(Wes Anderson) Hotel Chevalier

Started by modage, August 21, 2007, 09:49:54 AM

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modage

Wes Anderson Short Film Stars Natalie Portman
Source: Slashfilm

Last Week we told you that Wes Anderson's (Rushmore, The Life Aquatic, The Royal Tenenbaums) latest film The Darjeeling Limited would be accompanied by a 12-minute short called Hotel Chevalier, which apparently acts as a prequel to the main feature. I've since found out a little more information about Chevalier. Apparently the short film stars Natalie Portman and Jason Schwartzman. Portman also appears briefly in The Darjeeling Limited.

The short takes place in one room of a French hotel (Hotel Chevalier) and serves as "a short epilogue of one heartbreaking history of love and the prologue of the travel told in 'The Darjeeling Limited." Hotel Chevalier will screen Out of competition in the upcoming Venice Film Festival.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

MacGuffin

#1
From NataliePortman.com:

Here is the first photo of Natalie in Hotel Chevalier/Darjeeling Limited. This is possibly the best photo ever taken and clears up the fact that she shot this well before Darjeeling filmed late last year.


http://www.natalieportman.com/albums/news_images/chev01.jpg

admin edit: linked to make the reading of the article bearble
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

elpablo

http://www.cinematical.com/2007/09/07/fox-cuts-hotel-chevalier-short-from-the-darjeeling-limited-t/

Fox Cuts 'Hotel Chevalier' Short from 'The Darjeeling Limited' Theatrical Release

Just last month, Kim had brought us a behind-the-scenes look at Wes Anderson's long-awaited, The Darjeeling Limited. While expectations for the film are running high, there's already bad critical response to the film -- and the review from The Hollywood Reporter isn't exactly helping matters. Unfortunately for fans of Anderson, the bad news doesn't end there. Hollywood Elsewhere reports that Anderson's short film Hotel Chevalier will not accompany screenings of The Darjeeling Limited as it had during its festival run. Audiences first got a look at the short film when Darjeeling premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and according to reports, the short film acts as a prequel of sorts to the feature. Chevalier stars Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman, and is," a short epilogue of one heartbreaking history of love and the prologue of the travel told in 'The Darjeeling Limited". It's a clever idea, and other filmmakers have tried it before -- the short prologue at the beginning of P.T. Anderson's Magnolia comes to mind. The Darjeeling Limited stars Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman as three brothers attempting to 'bond' during a spiritual quest in India.

According to trade reports, the short will only be shown during festival screenings and will not accompany Darjeeling when it hits theaters on September 29th. I can't say I understand the logic of not including the short in the theatrical release, it's not like Wes Anderson fans would not be willing to sit in their seats for 17 more minutes -- if anything, the addition of the short could help generate a little extra buzz for the film. Although some are saying that Natalie Portman goes nude -- in the flesh -- for the first time, but the film is already rated R so I'm not sure that'

MacGuffin

Wes Anderson offers the Web a taste of 'The Darjeeling Limited'
As an introduction to the road comedy, the director is unspooling the short, sexy 'Hotel Chevalier.'
Source: Los Angeles Times

Wes Anderson didn't set out to create one of the year's most talked about short films when he wrote, directed and produced the 13-minute "Hotel Chevalier." Instead, the quirky, creative force behind such films as "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" intended the short as a kind of prequel or "introduction" to his comedic road drama, "The Darjeeling Limited," which lands in theaters Oct. 5.

As he envisaged it, "Chevalier" would play out like a piece of short fiction while "Darjeeling" would unspool like a novel. "I like short stories," Anderson said by phone from Paris. "I like the form. And I liked the idea of a short film as a companion piece to a movie."

In fact, he shot "Chevalier" in late 2005 -- around the time he had begun drafting the "Darjeeling" screenplay with Jason Schwartzman and his cousin Roman Coppola and nearly a year before that movie went into production -- making the shorter film a kind of working draft for the feature.

In both, Schwartzman plays the same lovelorn American abroad character, Jack Whitman. He is the youngest of three estranged brothers who set off on a familial bonding odyssey through India in "Darjeeling" (in which his celluloid siblings are played by Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson). And in "Chevalier," whose action takes place in Paris two weeks before "Darjeeling" unfolds, the character is working through some relationship rough spots with his on-again, off-again girlfriend -- namely, her sexual infidelity and mysterious bruises.

Recalling the low-key esprit de corps that prevailed during production, Anderson likes to emphasize the no-frills approach it took to get the job done. Production consisted of just two actors, a few borrowed props and two days' filming in a hotel room.

"I was financing it myself, so there was no money to raise," said Anderson. "We got a little crew together -- 15 people -- and shot quickly. We dressed it with stuff from my apartment. It was like making a student film."

Of course, not just any student production can land actors such as Oscar nominee Natalie Portman -- doing her first nude love scene for "Chevalier," to the scurrilous delight of fan boys worldwide -- and Schwartzman, the star of Anderson's cultishly popular second feature, "Rushmore." Nor could most student auteurs afford to shoot in expensive Panavision film stock on location in a sumptuous hotel suite in the City of Light. And for that matter, few aspiring Roger Cormans could land such pricey visual touchstones as whimsical handmade luggage by Louis Vuitton and wardrobe courtesy of Marc Jacobs -- especially not for a small passion project shot, essentially, on a whim.

Then there's the film's central talking point. Its passionate hotel sex romp comprises the most steamy scenario ever to appear in Anderson's oeuvre.

His characters have been known for deadpan humor and childlike whimsy but never libidinous overdrive.

Anderson contacted Portman after getting her e-mail address from "Darjeeling" producer Scott Rudin. The director says she was well aware that she'd be taking it all off for the small part but stipulated only one script change.

"Smoking. She didn't want to smoke," he remembered. That's why, in the final scene, "we changed it to Jason giving her a toothpick. I think it's better."

Taken strictly as a promotional stunt, Portman's part in the five-minute love scene, which, for the record, is handled with admirable restraint, has worked gangbusters, lighting up the blogosphere and capturing headlines as far away as Azerbaijan.

"Hotel Chevalier" is being shown in conjunction with "Darjeeling" at film festivals -- the Venice Festival earlier this month, the New York Film Festival on Friday and the London Film Festival in November -- before being rolled out digitally. The short will make its public premiere Tuesday at Apple stores in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Then on Wednesday, the film will become available for free download on iTunes (and later on the "Darjeeling" DVD).

And if Anderson has his way, "Hotel Chevalier" will be added to theatrical showings of the feature after it has run for a few weeks.

"We were unsure how this needed to be presented," he said. "We felt they should be connected and searched for how to do that. In the end, I liked the idea that one person could see it in one way, and another could see it in totally another way."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

modage

Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

grand theft sparrow

Quote from: MacGuffin on September 24, 2007, 11:58:16 AM
"Hotel Chevalier" is being shown in conjunction with "Darjeeling" at film festivals -- the Venice Festival earlier this month, the New York Film Festival on Friday and the London Film Festival in November -- before being rolled out digitally. The short will make its public premiere Tuesday at Apple stores in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Then on Wednesday, the film will become available for free download on iTunes (and later on the "Darjeeling" DVD).

If I'm reading what it says on apple.com correctly, then Wes, Schwartzman and Portman will be in the Soho store tomorrow night for a Q&A after this. 

Special Screening: Wes Anderson's Hotel Chevalier

Join Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman, and Natalie Portman for a special screening of Anderson's new short film, Hotel Chevalier, starring Schwartzman and Portman. This 12-minute short, set entirely in a Paris hotel room, is a prequel to Anderson's new film, The Darjeeling Limited. After the screening, Wes, Jason, and Natalie will take questions from the audience. Download The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, and Fresh Air interviews with Wes from the iTunes Store.

modage

HOLY SHIT.  i was going to see a Juno screening tomorrow but i think i might have to skip it for this.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

JG

Quote from: just sparrow on September 24, 2007, 01:15:01 PM

Special Screening: Wes Anderson's Hotel Chevalier

Join Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman, and Natalie Portman for a special screening of Anderson's new short film, Hotel Chevalier, starring Schwartzman and Portman. This 12-minute short, set entirely in a Paris hotel room, is a prequel to Anderson's new film, The Darjeeling Limited. After the screening, Wes, Jason, and Natalie will take questions from the audience. Download The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, and Fresh Air interviews with Wes from the iTunes Store.


for those of you who have done things like this before, when would be an ideal time to show up?

modage

early.  i've seen gondry, coen bros, aronofsky there.  but this is wes anderson, (probably really its natalie portman).  so a few hours if you can.  i'll prob head there right from work at 7.  if you want to get there earlier and hold me a spot, i wouldn't begrudge you. 
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

JG


modage

Quote from: JG on September 24, 2007, 01:48:30 PM
for those of you who have done things like this before, when would be an ideal time to show up?

i just stopped by the apple store and my fears were confirmed!  the guy said they'd be closing down the top floor at 8 but to get there "early" and when i asked how early he said "5".  and then said "natalie portman".  i wont be able to get there until 7:10, and since i already dropped out of my Juno screening it would REALLY suck not to get in to this.

is anybody else going that could try to get there earlier than 7?
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

JG

Quote from: modage on September 25, 2007, 09:23:16 AM
Quote from: JG on September 24, 2007, 01:48:30 PM
for those of you who have done things like this before, when would be an ideal time to show up?

i just stopped by the apple store and my fears were confirmed!  the guy said they'd be closing down the top floor at 8 but to get there "early" and when i asked how early he said "5".  and then said "natalie portman".  i wont be able to get there until 7:10, and since i already dropped out of my Juno screening it would REALLY suck not to get in to this.

is anybody else going that could try to get there earlier than 7?

i get out of class at 5:30 and i hope to shoot over there then, which means i could be there at 10 of 6 if i don't dilly dally.  again i've never done anything like this before but i have nothing going on for the rest of the night and i think waiting in lines is fun, so as long as its a generally accepted thing to do i wouldn't mind holding a spot in line for you. 

PM if you're interested. 

modage

that was amazing.
I LOVED THE SHORT. 
it restored my love for Wes.
i am incredibly excited for the film now.

sidebar: Natalie Portman is the most beautiful creature on planet earth.

special shoutout to just sparrow and JG for holding me a spot.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

samsong


grand theft sparrow

The experience wasn't as glamorous as it sounds; waiting outside for about 4 hours and then being herded into the Apple Store almost 40 minutes late wasn't so much fun but it was a good time overall.  It was really great to meet mod and JG and the short was outstanding.  If Darjeeling comes from the same place this short does, it's gonna be something very special.

And I predict that this short will be the most downloaded video in iTunes store history... provided that they actually put it on there! :yabbse-angry:  Where the fuck is it?!