With his fourth film, the American film-maker has imagined a cruel love story, giving the main part to his fetish actor, Joaquin Phoenix, who decided to give up the movie world for the music one.
Two lovers, by James Gray (USA, 1 h 50 min) with Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vanessa Shaw, Isabella Rossellini.
Read about the critics and shows in Paris/Ile de France of Two Lovers, with the Figaroscope: http://scope.lefigaro.fr/cinema/film/drame/e-c3442955–two-lovers/static/
He looks like a big red-haired bear, his shortsighted eyes are hidden behind glasses. This description fits the American film-maker James Gray. Staying in a suite of a posh Parisian hotel, he has come to France to make a very serious promotion of his new film, “Two Lovers”. A pretty dark love story which was among the competitors of this year’s Cannes Film Festival this year but didnt receive any awards. This 38 year-old New Yorker with Russians origins has become famous thanks to his first and rather wistful film, “Little Odessa”, which in 1994 been rewarded by a Silver Lion in Venice. This story evoked the Russian Community of Brighton Beach.
Three years later, another success appeared with “The Yards”, a dark family drama inspired by the film “Rocco And His Brothers”. “The Yards” was also the opportunity for him to first meet the actor who then became his favorite one: Joaquin Phoenix. This latter is known for his performance as the odious emperor in Gladiator (2000), by Ridley Scott, and his part as Johnny Clashs clone in Walk the Line, by James Mangold (2005). James Gray wrote for him “We Own the Night”, a tough detective story about the New York police and the Russian mafia, which was a big movie success last year in France.
The ambiance is more a darker than a sugary one…
For the time being, James Gray, freshly arrived from Los Angeles, is struggling against the time lag, drinking many cups of coffee. Gwyneth Paltrow has come along. She has the main female part in “Two Lovers”. As for Phoenix, he stayed in California. A pretty dirty trick actually for the film-maker. However, Phoenix had told him a few years beforehand that he wanted to give up the movie business to devote himself to music and his band, the Charlatans.
What makes me feel very sad, the filmmaker confesses, is that I dont believe in a sudden decision.
“Im 34 and have already worked for 30 years in the movie business,” Phoenix said. “When Im part of a movie, I always have to play suffering or unhappy characters. I feel the need to take a next turn.”
“I do understand how he feels, but at the same time, I would nevertheless like to try and convince him to make a fourth film with me,” Gray said. “Its a bit selfish from me, but its so difficult to find an actor whose performance is such a clever one.”
In “Two Lovers”, Gray gave Phoenix the part of a suffering man, shared between two women. One of them is unreachable and fickle (Paltrow) whereas the other one is wise and in love (Vanessa Shaw), and was introduced to him by his parents.
This is a classic romantic triangle whose atmosphere is more dark than sugary. The style is wonderfully clear, filled with emotions. Its author got his inspiration from a novel by Dostoyevsky, “The White Nights”.
“Its the story of an obsession, the obsession of a man for a woman he once met in the streets of Saint Petersburg,” Phoenix said. “Hes very similar to my own character, except that mine is a Prozac addict.”
Gray always has to fight to defend his style against criticisms. According to him, the melodramatic genre is a “vector of feelings and emotions.”
“I didnt want to tell a cynical story or to keep a distance between my characters and me,” he said. “I was just dreaming of getting close to sincerity, authenticity and spontaneity, like in Fellinis ‘Night of Cabiria.'”
This is a good reference for a talented film-maker who graduated from the University of California and knows his classics very well, from Renoir to Hitchcock. He made himself a solid reputation with just four films, and made Martin Scorseses motto his: “In the movie world, its always the same story; for example a stranger going back home or a stranger leaving home.”
As for him, James Grays home is definitely New York and he doesnt even care repeating or creating a story whose main feature is a touching simplicity to in the end turn into a cruel fairytale about wild love.
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