NYFF: Julian Schnabel Said So

The 45th Annual New York Film Festival runs Sept 28th ~ Oct 14th but the press screenings began on Sept 17th and end Oct 12th. The postings here at the blog run from now through October 16th. Don't even try to follow the chronology for it will defeat you. It's like a blog project with Rashomon angles Pulp Fiction looping and even Memento reverses. I'm already totally confused and this is the first post.

<-- Director Julian Schnabel with his former leading man Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls)

I'll also be chiming in at Oscar Watch Awards Daily soon to add to the (my) confusion. So let's start with something easy just to flip this switch.

Ready? Here comes the annoyingly hooky title...

12 Things I Learned (or was reminded of but had forgotten) While Listening to Julian Schnabel at the Press Conference and Watching His New Film The Diving Bell and Butterfly (and how I feel about those things I learned and remembered)

1. Johnny Depp was supposed to star in this movie which is about a man (Jean-Dominique Bauby) paralyzed entirely but for one eye, but the mega star dropped out. I'm glad he did actually. A movie star essentially offscreen for huge portions of the film since you're seeing things from his bedridden perspective? Maybe not the best use of star magnetism.
2. Max Von Sydow is a helluva actor. He plays Bauby's dad. If the movie breaks out at all, expect Supporting Actor nomination talk. He made me cry and I don't cry at movies.... not regularly at least.
3. Mathieu Almaric deserves a big career. Seriously he was so good in Kings and Queen, Munich and this. Three in a row.
4. Julian Schnabel likes to name drop --Andy Warhol, Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando were just the tips of the iceberg. But it's all film related so...
5. Julian Schnabel is a flashy director. This works for the movie. How else to make a movie about a man lying immobile in bed interesting?

Von Sydow gets a shave from his screen son Almaric in The Diving Bell and Butterfly

6. Julian Schnabel is a Buddhist. Cool
7. Julian Schnabel seems miffed that he didn't win the Palme D'Or and had to settle for Best Director at Cannes. Not cool -- but in fairness this might've been a joke. It was hard to tell
8. Julian Schnabel was offered both 8 Mile and American Gangster but turned them down Yeah, chew on that one for awhile. Try to imagine the results
9. Julian Schnabel really wanted to make Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. He didn't see the film when it came out. Neither did I

10. Julian Schnabel only makes biopics --Basquiat, Before Night Falls, The Diving Bell and Butterfly. He claims that this is unintentional, it's just that he's interested in artists and writers.
11. Julian Schnabel doesn't care about movies. He said so. Still, he's good at making them. This is not quite a Salieri/Mozart moment I'm having, but it's annoying when someone so gifted at filmmaking doesn't really care or know that it's the greatest artform in the world.
12. Julian Schnabel would probably love seeing his name this many times in a row. I'm just sayin'

Further suggested reading: bad boy painter turned fêted director"