BUT CARVES HIS OWN "PERSONAL" NICHE
The French director of the recent Un Conte de Noel (A Christmas Tale), Arnaud Desplechin, tells the Toronto Sun's Bruce Kirkland that he is carving out his own niche as a personal filmmaker, because he is not clever enough "to be more clever than Brian De Palma." Kirkland states that Desplechin admires De Palma very much "for his complex thrillers." Desplechin is quoted as saying, "But I am not a competitive guy. Perhaps what I can do is to be more personal." Kirkland also states that Desplechin "is on a quest to achieve what the films of Francois Truffaut inspired in him when he was young."