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| More than 7000 film fans watched Edward Norton receive his Excellence Award at the opening of the Locarno Film Festival Photo: Richard Mowe |
Streep stars in Ricki And The Flash (receiving its European premiere), a crowd pleasing concoction in which the actress gives her all as 60-ish failed rock star who fronts a bar band in between working as a check-out girl at a mini-market. Kevin Kline plays her ex-husband while Mamie Gummer (bearing a close physical resemblance) is the daughter on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it manages to make all its disparate elements work to charming effect. La Streep unfortunately could not be present as the film has just opened in the States.
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| Edward Norton in Locarno: "“I’ve been very, very fortunate and, honestly, I remember almost all of it with great affection." Photo: Richard Mowe |
Asked by Festival director Carlo Chatrian which of his films he remembered most fondly Norton seemed a trifle flummoxed but rose to the challenge. “Every film you make has different challenges and different pleasures. Sometimes the actual making of a film is very fun and satisfying while you are doing it… sometimes the process of making it is hard or feels very uncertain but the result is very satisfying. I’ve been really lucky to work on a lot of films that I felt very passionate about and very challenged by, creatively. And I’ve worked with wonderful directors and actors.
“I’ve been very, very fortunate and, honestly, I remember almost all of it with great affection. Sometimes, very rarely, you have a sensation right in the middle of making a film that something very unique and original is happening. I had that sensation making Fight Club and 25th Hour… I had it again recently making Birdman. That’s not to say that I knew the films were going to work…more that I had the sensation that what we were engaged in was very bold and strange and was tapping into a deep vein of the Zeitgeist.”
Norton admitted that his soaring reputation has been bolstered by the company he keeps on screen with partners who have included Richard Gere, Robert De Niro, Matt Damon, Marlon Brando, Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Naomi Watts, Julia Roberts, and Charlize Theron. “I’ve been very privileged to work with terrific actors who were also terrific people and real professionals. I always feel a strong camaraderie with other actors. I’ve even chosen to do certain movies just to work with the other actors involved.
"I did The Score just to work with De Niro and Brando. I did Stone just to work with Bob again. I did Red Dragon to get to work with Tony Hopkins... and Ralph Fiennes and Phil (Seymour Hoffman) and Harvey (Keitel) and so on … The last two films I did with Wes [Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel] and with Alejandro [González Iñárritu - Birdman] were some of the best ensemble acting experiences I’ve ever had. Both of those films were like being part of a wonderful theatre company.”
Norton has expanded his horizons to stints as director, screenwriter and producer. Fifteen years after his directorial debut on Keeping The Faith he is directing Motherless Brooklyn. He said: “You certainly learn more about how to help a director once you’ve directed! After I directed a movie, I made a point to stop being late… ever. And to stay on set as much as possible. Directors really need actors to trust them and so over the years I’ve really become more and more disciplined about only choosing to work with directors whose work I really admire and whom I trust to such a degree that I’m happy to explore wherever they want to go. There’s not much to say about Motherless Brooklyn yet. It would jinx it! Maybe I’ll get to bring it to Locarno next year. That would be fun!”
Other Hollywood titles to get the Piazza Grande treatment over the next few days include Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's Me And Earl And The Dying Girl and Trainwreck, with Amy Schumer and Bill Hader on hand to introduce the film to European audiences. Andy Garcia will put in appearance for a career award on Saturday while The Deer Hunter director Michael Cimino receives a special focus.
Locarno started in the late 1940s with an emphasis on Italian neorealist directors such as Roberto Rossellini and today has evolved into a showcase for independent filmmakers from around the world as well as providing crowd-pleasers such as Ricki and the Flash.
