DE PALMA a la MOD More Femme Fatale news:

The photo above is one of several new ones that can be found at the Italian site 35mm.it 1 BLOWHARD ON FF: "An avant garde bit of silent film poetry" 2 Blowhards.Com Magazines to check out this week: Vanity Fair December 2002 James Wolcott on "De Palma And The Women" Wolcott writes, "Prediction: in years to come, Brian De Palma's most beautiful unfoldings on film (Blow Out, Casualties Of War, Femme Fatale, the best moments of The Fury, The Untouchables, Carlito's Way, Snake Eyes) will be as esteemed as Carrie. The French aren't always wrong. Jerry Lewis is a genius. So is the guy in the safari jacket." Film Comment Nov/Dec 2002 Cover story on Femme Fatale De Palma interviewed by Gavin Smith Us Weekly Nov. 18 2002 1-page interview with Rebecca; Also: Pink dressed as Carrie for a Halloween performance Flaunt Oct/Nov 2002 A nice photo spread of Rebecca with interview on FF NEW INTERVIEWS with De Palma at MIAMI HERALD The San Jose Mercury Latino Review CHUD Inside Reel New York Times L.A. Weekly A full page ad for Femme Fatale in Sunday's Los Angeles Times features the following quotes: (Thanks to Carol at the Antonio Banderas Web Mall) "An exciting cinematic ravishment with mind-bending style" Glen Kenny, Premiere Magazine "An eye-popping shriek-at-every-turn thriller for movie buffs. Brian De Palma's cleverest, most entertaining film in years." Rex Reed, The New York Observer "Plots within plots, and payoffs after payoffs." Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun Times "Ingeniously twisty and audaciously twisted. It's worth seeing twice." Joe Leydon, San Francisco Examiner "It's his sexiest, most suspenseful thriller since 'Body Double'." Dave Itzkoff, Spin Magazine "Its sheer visual ingenuity is as breathtaking as anything you'll see on screen anywhere. Gourmet eye candy." Geoff Pevere, The Toronto Star FEMME FATALE Some suggested quotes for Warner Bros.' ad campaign: "A stunningly conducted visual symphony" Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star "It's filled with moments when you think 'De Palma wouldn't dare, would he?' after which, sure enough, he dares." Glenn Kenny, Premiere "When a neo-noir virtuoso such as Brian De Palma calls a movie Femme Fatale, you know he means business" David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor "An extravagant suspense cocktail of wacky and lascivious ingredients" Variety "...a film of relentless sex, spectacular sequences without dialogue, plots within plots, and payoffs after payoffs. De Palma is in form." Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times "[De Palma's] playfulness is infectious..." Stephen Farber, Movieline "Ingeniously twisty and audaciously twisted... It's likely worth seeing twice, just to fully appreciate how De Palma hides everything in plain sight" Joe Leydon, San Francisco Examiner "...has a vitality and verve that hasn't been seen in [De Palma's] films since the days of Dressed to Kill and Body Double" Patrick Goldstein, Los Angeles Times "De Palma's best film since Carrie..." "Femme Fatale provided several sequences that still haunt my dreams..." Rebecca Romijn-Stamos is the 2002 Cannes Film Festival's "only incomparable object" Amy Taubin "...one of the most interesting female characters to hit the screen since John Dahl's The Last Seduction." David Nusair, Exclaim! "...the greatest, most stirring gratuitous lesbo sex scene ever" Rolling Stone "The absolute best bisexual jewel thief who performs extended stripteases while seducing a potentially crooked paparazzo movie ever." Maxim Femme Fatale Media Guide The Virgin Chronicles On MTV Sat. April 20 2002 8:30pm Wed. April 24 2002 2pm Fri. April 26 2002 4:30pm (all times Eastern) The debut episode of this half hour MTV program focuses on Rebecca Romijn Stamos, and was produced by her husband, John Stamos. Rebecca discusses many of the "firsts" in her life, including first crush, first job, first, uh... etc. At the end, there is a segment called "future firsts," where she mentions her upcoming trip to the Cannes Film Festival: "I'm going to Cannes in the south of France this spring for a movie called Femme Fatale that I did with Brian De Palma, co-starring myself and Antonio Banderas. And it'll be my first trip down the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival." Elle April 2002 Rebecca Romijn-Stamos is featured on the cover. The article inside mentions her roles in the X-Men sequel, Rollerball, and S1mOne. "But the real news is her role as Laura, the bad-to- the-bone con woman who blindsides Antonio Banderas in Brian De Palma's upcoming thriller, Femme Fatale-- a movie she proudly describes as 'a real De Palma film, twisted and kinky.' It's her first bona-fide leading- lady turn, and her biggest acting challenge yet. And its a subject... that this five-foot-eleven beauty is busting to discuss." Rebecca talks about being painted nude for X-Men, and says, "...that's nudity." ELLE: "Yep, and there's more to come in Femme Fatale. You even have a lesbian love scene in that, don't you?" RRS: "Yeah-- it's a pretty graphic scene. It was supposed to be me and a model, and Rie, the new Gucci girl, is a really good friend of mine, so I asked Brian if he'd audition her, and she got the part. I mean, I saw her at nightclubs [researching the role], and the way she hit on girls, well, John and I watched with our jaws on the floor, 'cause if she was a man, she'd be in jail! Anyway, it was great having a friend to do it with me instead of some stranger." A little later, the interviewer asks Rebecca how her husband feels about her making out with Antonio Banderas. RRS: "Now, as for kissing Antonio: On the record, John and I, both being in the industry, have a deep understanding of what the other does, and work is work. [Grins] Off the record-- but you can print it-- is that it's... well, it's awesome to kiss Antonio Banderas. I mean, he's hot-- he's Antonio! You know, I've heard people call what we do 'legalized cheating,' and I don't know if I'd go that far, but, hey, if you want to call it that, great." ELLE: "So was Melanie Griffith on set supervising Antonio?" RRS: "She was around, but when you're married to somebody and the only time you can be with them is on the set, you go to the set." Premiere and Studio January 2002 Each of these French magazines ran preview articles about the films to be released in 2002. And each featured little blurbs about Femme Fatale with little pictures and basic plot descriptions. And each mentioned that the film will probably return to the Croisette this year at Cannes.

Posted June 16 2002 BONFIRE REVISITED DEVIL'S CANDY UPDATED BY SALAMON Da Capo Press has published a new edition of The Devil's Candy featuring a new afterword from author Julie Salamon. Salamon was granted complete access by Brian De Palma to chronicle the making of Warner Bros.' 1990 film adaptation of Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire Of The Vanities, which became known as one of Hollywood's most disastrous productions. The new subtitle to the book is "The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco." On Sunday, June 16 2002, The New York Times ran an adaptation of Salamon's new foreword, which features a recent interview with De Palma about the book and how the experience affected him. "I don't think I've quite recovered from it, to tell you the truth," he told Salamon. He talks about how difficult it was for him to get projects off the ground afterwards, and the article delves into the reasons De Palma left America for France two years ago. "During Mr. De Palma's hiatus in France," writes Salamon, "he said he rediscovered his early passion." De Palma contrasted the American film industry with the French: "They take cinema very seriously there. It's an artistic mission, the antithesis of the American system, where making movies is about keeping the cineplex operating. The American system is boxed into making sequels and repetition to keep the machine going. You shake your head and say, 'Why would an artist want to do this?'" FEMME FATALE WILL PLAY U.S. IN NOVEMBER The New York Times article also mentions that Warner Bros., the same studio that made The Bonfire Of The Vanities, will release De Palma's Femme Fatale this November. The print version of the story was accompanied by a large black-and-white reproduction of this photo, showing De Palma directing Antonio Banderas in the new film. Thanks to Brett and Tony!

Posted June 7 2002 ET: FEMME COULD FACE RATINGS BATTLE Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN On Tuesday May 28, a couple of days after the Cannes Film Festival, Entertainment Tonight ran a feature on Femme Fatale, featuring clips from the film and interviews with Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Antonio Banderas in Cannes. Amidst repeated clips of Rebecca stripping and getting intimate with Rie, host Mary Hart explained that "Femme Fatale comes from director Brian De Palma, who pushed the sexual envelope in Dressed To Kill and Body Double, which starred Antonio's wife Melanie Griffith. Along with Rebecca, they promoted the film on the red carpet at Cannes..." As clips were shown from the shooting of the film's opening scenes, Hart continued, "Part of Femme Fatale was filmed at last year's festival. Before its U.S. release, it must face the motion picture ratings board. The movie's steamy scenes could face a battle." This seems a strong possibility when one considers that upon its release last month in France, many critics were put off by what they saw as an unnecessary scene of Rebecca stripping in a nightclub. The American trade reviews have already highlighted the "gratuitous" sex and nudity sprinkled throughout the film, but without mentioning any possible ratings issues. According to Variety, Femme Fatale will be distributed by Warner Bros., the same studio that ended up digitally altering Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Graphic sex scenes were toned down for that film's American release, after Kubrick passed away, in order to avoid an adult rating (NC17). As one of the major studios, Warner Bros. is a board member of the Motion Picture Association of America, and thus may be obliged to slap an MPAA rating on all films the company releases. But it seems that if there was some trouble, they would do well to follow the example of IFC Films, who released Alfonso Cuaron's underground smash Y Tu Mama Tambien in the U.S. without even bothering to submit the film to the MPAA. Cuaron's film liberally features graphic sex and nudity. A stigma of the NC17 rating is that (supposedly) many newspapers will not run ads for films with the adult rating, and thus some theatres will not carry such films. IFC avoided that by simply releasing the film unrated, and newspapers have no problem advertising it. DE PALMA'S RATINGS BATTLES De Palma's Greetings was rated X in 1968, and became a huge independent hit with the counterculture community. Back then an X-rating was no problem for a film. De Palma first knocked heads with the ratings board in 1980, when the MPAA demanded that the director tone down the sex and violence in Dressed To Kill. On the recent DVD release of the film, De Palma said he felt he was being censored for being effective. He had made what to him was a true work of art that people were responding to, and that somebody wanted him to mangle. De Palma made some cuts (as he explained, it is like a bartering negotiation that becomes so technical as to be meaningless: a breast here, a razor slice there), and the film was released with an R-rating. A side-by-side comparison on the DVD shows the difference between the R and the unedited versions, the latter of which was released (like Kubrick's unaltered Eyes Wide Shut) only outside the U.S. When De Palma was again awarded an X-rating for Scarface in 1983, he began to feel that he was being personally targeted. An X rating by this time was widely scene as the stamp of pornography, and no studio wanted to release a film with such a label. De Palma began trimming the film's chainsaw sequence, only to be told that now another sequence was objectionable. He finally told the studio that they would have to fire him, because the process was ruining the effectiveness of the film. The film went back for appeals at least four times. For the final appeal, De Palma ironically submitted his original cut of Scarface, and it was given an R rating, but he was angry enough to proclaim that with his next film, he was going to throw it all back in their faces. With Body Double, partly set in the world of pornography, De Palma promised (threatened?) sex and violence galore, a brash gesture that many saw as wrong-headed. The film had little trouble receiving an R rating, however, but caused much controversy over its sex and violence. After more than a decade of no run-ins with the MPAA, in 1998 De Palma was told that a bloody fight scene in Snake Eyes was too graphic for a PG-13, which was the rating Paramount wanted in order to exploit the teen market. Irritated again, De Palma did try to trim the scene down, but finally told the studio that he was ruining the film by doing so. It was released as an R-rated picture, although De Palma felt he had delivered a PG-13 film. REBECCA INVESTIGATES THE DARK SIDE In the Entertainment Tonight interview, Rebecca says that her character in Femme Fatale is "a total bitch. A character who is just unapologetically bad, who never has to really redeem herself." (Gee, tell that to Judith Prescott, who complained in her Hollywood Reporter review that "It's incredible how many times the audience is asked to sympathize with this deeply unsavory, manipulative character. A better actress could at least have hinted at some redeemable qualities.") Rebecca described what it was like to play such a character: "You get to investigate darker sides of yourself. The parts of yourself that you don't like to admit exist, but they do." Thanks to KC!

Posted June 1 2002 RED LIGHT/GREEN LIGHT 2 HOLLYWOOD TRADES ARM WRESTLE OVER FEMME FATALE Judith Prescott reviewed Femme Fatale in the Hollywood Reporter last week, saying that the film "leaves the audience feeling justifiably cheated." Lisa Nesselson, who reviewed the film in Hollywood's other big industry news mag, Variety, seemed to like the film for many of the same reasons that Prescott complains about. So is it just a matter of taste? Let's look at how the two reviews match up...

Hollywood Reporter: With its soap-opera plot, weak dialogue and uninspired acting, Brian De Palma's "Femme Fatale" is a thriller that never takes the pulse above 60 beats per minute. Variety: An extravagant suspense cocktail of wacky and lascivious ingredients that goes down fine, Brian De Palma's "Femme Fatale" gives Rebecca Romijn-Stamos a chance to shine as the duplicitous title broad, a confident and ambisexual predator who would have been an even match for Catherine Tramell in "Basic Instinct." Hollywood Reporter: Audiences looking for signs of the director of such entertaining movies as "The Untouchables" will go away empty-handed. Despite its carefully plotted opening scenes -- set at the Festival de Cannes -- there is nothing here for true fans of the genre. Variety: One needn't be a film buff or a De Palma junkie to be drawn in by -- if not necessarily follow -- the always stylish and frequently off-kilter proceedings, centered on a con woman who neglects to share the booty from a jewel heist with two violent associates. Hollywood Reporter: The numerous twists and turns of the plot are based on a series of highly implausible coincidences that require a suspension of disbelief well beyond the call of duty. Variety: But it's worth noting that the venture, which juggles time with edgy chutzpah, is likely to seem frustrating for viewers who prefer their intrigue spoon-fed. Hollywood Reporter: And just when events have reached their most ludicrous, De Palma pulls off a trick that slaps the audience right in the face. Variety: With its sleight-of-hand accretion of clues and details, pic is more like a European five-course meal than a typically American three-act product. Hollywood Reporter: The boundaries between fantasy and reality were recently explored in David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive," but here it is much more reminiscent of the soap opera "Dallas." Variety: There is an "Open Your Eyes"/"Vanilla Sky" tone to the proceedings in which much of what transpires seems to be either too good or too bad to be true. Hollywood Reporter: The denouement is a huge letdown. It leaves the audience feeling justifiably cheated. But perhaps it's the only way to bring the increasingly ridiculous plot to an end and allow the characters -- and the audience -- to start afresh. Variety: Viewers who think they're stuck in a shaggy-dog story eventually will discover that De Palma runs a pretty tight kennel. But pic deliberately barks up a lot of silly trees en route. Hollywood Reporter: Romijn-Stamos fails to breathe any life into her role. It's incredible how many times the audience is asked to sympathize with this deeply unsavory, manipulative character. A better actress could at least have hinted at some redeemable qualities. Variety: The relatively slim screen career of Romijn-Stamos (Mystique in "X-Men") plays in her favor, as she seems both a familiar archetype and freshly minted. Laure's behavior may be far-fetched, but it's consistently unpredictable. Banderas adds heft to the slight but essential role of Nicolas, a decent counterpart to Romijn-Stamos' bitch on wheels. Hollywood Reporter: Banderas looks as if he has wandered onto the wrong movie set, while the two thugs, Black Tie and Racine, have stepped straight out of a comic strip. Variety: The movie is low on talk and strong on visuals throughout, although the ratio of dialogue increases in the second half. Hollywood Reporter: Add to this gratuitous sex scenes that have an unpleasant, voyeuristic feel, and you can only hope De Palma does better next time around. Variety: With an emphasis on voyeurism and manipulation, pic features nearly every theme that has ever interested De Palma? Laure and the slinky Veronica meet up and proceed to lip-lock as if semi-gratuitous lesbian love scenes are going out of style. Hollywood Reporter: A big-name director like De Palma is bound to draw the crowds, and "Femme Fatale" has notched up a respectable 220,000 admissions in France so far. Variety: ...pic should do very nicely in Gaul, where it opened April 30. Combo of mental gymnastics and strategically placed flesh suggests a fair shot at B.O. internationally, with repeat viewings on video a definite possibility.

Posted May 29 2002 Helen from Italy was at the Cannes Film Festival's midnight screening of Femme Fatale. She enjoyed the film quite a bit, and she also got some pictures of her very own, which you can check out at her Antonio Banderas site. Once there, click on the link down the left of the screen that says "Cannes 2002."

Posted May 28 2002 DINNER IS SERVED... AT SATURDAY'S FEMME FATALE DINNER IN CANNES Tarak Ben Ammar and jewelry company Chopard held a special Femme Fatale dinner party at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes prior to Saturday night's midnight screening of the film. Rebecca, Antonio, Rie, Melanie, and Marina Gefter were all there, as were Michael Douglas and Faye Dunaway, among others. A Chopard model showed off the jeweled Chopard snake which was worn by Rie in the film. The Chopard website describes the origins of the necklace: "Chopard designed especially for "Femme Fatale" a snake shaped body jewel which surrounds the breast of the "4th protagonist" of the movie during the most sensual and amazing scenes. "The exclusive 1.8 kg-gold snake jewel, entirely hand-sculpted, holds on its head a 59 carat-diamond and wears some incredible emerald eyes. The snake skin is composed of 510 diamonds and follows all the movements of the body of the actress. To obtain this particular effect of the movement, the jewel has been finished directly on the body itself at the very last stages of the creation. "An exceptional party to wish a fantastic success to the new thriller of Brian de Palma!"

Updated June 3 2002 DE PALMA TO FILM IN ITALY AMMAR ANNOUNCES PROJECT AT CANNES ROMA BASH It looks like Brian De Palma is going through with his plans to film a scary thriller in Paris and Rome. On Wednesday, May 22 2002, Variety ran a story on the Roma Studios party at Cannes, saying that "the biggest news to come out of the Roma bash was their landing of the new Brian De Palma film, a coup in the highly competitive Euro studios scene." According to the Hollywood Reporter, De Palma's untitled film is to shoot at Roma Studios this winter. Femme Fatale producer Tarak Ben Ammar is the key backer of the Roma facility, which is located on the outskirts of Rome. Its studios are among the largest in all of Europe, and were built almost forty years ago by Dino De Laurentiis. They were reopened partially in June of 2001, and are now fully operational. Ammar hopes that they will attract many more Hollywood projects. De Palma has been tight-lipped about his new film, not wanting to give away too much, but says that he has developed a couple of great ideas for it.

REBECCA & ANTONIO PRESENT GRAND PRIZE POLANSKI WINS PALME d'OR Still fresh from the midnight screening of Femme Fatale the night before, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Antonio Banderas presented the Grand Prize to Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki at the closing ceremonies of the Cannes Film Festival May 26th. Kaurismaki won for his film, The Man Without A Past. Rebecca and Antonio were introduced by Virginie Ledoyen as "the couple from the latest film of Brian De Palma, Femme Fatale." Roman Polanski, a director whose films have been a great influence on Brian De Palma's cinema, won the Palme d'Or for The Pianist, one of the most personal films of his career. Pedro Almodovar presented the director award, which again went to two directors: another De Palma favorite, Paul Thomas Anderson (Punch-Drunk Love), and Im Kwon-Taek (Chihwaseon). This year's head of the jury, David Lynch, shared the director prize last year with Joel Coen. One year ago, De Palma and crew were setting up to film the opening scenes of Femme Fatale at the festival immediately following the closing night's ceremonies. French director Regis Wargnier, portrayed himself in De Palma's film, presenting his latest, East/West, at the Cannes Film Festival, although in reality, Wargnier's film never played there. This year, Wargnier sat on the jury that chose the festival's competition winners, and provided French translations for Lynch's opening remarks of the closing ceremony. THE RED CARPET AT MIDNIGHT Marina Gefter, Tarak Ben Ammar, Rie Rasmussen, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Antonio Banderas, and Melanie Griffith all walked the red carpet last night on their way to the midnight screening of Femme Fatale. Pedro Almodovar also showed up to watch the film. Griffith wrote on her Web site Friday that "It is a great movie! We are planning to stay for the closing ceremonies, which should be fun." (Thanks to Robin at the Antonio Banderas Web Mall)

Click here to see my crude captures from the CanalPlus Live Webcam, of Antonio, Melanie, and Rebecca on the red carpet at Cannes.. Posted May 25 2002 FEMME TRAILER WINS AWARD AT CANNES REEL.COM COLUMNIST LIKES IT, TOO The trailer for Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale won the Grand Prix and the special Prize of the Public at the 19th International Festival of the Trailer, which is held in margin of the Cannes Film Festival. According to AlloCine, the jury was headed by Claudie Ossard, producer of last year's blockbuster Amelie, which was denied a regular screening at last year's Cannes Festival. On Friday (May 24), Reel.com columnist Jeffrey Wells reviewed the trailer, and found it much to his liking. "The wildly fluctuating rhythms are what get you," writes Wells. "Fast and furious machine-gun cutting followed by a sudden down-shift into slow-motion and echo-y sound, and then back up to frantic. It doesn't convey a story exactly. What you're given is a sense of the usual potboiler elements (sex, intrigue, danger) against a series of noirish Parisian backdrops." Wells goes on to assume that the film's supposed lack of a U.S. distributor "indicates there must be something wrong with it." He was apparently unaware (until I e-mailed him) that the film is a French production that will be distributed in the U.S., according to Variety, by Warner Bros. My own review of the trailer appears a few scrolls down on this page. Thanks to Tony! FATALE TEAM ARRIVES FOR PRESS CONFERENCE At left, producers Marina Gefter and Tarak Ben Ammar surround actors Rie Rasmussen, Antonio Banderas, and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Meanwhile, according to elmundo.es, Banderas stated that he was "enchanted" to have had the opportunity to work with the director. He said that De Palma had been an influence on him and Pedro Almodovar when they were making their early films together. Almodovar himself showed up for the midnight screening of Femme Fatale later that night. (Thanks to Di at the Antonio Banderas Web Mall.) More photos at Yahoo!.

Posted May 23 2002 GIMME THOSE JEWELS LIFE IMITATES ART IMITATES LIFE AT CANNES Iman, model wife of David Bowie, sported a 203-carat Millennium Star to the annual Cinema Against AIDS gala at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, May 23rd. Shades of Femme Fatale, the model and her diamond were accompanied by a swarm of security. "There was an attempted robbery on it," Iman told Reuters, "so when I got here I didn't have just security people, I had armored guards." Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Regis Wargnier were among the guests at the exclusive charity auction, which was hosted by Liz Taylor and facilitated by Sharon Stone. David Lynch and Milla Jovovich were also present. Elton John and Sam Moore performed "Twist And Shout," with Sharon, Milla, and Rebecca singing back-up. The shindig raised $1.6 million for the American Foundation for Aids Research.

Updated May 20 2002 FEMME FATALE WILL PLAY AT CANNES MIDNIGHT SCREENING NIGHT BEFORE CLOSING CEREMONY George Lucas was there with his Episode Two. Martin Scorsese showed clips from his new opus. And now Brian De Palma will be presenting his latest, Femme Fatale, at a special midnight screening at the Cannes Film Festival on May 25th, the night before the festival's closing ceremonies. Variety reports that the film has received a slot at the last minute, and will be screened in the Grand Theatre Lumiere. It seems fitting: one year ago, festival head Gilles Jacob joined De Palma and crew to shoot the film's opening scenes on the Palais steps the night after the closing ceremonies. Filming began at 8:30pm, and continued well into the morning hours. Almost 200 press photographers already covering Cannes were persuaded to hang around to play themselves in the scene. It would undoubtedly be a surreal experience for those who participated that night to watch the completed film in a late night screening. Costars Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos will be on hand to present the movie in style. It is not known at this time whether or not any other cast members will be present, although director Regis Wargnier, who plays himself in the film's opening Cannes sequence, is on the jury at this year's festival. "MOVIE BRATS" SPREAD OUT Meanwhile, De Palma's fellow "movie brats" Lucas and Scorsese had their own special Cannes events. Lucas' Star Wars Episode 2: Attack Of The Clones, played in a special midnight screening on opening night (May 15th, technically May 16th), the same day the film opened worldwide. Lucas himself presented another screening of the film later that morning. On May 20th, Scorsese hosted a program titled "An Hour with Martin Scorsese," in which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz joined the director in presenting clips from their upcoming film, Gangs Of New York. Scorsese opened the program by paying tribute to the recently departed Billy Wilder. De Palma's Femme Fatale opens with a clip from Wilder's Double Indemnity.

Posted May 19 2002 SCHWAB'S LEARNING CURVE IS SOLID DE PALMA'S 2ND UNIT STEPS OUT FRONT, DEBUT NOW ON VIDEO Eric Schwab has worked consistently as second unit director of Brian De Palma's films for over a decade. Recently, he wrote and directed his first feature film, The Learning Curve, which was released on video just last week. I watched it last night, and found it to be a solidly directed picture with many unpredictable twists and interesting camera angles. Schwab has found his own femme fatale in Monet Mazur, who is very much like a typical Paul Verhoeven femme. This film reminded me somewhat of Verhoeven's Spetters and Showgirls, although Schwab's femme is not interested at all in reaching the top, as Verhoeven's often seem to be. Her high-testosterone boyfriend (Carmine Giovinazzo) is the one with all that jazz, although with his inspiration, she definitely knows how to turn it up. De Palma regular Steven Bauer also turns up, but to tell much more would ruin some surprises. The film has a bizarre shoot out at the climax that goes on and on until it seems just about every character, good or bad, is going to die. It is difficult to tell what Schwab is thinking with this, but it is interesting nonetheless. My only complaint is the cable movie-like slow motion that pops up a lot in the later scenes, but that is a minor thing. De Palma fans will find the film engaging, with a few clever shots and plot twists. It opens with the main character trying to sneak in to a showing of Sam Fuller's Shock Corridor, but he is turned away and accused of trying to "steal entertainment." The acting is solid, with Mazur especially impressive, although Giovinazzo is good as well. Check out Bill Fentum's interview with Schwab over at Directed by Brian De Palma.

Posted May 7 2002 DE PALMA: "COMING SOON... "I WANT TO FILM AN ASSASSINATION IN THE POMPIDOU" Brian De Palma and Elli Medeiros talk with Regis Wargnier at the Pompidou museum in Paris last March, as a CanalPlus crew films the proceedings. When I went to Paris last February for the Brian De Palma retrospective at the Centre Pompidou, I met up with author Laurent Vachaud (Brian De Palma: Conversations with Samuel Blumenfeld and Laurent Vachaud). As we walked through the Pompidou, Vachaud told me that De Palma had hoped to film part of Femme Fatale in that very building, but the production could not secure the rights at the time. Vachaud said that De Palma now had ideas to film part of his next movie there. This is confirmed at the close of a new interview with the director conducted by Aimé Ancian and Renaud Moran, which is excerpted at DVDRAMA. "Now that you know Paris well," De Palma is prompted, "there are undoubtedly other places where you would like to film." De Palma's reply: "Yes. I want to film an assassination in the Pompidou Center. Coming soon..." SNAKE EYES ON A BOAT? OR AT CANNES... Regis Wargnier arrives with his entourage at the Cannes Film Festival in Femme Fatale's opening sequence, much like the Secretary of Defense and his entourage arriving at the casino at the beginning of Snake Eyes. Another thing that is revealed in the interview is that, in De Palma's original draft of the screenplay, the opening of Femme Fatale involved a break-in/robbery on a riverboat casino. When asked why he changed it, De Palma says, "Because this is better!" He explains that the original idea would have been quite stunning, to have the lights go out on a casino boat, leaving the patrons in complete darkness. But since Paris does not have any such casino boats, they would have had to film at an indoor casino, and De Palma feels he's already done those to death. He explains that as he was presenting Mission To Mars at Cannes in 2000, he was accompanied by Elli Medeiros, who was wearing so much jewelry, she kept a bodyguard nearby. De Palma said to her that "thieves could make a killing at Cannes." And that is how the idea came to him. The fact that Elli Medeiros' song appears during this sequence highlights the autobiographical dimension of De Palma's cinema. And the snake jewel that is worn by Rie Rassmussin surely takes the place of the casino in looking back toward Snake Eyes. WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE It is also interesting that De Palma wanted to film another casino near water. At the Pompidou retrospective, he hinted toward regret at Snake Eyes' abandoned tidal wave scene. The original idea was that a divine hand of judgement was delivering its wrath down on "Sin City." De Palma told the French audience, "They don't believe in that in America," referring to all the flack he got from test screenings and studio heads that the ending "just didn't work." In the Ancian/Moran interview, De Palma talks at length about the Hollywood studio system, and how it limits a filmmaker's vision. "And even if you are entitled to have final cut and there is nobody who makes you change anything," he says, "you react nevertheless to the positive or negative reactions of the screening. And in certain cases, you make changes which you regret later." De Palma was pointing out that filming in Europe frees the filmmaker from elements such as test screenings done in shopping malls, and endless meetings where "everyone has an idea of what should be in the script." Whether or not he has any regrets about it now, De Palma finally decided to change Snake Eyes' ending of his own accord (he reportedly did not want the alternate ending included on the DVD because he did not want people to think that he was forced to change it), and he has claimed that he likes the new ending better. The tidal wave still exists in the final film, but does not play as big a part in the climactic happenings as De Palma had originally planned. (Thanks to Brett, who viewed and reported on Snake Eyes' alternate ending last June at the De Palma Forum.)

Updated May 2 2002 FINCHER TO TAKE ON MI:3 STALLONE TO PLAY BAD GUY? According to Variety, David Fincher is in final negotiations to direct the third installment of Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible franchise, the first of which was directed by Brian De Palma. Fincher's latest film is Panic Room, which was written by David Koepp, who also happened to be the main screenwriter on the first Mission. Panic Room was the number one film in America two weeks in a row, but a project such as M:I-3 is sure to rake in the dough, and allow Fincher to keep on keepin' on. NEW M:I-3 IDEA: "REALLY COOL, REALLY VIOLENT" Early in his Hollywood career, Fincher directed Alien 3, a dark film that neither audiences nor critics generally warmed up to. According to The Guardian, Fincher told some press in London that the central concept of M:I-3 is "a really cool idea, really violent." According to a May 2nd update at Dark Horizons, Fincher told The Irish Times that the story has something to do with the trading/selling of body parts in Africa. When asked in London about his vow to never do another sequel after Alien 3, Fincher said, "You can never make exactly the movie you want to make. But if [Paramount] lets us do even half of what we want, it should make for a pretty interesting film." The article claims that Cruise, who produces the series with his partner, Paula Wagner, really wanted Fincher for the film, citing the director's distinct visual style and technical skills. FINCHER'S "SHOCKING" DETAILS... A few days later, Fincher was interviewed at a press conference in Paris (on his publicity jaunt for Panic Room). Transcribed at Euro-AICN, Fincher said that with his cumulated clout, he is in a better position to take on a movie that has to "open on a certain date or must get results such as B.O. to justify its existence." He added, "I have some specific ideas that Cruise and I discussed that I think would make it interesting, kind of shocking." When asked to elaborate on this point, Fincher went on: "It’s a particularly extreme take on espionage without having anything to do with terrorism or spying. I know Oliver Stone was supposed to do the first one... he didn’t. It’s possible that this might never happen. If we found a script that makes everybody happy?Not everybody, I mean a script that [Cruise] likes and I like, we’ll go for it." STALLONE RUMORED AS VILLAIN According to Aint It Cool News, Stallone Zone reports a rumor that Sylvester Stallone is in line to play the villain in the third installment. Cruise has been involved as producer on a couple of recent Stallone projects. M:I-3 will begin shooting later this year, and is tentatively sketched in for release in the summer of 2004. WE NOW JOIN OUR MISSION ALREADY IN PROGRESS... Oliver Stone had previously been mentioned in connection with both M:I sequels, but not the first film, as Fincher apparently claimed. The first sequel wound up being directed by John Woo. Another Cruise pal, Sydney Pollack, worked briefly on the first film in the series before De Palma took it over. De Palma's film pays serious (and yet playful) homage to Pollack's espionage classic, Three Days Of The Condor.

Posted April 30 2002 FANS AND CRITICS SPLIT ON FEMME STRIP SCENE A REAL STICKING POINT FOR SOME More than one French critic uses the term "Machiavellian" to describe the way the film works on the audience. More than one compares the film favorably to the work of David Lynch (Jean-Pierre Dufreigne, writing in L'Express, proffers that "Because, if he still looks to his master Alfred Hitchcock to wring suspense out of suspense (the thief who botches it all during the initial break-in), it is obvious that Brian De Palma has found a new way, between Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive"). One thing that sticks out in many of the reviews is Rebecca's strip scene: One fan complains that it does nothing to advance the plot, while critic Yann Kerloc'h of MonsieurCinema, writes, "One forgives the view of a tourist perusing in Paris (the Americans are incorrigible), but not a scene of vulgar striptease, wrongfully ironic." Kerloc'h further complains that some of the film's best moments are thwarted by some hollow performances from the French cast. Understanding that De Palma does not speak French, Kerloc'h suggests that De Palma should have asked his friend, director Regis Wargnier (who plays himself in the film) to direct the French actors. Other complaints are that the film is incoherent and overly complicated, although its admirers see things differently, comparing the style to that of Lynch. Almost all of the reviews talk about how Femme Fatale contains numerous quotes and allusions to De Palma's previous body of work. That's the initial word... we'll try and sort through all the views as we go along.

Updated April 29 2002 WAITING TO INHALE 3 SCENES ONLINE, "MAKING OF", SOUNDTRACK, ETC. Go to Canal Plus to see a plethora of Femme Fatale goodies, as well as a new interview with Brian De Palma (conducted April 8 in Paris) spread out in bits. The page includes links to the French trailer (which a delighted De Palma told recent interviewers at Comme au Cinéma was "better than the American trailer"), three delicious-looking scenes from the film, and a surprisingly lengthy cinema verite-style "making of" reel. You can see some of the same stuff at Allocine, but everything you can see there is also at the Canal Plus page, including an interview with Rebecca from last year's Cannes Film Festival. Meanwhile, the soundtrack, which features Ryuichi Sakamoto's score, as well as songs by Elli Medeiros and Saez, was released in France on April 26th. Thanks to KC, John Blaze, Romain, and Indianato.)

Posted April 16 2002 HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU FEMME FATALE TRAILER ONLINE "You've just watched Brian De Palma's new film. You didn't get it? Try again..." These words conclude the trailer of De Palma's Femme Fatale, which you can see for yourself at ARP Selection, along with some new photos. The trailer actually does seem to show the entire film, from opening credits to end credits-- sped up to the point of incomprehension. But it is a work of art in and of itself, speeding through clips from the film, slowing down twice to the sound of feet hitting the pavement as we see Rebecca's legs walking (first), then running (later), both in slow motion. The trailer also slows down at certain key spots to allow us to grasp glimpses of the main stars and other events. The opening shows Rebecca's reflection on a television screen that is broadcasting Double Indemnity. Once the camera moves back from the TV screen to show Rebecca on the bed, everything suddenly speeds up. At the end, the title "Femme Fatale" comes up, only to be blown aside by the film's actual end credits, which are also sped up, of course, and followed by the tag quoted above. If you blink, you'll miss a split screen clip, and, well, many others, but you will be thoroughly teased. (Thanks to KC!) WARGNIER ON CANNES JURY, PLAYS HIMSELF IN FEMME

Elli Medeiros, Brian De Palma, and Regis Wargnier mingle at the Pompidou's De Palma Retrospective in Paris last March.

Variety reports that Femme Fatale, which opened in France on April 30th, will be screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival on May 25th. Regis Wargnier, the director of East/West who plays himself in De Palma's new film, has been selected to be a member of this year's Cannes jury. This would obviously be one of the main reasons for Femme Fatale to be excluded from competition. Meanwhile, the song that Rebecca strips to, "Sexe," is included on the new double CD by Saez. The album, titled "God Blesse," was released in France a couple of weeks ago. I ordered a copy from Amazon.fr, and I have to say, it is very good. (Thanks to K!)

Posted March 22 2002 THE PROBLEM OF MODERN FILM NOIR DE PALMA TWISTS THE GENRE INTO SHAPE In the Canal Plus documentary, Brian De Palma: L'Incoruptible, which was screened on the closing night of the Pompidou retrospective in Paris, De Palma explains his conception of a modern noir in filming Femme Fatale. "I’d say it’s kind of a re-imagined film noir," he says, "because it has a kind of optimistic ending, which is very unusual in film noir. I think the problem with film noir for today is—these kind of depressing, dark stories, in which you get into a whirlpool where things get worse and worse and you end up either dead or your whole life ruined—I think that worked in the ?0s and ?0s, and the ?0s, but we’re not there now. So I had to try to figure out a new way to use this genre that I love so much, and tell a story that twists the noir into a kind of optimistic ending, in a very ironic way." Elsewhere in the documentary, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos talks about the quirks of being cast in the lead role of the film. "He saw me at first," says Romijn-Stamos, "and his first impression of me was that I'm a very soft blonde girl. And I think he wanted somebody who was harder to play the character, 'cause she's bad. She's a really bad, bad girl, and I think he wanted somebody who had more edge. And once he got to know me, I think he saw that I could do both, and that maybe it would be more effective to have a soft-looking blonde girl playing a harder girl." And Rebecca wasn't the only actor De Palma shaped his script around. He has this to say about Eriq Ebouaney: "This guy's a brilliant actor. He's like a black Marlon Brando. Every take, I would just sit there and watch to see what he would do-- because I didn't know what he was going to do! So I created the character around what this guy did. I mean, when you find somebody as original as this, you just let him go. You get the fuck out of the way, you know, 'cause this guy is something. This guy is riveting on the screen." Thanks to KC for finding the poster!

Posted March 16 2002 A FEAST OF INTERVIEWS IN FRANCE, AMERICA, AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB De Palma a la Mod talked with Brian De Palma in Paris, amidst the backdrop of the Pompidou retrospective that took place in February. De Palma talks about working in Paris, the use of songs in his films, supporting Web sites like this one, and the death of objective reporting, among many other topics. You can read the interview by clicking here. COLLECTION OF INTERVIEWS OUT THIS FALL Brian De Palma: Interviews will be published this fall by the University Press of Mississippi. The volume, which is edited by Laurence F. Knapp, is part of the "Conversations With Filmmakers" series, which also includes recent collections of Orson Welles, Steven Soderbergh, Spike Lee, and Billy Wilder interviews. The De Palma interviews are collected from published articles throughout De Palma's career, and will include Bill Fentum's interview with De Palma at Directed by Brian De Palma, as well as my own recent interview here at De Palma a la Mod. BLUMENFELD & VACHAUD TO UPDATE DE PALMA BOOK The recent French book, Brian De Palma: Conversations with Samuel Blumenfeld and Laurent Vachaud, will be updated in May to coincide with the release of De Palma's Femme Fatale. The authors recently conducted their own separate Femme Fatale interviews with De Palma: Blumenfeld for Le Monde, and Vachaud for Positif. The two interviews will be combined for a concluding Femme Fatale chapter, making the career-spanning book complete. Copies of the first edition can still be ordered from Amazon.fr, and you can read a review written in French and translated in English at Le Paradis de Brian De Palma. There is also an interview with the authors at Cinema TV. The book will be translated into other languages at some point in the future. Vachaud said that the main reason he wanted to write this book was to show how De Palma's oeuvre is among the most autobiographical of filmmakers, despite his superficial reputation as a Hollywood showman.

Posted March 14 2002 DE PALMA SIGNS WITH ICM JOINS PAUL VERHOEVEN, DOMINIC SENA A report published this morning in the Hollywood Reporter: Brian De Palma has signed with ICM for representation. The writer-director has more than 30 feature films to his name, including the teen horror classic "Carrie" as well as "Blow Out," "Scarface," "The Untouchables" and "Carlito's Way." De Palma's recent credits include "Mission: Impossible," "Snake Eyes" and "Mission to Mars." He next helms Summit Entertainment's "Femme Fatale," a crime thriller starring Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. The signing marks a coup for ICM, which signed helmer Paul Verhoeven last week and video helmer-turned-feature director Dominic Sena in January (HR 1/18). De Palma was repped by CAA. (Zorianna Kit) (Thanks to Chuck)

Posted March 8 2002 ELLI, SAEZ, DEAD FLY SYNDROME ALL HAVE SONGS IN FEMME FATALE When Rebecca meets up with Rie in the bathroom in Brian De Palma's upcoming Femme Fatale, they listen to an Elli Medeiros song on their MP3 players. Later on, when Rebecca does a strip tease, it is to the accompaniment of a song called Sex by Saez, who have a double CD set to be released in France on March 26th. Medeiros also has a new CD coming out soon. Another group that will have a song on the Femme Fatale soundtrack is Dead Fly Syndrome. Their song, Transgressions, can be downloaded here. (Thanks to KC for the DFS link.) Meanwhile, Ryuichi Sakamoto's score for the film is said to be tremendous. In the Canal + documentary, Brian De Palma, L'Incorruptible, Sakamoto is seen in the studio shaping the score, with De Palma telling him not to make it too much like Ravel's Bolero. He says: "If you leave the Bolero out there the way it is, that's what I'm going to think. I'll say, 'Well, this is great, but isn't it a little like Ravel's Bolero?' If there's some way to integrate it, so we get away from it a little bit..." De Palma says that he got away from working with Pino Donnagio, although he thinks he is great, because he just got too used to his sound. He says that every composer has their own sound, and when you make so many movies, you want to go for something different after a while.

Posted March 2 2002 FEMME TO REACH U.S. IN SEPT. DE PALMA HAS MORE IDEAS IN HIS HEAD In a forthcoming interview with De Palma a la Mod, Brian De Palma mentions that Femme Fatale will open in Europe this May, and will probably open in the U.S. this September. He also mentioned that he has written a couple of new scripts, one of which involves a serial murderer who preys upon tourists in Paris. More to come soon!

Posted February 8 2002 DE PALMA MEETS THE PRESS RETROSPECTIVE OPENS WITH FAN FAVORITE BLOW OUT Romain Desbiens, web master of Le Virtuose du 7eme Art, received a press pass for the opening night of the Brian De Palma retrospective at the Centre Pompidou. According to Romain, when De Palma was asked at the opening press conference why he chose to open the series with Blow Out (1981), his reply was that he had seen that the fans voted it De Palma's best film over at Carl Rodrigue's and Tony Suppa's Le Paradis de Brian De Palma. You can read an article about the conference at FT (Financial Times), and see the photo of De Palma standing in front of a poster for a Ridley Scott film. If you want to see pictures of De Palma standing in front of posters for his own films, go to WireImage.com. Pictured to the left is Bart De Palma, standing in front of the photo montage he did for his brother's upcoming Femme Fatale. The wall of photographs is on display at the Pompidou, along with other photos taken by Bart on the set of Femme Fatale in Paris. According to the FT article, "Scenes were shot on the balcony of [Brian's] apartment in the upmarket 16th district and in the streets. His brother, Bart, spent a year snapping photos which make up a revelatory montage in the film." (This sounds intriguingly reminiscent of Blow Out/Blow Up, doesn't it? And of Greetings, too, for that matter. Heck, it just sounds wonderfully De Palmaesque!) At the press conference, De Palma was asked if Femme Fatale will be playing at the Cannes Film Festival: "I'm only allowed to smile when that question's asked," he replied with a big grin forming on his face. The film is set to open in France May 1st. (Thanks to Romain, KC, Bill, and Boris for their help in putting together this post!) TWO FRENCH INTERVIEWS A pair of interviews with the director have appeared in French publications this past week. You can read one of them at Liberation. The other one is at Le Figaro, but it seems that they only keep the present day's articles up on the web site, and you have to subscribe to see the archives. But you can read Boris' transcription of both articles at Directed By Brian De Palma's French language forum (and Romain also has the Liberation article transcribed on his news page). DISTORTED WORLD VIEW In the Figaro interview, De Palma mentions that for his first feature, The Wedding Party, he and his fellow students took the marriage of De Palma's best friend and the films of Richard Lester as their starting point. De Palma's mentor, Wilford Leach, directed the actors, while De Palma at the time was more interested in the visuals and arrangements. Later, De Palma explains how his mother imposed a distorted view of the world on him as a child. (This may go a long way toward explaining the director's tendency to blend his voyeuristic camera eye with a character's highly distorted, subjective view of the world.) He still does not know, however, why he is so fascinated with the double. POLITICAL CINEMA, 24 FRAMES PER SECOND In the Liberation interview, De Palma declares that he makes political cinema-- he always has. The discussion opens with Godard's idea of cinema as truth. De Palma agreed with what Godard was up to in the sixties, but found that with JFK's assassination, Vietnam, and Watergate, there was an evolution in America: "My generation, in America, saw the truth confiscated by the powerful politician, where evidence was manipulated on a large scale. The cinema which could be called innocent became for or counters the lie. How can you believe in the truth of the cinema when you live with television, publicity, political debates..." INFORMATION SUPERPOWERS De Palma later explains the paranoid, pessimistic vision that pervades within his cinema: "Information exists; the problem is, how do you get access, to analyze it, to make it public. Do you know for example that on Internet, all world information is held by three or four media groups? Reality is a business of public relation, it is communication. Our drama is that society has made the reporters too rich: it pushed them to ride with the flow of the money, of the power to communicate, the politicians. The large American newspapers are no longer on the side of the countervailing power. Therefore yes, I am pessimistic. Think for two seconds of a terrible absurdity: the company which controls and supervises the air flights, in the United States, is the same one as that which makes the promotion of air transports... It is a system turned upside down. Therefore yes, I am paranoid, because I believe that we are headed toward the worst." FORM AT THE SERVICE OF THE MESSAGE The interviewer mentions the pervasive view that as a filmmaker, De Palma is not concerned so much with the subjects of his films, but mainly with the settings and camera angles. "That is absolutely false. On the contrary, and to the cause, I affirm that I make political cinema. I started out like that, in the middle of the Sixties, with the scathing attacks against the war of Vietnam, on American society as it degenerated, on the great conspiracies of the time. And if I have made thirty years of suspense films, it is the same thing. I do not separate the form from the essence. Take Blow Out: it is a political film. A young man holds information which the politicians want to choke. They have corrupted everybody, the police officers, the journalists, themselves, and they still want to corrupt this young man. This film has the bleakest and most desperate ending that I know. The form touches me: I like the style, the technique interests me, I take my time when I direct the scenes of action which, generally, loop my films. Thanks to the cinema, you can draw with your eyes... The fact remains that this form is at the service of a political 'message.' The character John Travolta plays in Blow Out is inspired by the Watergate reporters, but he is also working on sound for horror films. He lives with these two things: the policy and the cinema, inseparable." THE SMUGGLERS De Palma talks about the "movie brats" generation that he is a part of, referring to himself, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg as "smugglers," a term Scorsese used to describe directors of Hollywood B-pictures of the forties in his "Personal Journey" documentary of American cinema. George Lucas, De Palma suggests, is more "honest," not really a smuggler. The father of this cinema, where the personal comes before Hollywood, is Orson Welles, who was spit out by the system and always had to fight to get his films made. De Palma: "The cinema is paradoxical: it is always necessary to use the money and the desire of the Establishment to make a film which, generally, turns over this money and this desire against the system. It is an embezzlement." DON'T GO HOLLYWOOD De Palma finishes by pleading for the French not to give in to the commodification of culture that has taken over the American cinema. "France must keep its system, without trying to copy the American popcorn movie. Canal Plus should not become a Hollywood company. I say to my European friends: keep your own cinema."

Posted January 25 2002 ONE YEAR LATER FEMME FATALE TO WALK THE CROISETTE AT CANNES Bill Fentum at Directed By Brian De Palma has received word from first assistant director Chris Soldo on the latest plans for the recently completed Femme Fatale. According to Soldo, "Latest rumor is that the film will open in France in May and be also shown at the Cannes Film Festival (one year after we filmed there)." This is after plans to possibly debut the film at the Berlin Festival were scrapped. Another proposed idea had been to open the film in France in February, to coincide with the Brian De Palma retrospective at the Centre Pompidou. According to the French Premiere magazine, Femme may have a screening at the Croisette at Cannes, 2002. As far as a U.S. release, Soldo told Fentum that the only print of the film, which was just completed a few weeks ago, is to be sent next week to a select group of U.S. studios. Thus the film's U.S. release date will be dependent upon the agenda of whichever studio picks it up. Soldo also included a message for De Palma fans: "Patience everyone!!! I hear it will be worth the wait." DE PALMA MEETS THE FANS IN FRANCE Meanwhile, Brian De Palma signed copies of the new book by Samuel Blumenfeld and Laurent Vachaud at the Virgin Megastore of the Champs Elys?s on January 22nd. Flanked by the authors, who signed books and translated conversations for the director, De Palma appeared relaxed and jovial. His brother, Bart De Palma, was also on hand, snapping a few photos. According to Boris at the briandepalma.net forum, De Palma talked about the pleasures of making Femme Fatale, which was inspired by the architecture of Paris, and that he plans to explore other European cities in his next films. He said he has already worked in most of the big places in the U.S., and thus is "a bit bored" with U.S. cities for now. Romain Desbiens was there and has put up a page at his web site, Le Virtuose du 7eme Art. The page, titled "My Meeting with Brian De Palma," tells Romain's full story with many pictures.

FEMME STARS CALLED BACK TO PARIS RESHOOTS INVOLVE ADDITIONAL LOVE SCENES Cindy Adams had this to say in her New York Post Page Six gossip column on Wednesday, December 12 2001: "John Stamos and his missus, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, argued about her Femme Fatale reshoots. Brian De Palma's movie, which wrapped over Thanksgiving in Paris, has jazzy sex scenes with Antonio Banderas. She plays a con woman trying to go straight. He plays a reporter tracking her down. They play lots of games - none of them Scrabble - in bed. The reshoots concern more mattress scenes. As is par for the course, there were gossipy rumors about the married Antonio and the married Rebecca." (Thanks to John Blaze at the briandepalma.net forum for pointing out the article, and to Chrissy at the Antonio Banderas Web Mall for the initial story.)

STAMOS GIVES VOICE TO FEMME REBECCA PLAYS DUAL ROLE John Stamos, who is married to Femme Fatale star Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, told Associated Press' Bridget Byrne that he and his wife make it a point not to work together. Even so, he will be heard as a "cheesy agent voice" in the upcoming Brian De Palma film. The article also mentions that Rebecca plays a dual role in the film, something we may have gleaned from past articles, but has not been layed out on the table quite so distinctively until now. Meanwhile, the official web site of Femme Fatale is up and snapping shots paparazzo-style at www.femmefatalethemovie.com. Some nice pics that haven't been seen yet are up there, but they go by pretty fast, so watch out for them. The film is on track to be released in Europe in 2002, with a U.S. distributor still to be announced. (Special thanks to Bill Fentum for pointing the way to the new site!)

RIE DROPS THE LAST NAME MODEL MAKES MOVE TO CINEMA IN FEMME FATALE The New York Post put the publicity wheels in motion for model Rie, who has dropped her last name as she makes the move from modeling to cinema. The newspaper's August 19th "Page Six" column said, "We can't wait to see the Karin agency cutie's movie debut as Rebecca Romijn-Stamos' lesbian lover in the upcoming Brian De Palma flick Femme Fatale." They also mention that the highlights of the Danish model's previous resume include "eye-catching ad campaigns for the likes of Chanel."

FEMME FATALE TIDBITS: --Jean Reno was originally supposed to play a policeman in Femme Fatale, but it was finally decided that he was too cliche these days as a French cop. Although he likes Reno and wanted to work with him again, De Palma wanted some new faces for his new film. --Two sets were constructed in the studio for the film: one was a police station, and the other a bar. One of the longest shots of the film takes place in the police station. In the bar scene, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos does a strip tease, for which the entire crew, aside from the camera operator (Berto) and the cinematographer (Thierry Arbogast) were asked to step behind a wooden wall. Chris Soldo, De Palma's first assistant, simply turned his back. --De Palma had originally chosen an unidentified blonde actress for the role of the woman with the snake in the film's opening scenes. But since Rebecca was scripted to get intimate with the character, De Palma asked her opinion. Rebecca herself, refuting all of De Palma's options, chose Rie Rasmussen for the role. --The French crew, upset when De Palma fired the original focus puller following a focus mishap, decided to express its disappointment by cutting into De Palma's famous nap time. De Palma would use the hour long lunch break to take a nap, so the crew opted for a 15-minute break instead, allowing De Palma no time to return to his trailer. The focus puller was replaced by an American, who got along well with the crew, although he ended up having the same focus problem as the first one. --De Palma wasn't the only one to miss some sleep during shooting. Antonio Banderas was so caught up in following cyber broadcasts of his hometown M?aga's Semana Santa during the holy week in April that he spent every free minute in front of his computer. "This is wonderful," he told the Diario Sur in April. The M?aga newspaper had been broadcasting the proceedings on its website. "When I arrived at filming this morning, Brian De Palma looked at me in the eyes and he told me: 'Have you not slept well...?' How do I explain to him that I went to bed at three in the morning watching the Roc?'s procession...?" Banderas, who also did live commentary for Costa del Sol TV during Sacred Wednesday, felt that watching the celebrations live on the web was great, but not nearly the same as being there. He's keeping his slate clear for next year's events, so he can experience them in person for the first time in eight years.

CLARIFICATION: LYNCH CAMEO REPLACED BY WARGNIER To clarify conflicting reports which stated both David Lynch and Regis Wargnier play themselves in the opening sequence of Femme Fatale: Lynch did not do the cameo, and was replaced by Wargnier. The confusion may have been due to De Palma's mentioning prior to filming the scene that he had wanted Lynch to do the part. Curiously, some on-set reports on the filming of the scene failed to mention Lynch at all, and apparently that was because he was not present.

"LIKE A BRIAN DE PALMA FILM" MINOR SPOILERS IN NEW EL PAIS ARTICLE An article posted June 1st at El Pais reveals a minor spoiler about Brian De Palma's new Femme Fatale-- stop reading now if you don't want to know about it. Referring to Antonio Banderas' role as photographer in the film, the article says the plot advances between Hitchcock and Antonioni, "that is to say, like a Brian De Palma picture." The article caught up with Banderas and De Palma at Cannes, and opens up by describing the jewels worn by the stars as they ascend up the steps of the festival Palais. "Nothing less than 12 diamond necklaces valued in 25 million dollars. Behind each one of the jewels are the bodyguards, a hundred of muscular types of the society A Diamond Is Forever. Brian De Palma takes as the departure point of his new film, Femme Fatale, that concentration of sparkles and stars to organize there, within the festivities at Cannes, a new robbery of the century." According to the article, Banderas, who is taking photos at the closing ceremonies, happens to take a photo that reveals the truth of the proceedings in Blow-Up (and Blow Out) -like fashion. Later on, after Rebecca Romijn-Stamos double crosses her companions, they discover through another one of Banderas' photos that she is back in Paris, and begin stalking her. De Palma said that Banderas' character recalls the heroes of film noir played by Robert Mitchum. He also talked about filming in Europe, recalling with fondness the shooting of Obsession in Florence. "Ever since I finished Snake Eyes (1998) I decided to settle in Paris. I have found all the locations from taking a walk in vespa by the French capital. The truth is that I am enchanted to live in a country which considers Jerry Lewis and Woody Allen in such high regard." He again expressed his appreciation for producer Tarak Ben Ammar, saying it is a pleasure to work with him. Unlike American producers De Palma is used to working with, Ammar "always seems content, and not distressed by money," De Palma said. Cinematographer Thierry Arbogast recalled that De Palma originally wanted to capture the look of '40s noir by filming in black and white, "but I convinced him that it was better to evoke that spirit through a processing of color." (Special thanks to Clara at the Antonio Banderas Web Mall.)

PANKOW TO WORK ON FEMME EDITOR JOINS DE PALMA FOR 7th TIME Longtime Brian De Palma collaborator Bill Pankow is serving as editor for Femme Fatale, the seventh film he's done with De Palma. Pankow did extraordinary work on 1998's Snake Eyes, making the opening sequence look seamless and helping to produce a beautifully intricate split-screen sequence that is among the finest moments in any De Palma film. With De Palma promising another long-take opening and more split screens in Femme, Pankow's presence makes an already exciting film project sound all the more promising. Pankow joins production designer Anne Pritchard (who also worked on Snake Eyes) and first assistant director Chris Soldo as one of the very few De Palma regulars working on the new picture. Most of the Femme Fatale crew are French.

CANNES THROUGH THE NIGHT FICTION MEETS REALITY ON FESTIVAL STEPS An article at nicematin.fr covers the late Tuesday night (May 22) filming of Femme Fatale's complex opening sequence on the famous steps of the Cannes Film Festival Palais. Antonio Banderas had already filmed his festival scenes the weekend of May 19-20th, during and immediately following the festival that Sunday evening. He then headed to Mexico to begin work on a new film with Robert Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Brian De Palma and his team, who had spent most of May preparing for the bravura sequence, worked through the night Monday-Tuesday May 21-22, finishing around six in the morning. A report Thursday (May 24) on the French TV channel TF1 said that filming on the steps was to finish up the following weekend. The scene features festival head Gilles Jacob, who says De Palma first brought up the idea of filming at the festival at a dinner last year in which he was accompanied by Banderas and Melanie Griffith. "De Palma is a great director," Jacob told TF1. "It's a pleasure to be doing this." Jacob appears as himself in the sequence, as does David Lynch, who shared the festival's best director prize this year with Joel Coen. In the lengthy, complex scene being shot, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos eyes the beautiful Danish model Rie Rasmussen (pictured here), who is topless except for an elaborate golden snake curled around her upper body. The snake and the diamond(s) embedded within it are the true objects of our femme's attention. Also ascending the steps are French actress Sandrine Bonnaire and her East-West director Regis Wargnier, along with East-West producer Yves Marmion, all playing themselves. According to Variety, the scene has Jacob greeting the cast and crew of East-West to welcome them to the festival. Femme producer Marina Gefner told Variety that Jacob was "fantastic and very professional. It was a long night. We started at 8:30 p.m. and went on until 6 in the morning," she said, "but he remained right until the last shot." About 800 extras were used to scream and faint at the mix of real and fictional stars gracing the palace steps, and of course a herd of paparazzi (real-life photographers persuaded to stay on for the shoot in Cannes after the festival) kept the bulbs flashing. Car rental companies and even the local police were recruited for the filming. The Nice Matin article describes De Palma's tendency to jump out of his chair and direct the actors closely on a moment's whim or inspiration. Varnier enjoyed his role as much as Jacob, saying that it is always interesting to be on the other side of the camera and study another director's methods. Varnier, who says that he and De Palma have long admired each others' work, was also consulted by De Palma about locations prior to the shoot in Paris. "DePalma and I became friends 11 years ago," Varnier told TF1, "and he enjoyed my film East-West so much that I couldn't refuse." Romijn-Stamos told the station that De Palma is a legend. "He listens to my ideas," she continued, leading into a laugh, "but ends up doing what he has in mind." (Thanks to screefreekz at the briandepalma.net forum for the TF1 coverage.)

CAMERAS TO ROLL AT CANNES FEMME FATALE TO SHOOT TUESDAY In what sounds like a sequence to rival his own bravura opening of Snake Eyes, Brian De Palma and his mostly-French crew will shoot Femme Fatale scenes this Monday or Tuesday, following the close of the Cannes Film Festival, and not during the festivities, as was previously thought. It is unsure exactly when the filming will occur: an article at Cinema.Zip seems to suggest that filming will take place just after the curtain closes on the festival. The article focuses on Melanie Griffith, who receives the Festival Trophy on May 19th following a screening of Working Girl. Dark Horizons reports that De Palma is set to shoot on the festival's main steps. La Vanguardia describes the filming of a scene in which Antonio Banderas' character discovers an assassin. Festival president Gilles Jacob and American film director David Lynch will make cameos in the sequence. (Extra thanks to Helen, Sandie, and KC at the Antonio Banderas Web Mall)

REBECCA AT CANNES SAYS FEMME VEERS TOWARD THE ABSURD At the Cannes Film Festival May 13, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos told Reuters that performing a strip-tease in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale "was the scariest thing I've ever done...practice and a couple of shots of tequila got me through it." On her role as Laure, Romijn-Stamos says, "I'm a raving bitch." Her part is described in the article as a con woman trying to outrun her past by stealing another woman's identity. Romijn-Stamos says the film is a highly stylized homage to Alfred Hitchcock and film noir, admitting that the film veers toward the absurd at times. But this, she thinks, is De Palma's intention. "He's a little twisted and this movie has a lot of those things," she said. Romijn-Stamos is pictured walking along the Mediterranean at the Cannes Film Festival, where De Palma and crew plan to shoot the film's opening sequence next week. Costar Antonio Banderas is expected to accompany wife Melanie Griffith, who will be guest of honor at the festival, on May 19th. Following a screening of Mike Nichols' Working Girl, Griffith will receive the Festival Trophy at a dinner reception.

FATALE REPORT AT DARK HORIZONS OF A SCENE SHOT IN PARIS SUBURB

A report posted May 3rd at Dark Horizons claims that Femme Fatale finished shooting in Paris on Wednesday, and the crew is now on its way to Cannes to film the rest of the picture. Antonio Banderas is done with his scenes, and has returned home to Spain. The report details an observer's account of a scene shot in M?ilmontant, a small suburb of Paris, where Brian De Palma and company spent a week shooting what sounds like a complex sequence "involving a marriage, a truck accident, two pretty girls, two guys dressed in black, a photographer, a flower market and a small case exchange." Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos were there, "as well as french actors like Edouard Montoute and Marc Lavoine, and Rebecca Romijn's husband John Stamos." The report gives details about the scene, which "takes place in may during a flower market in M'ilmontant," with a picture provided, although the observer said that taking pictures on the set was forbidden. Meanwhile, on May 4th, Newsday posted an article about the New York De Palma Retrospective in May, for which De Palma was interviewed. He gleefully told the reporter that Femme Fatale is not a big Hollywood production. "I tend to be a little bit more abstract," De Palma said.

A REFRESHING RETURN TO STYLE DE PALMA: "BEST IDEA I'VE HAD SINCE DRESSED TO KILL" In an interview at Le Monde, Brian De Palma tells Samuel Blumenfeld (Laurent Vachaud's co-author of the upcoming French De Palma book) that Femme Fatale is the best idea he's had since Dressed To Kill. According to De Palma, "There are also reminiscences of Body Double, the spirit of Cain, and a photograph whose decoding reveals with the witness the elements of the history as in Antonioni's Blow Up. I use techniques which I more frequently employed at the beginning of my career, like split screen and slow motion." De Palma used part of his abandoned script for Nazi Gold to come up with the opening of Femme Fatale while attending last year's Cannes film festival. "I found myself walking along the streets of Cannes and I saw these women in distracting evening gowns, with diamond rivi?es, surrounded by bodyguards. I said to myself that it would be an excellent idea to try to steal the ornaments of one of these ladies." The opening burglary sequence will be a long steadycam take a la Snake Eyes, to be filmed near the end of this year's Cannes festival. Festival president Gilles Jacob will play himself in the sequence, and De Palma hopes David Lynch will also make a cameo. The scene on the bridge, where a masked Antonio Banderas holds a gun to the head of Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (see photo below), is revealed to be part of a dream. The film apparently toys with dreams and reality in much the same way as Dressed To Kill and Raising Cain. This plethora of doubles, masks, and dreams has left Romijn-Stamos in the dark about what is really going on in the film, but she says she put herself in De Palma's hands. Her character in this homage to the film noir of the '40s is described as "evil incarnate." "I cannot say that I really understood the screenplay," Romijn-Stamos said, "but Brian had the film in his head." Banderas saw his role in the script as rather lifeless. "I brought a heap of notes to Brian De Palma who found them excellent, before adding that they had nothing to do with his film." While De Palma had originally planned to shoot the film in black and white, he decided instead to film in color while using the lighting in the characteristic style of '40s and '50s noir. Cinematographer Thierry Arbogast echoed De Palma's usual second-unit director Eric Schwab by mentioning that De Palma does not want to make postcards of Paris. De Palma said he has long wanted to return to film in Europe after the wonderful experience of filming Obsession in Florence, and that he has enjoyed living and filming in France enormously. He said producer Tarak Ben Ammar is a very optimistic person. "That changes me. All the producers whom I know are depressed."

NEW PIC AND ON-SET ARTICLE BANDERAS INTERVIEWED AT EL PERIODICO El Periodico posted an interview with Antonio Banderas on May 1 2001, accompanied by this photo from the set of Femme Fatale. Banderas said he is enjoying working in Paris, a nice change of pace from the hectic grounds of Hollywood. "I have to admit that the Americans can get through a tremendous amount of work," he told the paper, "but sometimes they go too far. The work is God for them, and that's no life." Shooting in Paris has given Banderas a chance to catch his breath. "The streets, the people, the food, the way they drive," he continued, "this is like being at home." According to the article, Banderas plays a paparazzo who gets involved in a strange plot, as the result of the publication of a picture on the cover of a magazine. Banderas calls the film "a very typical De Palma story, which finally takes the characters to a no-way-out street." On the advice of his wife Melanie Griffith, a good friend of the director, the actor has placed himself in De Palma's hands. "I have let him to use me as a pen," he says. He describes De Palma as "a terrific guy, with a great personality, and at the same time very open. If he feels that what you do is good for the movie, he will let you do that." The article talks briefly about the filming on the Debilly Bridge, which it says is one of the last scenes in the film. Much of the rest of the article describes Banderas' upcoming project with Pedro Almodovar, and how the enormous success of Spy Kids has Hollywood buzzing with A-list offers for the actor. (Special thanks to Clara at the Antonio Banderas Web Mall for the link and translations.)

Bart De Palma, who has a cameo as a security guard in his brother's Femme Fatale, also created the image that graces the posters seen on Paris streets in many of the film's futuristic scenes of the year 2008. The posters read "Deja Vu" at the top, which was the original working title of Brian De Palma's 1976 collaboration with Paul Schrader, Obsession, for which Bart also provided a painting. Much like that film, Femme Fatale moves from one time frame to another, only this time it is into the future, instead of the present, as in Obsession. This makes two De Palma films in a row that take place in the future-- Mission To Mars begins in the year 2020. MORE PLOT DETAILS AND CASTING ROLES Also provided at French Premiere were a few more details about the film's plot. SPOILERS are there (and here-- stop now if you don't want to know) for those who want them, but suffice it to say that after the initial botched burglary at Cannes, Laure (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) takes on the identity of her look-alike Lily, a girl who had committed suicide, to get out of the country. After she meets Bruce Hewitt Watts, the American ambassador played by Peter Coyote, on the plane, the film goes forward seven years to find the two are married and returning to France, where Laure's old burglar friends recognize her and plot revenge. She also meets Antonio Banderas' paparazzo, who has taken photos of the gala event attended by the couple and finds himself mixed up in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game. And while we're handing out spoilers, let's mention that the le film francais article talked about below has one of its own: an unidentified character falls off the bridge and into the river to his/her apparent death.

A NIGHT ON THE DEBILLY BRIDGE ARTICLE DETAILS FEMME FATALE SET A new series of articles posted April 19th at le film francais covers the topic of Americans filming in France. The series includes Patrick Caradec's account of the first night of a week-long Femme Fatale shoot on the Debilly Bridge, right in front of France's most famous icon, the Eiffel Tower. The scene being "sculpted" by director Brian De Palma involves a long take that manages to catch Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as they walk along the bridge, and all timed to the light show emanating from the Eiffel Tower, which is on display for five minutes every hour on the hour. The main problem plaguing the shot last April 2nd was the continual rising of the river Seine due to heavy rainfall this season in France. A steadycam shot is abandoned in favor of using the SuperTechnocrane, which the article says has already been used for many shots throughout the film. This is one of the best articles I've seen about the way De Palma works out a scene on the set. The article details the hours De Palma, his crew, his actors and their stand-ins put into working out the scene before actually shooting. As the cameraman Berto explains, "At the end it’s extremely precise, but not at first. He (De Palma) works by successive refinements. He has a start position, and then he sees how far that can take him. But his most unique characteristic is that he does not cover himself, even with very risky shots. He takes true decision at the shooting stage." The article also mentions that no storyboards were used. After all this, the actual shooting is done within an hour: "11 PM. it’s done," writes Caradec. "Seven takes of this complex shot were made in about an hour. De Palma decides everything on the set, but shoots fast. After three weeks of shooting, he’s already ahead of schedule." ARBOGAST INTERVIEW Also included in the series is an interview with Femme cinematographer Thierry Arbogast, who points out that the film is being lit kind of like classic black-and-white films of the '40s, "but with colors." Arbogast says that working with De Palma is a great experience, as the director is part of his education as a film-lover, along with Coppola and Spielberg. He admits that De Palma is very demanding, but "without being very directive. He trusts you. But he expects results and maybe he wants to be surprised. Nonetheless, he’s very meticulous and precise. He won’t quit until he obtains exactly what he wants." Special thanks to Hammer at the briandepalma.net forum for info and translations of both the articles immediately above and below.

AMMAR KEEN ON PURE DE PALMA FEMME PRODUCER PROUD OF NEW PROJECT Femme Fatale producer Tarak Ben Ammar talked to le film francais April 13th about taking on Brian De Palma's new project. "I read the first draft of the screenplay and I was enthusiastic," said Ammar. "Then Brian told me how he saw the film. I said I was ready to produce it right now. The American way of making movies is starting to irritate the filmmaker. I offered him the financial resources to make the film he wanted, without the annoyances of the Hollywood studios' executives." Ammar tells the website that De Palma had at one point considered shooting the film in black and white. "This will be a pure De Palma movie," he said. "A very beautiful hommage to Hitchcock. The movie will be very stylized, more than his recent Hollywood works-for-hire. With Femme Fatale, De Palma will come back strong." The producer said that when American filmmakers come to film in France, they usually bring part of their own team, but Ammar is proud to have convinced De Palma to use an all-French crew-- that is, aside from the first director assistant, a position filled in by the American Chris Soldo, a De Palma regular. Ammar said using the French crew, who are top-notch technical people, allowed them to use the film's $36 million budget more effectively, giving De Palma the freedom to bring his full vision to the screen in a European environment. He said De Palma "is very pleased with how things are going. It is a pleasure to work with Brian. He's brillant. Very calm and fast at the same time. After five weeks of shooting, we are ahead of schedule." Ammar claims to be talking to other directors like Paul Verhoeven and Ridley Scott about working in France under similar conditions, away from the exploding-yet-limiting budgets of Hollywood.

BANDERAS ON "THE GENIUS OF BRIAN DE PALMA" LIKENS FATALE ROLE TO TRAVOLTA'S IN BLOW OUT While talking to British film site Empire Online, Femme Fatale star Antonio Banderas offered some insight into his role as a paparazzo in Brian De Palma's new film: "The genius of Brian De Palma is that he's one of those who repeat themselves who go over the same issues. My character is very similar character to John Travolta in Blow Out. It's a guy trapped by circumstances, and the circumstances in this occasion is a woman." This would seem to alleviate several of Moriarty's recent assessments of a January draft of the Femme Fatale screenplay. In his Aint It Cool News review of the script April 5th, Moriarty complained about the apparently slight treatment of Banderas' paparazzo character: "These games bring (Laure, to be played by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) to an outdoor cafe, where she runs into a man named Nicolas Bardo, one of the biggest paparazzi photographers in the business. This got my hopes up again. De Palma's done some great stuff exploring the theme of voyeurism, and I was hoping Bardo would be a window into the particular and heartless world of being a paparazzi. No such luck. Bardo's job is a device, something that's referenced once or twice, then forgotten. He's introduced in a sort of perfunctory manner, then shuffled off so Racine can finally catch up with Laure." But if Nicolas Bardo is, as Banderas suggests, comparable to Jack Terri in Blow Out, obviously the role will be much bigger. In the older film, Travolta's Jack Terri is a movie soundman, but gets caught up in a situation that sees him cutting up pictures to make his own film, to which he adds his own recorded sounds to create strong evidence of a conspiracy. One can only wonder what De Palma has in store for Banderas' paparazzo. Another thought: aware of the way scripts fall into the hands of "moles" and "spies" all over the internet these days, might it be possible that the web-savvy (and deceptive) De Palma may have kept some of the more surprising elements of the planned film off the printed page?

FEMME FATALE SCRIPT REVIEW A LET-DOWN FOR DE PALMA FAN MORIARTY Moriarty has reviewed a January 9 draft of Brian De Palma's screenplay for Femme Fatale over at Aint It Cool News.com. Before you head over there, be warned of major SPOILERS-- Moriarty gives a detailed account of the screenplay's opening scene, which takes place at the Cannes Film Festival. Also be warned that Moriarty seems to think that he can judge an unfinished film that only began shooting three weeks ago by an out-of-date draft of a since reworked screenplay (he doesn't like it). After e-mailing Moriarty to inform him of casting changes and script revisions from various reports, he very graciously replied back, commenting on my admittedly harsh intro to the link of his review. "Believe it or not, I am a De Palma fan," he wrote me. "I wish he were making better films. I'll see FEMME FATALE the weekend it comes out... sooner if I get a chance. But the script I read was terrible, and my love of the man's previous work doesn't preclude me from saying so. It is possible to be a fan and to be objective at the same time." There is also an interesting discussion of De Palma's films by Moriarty leading into the review. Moriarty thinks that the ending of Femme Fatale as scripted, which "Smilin' Jack Ruby" called "weird" in his Upcoming Movies.Com review, will infuriate audiences. "If they didn't like Raising Cain," he said, "they're going to practically tear their theater seats up when they see this one." Well, I loved Raising Cain, ending and all. Pictured is Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in black eye make-up on the set of Femme Fatale.

ETA NO THREAT TO BANDERAS LETTER IN MARBELLA LEFT UNSIGNED The death threat letter delivered to Antonio Banderas' home in Marbella in early March was left unsigned, this web site has learned. Since ETA always signs its letters, the Basque separatist group is not believed to be the culprit of the threat. The stories going around the globe have frequently pointed to the letter said to have been discovered by Banderas' wife Melanie Griffith at their home in Marbella, Spain on March 8. The stories claim that the letter was from ETA, who are supposedly angered by Banderas' tribute to slain Spanish political counselor Jos?Mar? Martin Carpena at the Malaga Fair last August. Griffith called the stories "fiction" on her web site, while a polite and serious Banderas claimed to have only heard about ETA's supposed threats in the news. On March 7, the day before the reports cite as the day Griffith found the letter, Banderas seemed to indicate to a Spanish television interviewer that he may not be making Femme Fatale. Getting ready to head to Paris, he said, "It seems that I'm going to do it. I can't assure you that. I still have to sort out some things..." When asked about meeting Griffith, he said, "If I make the movie we'll meet in Paris, if not, I'll come back to Los Angeles." Banderas may have simply been concerned about his obligations to promote Spy Kids, which opens March 30th in the U.S. Shooting on Femme Fatale began as scheduled the following week, with Banderas making a tight trip to New York on March 19 to do promos for Spy Kids, flying straight back to the set in Paris after taping David Letterman's show. At the London premiere of Spy Kids April 8, Banderas, with Griffith on his arm, matter-of-factly told Entertainment Weekly that the stories of threats are "lies-- but I am used to lies." Pictured above: Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos enjoy smokes and laughs on the set of Femme Fatale, getting ready to shoot a scene in which Banderas' paparazzo chases the femme on motorbike.

BANDERAS THREATENED? FEMME FATALE STAR DENIES RUMORS Movies.com reports on rumors circulating around Europe that Antonio Banderas is being stalked by Basque separatist group Euzkadi Ta Azkatasuna. The group is reportedly angered by Banderas' public denouncement of the ETA's killing of Spanish political counselor Jos?Mar? Martin Carpena last year. Citing England's Daily Express as its source, the report claims that Banderas and wife Melanie Griffith have hired full time bodyguards after Banderas received a death threat at his home in Marbella, Spain, which another European source claims happened on March 8. According to German newspaper Berliner Morgenpost, the ETA first threatened Banderas within hours of his public tribute last August, warning the actor not to make any more films in Europe. The paper says that upon receiving a death threat in early March, Griffith immediately joined Banderas in Paris, where they are accompanied by bodyguards 24 hours a day and drive around the city only in an armored car. The French tabloid Voici claims that Banderas had immediately alerted Femme producer Tarak Ben Amar about the threat, and had considered bowing out of the film, but finally decided to stay on.

AMERICAN TABLOID DISTORTIONS The week of March 27 sees the story being distorted all over the American tabloids, which have recontextualized it as "Melanie's Terror" (according to Star), presumably to appeal to the publications' widely female readerships. The aforementioned Star puts the focus on Griffith, while both the National Enquirer and Globe put "Melanie"'s name before Banderas' on their covers. The Globe and Star reports cover mostly the same ground as the European tabloids, distorting Banderas' remarks at the Malaga Fair by referring to the event as Carpena's funeral(Globe), and stating that the ETA wants Banderas to make a public apology on national Spanish television "for saying what he thought of them" (Star). The stories tell dramatically how Griffith received the death threat in a letter on March 8, at the couple's home in Marbella, Spain. After calling police and being flanked by bodyguards, she then immediately flew to Paris to be with Banderas, the stories go. Once there, the couple were surrounded by bodyguards, and Banderas begged Griffith to go back to Los Angeles, where he would join her soon as he promotes Spy Kids. To give a sense of closure, each of the two stories conclude that Banderas is currently with Griffith in Los Angeles, where they are living in fear and staying away from Spain. But they each warn that the ordeal is far from over, saying that Banderas "knows he'll have to keep looking over his shoulder for a long time" (Star) and that he is a brave guy, "but he's up against some merciless killers" (Globe).

But if you buy only one gossip tabloid this week, true believers, make it the Enquirer-- despite its sensational use of pictures with captions like "Angry Banderas blasts the gunmen," its story seems to stay as close to real life logistical facts as possible. According to the story, Banderas was threatened that he and his family would be assassinated unless he stopped filming in Paris. "Police told Antonio to go into hiding but he defiantly refused," an "insider" told the paper. "He told Brian De Palma, the film's director, he would not give in to terrorist threats." And instead of stating that Banderas made direct remarks against ETA, the Enquirer more correctly states that "On August 8, 2000, Banderas paid homage to his slain pal in an impassioned public speech, which enraged ETA." Well, it may or may not have enraged ETA, but the "insider" (there's one at every paper) told the tabloid, "French police view the threat as grave and had a heavy presence on Antonio's movie set. In addition, Antonio has at least three armed bodyguards with him around the clock, plus a chauffeur trained in military-style evasive driving. In Paris, he traveled everywhere by bulletproof limo." The "insider" told the Enquirer that the threat made life tough on the Femme Fatale set. "The script called for Antonio to film a scene at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport, and security was so tight that the bomb squad was brought in to sweep the place first before the cameras could roll. Everyone knew Antonio's life was on the line and really admired his courage."

PASSIONATE PROCLAMATIONS In his well-received inaugural proclamation at Malaga's August Fair last year, Banderas spoke passionately about his homeland and Carpena: "...Yes, compatriots, we will be living the feria. But also the Malague?s will search with their eyes of the heart and will realize that we are lacking somebody. Jos?Mar? Carpena Martin won't come to the feria. To Jos?Mar? we say we will miss you this year and always, and to Jos?Mar? tonight we say that the voice of tolerance and of peace that he always defended, has been inserted even more into our collective conscience. We will say also that M?aga is the nest from where rises the Ave Fenix of our hopes, that we will overcome the trauma left by his premature disappearance, that in a moment, when the artificial fires furrow the heaven, we will remember, and we will dream about the city in the peace and happiness for which he lived and for which he worked, and his dream will be common to all those who meet here, and we will go to the feria and we will continue living, and his memory will give us strength in order to reaffirm even more who we are. No!!!, Jos?Mar?, he was not useless. We in these celebrations will be more Malague?s than ever. And we will do it for you, compatriot." As can clearly be seen, Banderas did not refer to the ETA directly, as has been said in many of the tabloid articles mentioned. Whether or not there is any truth to the death threats, Banderas' speech, while passionate, has been distorted by the gossip press as being an angry indictment against the ETA instead of the call to unity that it really is. VIOLENT CAMPAIGN Since 1968, the ETA has killed more than 800 people in its campaign for the independence of three Basque provinces in an area straddling northern Spain and southwest France. The group, whose name stands for the Basque words for Basque Homeland and Freedom, seek to establish a Basque nation there where the Basques have a separate language and cultural identity. In mid-1998, the group declared a truce on violence in an effort to negotiate with the Spanish government, but called an end to the truce in December of 1999, citing a lack of progress in the talks. The government, meanwhile, refuses to negotiate with the ETA until they renounce the violence, and has taken a hard stance amidst consistent bombings and attacks by the group that started anew in January 2000. The ETA has killed 29 people since renewing its violent campaign, with the latest suspected murder occuring March 18 in northern Spain where a car bomb killed a policeman. Police believe the explosives used in that bombing may have come from a warehouse robbery by the ETA in eastern France earlier in March (see paragraph below). Last August, about a week before the Malaga Fair, the ETA claimed responsibility for the killings of two Spanish politicians, including Carpena, who was slain in Malaga July 12 2000.

ETA LEADER DETAINED IN FRANCE A senior member of the ETA was stopped by French police March 7 as he attempted to drive a stolen car through a roadblock set up by French police. The roadblock followed an early morning robbery in which 1.6 tons of explosives were stolen from a warehouse near Grenoble. The man, Gregorio Vicario Setien, who has been wanted since 1994 for suspected involvement in a series of attacks in Spain, has been described by Spanish press reports as a head of ETA "reserve groups," charged with the task of rebuilding arsenals after ETA's 14-month truce. He was seized with a loaded nine millimeter handgun and false documents, and was being questioned March 9 in Annonay, southeastern France, before his planned transfer to Paris to face questioning by an anti-terrorist judge. The explosives were still trying to be located by police. It is believed the explosives will be stored in France for a long time before being transferred by the ETA to Spain. Six to eight masked men broke into the warehouse March 7 and made off with 20,000 detonators and several fuses. "ETA needs to rebuild their stocks," a police source told Reuters.

MORE ETA MEMBERS ARRESTED AS ELECTIONS NEAR On March 23rd, Spanish and French police arrested eight suspected members of the ETA on both sides of the border. Those arrested included a man suspected of smuggling ETA's arms between France and Spain. In one raid, French police arrested a man believed to be the group's logistics specialist and a woman at the man's home in the French border town of Hendaye. The man, Jose Luis Michelena Berasarte, is suspected of running a network of agents who smuggle arms and other materials across the border to Spain. Later that day, Spanish police arrested six more suspected ETA members in three raids in the Basque region of Spain. Police are cracking down on an increased strategy of vicious violent activity by the armed group in what officials say is an attempt to intimidate voters ahead of a May 13 election in the Spanish Basque Country. Commentators in the Spanish press have noted a change in tactics of late by the ETA, replacing indiscriminate car bombings with a bullet or two in the back of the head of an unarmed man. Citizens of Spain are frequently taking to the streets to denounce the brutal tactics of the group. After the deputy mayor of the Basque town of Lasarte, Spain, Froilan Elespe Inciarte, was murdered March 20th, mayor Anna Urchuegia warned the people that "accomplices of ETA are amongst us," referring to people who must have helped the ETA keep tabs on where Inciarte was going in order to murder him. The Basques are frequently referred to in Spain as fascists and Nazis by both citizens and politicians. One left-leaning group, El Pais, described Inciarte's killing as "ETA unveiling its electoral campaign," ocurring the same day that the autonomous region's assembly officially dissolved ahead of the May 13 poll. The BBC reports that the Spanish government has detained dozens of suspected ETA members in an effort to curb violence in anticipation of the May 13 elections.

FRENCH SECURITY ON ALERT FOR THREATS Meanwhile on March 22nd, French police found a car on the southwestern edge of Paris carrying materials that could be used to make explosives. Police said the car contained a sack of nails, small bottles of butane gas, electric wire, batteries and unidentified powder and chemicals, but no detonator. Police were alerted about the car by a French journalist who received an anonymous call from someone who claimed to belong to the Corsican separatist group Armata Corsa, which has threatened to carry out attacks on the French mainland. Police were questioning the car's owner, but said they had no immediate plans to step up security measures, which were put in place in the capital last January following threats from Armata Corsa.

"FACTS", "FICTIONS", AND OTHER GOSSIP Despite these grim portraits, Banderas, who was in New York on Monday March 19th to promote his upcoming film Spy Kids, played down the rumors on Access Hollywood, indicating that he has only heard of this himself in the news. Citing the high-profile life of stardom that makes one an inevitable target, Banderas told the TV show that "if that (news) is the real thing, I'm going to try to keep going with my life in the most normal way possible. I personally don't like to have people surrounding me all the time. I am not the kind of guy who likes to go with bodyguards everywhere." But according to Leah Garchik at the San Francisco Chronicle, gossip columnist Nigel Dempster of London's Daily Mail asked Banderas about the two bodyguards recently accompanying him on the Champs-Elysees. "My agent called to tell me about the stories going around," Banderas told the British column, "but the bodyguards are provided by the studio and are with me regardless of any threats." Banderas did say a curious thing March 7th to a Spanish television program the week before shooting began on Femme Fatale: "It seems that I'm going to do it. I can't assure you that. I still have to sort out some things..." When asked about meeting Griffith, he said, "If I make the movie we'll meet in Paris, if not, I'll come back to Los Angeles." Meanwhile, Melanie Griffith posted a statement on her website calling the stories "fiction." "This story is very upsetting," she wrote, "and fortunately it is totally false. Antonio has not received death threats, nor is a terrorist group stalking him. We do as much as we can to protect our family and ourselves since much of our life is lived in the public eye. However, Antonio and I have not hired bodyguards to protect us from terrorists."

PARIS-NEW YORK-PARIS... A light-hearted Banderas told Rosie O'Donnell on Monday March 19 that as soon as he was to finish taping the David Letterman show that afternoon, he is back on a plane that would take him straight to the set of Femme Fatale in Paris. Now that's dedication. The travel-worn Banderas explained to Letterman: "I was shooting yesterday, somebody put me on a plane. I got on the plane, I didn’t sleep on the plane. I got to New York. I got the hours changed. I got in my room, I didn’t sleep. I’ve been doing shows the whole morning. You want me to explain this to you graphically? Give me one of those pens..." Banderas then jokingly grabbed a pen from the talk show host and pretended to beat it to a pulp. "Listen, because you had so much trouble, we have a big screen TV for you and a recliner," Dave told Banderas before a commercial break, a reference to earlier jokes on the show involving cast-offs from Survivor receiving such gifts from Rosie O'Donnell. Both O'Donnell and Letterman told Banderas that they very much appreciated his presence. Banderas told Conan O'Brien later that week that Rebecca Romijn-Stamos is very beautiful, "but she’s a little bit too tall for me, I must say. I feel sometimes that I’m making a movie with the Los Angeles Lakers, but... I’m Spanish so we are not so tall anyway. She’s beautiful, beautiful. Great girl."(Special thanks to the Antonio Banderas Web Mall for archives, translations, and information.) Pictured below are cinematographer Thierry Arbogast, Brian De Palma and Antonio Banderas, checking the playback of a scene filmed last week. Up top is Banderas filming a scene in the Paris rain, playing paparazzo, and talking with De Palma. This March in France has seen three times the average amount of rain, which has caused rivers to rise and burst their banks. Flooding has hit several villages and blocked roads in northeast and central France, while the overflowing Seine has hit the area around Paris particularly hard.

FEMME FATALE FILMING BEGINS IT'S NOT EASY BEING A FEMME FATALE IN A BRIAN DE PALMA FILM... One minute you're a brunette, and the next... GREGG HENRY, PETER COYOTE PARTICIPANTS Filming on Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale began Wednesday, March 14th at the Sheraton Hotel Paris, located at the Roissy-Charles DeGaulle Airport. Filming at the location was completed in three days, with Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote, and De Palma regular Gregg Henry (Scarface, Body Double, Raising Cain) all participating. The following week saw the production shooting on the Champs-Elysees, with paparazzo Banderas chasing a gray mercedes on motorbike. Coyote is cast in the role that would have gone to Jean Reno had the French actor been able to stay on. Henry's involvement would seem to place Femme firmly in the ultra-personal vein of De Palma's vast body of work. Much like Body Double and Raising Cain, this new film, judging by the plot descriptions we've been given so far, would seem to be a culminant, self-reflexive work that builds upon everything De Palma has laid out in his previous films. In any case, it sounds like a lot of fun.

FEMME PLOT DETAILS AND AN IMAGE FROM THE "FUTURE" The March 2001 issue of Cahiers Du Cinema features the following description of Femme Fatale: "On March 14, De Palma starts the shooting of Femme Fatale, which features Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (who'll have "transparent blue-green eyes" for her part) and Antonio Banderas as a paparazzi. The movie takes place between Paris (for its second part, set seven years after the first) and Cannes, where a group of criminals plan an ambitious (yet partially flawed) break-in during the actual filmfestival. The exceptionally intricate plot features body doubles, a change of identity and a diabolical trap." Sounds appetizing, to say the least. The image on the left is from a poster that appears in the film's aforementioned future. (English translation of the French plot description is courtesy of "Screenfreekz" over at the briandepalma.net forum.)

IT'S REBECCA, "The Feminist Femme Fatale" DE PALMA WILL TAILOR SCRIPT TO SUIT FEMME In a twist that has surprised many in Hollywood, Brian De Palma has decided to cast Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as the lead in Femme Fatale. On February 13 2001, Michael Fleming at Variety reported that De Palma will tailor his original screenplay, about a woman trying to outrun her past as a con woman, to fit his new star. Fleming said the decision is surprising given that several "more seasoned" actresses had read for the role, but that negotiations proceeded rather quickly after Romijn-Stamos flew to France to meet with De Palma. According to a post by "Smilin' Jack Ruby" at Upcoming Movies.Com, Romijn-Stamos will play the wife of the U.S. ambassador to France who is trying to keep a low profile due to her shady past, and Antonio Banderas will play the paparazzo who hounds her down. Smilin' Jack claims that the very noir-ish script reads "like a book" with many silent passages and a "weird ending." While Fleming had mentioned that Jean Reno, who worked previously with De Palma on Mission: Impossible, would have a part in Femme Fatale, another source reports that Reno is no longer involved. Meanwhile, Banderas was spotted on Paris streets during the last week of February, preparing to meet with De Palma.

BANDERAS CONFIRMS ROLE IN FEMME STONE'S INSTINCT WON'T BE FATALE On January 29th, Antonio Banderas told Diario Sur, his hometown newspaper of M?aga, Spain, that he will indeed be in Brian De Palma's new film Femme Fatale, which is to begin filming in February in France. (Banderas' wife Melanie Griffith, herself a veteran collaborator of two De Palma films, had mentioned this fact on Spanish television a week earlier when she was in Madrid to promote Viceroy watches.) The article claimed that De Palma wanted Sharon Stone to play the lead, but that the actress needed to square away her schedule to fit it in. Such is not to be, however. While Stone works to find a male lead with John McTiernan, who is replacing David Cronenberg as director on the sequel to Basic Instinct, the lead actress in McTiernan's upcoming remake of Rollerball, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, will be working with De Palma and Banderas instead. FILMING TO BEGIN MARCH 12 On February 5 2001, Variety reported that Femme Fatale will begin filming March 12 in Paris and Cannes. Some of the action will take place at the Cannes film festival, which De Palma attended last year, video camera in hand. The producers told Variety that after a four-month search, they were on the verge of finally casting the female lead (one week later, Romijn-Stamos was announced). Marina Gefter, who is producing Femme Fatale with Tarak Ben Ammar, told Variety that casting the role has been difficult because De Palma has been looking for a "sexy Rita Hayworth type -- there just aren't that many like that around any more." Gefter said the film will mark a return to De Palma's earlier moviemaking style, adding that it will pay homage to the French film noir of the '40s. "The atmosphere will be very stylish," she said. An earlier Variety report described the film as "a contemporary noir thriller about a woman who tries to straighten out her life, only to have her past come back to haunt her." Thierry Arbogast, who has worked regularly with Luc Besson (Nikita, Leon), will be director of photography. BANDERAS READY TO BEGIN Meanwhile, Banderas told the Diario Sur that he is aware of the importance of working with a director of De Palma's stature. He said that while De Palma wants Sharon Stone to play "the vamp" of the title, the city of Paris itself will be the third character in the film, as De Palma "wants to recover the city from the perspective of the French 'film noir'." It may also be worth noting that a late January post on Dark Horizons indicated that the film will be shot in France and in Spain, although the new Variety report would seem to leave Spain out of the picture. (Thanks to Sandie Sledge for the info and translations. Say hi to the chicas at the Antonio Banderas Web Mall.) BENSALLAH MAY LEAD 2ND UNIT French Premiere also reports that De Palma has asked Djamel Bensallah to be the second unit director on Femme Fatale. The young French writer/director created a local youth sensation in 1999 with his film debut Le Ciel, les Oiseaux?et ta M?e! (also known by the much less exciting title The Boys On The Beach). Bensallah's second film as director, Le Raid, is currently delayed following the tragic deaths of production director Patrick Lancelot and veteran director of photography Bernard Lutic. The two died in an aircraft accident while scouting locations for the film in Venezuela. LIVING AND FILMING IN FRANCE When asked about doing a film in Europe, De Palma had this to say to a Cannes interviewer last May: "I'm thinking about doing a movie in Europe right now, as a matter of fact. I've been here a couple of months, and I've written a script that's set in the United States, but having been in Paris before, and spending a lot of time here, I'm trying to figure out a way to set this story in a Parisian locale." De Palma also told the interviewer that he is greatly inspired by European cinema, and that he attends film festivals around the globe to watch movies from all over. ON THE FUTURE OF CINEMA When asked about the future of cinema at the turn of the century, De Palma replied: "I think the most important thing that's going to happen in cinema in the next century is that the equipment used in the cinema (like the cameras that are shooting you now)-- this new digital technology in which the tools that making movies can cost together, including the editing equipment, production and post-production, a couple of thousand dollars-- and of course, it's getting cheaper all the time. And in which the filmmaker, basically, will have all of the equipment himself. He can edit his own movies on video. And all he has to do is basically be able to write a story, tell a story, get the actors together, and he can make a feature-length movie." You can watch and listen to the full interview by clicking here.

FEMME CASTING RUMORS ABOUND ADJANI AND MITRA HAD BEEN RUMORED FOR LEAD According to a January 22nd post at Dark Horizons, a publication called Pro Cinema has reported that Emily Watson, Joely Richardson, and Sean Bean have all been cast in Brian De Palma's upcoming Femme Fatale, although it was not specified what roles these would be. It also states that the film is to be shot in France and in Spain beginning in late February. Another source, however, maintained that the lead role has not yet been cast, and that all but the two leads in the film are to be French actors, with the production shoot scheduled to begin in March. More recently, Watson has been tapped to work on Robert Altman's new film Gosford Park, which is set to begin filming in March. This would seem to make it unlikely that the actress will be involved with Femme Fatale. A week earlier, French Premiere reported that although Demi Moore was being rumored to have been cast in the lead role, the production insisted that the role had not yet been cast. Last November, the web site reported that De Palma was seeking an unknown actress to play the part, after Uma Thurman had to pass due to her commitment to Quentin Tarantino's new project, and Jennifer Lopez was too busy, as well. More recent rumors had Isabelle Adjani and former live-action Lara Craft model Rhona Mitra (Hollow Man) being considered for the lead role, which eventually went to Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Yet another source had reported that Antonio Banderas was rumored to have been cast in the film. Lo and behold, at least one rumor came up positive.

DE PALMA HAS NEW THRILLER UP HIS SLEEVE THURMAN, LOPEZ IN TALKS FOR LEAD

Brian De Palma has completed the script for a new thriller, Femme Fatale, which he submitted to the French company Le Studio Canal + at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. According to Variety, the screenplay is "a contemporary noir thriller about a woman who tries to straighten out her life, only to have her past come back to haunt her." De Palma and producer Tarak Ben Ammar are reportedly in talks with Uma Thurman and Jennifer Lopez, among others, to play the lead, with Jean Reno (who appeared in De Palma's Mission: Impossible) likely to have a part, as well. According to le film francais.com, the ten-week shoot is expected to begin in January with a mostly French crew. The project will be financed by Ammar's Paris-based production company Quinta, along with the German, Italian and Spanish shingle Epsilon, a company that recently provided financing for Robert Redford's upcoming film The Legend Of Bagger Vance. THE DEVIL'S CANDY Thurman, who also has a killer role being written for her as the lead in Quentin Tarantino's next film, has been directed by De Palma before-- in a screen test for the role of Maria Ruskin, the part that ended up going to Melanie Griffith in De Palma's adaptation of Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire Of The Vanities ten years ago. It was a part described by producer Peter Guber as "the devil's candy," a description appropriated by Julie Salamon for the title of her book on the making of the film. The seductive, calculated and calculating young wife of a rich elderly man, Maria had been described by Wolfe as "something from another galaxy." She is the catalyst of Sherman McCoy's (Tom Hanks) downfall, but as De Palma insisted, she has to be somewhat likable: "You have to believe her manipulation isn't venal," he said. De Palma had suggested Griffith to the studio (Warner Bros.), having worked with her on Body Double six years earlier, but according to Salamon, when he met Thurman in New York, he thought he may have found his Maria. HOT FEMME, COLD HANKS Hanks, however, had been sold on Griffith, and felt that Thurman was too young for the part (she was nineteen at the time). Being the star of the film, Hanks held the ultimate hand in the final decision. But Salamon writes that De Palma kept saying to Hanks, "Uma's so beautiful. Like Veronica Lake." De Palma had worked with Thurman for three hours the night before her first meeting with Hanks. She came in prepared, falling into character with a stunning grace. She knew her lines, causing Hanks to stumble around a little as he tried to keep up with script in hand. Salamon writes that De Palma's commentary after the scene was "terse": "Very good, but stand like this, Uma." The large, bearded man struck a comically slinky pose, which Thurman obediently mimicked. On her, it looked seductive. Despite much enthusiasm from De Palma and casting director Lynn Stalmaster, Hanks could not be sold on Thurman, claiming that he just couldn't act with her, and that Griffith was the perfect choice. At the screen test with Thurman, Hanks didn't seem to act with much conviction or enthusiasm (and in fact, had previously tried to get out of it altogether). SO MANY FEMMES, ONLY SO MANY FILMS De Palma eventually conceded that Griffith had more of the comic believability needed for the role, and would be better-suited to play off of Hanks, a natural comedian. According to Salamon, De Palma seemed to want a combination of Melanie Griffith's comedic charm, "the aristocratic carriage of Sigourney Weaver," and the sensuality of Uma Thurman. Before finally deciding on Griffith, De Palma also auditioned another actress at the studio's suggestion: Lolita Davidovich, who would go on to play Jenny opposite John Lithgow's multiple roles in De Palma's very next film, Raising Cain, which in many ways seemed a raging response to the pressures, anxieties, and complications involved in the making of Bonfire.

DE PALMA TALKS AT CANNES INTENDS TO STAY IN FRANCE FOR A WHILE

Brian De Palma's Mission To Mars made its French debut Friday, May 12th, when it screened out of competition at the 53rd Annual Cannes Film Festival. When asked if he is going to continue to make technically challenging pictures like Mission: Impossible and Mission To Mars, De Palma told a French TV interviewer that he is done with that kind of moviemaking, saying that if he does anything else, it will be a smaller film with no special effects. He then mentioned that as he looked around him at the hotel, his mind begins "imagining stories that could happen to these people." De Palma told the interviewer that he planned to stay in France for "some time." (Special thanks to Screenfreekz at the "Directed By Brian De Palma" Forum for the interview info.) De Palma was much more irritated with the press at a Cannes press conference for Mission To Mars. According to ABC News, De Palma snapped back when he heard the word "homage," saying, "What does that mean? That I'm a rip-off artist?" The director went on to say that early in his career, he made the "error" of trying to learn about filmmaking by studying Hitchcock, and that he has been branded a "homage" filmmaker by the press ever since. When chided by the moderator for his quick replies, De Palma expressed his desire to move things along. He clearly wanted to get it over with, saying that he prefers to go to festivals to watch films, not promote them. He had some nice things to say about the NASA scientists who worked on the film, and when asked about having any reservations about replacing Gore Verbinski, the original director on Mission To Mars, De Palma said, "The director of Mouse Hunt? No. And Disney was happy to have me." You can read the entire ABC News story by clicking here.

Geoffsongs@aol.com