Cannes can and budget talks

[foeller]

According to the Danish newspaper Berlingske (very reliable), Scorsese is presenting his newest film tonight in Cannes (on a yacht apparently). I'm assuming they are talking about Silence, but I guess it would be TWOWS as well.

[nas78]

More about that...
www.deadline.com/2013/05/cannes-martin-scorsese-silence/

www.totalfilm.com/news/martin-scorsese-talks-new-movie-cannes-2013

What A Big Hug...
cdn04.cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/dicaprio-hug16/leonardo-dicaprio-martin-scorsese-big-hug-at-cannes-event-03.jpg

The Rest Of The Pics...
www.justjared.com/2013/05/16/leonardo-dicaprio-martin-scorsese-big-hug-at-cannes/

[foeller]

There's an interview with the director of Cecchi Gori Pictures in the Danish papers today. I'll translate it later. Apparently the budget is $50 million. That's pretty damn much if you ask me.

[foeller]

Niels Juul is the CEO of Cecchi Gori Pictures. Here's the Scorsese related parts of the interview with him:

"It hasn't been possible to raise the money for the project because it is too controversial," says Niels Juul, who we met on the Johnnie Walker yacht Voyager in Cannes.

Thursday night in the middle of the festival there was a reception where Martin Scorsese participated to create interest for "Silence". The hope is to sell the distribution rights to countries around the world and that way be able to raise the last money to the film that has a 50 mill dollars budget. And it means a lot that Scorsese is participating to tell the possible buyers about the film and his vision, says Niels Juul.

"It is not an easy film to sell, but it is a pure Scorsese classic, and we hope it can be an Oscar contender," he says.

www.b.dk/kultur/dansker-bag-kommende-scorsese-film

[will]

thanks, nas and foeller.

In one of the articles, it's mentioned that the script has not changed since 2006.

If the final budget stays at $50mil., it will still be considered a moderate budget. But if it starts at 50 who knows where it will end...

[foeller]

I think $50 mil is massive considering it's supposed to be a fairly cheap film and doesn't have any mainstream appeal at all. There Will Be Blood did only cost half, The Social Network and Zero Dark Thirty 40 mil. each.

I'm surprised Scorsese isn't able to do it cheaper.

[gabriel]

Considering the adjustment to inflation, you'd have to go almost fifteen years back in Scorsese's career to find a cheaper film: Bringing Out the Dead was 32 mil. of 1999, and Kundun 28 mil of 1997. So it means going back to those days for him.

[foeller]

Small budget for a Scorsese film, yes, but not small for a film with that subject. Considering the fact that it has been impossible for Scorsese to raise the money for such a long time, it seems incredible that he hasn't been able to make the film for less than $50 mill.

[gabriel]

I honestly didn't know (or didn't remember) about the budgets for the films you mentioned. It is impressive that TWBB, TSN and ZD30 were made for only those amounts indeed. And I understand your point about the subject and lack of commercial appeal of Silence. Still, to use the word "massive" for a 50 mil film in current Hollywood seems to me a bit of a stretch

[foeller]

I definitely see your point of view, but when I say "massive" I'm taking the subject into consideration. It's almost being mentioned as an indie film in the media, but $50 mill for an indie film is pretty massive.

Anyway, the same Danish newspaper just published a Scorsese interview. The article includes new information about the budget and how much money they need in order to get the project going. I'll translate it soon.

[gabriel]

Thanks a lot, foeller.

[foeller]

I have translated thing loooong interview with Scorsese for you. I hope you enjoy it! I'm sorry about the mistakes in the translation.

My Meeting With Marty

Berlingske's correspondent was invited to a party with Martin Scorsese on a luxury yacht in Cannes. It was a fascinating inside of the mechanics of the film world and it ended up with a six minute interview with the film legend.

I am standing at the end of one of the the piers in Cannes. The glamorous film festival has only just started, but the city is already buzzing of excitement, and the big yachts are lying close together. I'm together with my good colleague, the film editor, and in front of us is a beautiful, white luxury yacht, 57 meter long with three masts.

It is the whisky company Johnnie Walker's yacht "Voyager" that is sailing around the world and coming to Denmark in August, but it is in Cannes these weeks.

I know it because an audacious PR-guy called and told me - and he also asked if we wanted to come to a party with the film legend Martin Scorsese on the luxury yacht. Of course we did. Martin Scorsese is one of my biggest film idols. Films like "Mean Streets", "Taxi Driver", "Raging Bull", "The Last Temptation of Christ" and "Goodfellas" are forever burnt in my soul in a way only real film poetry is able to do it. So of course I wanted to go attend a party with Martin Scorsese.

But we are also skeptical while walking across the narrow gangway because this is not regular practice for to Berlingske journalists in Cannes. And we even have a hard time believing Martin Scorsese will show up.

When people hear that you are going to cover France's most famous film festival in 14 days the remark is often: "Are you going to parties and mingle with film stars?". Nothing could be further away from the truth. We are watching film and go to press conferences and maybe a couple of receptions - the interviews with the film stars and directors are usually taking places in neutral hotel suites in regulated interview groups, and you only get in if your newspaper is high enough on the PR agencies' lists. Here you have to fight with a couple of other journalists to ask questions.

But there is another world in Cannes. A world of deals and drinks where the money men and players are constantly looking for new opportunities; a world where you are on first name with the stars, and where ice cold business, big sponsorships and filmmaking go hand in hand.

This is the world we are now stepping in to.

The deck on "Voyager" is impressive. Finely polished mahogany, downplayed luxury and smart, pretty waiters carrying the trays with drinks, champagnes and exquisite canapeer are in between the guests who besides the small number of journalists are counting people from the international film industry - producers, distributors and deal makers.

Pounding swing music fights for the attention along with the cacophony of voices from the well dressed gathering. A hip Japanese couple are walking by while middle aged men with too big bellies, champagne classes in their hands and younger elegant women by their side speaks about the latest rumors from Hollywood. We are greeting with the 81 years old Irwin Winkler, a short, leather brown, legendary Hollywood producer who is the man behind a number of Scorsese films, and who familiarly reaches out his hand while floating across the room.

In the middle of all this we meet the Dane Niels Juul. He lives in Los Angeles and is the CEO of the film company Cecchi Gori Pictures that is behind movies like "Il Postino" and "Life is Beautiful". Niels Juul plays an important part in tonight's gathering. Cecchi Gori Pictures owns the rights to the Japanese author Shusaku Endo's novel from 1966 "Silence". A novel about the persecution of christians in the 17th century Japan, and a novel that Martin Scorsese has tried to make into a movie for years, which now seems to become a reality.


The actors Andrew Garfield and Ken Watanabe has already been casted, Jay Cocks has written the screenplay which includes Japanese with Japanese actors, and the filming begins in Taiwan next year. But there are still $15 mill of the movie's $45 mill budget missing. This is why Scorsese has flown in with a private plane; this is why he is the host at a party on a luxury yacht to personally greet the money men and distributors and convince them to support his film.

"What you do in Cannes is to pitch the project. It is about building an interest about the film because it is not an easy film to sell. It is not "Iron Man" or another Marvel production, this is a real Martin Scorsese classic, and our hope is to make it an Oscar contender", says Niels Juul.

This is why it is important that Martin Scorsese is present.

"There are a lot of bullshit in Hollywood, and a lot of people would say: "Yes, yes, you have Scorsese, well, well, we believe that!". But when you have the man in the boat and people meet him and so on... it shows: Well, he is actually here. This is how Hollywood is designed."

But it is as the atmosphere on the luxury yacht has changed and has become more dense. The photographers are starting to move and the whispering are spreading quickly: "It's Marty, it's Marty" (everyone are apparently calling Martin Scorsese "Marty", whether or not they have met him). And indeed: The main character of the night has arrived. In one end of the boat there is a kind of scene with chairs arranged. Here stands 70 years old Martin Scorsese and people are starting to crowd round him, greet him, clap him on the shoulder - among them is a tall, elegant woman with turban and an emerald green dress. It is Leonardo Dicaprio's stepmother, Peggy Ann Farrer, I am told later.

Martin Scorsese wears a gray suit and red tie with dots; a short man with a big, warm laughter that time after time breaks through the noise from the many voices. People are going up and down from the scene, some journalists are starting to interview the director in the middle of the whole thing, while the publicist Leslie, an energetic woman with big white teeth tries to control the chaos.

She wants people down from the stage in order to let Scorsese and the other persons behind the movie sit in the chairs, but it seems impossible initially.

With my voice recorder I am trying to go up on the stage to get closer to Scorsese, but I'm being told to keep a distance. After some time Martin Scorsese sits down and more journalists interview him one at a time, and suddenly Leslie lets me know it's my turn.

"Marty, this is Jesper from Denmark," she introduces me.

"It is an honor to meet you," I say while turning on the voice recorder, greeting him and taking the seat next to him. For a moment I get Leonardo DiCaprio's stepmother's turban on my mind before focusing on the kind face with the bushy eyebrows and big brown glasses in front of me.

Scorsese says that it is the first time he has ever tried actively to presell a movie.

"It is a film I have tried to make since I read the book in 1989," he starts.

"For a couple of years I worked with the screenplay without ever making it work, but every time the rights of the movie was in danger of slipping way from me, I tried everything to keep them. In 2006 we finally found it how to make the screenplay work."

I ask Martin Scorsese to tell more about his vision for the movie.

"Fundamentally, the movie is about two young catholic priests from Portugal traveling to Japan at a time where no Western people are there - they are almost undercover. In Japan they are looking for their mentor who has disappeared and allegedly has turned the back on the religion, so there is a strong element of tension around finding him. One of the young priests get caught, and the central thing is how he handles his imprisonment and how the insistence that the Japanese wants him to turn his back on his faith to make an example of him to the others. So "Silence" is about faith and the values that are the foundation for the faith."

I'm asking Martin Scorsese why he has wanted to make the film for 25 years, and he answers that it has always been a central theme in his films, and a theme he keeps on getting back to.

"It is a part of who I am, a part of my culture and my upbringing. I had a strict catholic upbringing, but it has changed over the years and now I'm trying to find a way to handle all the questions," says Martin Scorsese.

"But are we discussing religion more today than earlier?" I want to know.

"Yes, absolutely", Martin Scorsese answers:

"When it comes to organized religion - and here I can only speak about the catholic church - we have a need to find back to the essence of it. I think there are elements of christianity that are very important for us as humans. Do God wish to kill us? No, of course he doesn't, but to find out the young priest in "Silence" has to set look beyond his pride to find out what faith really is. If we have can engage the audience in a story about how you are staying true to your faith, then we can maybe talk about the essence of religion."

"Do you feel you are repeating the same themes again and again", I ask.

"It is a lot of the same. My films are about characters who are behaving badly, but also about characters trying to do the right thing, but end up behaving badly," Martin Scorsese says and breaks out in laughter.

It has been six minutes, Leslie pats me on my should, the interview is over and the noises from the luxury yacht are returning. I'm once again shaking Scorsese's hand before getting swallowed by crowd who all have to tell him how much they love his movies.

On the deck I might the film editor. "Did you speak with Scorsese?" he asks.

"Yes, I spoke to Marty - we spoke about faith and the values that define us as humans," I answer.

We are sipping on a smart cocktail, viewing the menagerie and in a short time after, Martin Scorsese is walking through the crowd to the black limousine waiting on the mole. We follow and see the taillights disappearing in the dark. In a few hours, Martin flies back to USA, and for us new film screenings, press conferences and roundtable interviews are waiting.

www.b.dk/kultur/mit-moede-med-marty


Now we know that Scorsese needs to raise $15 mill, and that the budget is $45 mill, and not $50 mill.

[will]

thanks for the translation, foeller, and the new budget information.
I wonder what happened to that lawsuit.

[foeller]

I'm glad I could help.

As I mentioned the other day, I really think Oscar Isaac could be interesting as Garrpe. He's originally from Guatemala, has the right age and looks. He's the lead in the Coen brothers' newest film, Inside Llewyn Davis, and is generating Oscar buzz there. He has also been in Drive, Robin Hood, Body of Lies and Che. What do you think?

[foeller]

Martin Scorsese’s “Silence” had closed France (Metropolitan, again), Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and Latin America by Sunday, but still hasn’t landed a U.S. distributor.

variety.com/2013/film/news/cannes-2013-silence-on-the-biz-front-1200484735/