By Jill Lawless
VENICE, Italy (AP) --Affable, handsome George Clooney was all charm at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, but don't be fooled.
The actor says his latest directorial effort, "Suburbicon," is an angry movie for an angry country — his own. It's a twisted tale of darkness at the heart of the American dream.
"A lot of us are angry — angry at ourselves, angry at the way the country is going, angry at the way the world is going," Clooney told reporters Saturday in Venice, Italy, where "Suburbicon" is competing for the festival's Golden Lion prize.
"It's probably the angriest I've ever seen the country, and I lived through the Watergate time," he added. "There's a dark cloud hanging over our country right now."
America's divisions give an unnerving timeliness to "Suburbicon." The satirical film noir stars Matt Damon and Julianne Moore as residents of a seemingly idyllic — and all-white — 1950s suburban community that erupts in anger when a black family moves in.
It fuses a script by the Coen brothers with a narrative about racial divisions inspired — in a negative way — by Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
"I was watching a lot of speeches on the campaign trail about building fences and scapegoating minorities," Clooney said.
That set Clooney and writing-producing partner Grant Heslov to thinking about other points in United States history when forces of division were in the ascendant. They remembered 1957 events in Levittown, Pennsylvania, a model suburban community where white residents rioted at the arrival of a black family.
They fused that idea to an unproduced script by Joel and Ethan Coen about a similar white-picket-fence community where a crime goes horribly wrong in farcically bloody ways.
The images of white rage in the movie feel unnervingly contemporary, recalling last month's rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia.
"Unfortunately, these are issues that are never out of vogue in our country," Clooney said ahead of the film's red carpet premiere. "We are still trying to exorcise these problems. We've still got a lot of work to do from our original sin of slavery and racism."
On one level, "Suburbicon" is a comedy, in which the best-laid plans of Damon's scheming corporate executive go bloodily astray. Damon and Moore practically explode with suburban repression, and there's a delicious turn by Oscar Isaac as a prying insurance investigator.
But the social concerns Clooney displayed in previous films he directed — "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "The Ides of March" — are never far from the surface.
The Clooney Foundation he runs with his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, gave $1 million in the wake of Charlottesville to the Southern Poverty Law Center to combat hate groups.
Clooney said he was anxious that "Suburbicon" not be a polemic or "a civics lesson."
"We wanted it to be funny, we wanted it to be mean — but we wanted it to be angry," he said. "And it got angrier as we were shooting."
The Many Hires Jeremiah Wassom As Group Creative Director
Independent agency The Many has added Jeremiah Wassom as group creative director.
Wassom most recently worked a decade at Deutsch LA where, as SVP/creative director, he led the Taco Bell account and won new business for the agency. His agency past also includes AKQA and TBWAChiatDay. His creative work has touched the QSR, video games, automotive, fashion, and culture brand sectors. He also served eight years with the United States Marine Corps.
“Throughout his career, Jeremiah has helmed work that has not only made me personally jealous but has consistently pushed brands to show up in memorable and innovative ways,” said Josh Paialii, head of creative at The Many. “One look at his body of work and you will see his passion for storytelling and craft has raised the bar for entire categories, driving participation with many brands’ most loyal fans. Beyond being a world-class creative director and maker, Wassom is a proven team player and strategic thought leader. He’ll be a great addition to the leadership team at The Many working across all accounts. His role will be immediately felt as he guides and supports each of the creative leads in the department.”
A 20-year creative with agency, brand, and freelance experience, Wassom has forged a creative approach which focuses on crafting engaging connections rather than simply make ads. He sees the need for advertising to mean more, not simply do more.
The Many believes that true business growth is made possible by harnessing the power of participation and partners with brands to forge deeper connections with consumers, cultivate trust and loyalty, and maximize marketing spend and execution. The agency is built around a flexible model that offers a suite of capabilities, including... Read More