Til middag med Clive Owen
Jeg har været til middag med Clive Owen! Der var godt nok et gardin mellem os, da jeg spiste middagen back stage, men den er god nok. Clive Owen har åbenbart en svaghed for det schweiziske ur-brand Jaeger-LeCoultre, så da vi på vegne af Jaeger-LeCoultre skulle filme deres fine kendisfest under Venedig Filmfestival, fulgte Clive Owen med i købet.
Nu er det ikke en hemmelighed, at jeg ikke er den store kendisspotter. Til gengæld er jeg som tidligere pressechef ret god til at spotte momentet, hvor en kendis ankommer til mængden af ventende pressefolk. Derfor var jeg også parat med Alains elendige lomme-digital kamera, da Clive Owen ankom med båd til skibsværftet Arsenale i Venedig, hvor den hemmelige kendisfest foregik.
Billedet øverst i denne blog er mit andet bedste billede … det bedste kommer efter den engelske tekst. Jeg tror bare, at vi skal konkludere, at jeg ikke har en karriere som paparazzi foran mig. Og da slet ikke, når jeg under den efterfølgende fest lader filmstjerne være filmstjerne, og i stedet slår mig løs i dans og champagne.
Du kan se rigtige pressebilleder fra begivenheden her hos Zimbio.
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I had dinner with Clive Owen! There was a curtain between us as I had the dinner back stage, but that doesn’t count. I had dinner with Clive Owen, end of discussion. At the Venice Film Festival we was hired by the Swiss watch brand Jaeger-LeCoultre to do a movie about their celebrity party under the festival, and as Clive Owen is a close friend of the owner and has a weakness for Jaeger-LeCoultre, he was a part of the dinner party.
It is not a secret that I am not good to spot celebrities. But as previously head of press I am pretty good to spot the moment when a celebrity arrives for the waiting Medias. Therefore, I was also ready with Alain’s miserable pocket camera when Clive Owen arrived by boat to the shipyard Arsenale in Venice, where the party was taking place.
The picture at the top of this post is my second best picture … the best comes in the end of this post. I think that we can conclude that I don’t have a career as a paparazzi in front of me. And certainly not when I during the party decides to let celebrity be celebrity and instead join the party and the unlimited amounts of champagne.
You can see real and prof press photos from the event here at Zimbio.
Bonusinformationer om Svinalängorna
Jeg ankom til Venedig Filmfestival cirka 2 minutter før premieren på Pernilla Augusts debutfilm som instruktør, Svinalängorna. Swiss International Air Lines havde ellers forsøgt at forpurre filmvisningen for mig, men jeg kæmpede mig frem til øen Lido, fordi jeg simpelthen ville se årets eneste skandinaviske film.
Og det var godt. Særligt fordi resten af de film, jeg så under filmfestivalen, var elendige.
Svinalängorna var under ingen omstændigheder elendig. Faktisk er det netop, mens jeg skriver denne blog, blevet offentliggjort, at den har vundet festivalens kritikerpris. Det forstår jeg godt. Den var barsk og rørende socialrealistisk, og det er sådan en film, hvor man håber, at der ikke er et eller andet fjols, der kan finde på at tænde lyset midt i det hele. Jeg var opslugt lige fra filmens anslag til slutningen.
Hvad filmen handler om, beskriver Per Juul Carlsen glimrende på Filmlands Blog, så det vil jeg ikke spilde anslag på. I stedet vil jeg fortælle om nogle af de bonusinformationer, jeg fik, da jeg deltog i visningen af filmen, hvor hele filmholdet bag var tilstede i salen:
* Der er flere familier involveret i projektet. Noomi Rapace spiller fx overfor hendes mand Ola Rapace, og alle børnerollerne udfyldes af den samme søskendeflok med efternavnet Blad.
* Hovedkarakteren i Svinalängorna er Leena, hvor den voksne Leena spilles af Noomi Rapace, og den unge Leena af Tahilla Blad. Det var også Tahilla Blad, der spillede den unge Lisbeth Salander i Millennium Triologien.
* Det var Noomi Rapace, der anbefale Pernilla August at kontakte Tahilla Blad, da de skulle finde en ung skuespiller til rollen som den unge Leena. Og det var et tilfældigt held, at de fandt ud af, at Tahillas søskende kunne spille de andre roller (og desuden ligner hinanden), hvilket jo fik kabalen til at gå op.
* De finske skuespillere Ville Virtanen og Outi Mäenpää, der spiller Leenas alkoholiserede forældre, er uddannet sammen på skuespillerskolen i Finland for 20 år siden. De har spillet overfor hinanden mange gange før, men aldrig som ægtepar – og det havde de set frem til.
* Da filmen sluttede fik filmholdet en meget lang og varm hyldest af publikum i salen. Der var tårer i øjnene på mange – både publikum, instruktør og skuespillere. Også mig.
* Da jeg kom ud af biografsalen, stod der et svensk tv-hold bestående af kameramand, lydmand og journalist. Journalisten talte i mobil og sagde på svensk: “Jamen, vi nåede ikke ind i salen, før de lukkede dørene”. Det er sgu ret amatøragtigt, må jeg sige. Der er én skandinavisk/svensk film på hele festivalen, og så misser de den. Flot.
Jeg håber, at filmen snart kommer i de danske biografer, men lur mig, om der som vanligt ikke kommer til at gå lang tid. Jeg vil dog gerne bringe en advarsel:
Filmen er ikke for sarte sjæle. Er du gravid eller har små børn hjemme, skal du nok vælge en anden film.
Tillykke til Pernilla August!
Se trailer til Svinalängorna her på YouTube.
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I arrived at the Venice Film Festival about two minutes before the premiere of Pernilla August’s debut film as director, Svinalängorna (Beyond). Swiss International Air Lines had tried to keep me away from the film, but I fought my way to the island of Lido with all my power, because I really wanted to see the only Scandinavian film at this year’s festival.
And the film was good and worth my struggle. Especially because the rest of the films I saw during the festival was miserable.
Svinalängorna is under no circumstance miserable. Actually I just found out – while writing this blog post – that the film just won the Venice Critic’s Week. I understand this. The film is excellent. It is tough and touching, and it is such a film where you cross your fingers that nobody will turn on the light in the middle of the screening.
What the movie is about you can read here. Instead I will give you some bonus information that I received during the screening in Venice – a screening where the delegation behind the film was present:
* There are more families involved in the project. Noomi Rapace plays opposite her husband Ola Rapace, and all the children in the film is played by siblings in real (last name Blad).
* The main character in Svinalängorna is Leena. The adult Leena is played by Noomi Rapace and the young Leena by Tahilla Blad. It was also Tahilla Blad, who played the young Lisbeth Salander in the Millennium Trilogy.
* It was Noomi Rapace who recommended Pernilla August to contact Tahilla Blad, when she was looking for a young actress to play the young Leena. And it was a random luck that Tahilla have siblings in real there could play the roles as her siblings in the film.
* The Finnish actors Ville Virtanen and Outi Mäenpää, who plays Leena’s alcoholic parents, are educated 20 years ago from the same acting school in Finland. They have played opposite each other many times, but never as man and wife – and they had been looking forward to do this.
* When the movie ended the film crew got a very long and warm tribute from the audience in the hall. Many people – audience, director and actors – had tears in their eyes. Me too.
* When I came out of the cinema, there stood a Swedish television crew consisting of a cameraman, a soundman and a journalist. The journalist was talking in mobile and said in Swedish: “Well, we did not get into the cinema before they closed the doors.” I must say, this is extremely amateurish. There is only one, ONE, Scandinavian /Swedish film at the festival, and they miss it.
I hope the film will come to the Danish cinemas soon, but I doubt. Usual it goes so slowly to get films to the Scandinavian marked.
However, I would like to bring a warning:
The film is not for weak souls. If you are pregnant or have young children at home, you should probably choose another film.
Congratulations to Pernilla August!
Den forkerte sladderkælling
Så skete det igen her til morgen. Jeg er simpelthen en klaphat til at spotte kendisser – eller bare rige og vigtige folk (og dem er der nu en gang mange af her i Genève). Alain og jeg er ude at løbe, og mod os kommer der fire mænd. En hvid, halvtyk ældre herre og tre yngre sportstrænede arabiske mænd i joggingtøj. Retarderet, som jeg åbenbart er, er min første tanke: “Det var da et mærkeligt team til en morgengåtur … hvad laver tre unge arabere med en ældre hvid mand … de ser ikke ud til at snakke sammen … måske de er kollegaer fra FN … der arbejder der jo så mange forskellige kulturer.” Mens jeg tænker alt dette, så konstaterer Alain bare: “Bodyguards!”
Og det vækker minder tillive. Nemlig fra da vi for 14 dage siden var i Aosta, Italien. Vi er på strøgtur og pludselig kommer der en stor gruppe mennesker mod os. Der er nogle personer med mapper, der er nogle med kameraer og så videre. Alain siger: “Så du lige det?”. Jeg svarer med det samme: “Ja, sikke en flot kirke!”. Og nej, det var ikke kirken, jeg skulle se. Det var Ruslands præsident Medvedev, der var på strøgtur sammen med sine store bredskuldrede bodyguards, andre politikere i jakkesæt, Aostas borgmester, en del politibetjente og så hele Aostadalens samlede presse. Det var scenen, men det eneste jeg så, var en flok turister*, der lige havde været på en guidet rundvisning i en kirke.
* Tjek lige billedet! Altså han ligner da en turist? Og så er han åbenbart til Nikon og ikke Canon.
Jeg tror aldrig, jeg kvalificerer mig til et job på Billed Bladet eller Se & Hør. Heller ikke selvom jeg om få timer skal møde Phil Collins.
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It happened again this morning. I am such an idiot to spot celebrities – or just rich and important people (which there by the way are many of in Geneva). Well, this morning Alain and I went for our morning run and in front of the lake we pass four men. One white, flabby older man and three young well trained Arab men. Retarded as I apparently am my first thoughts are: “What a strange team for a morning walk … what are three young Arabs doing with an older white man … they don’t seem to talk together … maybe they are colleagues from the UN … there work so many different cultures at that place. ” While I though all these clever thoughts, Alain simply notes: “Bodyguards”.
And this episode brings me back to Aosta, Italy, two weeks ago. This time we are walking in the inner city of Aosta, when we suddenly get surrounded by a large group of people. Some are carrying folders, some are holding a camera and so on. Alain says: “Did you see that?”. I answer right away: “Yes, what a nice church!” And no, it was not the church, I had to see. It was the Russian President Medvedev, who also was taking a walk in Aosta together with his six bodybuilder bodyguards, a bunch of other politicians in suits, the mayor of Aosta, some police officers and all possible press from the valley of Aosta. This was the real scene, but the only thing I saw was a group of tourists* on tour.
* Check out the picture! Don’t you think he looks like a tourist? And note that he apparently prefers Canon instead of Nikon.
I don’t think I will ever qualify for a job at a gossip magazine. And it doesn’t help that I in a few hours from now will meet Phil Collins.
