Father Geek here with some inside info on Demme's remake of CHARADE...
Bonjour, ça va?
I am a Frenchman living and working in Paris, I have just completed work on an American film, THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE. I could not write to you before, I did not want to lose my job! but now the film is finished I can perhaps tell you a little bit about it. As you already know, it is being directed by Jonathqn Demme. I saw a little piece about him on your site recently, which told of his being a very nice man. I can agree with that 100%: whatever the conditions were at any time he had always a smile and kind words for the crew, which we appreciated very mich. it is not always the way (I have some friends who worked on the Brian de Palma film, also in Paris, and they said a different thing!)
Starring in this movie are Thandie Newton and Mark Walhberg and Tim Robbins, it is a remake of the film "Charade" with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. Unfortunately I have not seen the original, but those people who have tell me that while the script has changed quite a large amount, the plot remains basically the same. Thandie's part is of a widow who learns that her dead husband (who is "Charlie" in the title) is not whom she thought he was, and had many secrets. And now there are people who think she knows these secrets, and try to kill her. Mark is a mysterious stranger who may be helping her, and may be not.
So what can I tell you? It was an interesting job because Mr Demme has wanted to shoot the whole thing in the "nouvelle vague" style of Godard and Agnes Varda and many others. Everybody in the crew is welcome at dailies each night and it is always fascinating, occasionally it looks like a typical Hollywood movie but more often it looks like a film by my hero, Wong Kar-Wai. These are the bits I prefer! Thandie is beautiful and graceful, everybody on the crew loves her. And in the movie she is very good, I think. Mark is not so friendly as a person, but he also does a good job in the movie.
Also on your site I read your review of "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain", I was very delighted because because I worked on that film too. It deserves teh success it is having in France. In a strange way there are similarities with this movie, I think. They both are very stylish, with the film speeding up and slowing down and the camera playing many tricks. And they both have at their centre a funny and charming and cute girl; if I see mr Demme again I will ask him if he watched "Amelie"!
Thank you for reading. I enjoyed this job a lot, and my hopes for the finished film are quite high indeed.
you can call me...
FROG ONE.
