From Paolo Sorrentino, the internationally renowned writer and director of Italy’s Oscar-winning foreign language film The Great Beauty, comes YOUTH – a poignant tale of how we each find our own passion in life.
Starring Academy Award winner Michael Caine as Fred and Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel as Mick, YOUTH explores the lifelong bond between two friends vacationing in a luxury Swiss Alps lodge as they ponder retirement.
While Fred has no plans to resume his musical career despite the urging of his loving daughter Lena (Academy Award Winner Rachel Weisz), Mick is intent on finishing the screenplay for what may be his last important film for his muse Brenda (Golden Globe nominee, Academy Award winner Jane Fonda). And where will inspiration lead their younger friend Jimmy (Paul Dano), an actor grasping to make sense of his next performance?
Set against a sprawling landscape of unforgettable sights and intoxicating music, YOUTH asks if our most important and life-changing experiences can come at any time – even late — in life.
The film features an original score (on iTunes) by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for “Simple Song #3.”
YOUTH opens December 18, 2015.
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The film is rated R by the MPAA for graphic nudity, some sexuality, and language.
From Paolo Sorrentino, the director of Italy’s Oscar foreign language winner THE GREAT BEAUTY comes YOUTH, about two longtime friends vacationing in the Swiss Alps.
Oscar winning actor Michael Caine plays Fred, an acclaimed composer and conductor, who brings along his daughter (Rachel Weisz) and best friend Mick (Harvey Keitel), a renowned filmmaker.
While Mick scrambles to finish the screenplay for what he imagines will be his last important film, Fred has no intention of resuming his musical career. The two men reflect on their past, each finding that some of the most important experiences can come later in life.
Fox Searchlight has released an emotional new clip from the upcoming movie.
The film features an original score by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang, who first met Sorrentino when his composition “I Lie” was used in THE GREAT BEAUTY.
Fred’s most popular composition, “Simple Song #3,” is also written by Lang. Referred to throughout the film, it is the piece that the Queen has asked him to conduct – a piece he has vowed never to perform again. “Fred Ballinger wrote this beautiful music for his wife,” Lang explains. “It’s clearly a love song, but only Fred is aware of its history. The Queen of England wants to hear it is because of what it means to her personally, but Fred can only hear what it means to him.”
Not all of the music that Lang contributed to the movie was written for a traditional orchestra. Some of the most original and unconventional compositions came about as a way to reveal a bit of Fred’s essence. “For a composer, every sound is available to be sculpted,” explains Lang. “When he eats a candy and he crumples the wrapper, that’s music. There is a powerful moment where he goes out into the forest and conducts what we call the ‘wood symphony.’ He hears sounds of the birds, the trees and the cowbells and that’s an opportunity for him to imagine that he is at the center of the sonic universe. He has told everyone that he does not make music anymore, but in that scene he allows himself to play only for himself.”
The filmmaking team includes director of photography Luca Bigazzi, editor Cristiano Travaglioli, production designer Ludovica Ferrario, set decorator Giulia Busnengo, composer David Lang, and costume designer Carlo Poggioli.
LOVE & MERCY is one of the best films of 2015. The wonderful film, available on Blu-ray and DVD, features fantastic performances and an impressive score from composer Atticus Ross.
To celebrate the music and DVD release of the film, Brian Wilson performed on Monday night at Vibrato Jazz Grill in Beverly Hills for an intimate crowd where he and his wife, Melinda Wilson, were joined by actors Paul Dano and Elizabeth Banks, who portrayed them in director Bill Pohlad’s musical biopic.
They were joined by about 150 guests consisting of members of the Academy, industry insiders, friends, family members and press.
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (THE WALK) and producer Bonnie Arnold were there for the celebration.
Wilson performed an eleven-song set, including his original song from LOVE & MERCY as well as Beach Boys favorites “California Girls” and “Good Vibrations”, and was joined on stage by Paul Dano with the actor singing “You Still Believe in Me.” Wilson ended the night by singing the song “Love & Mercy” to his wife Melinda, as she stood in front of the stage arm-in-arm with Elizabeth Banks.
The critically acclaimed musical biopic about the fascinating life of the Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson, LOVE & MERCY is available on Digital HD and on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) and On Demand (September 15) from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
Golden Globe nominee John Cusack (Best Actor, High Fidelity, 2001) stars in “one of the best performances of his career” (The Hollywood Reporter) alongside Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, Looper) as troubled musical genius Brian Wilson at two pivotal stages of his life – the 1960s, at the peak of The Beach Boys’ fame and the 1980s, as Brian reclaims his life after a mental breakdown. They are joined by Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games franchise) as Wilson’s present-day wife Melinda, and two-time Golden Globe winner Paul Giamatti (Best Actor, Barney’s Version, 2011; Best Actor, John Adams, 2009).
Love & Mercy is an unconventional portrait of Brian Wilson (portrayed by both John Cusack and Paul Dano), singer and songwriter for The Beach Boys. The film intimately examines the unique journey and ultimate salvation of this musical icon, whose success came at an extraordinary personal cost.
The “emotionally exhilarating” (Hitflix) film is listed on a number of critics “must see” lists, and has been nominated for several awards in 2015, including at the SXSW Film Festival, the Dallas International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.
Directed by Academy Award-nominated producer Bill Pohlad (Best Picture, The Tree of Life, 2011), LOVE & MERCY bonus material includes two behind-the-scenes featurettes (looking at the production and costume design and also how the personal history of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson inspired the film), deleted scenes and audio commentary with director/producer Bill Pohlad and executive producer/co-writer Oren Moverman.
Read our interview with composer Atticus Ross here.
Showing in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, watch the first trailer for director Paolo Sorrentino’s YOUTH.
The movie previously screened in May at the Cannes Film Festival where it received a standing ovation. Jay Weissberg (Variety) wrote, “Shot in English, with leads Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel bringing lifetimes of depth to their roles, the film could become Sorrentino’s biggest box office hit yet.”
From Paolo Sorrentino, the internationally renowned writer and director of Italy’s Oscar-winning foreign language film The Great Beauty, comes YOUTH – a poignant tale of how we each find our own passion in life.
Starring Academy Award winner Michael Caine as Fred and Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel as Mick, YOUTH explores the lifelong bond between two friends vacationing in a luxury Swiss Alps lodge as they ponder retirement.
While Fred has no plans to resume his musical career despite the urging of his loving daughter Lena (Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz), Mick is intent on finishing the screenplay for what may be his last important film for his muse Brenda (Academy Award winner Jane Fonda). And where will inspiration lead their younger friend Jimmy (Paul Dano), an actor grasping to make sense of his next performance?
Set against a sprawling landscape of unforgettable sights and intoxicating music, YOUTH asks if our most important and life-changing experiences can come at any time – even late – in life.
There’s a moment toward the middle of director Bill Pohlad’s concise and intriguing look into the mind of Brian Wilson where one of the other members of the Beach Boys describes his feelings about the new songs Brian had been working on without the assistance of the rest of the band: “Even the happy songs sound sad.” This simple line doesn’t just embody the type of music that Brian Wilson was composing at this time that would ultimately lead to the critically lauded but commercially unsuccessful album Pet Sounds, but it also perfectly captures the tone of LOVE & MERCY – a name that stems from a song Brian Wilson wrote. At its heart, the film stands as a love letter to the creative mind that would write some of the most beautiful songs of all time, and yet there’s a deep sadness that makes the film much heavier than the light and soothing pop songs that the film showcases.
In the summer of 1965, Brian Wilson (Paul Dano) entered a California recording studio while the rest of the Beach Boys toured and gallivanted around Japan. What came out of these sessions were the songs that would make up Pet Sounds and the much-delayed album Smile. Flash-forward into the 1980’s and Wilson (now John Cusack) is struggling to find inner peace through the help of his brothers and the controlling Dr. Landy (an over the top evil turn from Paul Giamatti). When Brian stumbles into a car dealership one afternoon and meets a salesperson by the name of Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks), it’s immediately clear that she might be the happiness that Brian has been missing in his life.
In many ways LOVE & MERCY is a very unconventional biopic. Gone are the endless amount of montages showing the passing of time; gone are the prosthetics and old age makeup to show the actors as they change over the years; gone are the familiar ups and downs that we see in most films showing the woes of the music industry. In its place are essentially two stories. It’s through these two time periods that Pohlad is able to showcase two absorbing stories about the mind of an artist. Both stories have their highlights thanks in large part to the two lead actors. Watching Wilson collaborate with the studio musicians (a group of hired musicians who worked with Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas & The Papas, and The Byrds who were known as “The Wrecking Crew”) is consistently fascinating to watch. Watching Dano skip around the studio and interact with the instruments and sound equipment provides insight into how in-depth of a process it was to record these beloved songs. On the other hand, being witness to a loving relationship unfolding between Melinda and the older Brian is just as charming. Elizabeth Banks is just a delight as she becomes the attentive ear and caring shoulder for Brian to lean on.
John Cusack gives one of the best performances of his career. He taps into the heart and soul of the talented but tortured musician. It’s as much of a physical undertaking as it is an emotional. Cusack incorporates subtle body movements, especially his hands, to signify the constant turning of the gears going on in his head; even if the words don’t always come out to properly express what he’s thinking. Dano plays the younger Wilson with more of a voice, albeit a softer one with a hint of apprehension. His uncertainty mostly stems from the pressure his father and his bandmates place upon him. Their desire for a hit record is contrary to the musical exploration and new direction Wilson wants to take the band. Dano’s Wilson walks the somber line of martydom as we see him pour all of his passion into the record only to have it dismissed by everyone around him.
Where LOVE & MERCY stumbles the most is in its rhythm. The film frequently feels like the timing is off. Scenes go on for too long, several shots feel misplaced as they are obstructed by speakers or mic stands, and the editing between time periods occasionally feels smacked together. There was an aesthetic choice to film all of the scenes in the recording studio in a more handheld, grainy fashion. I typically wouldn’t mind this if there was a reason for it or if the choice was more clear or deliberate. Instead it just feels ever so slightly shaky and haphazard in an annoying sort of way.
An argument could be made that LOVE & MERCY wouldn’t come together so harmoniously if it weren’t for the three terrific leads. Each is perfectly cast and makes this non-traditional bio-pic feel more in tune. LOVE & MERCY is structured as two separate stories; each existing as a separate symphony. They both have their highs and lows, their happy and sad moments, and everything in between. However, I wish these moments were more carefully arranged and didn’t feel as dissonant.
Paul McCartney has called “God Only Knows” his favorite song of all time. In an interview with David Leaf in 1990 he stated,
“It’s a really, really great song — it’s a big favorite of mine. I was asked recently to give my top 10 favorite songs for a Japanese radio station … I didn’t think long and hard on it but I popped that (God Only Knows) on the top of my list. It’s very deep. Very emotional, always a bit of a choker for me, that one. There are certain songs that just hit home with me, and they’re the strangest collection of songs … but that is high on the list, I must say … God Only Knows’ ‘ lyrics are great. Those do it to me every time.”
Opening this weekend is the film, LOVE & MERCY. It presents an unconventional portrait of Brian Wilson, the mercurial singer, songwriter and leader of The Beach Boys. Set against the era defining catalog of Wilson’s music, the film intimately examines the personal voyage and ultimate salvation of the icon whose success came at extraordinary personal cost.
To create an original score that incorporated Wilson’s work but stood on its own, the
filmmakers brought in composer Atticus Ross, who won an Academy Award (along with Trent Reznor) for THE SOCIAL NETWORK. “Working with Atticus was exciting,” says director Bill Pohlad. “We envisioned the music that goes on in Brian’s head as a big part of the movie. Choosing the right person to create a score that delivered on that idea was an important decision.”
Made with the full cooperation of the musician and his wife, LOVE & MERCY offers a neverbefore- seen glimpse of Wilson, the boy genius who co-wrote such ebullient pop hits as “Surfer Girl” and “Fun, Fun, Fun” and the game-changing masterpieces “Good Vibrations” and “God Only Knows” before disappearing from the public eye for years.
Actors Paul Dano and John Cusack share the role of the troubled musical virtuoso who defined the “California sound” with sumptuous harmonies and visions of endless summers of surf and sand.
Spanning more than three decades of Wilson’s life, the film reveals the darker and more complex story that lies beneath the music’s sun-kissed surface and his redemptive relationship with Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks), all in the context of his unparalleled musicianship.
I recently discussed with Ross the importance of his score for this very intimate story of Brian Wilson as well as the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” and what melodies did, and didn’t, make into the much loved song.
WAMG: The film is so well done and while both John Cusack and Paul Dano don’t resemble Brian Wilson, they both captured the essence of the musician. I really loved it.
Atticus Ross: I did too! I’m very proud to be involved with it. I really enjoyed working with Bill (Pohlad) and we’ve become good friends through the process. I’ve had enough experience to know when you’re dealing with someone who has a real vision and Bill had a clear vision right from the start. It was such a pleasure to work with him.
WAMG: When were you brought onto the film?
AR: I met with Bill way before they started shooting. I was sent the script by my agent, Brian Loucks. He’s a real man of taste and he kept telling me it was such a good script and that I should read it. I felt like maybe it was out of my wheelhouse. But I did read it and agreed with him. Then I had an idea that there’s this mythology because you know Beach Boys music – it’s hard not to be a fan of “Pet Sound” music.
There almost a cliché aspect to “Pet Sounds” and it’s hard not to be a fan when you’re a musician. I had heard rumors over the years that there was this material that had been recorded but never released. When I went to see Bill, I said what I think would be interesting is if Brian Wilson gave me all his material, I could sample it and make the score that supports the story. There isn’t any point in the story that Brian isn’t present in one form or another. His voice is always there in the songs, even if it’s buried somewhere.
The original idea for the score was a bit more radical in what I had imagined – more like “The Grey Album” where you can’t recognize a source at all. I started off what that but it didn’t resonate with everybody, until I made it clearer and weaved Brian’s voice into it. It was a really interesting process and I probably wouldn’t do it again. It was such a lot of work.
Director Bill Pohlad
WAMG: How did you conceive the LOVE & MERCY score to make it the Brian Wilson movie without it becoming the Beach Boys movie – there’s such a harmonic balance between the two?
AR: There were two things. One is my brother was heavily involved and I couldn’t have done it without him, just purely in the hours that it took. There are scenes that just fly by that are maybe two minutes, like when Brian (Paul Dano) is lying on the hood of the car, and he’s working on “Good Vibrations” – we wanted it to feel like the music was coming into his head. Doing that piece took like ten days of solid work to get it perfect.
We also found going through the tapes there was a lot of cuts with only four tracks because that was all that was available, so everything needed to be timed – but it all clicked.
What was interesting on the “God Only Knows” tapes was there were some melodies that are beautiful that aren’t in the final version of it. When he’s lying on that car, we actually included them in there. It became this collage, but it was a long process. It’s hard when you’re trying to do storytelling to work someone else’s music into it and to keep it true.
To me, on one level, people seem to think of the Beach Boys as this very happy bunch when in fact it’s a very dark, real film. There’s great joy and triumph in the story that you come to love the film and that’s Bill’s triumph.
WAMG: Tell me about the dining room dinner scene after they’ve toasted Brian for his success with “Good Vibrations”? The clattering percussive noises with the silverware and glasses convey he’s in a bad state of mind.
AR: That was another thing that took ages to get right. It was a mixture of his original music and sound design with knives and forks and we built this cacophony of sound. We used this at the beginning of the film as well. It divided itself into original composition, sound design and reinterpreted Beach Boys songs. There are some intense scenes that give way to the emotional context of the film – regardless if you’re a music fan or not. I didn’t know how deep Brian’s story ran.
WAMG: The film reveals the darker and more complex story that includes Wilson’s battle with mental illness and drug abuse, as well as his years under the influence of his therapist. (Eugene Landy – Paul Giamatti).
AR: Before I started I interviewed some people who were around at the time – some of the engineers. They said everything was literally monitored. If you made a phone call, it was monitored. If you said something to Brian, Landy would ask what you said to him. It was extreme. The film isn’t taking license.
According to people I spoke with, it’s not even close to being as extreme as it was. There were bodyguards around all the time – it was bizarre. And to have Melinda come in to do what she did. It’s an incredible story about one of the greatest musical minds. He’s brilliant.
WAMG: Did you want to meet Brian Wilson?
AR: I didn’t want to hang out with him, but I have met him in passing. I was very concerned that everything we did had a purpose – that it never ventured into something he would find distasteful. At the same time, in the same way the film doesn’t pull any punches, I wanted to make sure that it was an honest score. From a musical standpoint, he’s a genius.
In addition to Ross’ score, Brian Wilson contributed an original song to the film, appropriately titled “One Kind of Love.” Featuring Wilson’s trademark soulful harmonies, the song is an ode to the woman who changed his life.
“It’s about Melinda and me,” he says. “She is my one love and the song is about the way we fell in love and the way we are in love. Love is timeless in the same way great music is timeless and this is an expression of that.”
Roadside Attractions has released a brand new trailer for LOVE & MERCY, starring John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti.
LOVE & MERCY presents an unconventional portrait of Brian Wilson, the mercurial singer, songwriter and leader of The Beach Boys. Set against the era defining catalog of Wilson’s music, the film intimately examines the personal voyage and ultimate salvation of the icon whose success came at extraordinary personal cost.
What does Wilson think of the film? “Some of it was rough for me to sit through. It wasn’t always pleasant. I thought it was very factual.” Read the rest of the LA Times interview with Wilson here.
Directed by Bill Pohlad, the film is written by Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner.
Pohlad says, “It’s a story about Brian Wilson and it’s told in part from Brian’s point of view and in part from Melinda’s (Wilson). And it’s supposed to be an intimate, personal story that way. If we were trying to tell a Beach Boys biography, that would be different. But that’s not what we were going for-this is a very intimate story of Brian. The Beach Boys play a role in it, his brothers, his cousin are people he interacted with and were huge parts of his life-but we were trying to explore the life inside Brian Wilson.”
“His music and interaction with the Beach Boys is a big part of who he is too. I can’t say we didn’t want to use Beach Boys music, but it was a matter of finding that balance so the music didn’t overwhelm the film. It’s not about riding on the music, but riding on the character and letting the music kind of help it along. You don’t want to go overboard because sometimes it can be so forced to try and make a song literally speak to some part of the story when that’s not really what the song was intended to be in the first place. It’s creating a feeling or an ambiance is what it really is, and finding those ways to use the music to reflect the story without using the music as a crutch to tell the story.”
The powerful, new trailer has arrived for director Steve McQueen’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fasbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, and Alfre Woodard.
McQueen and Fassbender worked together on 2011’s SHAME.
Rest assured, 12 YEARS A SLAVE will garnish awards and catapult careers to new heights.
12 YEARS A SLAVE is based on an incredible true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom.
In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity.
In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life.
From Alcon Entertainment comes the new trailer for PRISONERS, starring Oscar nominees Hugh Jackman (“Les Misérables”) and Jake Gyllenhaal (“Brokeback Mountain”), from director Denis Villeneuve (INCENDIES).
How far would you go to protect your child? Keller Dover (Jackman) is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces the only suspect’s release.
Knowing his child’s life is at stake, the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. The desperate father will do whatever it takes to find the girls, but in doing so, he may lose himself, begging the question: When do you cross the line between seeking justice and becoming a vigilante?
Led by Jackman and Gyllenhaal, the dramatic thriller PRISONERS features an all-star cast, including Maria Bello (“Beautiful Boy”) as Keller’s distraught wife, Grace; Oscar nominees Terrence Howard (“Hustle & Flow”) and Viola Davis (“The Help,” “Doubt”) as Franklin and Nancy Birch, whose daughter Joy went missing with the Dovers’; Academy Award winner Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”) as Alex Jones’ Aunt Holly; and Paul Dano (“Looper”) as Alex Jones.
Denis Villeneuve directs the film from an original screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski (“Contraband”).
Alcon Entertainment’s PRISONERS is scheduled for release on September 20, 2013, and will be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Fox Searchlight Pictures has announced that the company will release Regency Enterprises’ and River Road’s drama TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE. Directed by Steve McQueen (HUNGER, SHAME) and written by John Ridley, based on the book by Solomon Northup, TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender (who starred in McQueen’s previous films HUNGER & SHAME), Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Sarah Paulson, Alfre Woodard, Lupita Nyong’o and Paul Giamatti.
The film is scheduled to be released in theaters right in the middle of Awards season – Friday, December 27, 2013.
TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE is based on an incredible true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (CHIWETEL EJIOFOR), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by MICHAEL FASSBENDER), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (BRAD PITT) will forever alter his life.
The film is produced by Brad Pitt, DeDe Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Bill Pohlad, Arnon Milchan, and Anthony Katagas.
