Paolo Sorrentino's movie garners Best Film, Director and Actor honors
Director/writer Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth came away the big winner at the 28th European Film Awards in Berlin on Saturday night (12/12), earning Best European Film, Best Director and Best Actor distinction. The latter went to Michael Caine who also received the European Film Academy’s Honorary Award.
Youth stars Caine as a famous orchestra conductor in his later years. He’s on an extended stay at an elegant Swiss mountain resort, along with his equally elderly friend (Harvey Keitel) who’s nearing the end of his career as a filmmaker. The hybrid comedy-drama is bittersweet, delving into people and their relationships, including that of Caine’s character with his daughter (portrayed by European Film Award nominee Rachel Weisz). It’s a film about getting old, gracefully and not so gracefully, with a wry, frequently self-deprecating humor.
Caine wasn’t the only actor to receive twin honors. Charlotte Rampling won the Best Actress mantle for Andrew Haigh’s drama 45 Years. She also had bestowed upon her the European Film Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Named Best European comedy was director Roy Andersson’s A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.
The Best Documentary Award went to Asif Kapadia’s Amy which chronicled the life of the late singer Amy Winehouse.
Tomm Moore’s Song of The Sea was named Best Animated Film of 2015.
The more than 3,000 members of the European Film Academy–filmmakers from across Europe–voted for this year’s European Film Awards. Here’s a rundown of the winners:
EUROPEAN FILM 2015
YOUTH (LA GIOVINEZZA)
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Paolo Sorrentino
PRODUCED BY: Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima & Carlotta Calori
EUROPEAN COMEDY 2015
A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE (EN DUVA SATT PÅ EN GREN OCH FUNDERADE PÅ TILLVARON) by Roy Andersson
EUROPEAN DISCOVERY 2015 – Prix FIPRESCI
MUSTANG by Deniz Gamze Ergüven
EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY 2015
AMY by Asif Kapadia
EUROPEAN ANIMATED FEATURE FILM 2015
SONG OF THE SEA by Tomm Moore
EUROPEAN SHORT FILM 2015
PICNIC (PIKNIK) by Jure Pavlović
EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2015
Paolo Sorrentino for YOUTH (La Giovinezza)
EUROPEAN ACTRESS 2015
Charlotte Rampling in 45 YEARS
EUROPEAN ACTOR 2015
Michael Caine in YOUTH (La Giovinezza)
EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER 2015
Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthimis Filippou for THE LOBSTER
EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER 2015 – Prix CARLO DI PALMA
Martin Gschlacht for GOODNIGHT MOMMY (Ich Seh Ich Seh)
EUROPEAN EDITOR 2015
Jacek Drosio for BODY (Ciało)
EUROPEAN PRODUCTION DESIGNER 2015
Sylvie Olivé for THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT (Le Tout nouveau testament)
EUROPEAN COSTUME DESIGNER 2015
Sarah Blenkinsop for THE LOBSTER
EUROPEAN COMPOSER 2015
Cat’s Eyes for THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY
EUROPEAN SOUND DESIGNER 2015
Vasco Pimentel & Miguel Martins for ARABIAN NIGHTS – VOL. I-III (As Mil e uma noites – Vol. I-III)
EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Charlotte Rampling
EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENT IN WORLD CINEMA
Christoph Waltz
HONORARY AWARD
Sir Michael Caine
EUROPEAN CO-PRODUCTION AWARD 2015 – Prix EURIMAGES
Andrea Occhipinti
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD 2015 for Best European Film
MARSHLAND (LA ISLA MÍNIMA) by Alberto Rodríguez
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
The one rule to follow is that... Read More