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David Cronenberg Talks about Rob in New Interview
Twilight vamp Robert Pattinson plays a bloodsucker of an altogether different kind – the Wall Street kind – in his new movie Cosmopolis, on Blu-ray and DVD New Year’s Day, and the film’s director David Cronenberg tells ETonline that he was actually quite impressed with what Rob brought to the table, and that after the baggage of casting — once you get to that point when you’re on set and cameras are rolling — “Twilight is irrelevant.”
“He surprised me every day with good stuff,” says Cronenberg. “I don’t do rehearsals, and I try not to shape the actor’s performance at first. I want to see what his intuition is going to deliver. And then if there’s a problem then I start to shape it, nudge it, manipulate it a little bit. I did very little of that with Rob.”
Based on the novel by Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis follows one day in the wild life of multi-billionaire asset manager Eric Packer, who travels aimlessly through the streets of New York City in his limousine while conducting investment trading from the back seat. As the day progresses, it devolves into an odyssey with a cast of characters that start to tear his world apart.
“He absolutely would say to you right now, ‘I had no idea what I was doing at any time,’ and he would mean it,” says the veteran director of Rob’s performance. “I think he really didn’t realize how good he was. … He was surprising himself, but he was surprising me by his accuracy. It was just dead on. I mean, by the end of it we were doing one take. Honestly the whole last scene, the whole last shot in the movie with him and Paul [Giamatti] — one take. And it’s a long take as well. And it’s very emotional, and very subtle. One take for both of them, it was so good. … In fact, we finished the shoot five days early, and a lot of that was due to Rob.”
Of course, when Cronenberg first cast Rob, he had to overcome what he calls Twilight “baggage,” explaining, “You often have to consider what we call baggage for an actor, and you have to decide whether it’s a problem or not. I hate the idea of it because I know I’m going to be on the set with the guy at three in the morning shooting in the streets of Toronto, and none of that stuff is relevant. We’re just two people trying to make the movie work. So his past performances, or his fame, or lack of it, or whatever the factor is, is at that point irrelevant. What’s relevant only is what we can do creatively with each other.
“On the other hand, when you’re financing a movie you have to have lead actors who have some weight and some substance and will attract investors so that you can get your movie financed, so it’s a weird situation,” he continues.“Aside from the fact that yes, he was an exciting and interesting, surprising choice in terms of how investors viewed it — and it worked because we got the financing for the movie — after that Twilight is irrelevant, you know?”
What mattered most to Cronenberg was that his lead could carry the scene and had the proper charisma: “It starts very simply with is he the right age, does he have the right look, does he have the right presence onscreen?” he says. “He is in absolutely every scene in the movie, and that’s really quite rare. Even in a movie with Tom Cruise, you don’t see Tom in every scene. But in this case you do, and so he has to have some charisma. You have to want to watch him for that long and that intensely, because I knew I was going to be crawling all over his face with the camera.”
Of course, it wouldn’t be a David Cronenberg film without a little oral or anal fixation – themes prominently placed in such films of his as Naked Lunch, Dead Ringers and Videodrome – and there’s an especially amusing scene during Cosmopolis in which Rob gets examined by a doctor in his limo and discovers that he has an “asymmetrical prostate.”
“Orifices are the entry and exit of our bodies, and that really talks about identity and where the boundaries of an individual identity end and where the environment begins,” says a straight-faced Cronenberg, adding with a laugh, “I could do an academic analysis of my own movies, but that wouldn’t help me create [my new] movies. … You could do that analysis and make those connections amongst the movies, and you’d be correct.”
From TheHDRoom
Online retailer Amazon.com has begun taking orders for Cosmopolis on Blu-ray and DVD with a release date of January 1, 2013. New Year’s Day falls on a Tuesday, the traditional release date for new home video titles, so please don’t think the Cosmopolis release date is a typo.
Pre-Order Blu Ray HERE
DVD pre-order link should be up HERE
Pre-Order the Cosmopolis DVD & Blu-Ray – Pre-Order Links
David Cronenberg talks about Rob, Cosmopolis and fans
At first glance, Packer appears to be a soulless character. He initially exhibits little to no outward emotion, not while receiving updates about his dwindling finances, not during sex, not ever. That sense of detachment is enhanced by the limo, which is smooth-running, soundproof and bulletproof, with tinted windows that minimize Packer’s view of outside events and prevent prying eyes from looking in at him.
“You can see his soul as the movie progresses, as he approaches his childhood,” Cronenberg said, “because, really, we begin to realize that the barbershop represents his childhood. It’s his childhood barbershop. It’s where he used to live. It’s where he came from.
“Eric wasn’t born into money. I think you see Eric become more vulnerable and more childlike and naive, and when he’s in the barber chair he becomes like himself as a child, before he’d erected this Eric character, this Master of the Universe guy. So you should gradually warm up to him as you realize how vulnerable and how wounded he is.
“It’s why I cast Robert,” Cronenberg added. “It’s a very uncompromising performance. We don’t go out of our way to make him more likable than he is, but you want to watch him. He’s very charismatic, Rob.”
“Cosmopolis” is Pattinson’s show, and it’s as far removed as it could be from the commercial gloss and sparkly vampires of the “Twilight” films in which Pattinson has starred as Edward Cullen. The actor has been in the news of late, owing to the demise of his relationship with “Twilight” co-star Kristen Stewart, but Cronenberg lauds his leading man for his often-overlooked, still largely untapped talents as an actor.
“Rob is in every scene of this movie,” the filmmaker said, “and I needed a guy who could support that. His accent is spot-on – it’s very much like Don DeLillo’s accent. He brings a wry sense of humor, and he brings that strange emotionality that you feel from underneath because, as I say, it’s not there from the beginning, because it’s a journey in more ways than one.
“You have to see Eric evolve and, thanks to Rob, you do,” Cronenberg said. “I think it’s a spectacular performance, very nuanced and detailed.”
Like everyone with a stake in “Cosmopolis,” Cronenberg hopes that Pattinson’s legions of “Twi-hard” fans will turn out en masse for “Cosmopolis.” Based on the production of the film, he said, that might happen.
“The Twi-hards followed this movie hugely,” Cronenberg said. “There were 20 to 30 sites devoted to ‘Cosmopolis,’ some of them really quite spectacular, professional and slick, and they were being done mostly by Twi-hards, who are mostly girls, and they were reading the book. They were reading the book and commenting on it, on these sites, before the movie was finished.”
The director is clearly impressed.
“That was incredibly satisfying,” he said. “They were loving the book and the idea that Rob was doing it, and they’re supporting Rob’s choice.
“I got a lot of props myself,” Cronenberg added with a laugh, “because the Rob fans are rooting for him to show what he can do as an actor and, therefore, they loved me for giving him the chance.
“That was their attitude, though my attitude was that I felt lucky to have Rob.”
you can read the full Interview HERE
Screencaps of Cosmopolis “Making Of” from the French DVD
Cosmopolis French DVD – New Eric Packer Promo Picture
Cosmopolis and On The Road going to Mumbai Film Festival 2012
In recent years the Mumbai Film Festival has been wet dreams for any movie lover. The game was simple – they picked all the winners and nominees of all film festivals in the world. The list this year is not yet revealed but some titles have been confirmed. And through these titles, it seems like they’re on track this year too.
Among the biggest are Rust and Bone by Jacques Audiard (was in competition at Cannes), Walter Salles’ On The Road and Snow White (Snow White) by Paul Bergera, a reinvention of the classic Brothers Grimm.
Nandini Ramnath in Mint Lounge has confirmed reports some titles. This includes Amour Michael Haneke, David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis , Ken Loach Share The Angels’ Danish films A Royal Affair and The Kauwboy Hunt, and this is the favorite of this year’s festival Zeitlin benh Beasts of the Southern Wild.
WOW! So it looks like our favorite couple is going to both be at this year’s Mumbai Film Festival! I don’t know about you, but i can’t wait! Hopefully we will experience a Cannes 2.0! ❤
New ‘Cosmopolis’ BTS Stills – Bullet Magazine HQ Scan Full Scan
New Fan Videos of Robert Pattinson from the Cosmopolis Promo
HD Cosmopolis Opening and End Credits
Click the Images to watch
OPENING CREDITS
ENDING CREDITS
Emily Hampshire, Sarah Gadon and David Cronenberg Talk About Robert Pattinson
Fan Videos from the Cosmopolis Premiere in New York
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