great role’ since Black Snake Moan (2006), makes a welcome return to our screens, the perfect combination of flirty ingénue and nymphette. The similarly adrift Thurman, until recently lost in a sea of Motherhood’s (2006) and My Super Ex-Girlfriend’s (2009), may occasionally come off as stilted, but this is in keeping with Madeleine’s precarious place in society. Scott Thomas is on home ground in this Franco-costume drama, but it is refreshing to see her play such a desperately clingy character, starved of affection.
A beautifully shot piece by Italian cinematographer Stefano Falivene, Bel Ami ticks all the right boxes in an adaptation of this kind. Supporting cast Glenister and the ubiquitous Colm Meaney bring a richness to this well-crafted world. Donnellan and Ormerod never reveal their stage origins in the execution, and nor does screenwriter Rachel Bennette, who reduces the complexities of Guy de Maupassant to an accessible tale of winners who take all without consequence.
Bel Ami is released in Australia on 24 May 2012 from Hopscotch. It will also received a limited release in US cinemas on 8 June 2012.
*SCAN* Bel Ami Directors talks about Bel Ami and Robert Pattinson in MyPaper (Singapore) 3 comments
New Bel Ami Release Date for Germany – May 3rd Leave a comment
According to Studiocanal, Kino.de and Filmstarts.de, the German Bel Ami release date was pushed back from April 26 to May 3
Bel Ami Directors Declan Donnellan & Nick Ormerod mention Robert Pattinson in a new interview 1 comment
From DIY:
With Bel Ami in UK cinemas now, we caught up with directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod in London talk about their all-star debut.
The couple formed the Laurence Olivier award-winning theatre company Cheek By Jowl in 1981, putting on Shakespeare productions and more worldwide. They’ve made their film debut with this racy adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s 1885 novel, about penniless soldier Georges (Robert Pattinson), who sleeps his way through Parisian’s high profile wives (Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and Kristin Scott Thomas) for power. Read our review here.
We met with Donnellan and Ormerod to talk about their rascal of a lead character, getting the cast on such a modest budget, and their working relationship.
So how is the film world treating you?
Donnellan: The red carpet in Berlin was absolutely amazing. We’d never had much intrusion from Robert’s fans, and Rob’s really serious – he insisted on rehearsing for a whole month before we started to shoot. There was no intrusion on the set. The thing they had in common – all the principles came from completely different background in cinema. They all had one thing in common, in that they were doing something they’d never done before – the roles stretched each of them. Then we hit Berlin… [laughs] It was incredible fun.
Ormerod: We expected something fairly extraordinary, and it was amazing.
Donnellan: Nick burst out laughing one morning when he was reading the emails. He couldn’t stop laughing, saying “we had a letter from Hugo Boss, asking permission to dress us in Berlin!”
Ormerod: This is a Hugo Boss jacket!
Read more after the jump!
Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod talk about Rob at Bel Ami’s screening in London Leave a comment
‘Bel Ami’ directors, Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, present/talk about the movie at the screening at Institut Français du Royaume-Uni’ in London tonight (March 7)
They talk about casting/working with Rob at 3:30.
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Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod talk about Robert Pattinson with The Evening Standard 1 comment
The stellar cast didn’t come free but they did come cheap. Bel-Ami is, in Donnelan’s phrase, “an easyJet film”, with a paltry budget of around £7.5 million, Budapest standing in for Paris on 10 days of the eight-week shoot. Everyone worked for less than their usual pay cheque, including Pattinson.
“He read the novel and also a book I wrote about acting,” says Donnellan, 59, “and he insisted on four weeks of one-on-one rehearsal before we shot anything, which is unheard of in Hollywood. He wants to expand as an actor and he takes it very seriously. He has genuinely never said anything negative about Twilight but no one wants to be in a franchise for ever.”
Pattinson clearly relished the chance to stamp on the romantic image of Edward Cullen, and Ormerod’s camera picks up something lizardly and quite ruthless in his handsome features. “He was determined to keep it tough,” says Ormerod.“That’s why he did it,” adds Donnellan. “He said, ‘I’m playing a character with no redeeming features’.”
Read the full interview at the source
*AUDIO* Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod talk about ‘Bel Ami’ and Rob at the Glasgow Film Festival 1 comment
‘Bel Ami’ directors, Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, were at the movies’ screening at the Glasgow Film Festival. They talked a little about Bel Ami and Rob (at 2:00).
Bel Ami Directors Premiere the Movie at JDIFF & Praise Robert Pattinson 2 comments
At 1:55: Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod talk about the movie, Rob’s character and more at the ‘Bel Ami’ screening at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival
Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod & Christina Ricci Talk Robert Pattinsons Bel Ami Character Leave a comment
click on the picture to watch the video
Interview from the German press junket. Translation of the dubbing:
Nick: It’s a wonderful story about a young man with barely any talent but who makes his way towards the French society in the 1890s.
Declan: He is a mini shark in a world of sharks. He’s learning to swim with them until he gets to become the biggest one. I thought it was an interesting modern parable.
Nick: It’s about a press that invents stories and that’s exactly what happens in …. situation in Britain today.
Declan: But at that time phone tappings didn’t exist.
Christina: Well, he’s seducing them and one of the ways of doing that is to give them what they want.
Declan: These women are all quite happy married in a way which is interesting. But they’re ready to do everything for/when it comes to sex which is something that is more male oriented, like we have many many very famous instances recently.
Declan: You hear all lot about women getting undone and ready to abandon everything because they’re irreparably attracted by a man who’s pretty much worthless. It’s intriguing and scary to see people being self-destructed because of this.
Declan: He mirrors what those women want to hear in the dinner scene. He’s waiting to hear what they’re going to say and then he replies what they want to hear. They think that they charm him and he’s charming back at them.
Thinking of Rob 