Robert Pattinson as Salvador Dali
{FILM SPOTTING}
Little Ashes (UK/Spain, 2008)
Polish Distributor: None at the moment *sigh*
Release Date (worldwide): It’s out in the US in March, outside of the US it only seems to have film festival dates.
Runtime: 107′
Director: Paul Morrison
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Javier Beltran, Matthew McNulty, Marina Gatell
Production House: APT Films, Aria Films, Factotum Barcelona S.L.
Plot: (from imdb)
In 1922, Madrid is wavering on the edge of change as traditional values are challenged by the dangerous new influences of Jazz, Freud and the avant-garde. Salvador Dali arrives at the university; 18 years old and determined to become a great artist. His bizarre blend of shyness and rampant exhibitionism attracts the attention of two of the university’s social elite - Federico Garcia Lorca and Luis Bunel. Salvador is absorbed into their decadent group and for a time Salvador, Luis and Federico become a formidable trio, the most ultra-modern group in Madrid. However as time passes, Salvador feels and increasingly strong pull towards the charismatic Federico - who is himself oblivious of the attentions he is getting from his beautiful writer friends, Margarita. Finaly, in the face of his friends’ preoccupations - and Federico’s growing renown as a poet - Luis sets off for Paris in search of his own artistic success. Federico and Salvador spend the holiday in the sea-side town of Cadaques. Both the idyllic surroundings and the warmth of the Dali family sweep Federico off his feet. Salvador and he draw closer, sharing their deepest beliefs, inspirations and secrets, convinced that they have found a kind of friendship undreamt of by others. It is more that a meeting of the minds; it is a fusion of souls. And then one night, in the phosphorescent water, it becomes something else…
Trailer
You can also see Dali’s grand entrance into the college here ;)
The sceptical part of me thinks that…
…this film might not be all that good. I think there’s always a certain challenge when making a film based on real events, but this seems even more dicey because of the language thing. It feels like this film should have been made in Spanish… And there’s some bits on the trailer there (and also if you look at the other clips that have been released) that look rather fake.
I’m also a little bit sceptical about how well Pattinson suits the part - he has a bit of an English public school boy kind of a look, so I’m not sure how well that suits Dali…
The excited part of me thinks that…
…I used to be a big fan of Total Eclipse, which is about Verlaine and Rimbaud - two French poets and shot entirely in English and unlike in Little Ashes they didn’t even modify their accents (so we had Rimbaud with an American one and Verlaine with a British one ;) ).
Besides, Robert Pattinson as Dali might be quite interesting, even if the film isn’t that good and even if he doesn’t fit it that well physically. And actually, depending on which photos you look at, the resemblance isn’t too bad - for example check out this one.
And of course I am very curious and amused about the gay thing and the fangirl reaction ;) If you check out the comments under the trailer, there are a few who are clearly not happy ;) I think my favourite comment is:
OMG.
IT MADE ME SICK AT THE END WHEN IT HIT ME THAT ROBERT PLAYED A GAY GUY!!!!!
I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST GAYS….I HAVE A BEST FRIEND WHO IS GAY BUT ROBERT???
WOW!!!NO!!!HE IS TWILIGHT’S EDWARD THIS IS F***ING CRAZY.
I HOPE THEY DONT RELEASE THIS IN AMERICA!!!!
AND UGHH, I JUST CHANGED MY OPINION ABOUT HIM.
I ALMOST WANNA CRY!!!NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE.
ughhh….
And another hilarious one:
it’s going to be in america…i read it on imdb.i’m so mad at rob…he’s an idiot!
I guess my sense of humour is really warped, but what’s new ;)
