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Projector Compiled by Ruwini Jayawardana

 

Pining for 'Julia'

Ruwini Jayawardana



Nadeesha and
Charith

'Julia', the debut film of popular young actor Sampath Sri Roshan, produced by Charith Abeysinghe has begun shooting in Sri Lanka. The film had concluded shooting in UK in picturesque areas like London, Essex and the Buckingham Palace.

The movie stars Ravindra Randeniya, Robin Fernando, Veena Jayakody, Rex Kodipilli, Shriyantha Mendis, Sandun Wijesiri, Teddy Vidyalankara, Sanath Dikkumbura, Bandula Sooriyabandara, Nadeesha Hemamali, Sasanthi Jayasekara, Achala Walpola, Harsha Bulathsinhala, Dinuli Malawarachchi and Sampath Sri Roshan. Charith Abeysinghe will mark his entry to cinema with "Julia".


Sampath and Sasanthi

Donald Karunaratne is the cameraman and make up is by Ranjith Mathangaweera. Namal Attygalle is the line producer, Jagath Nissanka is the executive producer and Teddy Vidyalankara is the fight director for "Julia". Indika Mallawarachchi is the still photographer for the film.

The story is centred on a fun-loving young girl whose actions take her on a voyage from prosperity to decadence and vice versa. The film will be edited at Pinewood Studio, England.

The story and script is by Sarath Samaranayake and Ranga Dasanayake will enter the field as music director through "Julia". Kasun Kalhara, Greshan Ananda, Bathiya Jayakody and Uresha Ravihari will contribute in vocals.


Two Interesting American Films

Two interesting films I saw at the IFFI in Panaji, Goa last year were "The Jane Austen Book Club" and "Quarter Life Crisis".

The Jane Austen Book Club

Robin Swicord is a talented woman screenwriter. She wrote the screenplay and directed the film about the Book Club in the name of the famous English writer, Jane Austen.

Six readers (five of them are understandably women and the other a man) meet and form a club for their favourite writer. They are cotemporary readers but find affinities relating to their own lives as related in the 18th century novels of Jane Austen. The director has based her screenplay on the novel by Karen Joy Fowler.

Each member reads each of the novels by the illustrious novelist and discusses it and the characters aloud, forming their own experience and judgment. The movie very interesting as the method of filming is dynamic and quick editing, cutting across the scenes. The cinematography is by John Toon. Although the film is about contemporary views of a few readers, it is not about Jane Austen.

What do we know about the characters of the six people involved?

Sylvia, after 20 years of marriage leaves her husband and three children. Her best friend is Jocelyn who breeds dogs to distract herself from loneliness.

The young French teacher, Prudie, is married to a nice husband but she fancies having sex with another man in a fantasy world. Bernadette had married several times and yet looks forward to achieving happiness through another marriage. Allerga, daughter of Sylvia, is a Lesbian.

She stops talking to her husband. And the only man, Greg, is a young science fiction fan and computer whiz. He finds himself out of place among the company of women readers. The film is in some regard a de-construction of Jane Austen's novels. I may not agree with interpretation of the filmmaker, but I did enjoy the film, as it is thoroughly entertaining.


Mega-Cannes in store Final line-up unveiled

The final line-up for this year's Cannes film festival sees veteran directors Clint Eastwood, Steven Soderbergh and Brazil's Fernando Meirelles face off against lesser-known talent for its coveted Palme d'Or for best movie.

Bumping up the number of films to compete for the top prize from 19 to 22, organisers said in a surprise announcement that this year's award will be handed out by Robert de Niro.

Cannes' mix of old and new, of Hollywood glitz and auteur fare, has proven a recipe for success as the film industry's paramount festival gears up for its 61st edition from May 14 to May 25.

After viewing 1,792 films from 96 countries, organisers selected 22 movies to compete for the Palme with the countdown per continent at Asia (three), Europe (eight), Latin America (four), the United States (four), and a film each from Israel, Canada and Turkey.

A yearly 12-day extravaganza of exclusive parties, red-carpet screenings, and wheeling and dealing, the festival this year expects movie celebs Harrison Ford, Angelina Jolie, Penelope Cruz and Woody Allen - not to mention sporting giants Mike Tyson and Diego Maradona.

Kicking off the event is "Blindness" by Meirelles, best-known for his Oscar-nominated "City of God" or more recent "The Constant Gardener", which stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Danny Glover as residents of a city mysteriously struck by creeping blindness.

Also added at the last-minute to compete for the Palme is James Gray's "Two Lovers" starring Joaquin Phoenix as a New Yorker torn between Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw, a first sentimental drama by the maker of mafia crime chronicles such as "Little Odessa" and "We Own The Night."

Eastwood's "Changeling" is a thriller set in the 1920s starring Angelina Jolie as a mother grieving for a kidnapped son. Soderbergh, best known for his "Ocean's" movies, will be presenting a four-hour two-part movie entitled "Che" about the revolutionary hero's life and times that stars Benicio Del Toro, who played in the director's 2000 hit "Traffic".

Much-awaited also are the movies selected to be screened out of competition and getting their world release, including the latest from top-name directors Woody Allen and Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg will be bringing the year's most-awaited movie, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" - the fourth installment in the box office-busting series starring Harrison Ford as the archaeologist adventurer who had his first outing way back in 1981 "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

Woody Allen, a longstanding favourite at the Cannes filmfest, brings his Spanish-set "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", along with its stars Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem for a walk up the red carpet.

A kicking and punching "Kung-Fu Panda" - an animated comedy-adventure from Dreamworks with a voice cast boasting Jack Black, Jolie, Lucy Liu and Dustin Hoffman - has also been selected out of competition, along with "The Good, The Bad, The Weird", a "kimchi" Western from South Korea's Kim Jee-Woon.

High profile documentaries screening out of competition include an Emir Kusturica film about Maradona, a film on Tyson by James Toback and "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" by Marina Zenovich. All three VIPs are expected to show. AFP

 

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