Berenice Bejo Replaces Juliette Binoche in Brady Corbet's 'The Childhood of a Leader'

After taking home Cannes' Best Actress award for her gut-wrenching performance in The Past, Berenice Bejo seemed like a shoe-in to return to the Oscar field where she had previously been nominated for The Artist. Somehow she slipped from voters' minds, but another opportunity to impress has arrived with Brady Corbet's directorial debut, The Childhood of a Leader.

First revealed late last year, the film stars Robert Pattinson and Tim Roth, with Bejo stepping in to replace Juliette Binoche who had scheduling conflicts. Corbet has kept the identity of the film's subject under wraps but we know it will be a post-WWI ruler whose early years will be explored. The secrecy suggests it could be extremely controversial subject matter, all the more reason to be intriguing by the ambitious project.

Filming on The Childhood of a Leader begins in November. Bejo recently rejoined her husband and The Artist director Michael Hazanavicius for The Search, which hopefully will arrive later this year. [Variety]

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First Trailer for Michel Hazanacius' 'The Search' Starring Berenice Bejo

After Michel Hazanavicius won five Academy Awards for his silent film send-up, The Artist, one might have expected he'd continue on the lighter comedic path his career had mostly been on. Instead he went a totally different direction with The Search, a wartime drama and remake of the 1948 film set against the backdrop of post-WWII Europe. His version takes the action to 1999 and the aftermath of the second Chechen War. Reuniting with The Artist's Berenice Bejo and joined by Annette Bening, Hazanacicius now finds his film being talked up as a major Palm d'Or contender after its Cannes debut last night, and now we have the first trailer that shows exactly why.

Bejo plays an NGO employee who takes in an orphan boy in the aftermath of the war's inhuman violence, and we see that many of the young victims are forced to become child soldiers. It looks like a powerful piece of filmmaking with Bejo again in top form and what appears to be a solid supporting turn by Bening.  Assuming The Search gets an awards qualifying date later this year it will continue what has been an impressive run of contenders from Bejo, who was also excellent in the Oscar-nominated drama The Past just last year.


The Search by Film Trailer

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Jeff Goldblum Returns for 'Independence Day 2'; Berenice Bejo Joins 'After the Storm'; Rainn Wilson Leads 'The Boy'

* Jeff Goldblum is seeing a couple of his most cherished franchises coming back at the same time with Jurassic World and Independence Day 2. And while fans may hope he'll appear in both, that sadly won't be the case. While talking to Huffington Post about The Grand Budapest Hotel, Goldblum revealed that he won't be returning as Ian Malcolm in Jurassic World, which isn't a surprise considering it's basically a soft reboot. But he did confirm Roland Emmerich's previous statements that he would be back as David Lewinson in the Independence Day sequel, opening July 1st 2016. One out of two ain't bad.

* Berenice Bejo (The Past) will star in After the Storm, a psychological thriller from French actor/director, Safy Nebbou. Based on Arthur Dreyfus' novel Belle Famille, the story centers on "a mother who can’t accept the accidental death of her five-year old son and instinctively hides his body. After the child is declared missing, the police launches a massive investigation that sparks a media frenzy, comforting the mother in her denial."

* Rainn Wilson and Elijah Wood last paired up on the horror-comedy, Cooties, which I caught at Sundance and thought was pretty funny. Now they're back together again for another horror, titled The Boy. Wilson will star, along with Mike Vogel, David Morse,  Zuleikha Robinson and Bill Sage. The rather ambitious project put together by co-writer/director Craig MacNeill is viewed as a trilogy "tracking the childhood of a future serial killer, with installments depicting the character at ages 9, 14 and 18, respectively, and ending with his full transformation to an iconic mass murderer." Wood is on board as a producer, and this one sounds potentially awesome if done right. [TheWrap]

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Tran Anh Hung to Direct Melanie Laurent, Audrey Tautou, and Berenice Bejo in 'Eternity'

While he may not be known name here in America, Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung has been playing his trade on the world stage for years, most recently with 2010's acclaimed drama, Norwegian Wood. Rather than jumping over to Hollywood, the director is continuing his overseas appeal by snagging three of France's top actresses for his next film.

Melanie Laurent (Beginners), Berenice Bejo (The Past), and Audrey Tautou (Amelie) have come aboard Eternity, Anh Hung's French-language debut which he will adapt from Alice Ferney's novel, L’élégance des Veuves. The multi-generational tale set in the 19th and 20th century, revolves "around the theme of motherhood and three women who face up to tragedy and unhappiness with dignity. "

Sounds like great material and just the right combination of talent. Filming is to begin this summer, and hopefully this will appear on the festival circuit late this year or early next. [Screen Daily]

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Review: 'The Past' Starring Bérénice Bejo and Ali Mosaffa

NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from the Virginia Film Festival.

As far as striking visual metaphors go, Asghar Farhadi chooses an apt one to begin The Past, his stirring, complicated follow-up to Oscar winner A Separation. The film begins with Marie (Berenice Bejo) speaking to her husband Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) through a thick layer of glass at the airport. It's impossible to hear what the other is saying without it being muddled because of the large obstruction between them. The film, which took home some gold at Cannes earlier this year, is about how secrets can prevent us from communicating with the ones we love, and prevent us from moving forward.

When the Iranian-born Ahmad arrives in Paris it appears to be for a happy cause. We know he's been gone for months, and Marie seems pleased he's arrived. But slowly over the course of a drive home we sense a tension between them. We learn he's skipped out on other chances to be there, and Marie talks vaguely about her kids; eldest daughter Lucie (Pauline Burlet) and youngest, Lea, both from a man she met before knowing Ahmad. Ahmad's not really there for a pleasurable reunion, he's there to grant Marie the divorce she's been seeking from him for four years. What she keeps from him, and seems to want him to discover on his own, is that she's living with another man, Samir (Tahar Rahim), and his young son Fouad.

A complicated enough mess on its own, but it only becomes more entangled when Marie reveals her wishes of marrying Samir. Lucie is rebelling constantly, fighting with her mother and staying out late, while shunning Samir at every turn. Fouad is also having a hard time coping with living in another home while his mother is in a coma after a suicide attempt. Samir is stuck between moving on with Marie and longing for his wife, while Ahmad's arrival adds a natural tension into the mix. Are there old feelings remaining between the former lovers?

There are enough complex, layered relationships to fill a handful of movies, and the delicate manner with which Farhadi juggles them is truly extraordinary. Farhadi, who also wrote the screenplay, constantly reveals new wrinkles that either complicate matters further or shed new light on a situation we think is pretty cut 'n dried. We learn that Marie has had three serious relationships in only a few years, which lower her daughters' expectations for Samir. And there are indeed some unresolved issues between Marie and Ahmad, but mostly he finds himself in the position of moderator and peacekeeper in a household that seems ready to explode at any moment. Farhadi keeps any judgement of these characters at a distance, a wise choice considering our perceptions of them will change with each new revelation.

Farhadi gets a ton of support by a cast who navigate the difficult material with pitch perfect accuracy. Its unusual to say that an Oscar nominee (she was nominated for The Artist) needs to prove something to her critics, but it's absolutely true. Winning the award for a silent film is one thing, but taking on a thorny, unsympathetic role such as this is something entirely different, and it doesn't help that it was initially written for Marion Cotillard to play. But Bejo proves she's got the goods, stripping away the elegance and revealing a cruder side we've never seen. Rahim's character is the quietest of all and thus the hardest to decipher, but he really shines in unexpected ways towards the end of the film. It's Mosaffa as Ahmad who has the most complicated role of all as he must interact with literally every character, all of whom perceive him in very different ways. It forces him to switch up emotions on a dime, all of it fueled by an impassioned need to maintain what fragile bond he holds with each of them. Brulet, who looks like she could play Cotillard in a biopic some day, also makes the best out of a role that becomes more than just the typical angry teenager.

If there's an issue it's that Farhadi labors to wrap up every storyline too neatly, and with a film that has numerous little character arcs going at once it gets messy and overlong. Farhadi does leave one major issue mostly unresolved, but this is a film that probably could have used with a bit more ambiguity. It's not the sort of story that demands every question be answered. Still, this doesn't ruin all of the good work that Farhadi and his tremendous cast have done. The Past is a mature, intricately crafted human drama about removing the self-imposed obstacles to our own happiness.

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Annette Bening and Bérénice Bejo Go On 'The Search' with Michel Hazanavicius

 It's been a couple of years since director Michel Hazanavicius won over the hearts of Oscar voters and audiences with The Artist, earning himself the Best Director award in the process. In that time he hasn't really followed up on it, but has been developing a remake of 1948 WWII drama The Search. While word on it has been pretty quiet, filming has apparently begun in Georgia (er, not the Peach State) with two new additions to the cast.

Annette Bening and The Artist's Bérénice Bejo have signed on to star in the film, which Hazanavicius also adapted the screenplay for. The original Oscar-winning film was set in post-war Berlin and centered on an NGO worker who forms a special relationship with a young boy in war-torn Chechnya.

Hazanavicius is bringing back most of his production team on The Artist for this one, so don't be surprised if The Search attracts similar awards attention in the future.

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'Blue is the Warmest Color' takes Cannes' top prize; check out two clips now

The doors have closed on the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and now that all is said and done, this will go down as one of the strongest years for American filmmakers and American movies.  Films like Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis, Alexander Payne's Nebraska, and Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive all performed well and were greeted warmly by the picky crowd on the Croisette, but when all was said and done it was the French romance Blue is the Warmest Color that took home the festival's top prize.

Steven Spielberg and his jury have selected the French drama Blue is the Warmest Color as the Palm d'Or winner, taking the extraordinary step to grant it not only to Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche, but also to the two lead actresses Lea Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos. It was a historic decision for a couple of reasons, none of which have to do with the lesbian romance at the heart of the story, although the steamy sex scenes are what has garnered the most attention. The win marks the first time that a movie based on a comic book has ever taken the Palm d'Or, as it's based on Julie Maroh's graphic novel Le Bleu est Une Couleur Chaude. The unique circumstances also mean that Jane Campion, who won in 1993 for The Piano, is no longer the only female Palm d'Or winner.

Bruce Dern, who was nominated for an Oscar 35 years ago for Coming Home, took the Best Actor prize for Nebraska, while Berenice Bejo won Best Actress for Asghar Farhadi's Iranian family drama, The Past.  Below you'll find the complete list of honors from the Un Certain Regard, FIPRESCI, and Ecumenical Jury categories, followed by two clips from Blue is the Warmest Color. 

PALME D’OR:
LA VIE D’ADÈLE - CHAPITRE 1 & 2 (Blue Is The Warmest Color) by Abdellatif KECHICHE

GRAND PRIX:
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS by Ethan COEN, Joel COEN

PRIX DE LA MISE EN SCEN (BEST DIRECTOR):
Amat ESCALANTE for "HELI"

PRIX DU SCENARIO (BEST SCREENPLAY):
JIA Zhangke for "TIAN ZHU DING" ("A Touch Of Sin")

CAMERA D’OR (BEST FIRST FEATURE): 
"ILO ILO," Director: Anthony CHEN

PRIX DU JURY (JURY PRIZE):
"LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON" by KORE-EDA Hirokazu


PRIX D’INTERPRETATION FEMININE (BEST ACTRESS):
Berenice Bejo, "THE PAST"

PRIX D’INTERPRETATION MASCULINE (BEST ACTOR): Bruce Dern, "NEBRASKA"

PRIZE OF UN CERTAIN REGARD
THE MISSING PICTURE by Rithy PANH
 
JURY PRIZE - UN CERTAIN REGARD
OMAR by Hany ABU-ASSAD

DIRECTING PRIZE - UN CERTAIN REGARDAlain GUIRAUDIE for STRANGER BY THE LAKE

A CERTAIN TALENT PRIZE - UN CERTAIN REGARD
For the ensemble cast of LA JAULA DE ORO by Diego QUEMADA-DIEZ

AVENIR PRIZE - UN CERTAIN REGARD
FRUITVALE STATION by Ryan COOGLER

FIPRESCI PRIZE - COMPETITION PRIZE
Blue Is The Warmest Color (La vie d'Adèle — Chapitre 1 & 2) by Abdellatif Kechiche (France, 2013)

FIPRESCI PRIZE - UN CERTAIN REGARD PRIZE
Manuscripts Don't Burn (Dast-Neveshtehaa Nemisvosand) by Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran, 2013)

FIPRESCI PRIZE - PARALLEL SECTION
Blue Ruin by Jeremy Saulnier (USA, 2013), shown in the Directors' Fortnight.

ECUMENICAL JURY PRIZE
LE PASSÉ/The Past de Asghar Farhadi (Compétition Officielle)

ECUMENICAL JURY PRIZE - SPECIAL MENTION
SOSHITE CHICHI NI NARU (TEL PÈRE, TEL FILS)/Like Father Like Son de Hirokazu Kore-eda (Compétition officielle)
MIELE de Valeria Golino (Un Certain Regard)

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'The Artist' director to remake post-WWII drama, 'The Search'

A year ago nobody was probably expecting that the director behind the campy OSS 117 spy flicks would be the hottest director in Hollywood, but that's exactly the spot Michel Hazanavicius finds himself in now. His silent movie era hit, The Artist, has secured the Best Picture award from a number of critics' organizations(including our own WAFCA Awards), and has made stars out of Jean Dujardin and the director's wife, Berenice Bejo.

While attending an event in Italy, Hazanavicius revealed his next film will be a remake of 1948's The Search, a post WWII drama about a mother's tireless trek across Europe to find her son, a survivor of Auschwitz. The plan is to update the film by having it take place in war torn Chechnya.

Smartly, both personally and professionally, Hazanavicius has chosen Bejo to take on the female lead, played by Jarmila Novotna in the Fred Zimmerman-directed original. The Search is an amazing film, featuring one of my favorite actors in Montgomery Clift. Not only was he nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, but the film also earned noms for Best Director and Best Screenplay. If you haven't seen it, make it a priority.

Development is still very early on this one, but by all appearances it will be in color and actually feature dialogue, not cue cards. [Variety]

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The Artist star Bérénice Bejo to star in The Scapegoat

So she lost out to Michelle Williams for Best Actress at our own WAFCA Awards this year, Berenice Bejo's performance in The Artist was a thing of beauty, and she'll certainly rack up her share of notoriety for it. Working alongside her husband, director Michael Hazanavicius has gotten her this far, but with all the attention she's now receiving, studios will have her at the top of their list for any number of upcoming films. It's looking like she's already starting to fill up her dance card as ScreenDaily reports she'll join The Scapegoat, an adaptation of Daniel Pennac's French novel. 

Directed by Nicolas Bary(Les Enfants de Timpelbach), the story centers on Benjamin Malaussène, a quality control officer at a department store and a "professional scapegoat". When a bomb goes off in the toy department, Malaussene becomes the chief suspect, and teams up with his girlfriend(Bejo) to find the real culprit. Raphaël Personnaz and Emir Kusturica will also star, with plans for filming to begin next February in Paris and Luxembourg.

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