Argh! I get sooooo annoyed when this happens – I’ve just missed what looks like the funnest movie in windswept, rainy Cannes – ‘The Sapphires’. It’s was a special out-of-competition screening and looks like one of those fab musical movies – like “Muriel’s Wedding” – that the Australians do so well. This one’s about three young Aboriginal sisters and their cousin who are discovered by an Irish musician in 1968, and embark a tour of wartorn Vietnam.
But sometimes there are just SO many great movies at the Film Festival, you can’t see them all.
So instead of being uplifted by ‘The Sapphires’, I was drawn into a soulful melancholic mood by Kate Moss’ ex Peter Doherty in ‘Confession of a Child of the Century’. It’s about love. That’s all. Nothing else. Love is enough. Not like ‘normal’ movies that have stories around and in which love is entwined. In this he poetically talks, discusses, theorises, experiments and plays with passion and love.
Confession of a Child of the Century starring Peter Doherty and Charlotte Gainsbourg
After being betrayed by a seductive Lily Cole at the start of the movie, he swears off love…until he meets a mesmerising Charlotte Gainsburg, and finds himself tumbling back in love. But can he ever ‘believe’ in love again?
The Sylvie Verheyde-directed film is based on the de Musset novel and set in Paris 1830 where despair and debauchery are “the disease of the century”.
It’s rather interesting to watch the rock star wander around the screen. (Have I ever mentioned how enormous the screen is here? About double the size of a normal cinema screen.) Pete’s so tall, so uniquely shaped, his teeth are crooked. He’s not good looking…but he’s curiously sensual. And he’s Kate Moss’ ex and there’s all that history. All that cocaine and debauchery. He’s like one of the drugs he used to consume – you find yourself becoming addicted to him. He’s simply perfect for the role – which was intended for a Frenchman – able to be both physical and cerebral.
Peter Doherty in 'Confession of a Child of the Century'
Director Sylvie revealed that she had sent Peter a note saying “this is the story of a man who is not made for love but who searches for it despite and against all – against his time, against himself and against other men. I thought of you for the part.”
She says that “Peter called immediately, we met in London – I speak little English – I studied Latin as my second language [laughs] – and we decided we wanted to make the film together at that first meeting. Beyond the fact that he is a symbol of the sacred and damned poet, like de Musset in his time, I found he moved me deeply. And he’s brilliant too. He came to music through literature, he won poetry competitions when he was very young, and I liked that. His commitment was total.”
Okay, off now to buy an umbrella – apparently this weather’s here for a few days (red carpet is soaked, stars are drenched!). (Oh, and just heard that people were dancing in the aisles in ‘The Sapphires’. Argh!)
Rainy Cannes Croisettte!
Windswept...at the Cannes Film Festival