This Must Be the Place (film): Difference between revisions
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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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Cheyenne (Sean Penn) is a wealthy former rock star, now bored and jaded in his retirement in Dublin. He travels to New York to reconcile with his estranged father during his final hours, only to arrive too late. After learning of his father's persecution in [[Auschwitz]] at the hands of former [[SS]] Officer Aloise Lange, Cheyenne begins a journey across the country to track down Lange, who is now hiding out in the United States. The journey that ensues is reminiscent of a Kerouac style storyline. Cheyenne meets a variety of people including the wife of Lange, Lange's granddaughter and a businessman. He buys a large gun for his designs of revenge. At the gun shop, a bystander mentions to him that the |
Cheyenne (Sean Penn) is a wealthy former rock star, now bored and jaded in his retirement in Dublin. He travels to New York to reconcile with his estranged father during his final hours, only to arrive too late. After learning of his father's persecution in [[Auschwitz]] at the hands of former [[SS]] Officer Aloise Lange, Cheyenne begins a journey across the country to track down Lange, who is now hiding out in the United States. The journey that ensues is reminiscent of a Kerouac style storyline. Cheyenne meets a variety of people including the wife of Lange, Lange's granddaughter and a businessman. He buys a large gun for his designs of revenge. At the gun shop, a bystander mentions to him that the |
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style of gun Cheyenne wants to buy lets people "kill with impunity" and further says that people who are licensed to be monsters (e.g. kill with impunity) only want to be monsters. When Cheyenne eventually tracks Lange down with the aid of a professional Nazi-hunter, who told him about Lange in the first place, Cheyenne hears his story and subsequently changes his mind. In Lange's monologue, he mentions that he had correspondence with Cheyenne's father - the recurring letter that is presumed by the audience to be narration of Cheyenne's father's journal was in fact a quotation from a letter from Lange that repeatedly called the Holocaust "the inferno". Lange reflects that after all the horrors of the Auschwitz |
style of gun Cheyenne wants to buy lets people "kill with impunity" and further says that people who are licensed to be monsters (e.g. kill with impunity) only want to be monsters. When Cheyenne eventually tracks Lange down with the aid of a professional Nazi-hunter, who told him about Lange in the first place, Cheyenne hears his story and subsequently changes his mind. In Lange's monologue, he mentions that he had correspondence with Cheyenne's father - the recurring letter that is presumed by the audience to be narration of Cheyenne's father's journal was in fact a quotation from a letter from Lange that repeatedly called the Holocaust "the inferno". Lange reflects that after all the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp, Cheyenne's father remembered Lange the most. This was because Cheyenne's father "did something wrong" and so Lange threatened to let loose his German shepard to attack him. Cheyenne's father was so frightened he wet himself. Before he leaves, Cheyenne takes a photo of Lange and whispers that it was an injustice for his father to die before Lange did. Prior to him just leaving, Cheyenne sees Lange emerge from his cabin in the freezing cold naked. The humiliation of Cheyenne's father mirrors this public embarrassment. Cheyenne then travels home via air plane (something he had previously had a strong phobia of) and cuts his bouffant rockstar hair down and removes his make up. He has finally made peace with his father, who he spited by wearing the aforementioned effeminate fashion. The implication is that Cheyenne has finally grown up. |
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==Cast== |
==Cast== |
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Revision as of 18:11, 13 September 2012
| This Must Be the Place | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Paolo Sorrentino |
| Screenplay by | Paolo Sorrentino Umberto Contarello |
| Story by | Paolo Sorrentino |
| Produced by | Francesca Cima Nicola Giuliano Andrea Occhipinti |
| Starring | Sean Penn Frances McDormand |
| Cinematography | Luca Bigazzi |
| Edited by | Cristiano Travaglioli |
| Music by | David Byrne |
Production companies | Lucky Red Medusa Film Indigo Film |
| Distributed by | Element Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $11,647,000 |
This Must Be the Place is a 2011 drama film directed by Paolo Sorrentino, written by Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello.[1] It stars Sean Penn and Frances McDormand. The film deals with a middle-aged wealthy rock star who becomes bored in his retirement and takes on the quest of finding his father's tormentor, a Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the United States.
The film was an Italian majority production with co-producers in France and Ireland. Principal photography began in August 2010. Filming took place in Ireland and Italy, as well as the states of Michigan, New Mexico and New York. The film was in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot
Cheyenne (Sean Penn) is a wealthy former rock star, now bored and jaded in his retirement in Dublin. He travels to New York to reconcile with his estranged father during his final hours, only to arrive too late. After learning of his father's persecution in Auschwitz at the hands of former SS Officer Aloise Lange, Cheyenne begins a journey across the country to track down Lange, who is now hiding out in the United States. The journey that ensues is reminiscent of a Kerouac style storyline. Cheyenne meets a variety of people including the wife of Lange, Lange's granddaughter and a businessman. He buys a large gun for his designs of revenge. At the gun shop, a bystander mentions to him that the style of gun Cheyenne wants to buy lets people "kill with impunity" and further says that people who are licensed to be monsters (e.g. kill with impunity) only want to be monsters. When Cheyenne eventually tracks Lange down with the aid of a professional Nazi-hunter, who told him about Lange in the first place, Cheyenne hears his story and subsequently changes his mind. In Lange's monologue, he mentions that he had correspondence with Cheyenne's father - the recurring letter that is presumed by the audience to be narration of Cheyenne's father's journal was in fact a quotation from a letter from Lange that repeatedly called the Holocaust "the inferno". Lange reflects that after all the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp, Cheyenne's father remembered Lange the most. This was because Cheyenne's father "did something wrong" and so Lange threatened to let loose his German shepard to attack him. Cheyenne's father was so frightened he wet himself. Before he leaves, Cheyenne takes a photo of Lange and whispers that it was an injustice for his father to die before Lange did. Prior to him just leaving, Cheyenne sees Lange emerge from his cabin in the freezing cold naked. The humiliation of Cheyenne's father mirrors this public embarrassment. Cheyenne then travels home via air plane (something he had previously had a strong phobia of) and cuts his bouffant rockstar hair down and removes his make up. He has finally made peace with his father, who he spited by wearing the aforementioned effeminate fashion. The implication is that Cheyenne has finally grown up.
Cast
- Sean Penn as Cheyenne
- Frances McDormand as Jane
- Judd Hirsch as Mordecai Midler
- Eve Hewson as Mary
- Kerry Condon as Rachel
- Harry Dean Stanton as Robert Plath
- Joyce Van Patten as Dorothy Shore
- David Byrne as himself
- Olwen Fouéré as Mary's mother
- Shea Whigham as Ernie Ray
- Liron Levo as Richard
- Heinz Lieven as Aloise Lange
- Simon Delaney as Jeffrey
Production
Paolo Sorrentino said Sean Penn told him he wanted to work with him after seeing Sorrentino's film Il Divo at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, where Penn headed the jury.[2] With Penn in mind, Sorrentino wrote the screenplay for This Must Be the Place with Umberto Contarello.[2] Sorrentino had for a long time been fascinated by Nazi war criminals who had managed to keep their former crimes secret, and went on to live ordinary lives. To add an element of irony to a story about such a person, Sorrentino came up with Penn's character: "a slow, lazy, rock star who was bored enough and closed in his self-referential world to the point of being, seemingly, the last person who would embark on a crazy search for a Nazi criminal, probably dead by now, across the United States."[3] Sorrentino was attracted to this juxtaposition as it would add a great risk of failure, which he considers vital for the prospect of a story to be good. In selecting the name of the rock star and his band Sorrentino thought of one of the most inspired names in rock star history, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and changed it somewhat to come up with "Cheyenne and the Fellows".[3] The look of the character was inspired by Robert Smith of The Cure.[3] Sorrentino had seen The Cure perform several times in his youth, and when he went to see them again in 2008, he was fascinated by the fact that Smith, even off the stage, still wore the same kind of attire as in the past: "Here was a fifty-year-old who still completely identified with a look which, by definition, is that of an adolescent. But there was nothing pathetic about it. There was just this one thing that, in the movies and in life, creates an incredible feeling of wonder: the extraordinary, a unique and thrilling exception."[3] As soon as the screenplay was finished, Sorrentino sent it to Penn, who accepted to star.[3]
This Must Be the Place was Sorrentino's first film to be shot in English.[4] The film had a production budget of US$28 million.[5] Production was led by the three Italian companies Indigo Film, Lucky Red and Medusa Film. Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo invested €2.5 million ($3 million) in the film,[5] while Eurimages provided €600,000 ($750,000) in funding.[6] The film also received funding from France and Ireland.[3]
Principal photography began on 16 August 2010 in Dublin, Ireland.[2] In September, production moved to Michigan where filming took place in Bad Axe, Ubly, Kinde[7] and Sterling Heights.[8] Filming in New Mexico began in October and took place in Bingham, Alamogordo, Carrizozo, Eagle Nest, Red River and Questa.[4] In late October, filming took place in New York City.[9] Post-production took place in Rome.[4]
Original music for the film was written by David Byrne of Talking Heads. The title of the film is a tribute to the Talking Heads song "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)". The original songs for the film are co-written with indie singer-songwriter Will Oldham.[10] New York-based singer Michael Brunnock sings these songs.[citation needed] The songs were not sung by Penn but by another person in the film.[10]
Release
This Must Be the Place premiered on May 20, 2011 in competition at the 64th Cannes Film Festival.[11] It was additionally screened in the Spotlight section of the Sundance Film Festival in January 2012.[12] The film will make its theatrical debut in the United States on October 14, 2012.[13]
Critical response
Jay Weissberg of Variety called This Must Be the Place "that rare film directed by a non-American that gets not just the locales but also the cadence of the language absolutely right, with a script full of great lines and images of lingering beauty." Weissberg continued: "Like all great directors who make a road movie, Sorrentino captures the physical location as well as the inner transformation[.] ... Sorrentino's America is a varied nation, one where Barack Obama and Sarah Palin spring from the same soil, and where narrow-minded history teachers (Joyce Van Patten) and welcoming war widows (Kerry Condon) have an equal place. He gets it, just as he gets the Holocaust's omnipresence in the lives of those affected ... , revealing the tragedy without dwelling on the horror." Regarding the acting, Weissberg wrote that "Penn's flawless performance has none of the mannered intensity that can mar his work, transcending the masklike qualities of eyeliner and lipstick with deadpan, childlike candor."[14]
References
- ^ Smith, Ian Hayden (2012). International Film Guide 2012. p. 153. ISBN 978-1908215017.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ a b c Vivarelli, Nick (July 7, 2010). "Sorrentino moves to $28 mil 'Place'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f "Interview with director Paolo Sorrentino" (PDF). English press kit This Must Be The Place. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
- ^ a b c "Governor Bill Richardson announces This Must Be The Place Is Shooting in New Mexico" (Press release). New Mexico Film Office. October 30, 2010. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ a b Roxborough, Scott (September 23, 2010). "Plan to ax film council splits U.K. film scene". The Hollywood Reporter. e5 Global Media. Retrieved October 30, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ Roxborough, Scott (June 22, 2010). "Kusturica, Von Trier get Eurimages support". The Hollywood Reporter. e5 Global Media. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ Adams, Paul P. (September 9, 2010). "Bad Axe is the Place". Huron Daily Tribune. Hearst Corporation. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ "Movie companies shoot scenes in Sterling Heights". City of Sterling Heights, MI. September 23, 2010. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ "Long hair and lippy: Macho Sean Penn puckers up and shows off his new look... but thankfully it's just for a role". Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers. October 22, 2010. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ a b Hinds, Julie (September 22, 2010). "Musician David Byrne in Detroit to work on film's music". Detroit Free Press. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ "Horaires 2011" (PDF). festival-cannes.com (in French). Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
- ^ "This Must be the Place". Sundance Film guide 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
- ^ "Sean Penn Goes Full-Emo in First U.S. Trailer for THIS MUST BE THE PLACE". Collider.com. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
- ^ Weissberg, Jay (2011-05-20). "This Must Be the Place". Variety. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
